I'm sure you're probably already knew this by dates, but the French Open started today. I downloaded the NBC Sports app to watch some of it, but I'm going to have to turn it off before the end of the following two weeks as to not get spoilers for who won the Men's final (and so as to not watch it on Sunday). I was SO confused. Google led me to believe that the matches started this last week, and so I was wondering why Rafael Nadal didn't show up on Insta that he was playing. I was confused this whole week, until like the last two or three days, when I found out that they were in the PRELIMINARIES of the tournament, and Rafa was invited to the selection party or something. Anyways, I got my first notifications today while I was at church. Unfortunately, they were only about the girl players. I was more interested in seeing how players like Rafa did (although, I think he's playing tomorrow. Well, Venus was upset, and so was Jelena Ostapenko, the previous woman winner of the last French Open. Let's see how the rest fare.
We had a great Sunday. What you said last week about the Mondragon Family was super correct. They are gold. One example was today Sis. Mondragon gave a talk, and the talk she gave was probably one of my favorites (and understandable talks) I have ever heard since starting off in this Spanish ward. And I thought, Jacob's right, the family's gold. She talked about the Book of Mormon and her family's striving to read it in both english and spanish. Maybe I should take a page out of her book and read some more in Spanish. In contrast, Bishop Garcia spoke today as second speaker, and I'll tell you, he is one of the nicest mans I know, but when he speaks, it is so hard to understand his thick spanish and monotonous voice.
Mom told us about how she didn't have too much food in the house, so we volunteered to bring some food over today after her ward got out. We made a mix of potato salad, from scratch. It was super good, and we watched the King and I with her as we ate. We also talked and found out about her debit card woes, having some company use her card fraudulently and Bank of America having to cancel it, all right before she had to go on her Utah and Idaho trip on Tuesday. We hope everything will work out and that she isn't totally left stranded in a ditch somewhere because her card declined.
Which reminds me of The Middle, you know, the whole stuck in a ditch part. Speaking of The Middle, the series finale was on Tuesday night. Sarah and I watched it on Wednesday, before I had to go to scout. Mom was not convinced about how good it was, but I thought it brought a good close to the show, seeing as how they won't have any more episodes, ever...unless of course they pull a Roseanne comeback. Yeah, that's right, Roseanne is being filmed and watched again. Don't know why? haha. I won't tell you all that happened in the middle, just in case you wanted to watch it. We didn't watch it on Tuesday because the Season Finale of The Flash came on at 8 that night as well, and we watched that, of course. I have to say, one of the scenes at the end of the episode has become one of my all-time favorite scenes I've ever seen on The Flash. We can talk about it when you get back. I guess when you get back, there will be two new seasons to watch and later, to talk about. I look forward to that day. It'll come sooner than any of us think. So there's Avengers, and now the Flash, haha.
The night the Flash came on, Sarah and I had Mom and the Sisters from our ward come over for dinner. Sarah found this recipe for imitation Chick-fil-a chicken and their sauce. I helped her make it by breading the chicken and frying it. Wow, did that stuff turn out sooooooo good. I was impressed by how good it was. I can't wait to make it again, later on. It was nice to have mom over and the sisters shared a movie with us on their tablet, called The Music of the Gospel, from that talk. It was one I had never seen before, so I was pleasantly surprised, and felt the spirit as we talked about it.
You'll be happy to know that I took Sarah out for Tennis, TWICE this week. Her first time ever. It was actually really fun to help teach Sarah something new. We definitely did baby steps, first up close and gradually worked to get it over the net and do some rallying. The first time was for Family Home Evening on Monday. The second time we didn't actually go to a tennis court. We found this abandoned lot at this park close to our house and practiced hitting it back and forth. Sarah wanted to practice her forehand so I would send the ball over to her right so she could practice hitting it and reset herself to the middle of the area we were playing in. She actually wrote about her experiences in a mentoring class that she sends out to many people. This has been a really good learning opportunity for both of us.
I was blessed with jobs every day this week. I didn't think I was going to get Friday, but it turns out that the SDC teacher Mr. Gonzalez needed a sub and I was at Sycamore on Thursday and just happened to pass him by and he asked me if I had a job. I told him no and he was happy and I was happy because I didn't think I was going to get a job that I liked or a job at all for that matter. So, I was at Sycamore Hills four days in a row, Tuesday-Friday. I had really easy jobs the whole week, hardly having to work because either the teacher was in the classroom, or I only had to focus on one student, or, I was in SDC. I still have 7 or so school days left, which is both a blessing and not that fun.
I have the opportunity to take mom to the airport in Long Beach this next Tuesday. She's going to be gone for a week or so. We've loved hanging out with her this week as she finished school and came to our house for dinner and stuff. We heard from Sarah's mom that proposed mission changes in LA were halted because they are sending all the missionaries in the Nicaragua mission to LA because of the unrest. I would love to hear their interesting stories.
We went to the temple. Actually, we pulled a LOST walkabout because we got there to early because they read the time wrong. So, we talked on the grounds, got our pictures taken, and then went to In-n-out because we were both really hungry. We didn't actually go in.
Sarah and I have been working on goals and vision boards. We've been pretty accountable this week and it's been really good to help one another achieve those goals.
We went to the park for a bit today, and it's a good thing we did, because we were able to help a lost boy named Julian, find his mom in the crowd. He was crying hysterically. The mother was shook, and thanked us so much. Sarah brought up church with her, but of course she said she was catholic.
Sarah and I just got back from a jamming session with Will Hansen at his mother's house. They are house-sitting while the rest of their family go to a volleyball tournament in Las Vegas. It was quite fun singing with Rachel and Will and Sarah and seeing little Carter Joseph walk around. We were able to congratulate them on their pregnancy. Arianna was with his grandma.
Sarah was able to hang out with Mom while the AT&T guy came by to fix the cable and internet and phones. I was out teaching the Guillen's piano. She had a great time.
Also, I'm sending you a picture of a K-9 police dog attacking a man in protective clothing as a demonstration to the kids that I was roving for. Pretty crazy.
Well, let me know if you want updates on any particular player. I'm guessing Rafa for sure, but if there are any other players, let me know. Send me a line, if you can.
Love you,
John
