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 Well, this is an exaggeration, but I feel like all of Arizona is devoid of grass an instead has been replaced by rocks or gravel or sand.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
