11/25 Letter #96

Hi Jacob!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope yours was great. Ours definitely was. Aunt Kerry invited Sarah and I over to have dinner with her and Jesse and Gracie. We were going to go at around lunch time, but they asked us to come later, which was super great because Sarah and I spent the morning and afternoon hours of the day putting together (like a puzzle) a four poster queen-size bed. It was not an easy task to say the least. And (we laugh about it now) but things kinda got kinda heated between us at times, as I was skeptical that we could even do it, and Sarah had asked me more than once if I was really willing to do all the work. And believe me, it was work. But, in the end, I am glad we spent the time doing so, as it is a great addition to our bedroom. I don't remember if I told you, but Sarah and I got this bed from a member in another ward, which our branch president was working for. Funnily, their names were John and Stephanie, haha. They were getting rid of furniture, and we were given those items. In exchange, we helped them move some of their furniture into their house. We have had the parts lying around our bedroom, but it was nice getting them into a nice furniture piece. It wasn't easy, but I guess it was worth it. All that we needed was a socket wrench. Uncle Jesse let us borrow his. Actually he gave us his whole tool box, which was extremely nice of him. We used the wrench to tighten the bolts. It is a nice looking bed. Sarah said it best, we need to find something to assemble every holiday to come closer together.

Thanksgiving was pretty grand. We had dinner with the Williams family. It was super good. My favorite parts of the meal were two things that Gracie made, the mashed potatoes and the bacon-wrapped asparagus. We also ate some ham, a salad, fruit salad and other stuff. The conversation was stimulating, and it was just awesome to be able to share in a meal with family. They were great. We learned why Gracie had a boot on her foot (she was being competitive with a couple of boys at camp). We were so grateful to have a place to go this holiday.

Alright, I know you're dying to hear about the BYU vs Utah game. Well, all in all, BYU surprised all of us, including Kyle Whittingham, the first two quarters. Utah is ranked, and we held them to 0 points by the beginning of half time. They played an extraordinary first two quarters, it was actually pretty crazy. Zach Wilson was doing soooooooooooooo good. 3rd quarter even looked good, but as you know, the game doesn't end in the 3rd quarter. Utah's defense lit a spark for them at the end of the 3rd, and well, the flame got brighter for them, enough to even add an exclamation point and ultimately, beating BYU by 8 points. It was probably one of BYU's highest scoring games. But in the end, that didn't really matter. The cool thing about watching the game with Sarah, is that she had the idea of putting the computer up on the bars of our bed, and we watched it horizontally, as seen in the picture. In other news, I was at work at Amazon when another rivalry game was being played, ASU vs Arizona. ASU came back to win from under by one point. It was spread throughout the workplace right after they beat them.

Yeah, I worked a lot this weekend. So much, that it really didn't feel like a holiday (except for Thursday). I worked at the school Monday-Wednesday, and 11 hours both Friday and Saturday at Amazon. Nothing too crazy happened this week there. However, I tend to wear my BYU hat to work and a coworker noticed and he was like "BYU fan, eh?" and I was like yeah.

Sarah hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days. She did make it to church, though. Last week she was called as Primary Chorister. Well, they didn't have a pianist, so I volunteered my talents. It was pretty cool to sit in on primary. A nice change. Especially junior primary. Those little kids will melt your heart, as they did mine. I couldn't believe their testimonies of the gospel and willingness to participate, even if their participation was a little off topic. No one contacted Sarah about the basics of the calling, so she began by with songs about Christmas. Well, after junior primary, Gloria Cruz told us how things were suppose to go. She pointed us to the manual and showed us which songs we were to sing. So Sarah changed it up for varsity primary. There were definitely a whole lot more in senior primary than in Junior. And with more children came much more rowdiness. The sister in charge of Sharing Time, Sister English, shared a super nice lesson about the 10 Lepers. It was truly compelling, even after having read the story in the scriptures before. She had taped up 10 pictures of lepers around the primary room, and had them play a game where they find them and then answer a couple questions about the lesson.

I brought my computer to early meetings this morning, and I'm glad I did, as it was the thing keeping me awake, really. We had Priesthood Executive Committee with the high councilman Brother Peterson. I definitely learned a lot early this morning. Then we had Branch Council. It was pretty good. Sarah was the pianist for Branch Choir this afternoon after church. The sister leading the choir has never led music before and is really hard to follow, as well as being strong-minded. She can be easy to disagree with. I kinda wish I was leading choir now. I was helping Brother Mora do tithing, as well as printing checks for families in need for the President of the Rama.

We called mom for her birthday. I hope it was great. I know that she probably had a blast with the other kids being there, and especially Cohen.

On Tuesday, the teacher and aides of our class, the SID class, had a Thanksgiving feast that Sarah and I participated in. We were asked to bring rolls. So on Monday for FHE, Sarah and I made rolls from scratch. We had a good time making them, including making family videos whilst doing them, along with pictures. It was quite the experience. I don't know, sometimes I wonder if I have the patience to do long work, as the prospect of spending at least three hours making rolls, and a whole day making the bed really concerned me. But in the end, everything worked out just fine.

What do you think? Is it time to send up the flares for Christmas? I think so. Today I started listening to Christmas songs on Spotify. Actually, I was looking at all the playlists that Spotify has for Christmas the other day, in preparation. They have a lot. I chose my favorites, and ignored all the strange, vulgar ones. Do you remember Dan Fogelberg? I will always remember his "I Saw Three Ships come Sailing In," version of the song. Or Pat a Pan by Manheim Steamroller. Or A Charlie Brown Christmas Christmas music. There is just so many good things to listen to at Christmastime. I'm grateful for Christmas music.

I hope you are doing great. You are amazing. Keep up the good work, and congratulations on Rose's baptism. We love hearing from you!

Love,

John

Oh, I almost forgot, Sarah and I started a craft for the Christmas Holiday. Sarah picked up the stuff on Friday and actually ran into a Mesa High coworker, who let her and me go to her house to do the craft. It was fun and she actually fed us. The lady, Aundrea, helped Sarah get gas after her car wouldn't start, so fortunately she ran into her there.

11/18 Letter #95

Hi Jacob!!!

How are you these days? Don't feel too bad about your tablet's cracked screen. As the one pioneering smart devices in the family, you would think I'd be immune to such damage, but that is not the case. About a month after moving here to Arizona, I had my cell phone out on my way to the car, probably checking Instagram or getting ready to play midi from Spotify. Well, this is an exaggeration, but I feel like all of Arizona is devoid of grass an instead has been replaced by rocks or gravel or sand. My phone got knocked out of my hand opening the car door, and fell face first onto the pavement and rocks. My phone now has cracks, mostly on the bottom half. Also, I almost got a glass splinter from it to begin with, haha. So, ir happens to the best of us, if you can call me the best. Fortunately, I have insurance to either get it replaced or get a new one soon.

Guess what!?! For FHE on Monday, and after enjoying the day off, Sarah and I went to Walmart and got a tennis racket for Sarah and 6 new tennis balls, all relatively inexpensive. Sarah found a park close to where we live on 8th Avenue and Extension Rd, and even better: they have lit courts til 10pm and they are blue on the inside and green on the outside, like the US Open. We went in the evening and played and practiced there.  It's pretty cool. There are probably like 4 or so lit courts and 4 smaller courts for Pickle Ball. It is definitely another dream come true, playing tennis with my wife.

I have learned to roll with my new calling. I have also learned that if I don't get the stuff done, the presidency will just talk and talk. Fortunately, I'm a pretty fast learner and it hasn't been too hard. I did accidentally put a wrong address on a check, so we had to void that check. I do have a lot of responsibilities, though. Lot to remember. But everyone knows that I am learning. I had to process three checks today, which is more than Carlos has done at once, he said. I also had to put up sign up sheets for Tithing Settlement. It's pretty crazy stuff. Sarah was set apart as the Pianist and Music director in the Primary today. She also led the music in Sacrament Meeting this afternoon, as la hermana Castaneda wasn't there today.

Funny story. We had an assembly during school this past Friday. Well, I had just barely gotten there and helped walk the students to the auditorium. Well, this assembly was really loud, so loud that some students were getting antsy. You probably guessed what happened next in some degree. I had to help Gavin down to sit. As I walk away, I notice that he is a little more hyped up then normal. The MC of the assembly was announcing different sports teams, who would enter the auditorium and run around the basketball court. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Gavin gets up and as the MC announced another team to run around the court, Gavin just dashes. I chase him, not knowing that man, I was going to be a part of the assembly. As I chase after him with others running by, I direct him running through some people and through the doors of the auditorium to the outside. I text both Celia and Eva (the aide and teacher). He didn't run that much outside on to his normal routine of walking or running to the fence. He was calming down as I got a text from Eva to come to the classroom, where another one of the students was waiting, because I guess he was also having a negative reaction to the assembly as well. We just laughed about it later, but I'm also glad that no one got hurt in his dash outside.

Saturday was super busy for us. First I had to work from 6am to 4pm. Then I forgot my lunch pail in the breakroom, so I had to drive back to get it. Also, Presidente Castaneda told us about a bed that was available, so after I went to work and came home, we headed to the person's house that had the mattress, spring, and wooden poles. We helped them move some furniture around as well. Then the President helped us out to get it up the three flights of stairs. It was not an easy task, and I got super dirty and tired. But that wasn't the end of our day, we had decided to go to the temple. I was kinda reluctant, because of work and the other things. But when Sarah mentioned that we could go do baptisms, my ears perked up and so that is what we did, after getting the bed. (We still have to assemble it).

But that was not all. We came home in time to watch half of the second quarter of the BYU vs. New Mexico State game, and the second half. When we had arrived we were up 14-7, and it just got better from there. Really fun game to watch, and we won 45-10 in the end. It was Senior night, and they celebrated Tanner Mangum and Takitaki and Corbin Kaufusi. I'm going to really miss those guys. Tanner actually got some time to play in the game. He did pretty good, but he also threw an interception in the endzone, however, they did score at least a touchdown on one of his drives. I think most, if not all, the touchdowns were rushing by either Katoa or Hadley. They will do great things for our program, along with Zach Wilson, he's doing great. The one downside is we started slow, and we can't do that against a team like UTAH next week.

And that was the end of our night.

This evening, we had a friend/neighbor come over for dinner. Sarah made a great gulash (a mixture of several good things). The friend's name is Jackie, a lady that we met at the gym last week. She is a super nice person and she and Sarah really click, so much so that I had to go church for a priesthood meeting, probably for an hour and a half, and when I came back home, they were still talking. She is super nice and we're glad to be her neighbor.

Tonight, Sarah has to work, her first day at Amazon. It should only last a couple of hours. I hope and know that she'll be okay.

This week went by so fast. A highlight is I got to talk to both our sisters. Sarah gave me a call on Tuesday. It was a super awesome conversation. We talked Imagine Dragons, which Sarah is telling me isn't as bad as she first thought. And I agree with her. After we talked and since, I've been listening to the album on Spotify and I agree with most of the tracks she likes. Sarah also told me that for a Christmas present, she was going to let me be a parasite on her Netflix, which she has already completed today. I guess I am Johnny Rockets and mom and dad is el peruano y la gringa, and Sarah is Syrup. I am actually grateful to her, as the new season of Daredevil is on there. I'm happy that she's doing good. Work for her is challenging, but she loves the people she works with, so that's good. It was nice to talk to Briana on Friday. They're lucky as they will be seeing Mom and Dad very soon.

Sarah and I also got to watch the first Fantastic Beasts movie on Monday. Hopefully we get to watch the newest one soon. Oh, and on Friday, Sarah and I had a date night to a pizza restaurant close to across the street from where I work. We parked in my work parking garage and walked around the area. It was all decorated for the Iron Man triathlon which was going to happen on Sunday. We saw a singer in the park and danced to the sweet music. We also took a look at Rio Salado, or Salt River, and took some pictures. We had a good time on date night.

Well, I love you Bro. Have a good PDAY.

Love,

John

11/11 Letter #94

Dear Jacob,

How are you doing?

Just got done reading about Federer. He's getting a tough break. What's next? Australian Open, mate!

I missed the football game and got updates on my phone about it. Looks like we were connecting and making plays after a hard 1st quarter. Zach Wilson seems to be holding his own. I noticed that a Sports TV station (maybe ESPN) is doing a five-part documentary on Tanner Mangum and the struggles he is going through. It'd probably be for sure BYUtv. That guy has gone through a lot. He's still one of my favorite people, even though he doesn't get played anymore.  To go through depression and come out on top and then play a sport that you love, it's crazy. Also, I saw a headline saying Jimmer dropped 75 points doing whatever he is doing. Hopefully, the right people are watching. I never went through Jimmer-mania, even though he was a big thing when I was in college. I do remember seeing a Daily Universe cover with a fpicture of his face plastered on the front and I was like, who is this guy? This was before I really followed BYU basketball. I didn't really get into BYU basketball until after I graduated, thanks to you. Speaking of, there's been a lot of drama with Emery, since he was handed money and vacations and things. The program is taking a penalty that is really bad. Like they are rescinding like 20 or so games they won and getting rid of a scholarship as punishment for what Emery did. Most people do not think we deserve such a harsh punishment. Lots of DRAMA. Sports are crazy. At least we can say we won this week, and are probably one game closer to an end of the year bowl. Two more games, though. Can we do it? One is against Utah (the last one). I really want to see them creamed. They have beaten us too much. And who knows, if it is an away game, we will probably win it, since we have a great away record this year. I know that U of U played Oregon yesterday and beat them.

My first Sunday as Branch Clerk was busy. Just a whole bunch of stuff to do for other people. One of which is order a missionary plaque for a member who is serving now. Only thing, store.lds.com does not have missionary plaques. I searched through 121 items to see if I could find it. I'll have to ask around, but as of now it appears that we will be paying out of pocket for a missionary plaque, and they are so so in price. Another thing, after Branch Council, I had to make print outs of the ministering lists for the WML, a print out of less actives and actives which just turned into a print out of the branch members in order by last name for the Sisters, and a print out of the Young Men for the new Young Men's president. So, I was pretty busy, not to mention, the printer kinda broke on me so I had to help.

Presidente Diaz of the Elder's Quorum asked me if I could teach a lesson in Elders Quorum this week. Of course I said yes. The talk to take away from was The Precious Gifts from God by M. Russell Ballard from the April 2018 conference. The biggest takeaways that I tried to emphasize in my lessons were the importance of the prophet in the Latter-days, mainly President Nelson, and that the Greatest gift was the Savior of the World. Of course, I had to give the lesson in Spanish, which made it probably 2x harder. But I got through it in the end. I had some good participation, so it wasn't too bad, and my time just flew so I had to cut out other points that I wanted to make. I only have limited time during the week to work on stuff since I have two jobs, so I asked Sarah to give me a hand in thinking of ideas of things I could teach the quorum. Unfortunately, during the lesson, one of our young members had low blood pressure, so his dad had to take him in the middle. I checked in, he's doing better now, which is great.

Another one of my responsibilities is numbers. I've had that responsibility before, but only in the Sacrament. I was asked to take numbers of Priesthood, Relief Society, and Primary as well, for quarterly reports. Well, Priesthood was easy, since I was in there, I asked Elizabeth Santos, who is secretary, to get the #s for Relief Society, and she did, but I had a little backlash from the secretary of the primary today. I asked her to do it, and she said she would, but when I asked her later, her excuse was that she didn't want to do it because they do it quarterly. So, I'm going to ask the Primary President to do it for me. Sacrament was easy to do. We only have two sections of benches. We had about 76 members in sacrament. I made a Google spreadsheet to record the numbers.

After church was good. I helped do tithing with Carlos, Hno. Mora, and later with Presidente Castañeda. I kept on joking with Carlos about how he shouldn't leave me with the money as I would probably steal it. Later, I took him a reimbursement check with Sarah, and I faked that I lost it in the wind. Of course he could see through my ruse. But it was funny talking with him.

I was at church pretty early on Tuesday so that I could ask the previous Branch Clerk as many questions as I could. He should be getting me some protocol that I need to follow, as there are many things that need to get signed and reviewed by Presidente. My last blessing said I was the man for the job and that I would be able to pay attention to the detail of things of my calling.

Sarah still doesn't have a calling, but Presidente did hint to a calling that they were going to extend to her. I know in previous letters I said she was going to be Advisor to the Young Womens, and that could very well be the case, but there are several things more that the Presidente wants done before the call is extended to her. Presidente is so caring and loving and willing to help out in any way he can. It's what makes him a great leader of the church. He's helped Sarah and I a lot the past few weeks.

There was a celebration and a bit of sadness in our classroom as Tiffany, one of the aides in our classroom, put in her two week notice two weeks ago and who's last day was Wednesday. We conspired to buy her a cake and have a large lunch in the classroom as a going away gift to her. What was cool is that she bought a lot of personalized gifts for all 6 students. My favorite two have to be a head scratcher for Brady, because he likes us aides to scratch it, and a mirror for Keenen, who is obsessed with his hair. He always says, "Do You See? My Hair." Crazy, I know. Oh, and she also got Ryan a small basketball for the indoor hoop. She was also nice enough to give each of the aides and the teacher a going away card. No money, but inside it was a personal Thank You note to us. My favorite line from it was that I helped let her vent to me when she was feeling frustrated with the other aides. And that she hopes I get a job as a choir teacher someday. She also taught me to feed Jennifer through a water tube connected to her stomach. It was first a very scary thing because you only hope you are doing it right. But now I feel more comfortable doing it. I had to do it by myself on Thursday and Friday.

I'm sure you already know through Sarah and/or Briana. Imagine Dragons has come out with a new album. I first heard about it late last night, so I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure it is super great. The album Evolve, the last one, was super great. The new album is called Origins. Sarah, my wife, also introduced me to Burn Notice, season one. We got it from the library. Before, I just remembered Burn Notice as a show that you kids liked but were mad because it was taken off of Netflix. However, it is super good as well and I can see why you liked it.

Sarah and I bought lunch at work this week one day, because it was a Thanksgiving-esque type of lunch, that they advertised. It was super good. Sarah is also trying to get a job at Central Ops at Amazon with me as well. We're doing our best to get her there, but has been a bit annoying, as they haven't really been cooperating with us.

We only went to the gym once this week. Sleep has been calling out to us. Tomorrow is a Godsend of a holiday. We truly needed it. Some spring cleaning, some vegging, and of course, some studying for the NES test.

Well, I hope you are great and are accomplishing all of your wildest dreams. You are doing a great work. Can't wait to hear from you.

Love you,

John

Also, I totally forgot! Aunt Ann invited a company over for dessert and as a time to talk. We went over tonight. It was quite fun, getting to know a lot of people in her ward and acquaintances. We had some nice conversation with all the people that arrived. She is super popular in her ward, as there were probably a good 20-30 people there tonight. And two different types of cakes.