2/24 Letter #108

Hi Jacob!

Well, the week has been really great for many reasons. The biggest is that Sarah and I continue to grow closer together as a couple pretty much daily.

Another reason is we now completely have a furnished apartment. How, you might ask? Yesterday, Sarah and I got a bookshelf from our friend and coworker, Anew (She was the one that told us about that Indian Restaurant from a couple weeks back). But that is not all. While I was unloading the boxes and boxes of books we have and realizing that this one bookshelf would for sure not be able to fit all our books, we get a call and knock on our door. Carlos and Elizabeth Santos have come to visit, but not just to visit, they brought two heavy boxes to our door. We look at the boxes and they come in and tell us these two things are for us. We look at the boxes surprised, and we realize that one box is of a bookshelf and the other was a bigger box full of a dining table and chairs, all of which need to be assembled. We were shocked and didn't know what to say. Sarah started jumping up and down and hugging each person. They said they were thinking of us and knew we had a lot of books and a need for both pieces of furniture. Later that night, they helped us assemble the bookshelf and promised to come tomorrow for FHE to help us assemble the table. What miracles!

Those aren't the only pieces of furniture we got this week, though. On Monday, we went to Goodwill with the intention of just looking for a coffee table for our living room. Well, to our surprise as well, they had a super nice looking coffee table for only $20. With the help of previous Presidente Cruz, we were able to pick it up the next day. Fortunately, the Goodwill is like across the street from our apartments.

Then, to add to all the toppings, a couple days later, I was throwing out the trash, and I noticed three pieces of black wood furniture: two night tables, and one dresser. I raced to see Sarah and tell her and we decided to bring them upstairs and into our house. Needless to say, this week has been one of furniture acquiring and now we probably have filled our house with all the furniture it needs or can really fit. Really, all three events were true miracles and the Lord just pours out his blessings upon us. In total, if all the furniture had an accumlated cost, we only spent $30 for everything and the rest was gifts.

I spent a good portion of last night organizing things. Our previous coffee table was a table made from the boxes of all our books, covered in my BYU blanket. So when we replaced it with a real coffee table we had twelve very full boxes in our house everywhere. That is what I took the time to unpack yesterday, and fold the boxes up so they only take the room of flat boxes in our outside closet. The dresser is underneath our kitchen bar, centered, and the two black end tables replaced the plastic drawers we had on the side of the couch. So, after all that, we still have a bit more to unpack, but it shouldn't take that long.

Life at Mesa High School has been pretty interesting. On Thursday, our class, with some students of all the special ed classes went on a fishing field trip. Prior to going, I had been really dreading going because Gavin has been a flighty pain in the neck the past few weeks. I talked with the leader of this fieldtrip about my misgivings of taking Gavin on this trip, seeing as how there would not be a moment of peace with him there. I told her I would rather play it safe and stay with Gavin at school than go. She said that was fine and told me to talk to the teacher I work with. Well, I get to the classroom to tell Eva and after playing with my already upset emotions, she told me that Gavin's mom decided he shouldn't go to this field trip. Hallelujah!

The fishing trip was really fun, actually. Another student decided to stay home, so we ended up having four instead of the normal six. It was super cold, though. But that didn't stop all the kids from actually catching some fish. I was actually around when one student (not ours) caught a fish. I, honestly, had a hard time fishing. I'm not very good at it, not yet. I helped Brady try to catch a fish, and he wasn't very interested. We had volunteer fisherman come help the kids and one man was with Ryan in his wheelchair. The funny thing is Ryan, when the fisherman helped him with his fishing pole, he just took it and waved it around carefree. The aides also laughed at me because my small hook got caught in my jacket. It was funny. It did pour after we ate lunch. And it was so cold that Eva and the other aides took all our 4 kids back to the vans. It was a good thing because Jenna's fingers and lips were turning blue.

Even though we went with our four kids, I was assigned to be in a van with our friend, Shellie Guyver (an aide that Sarah and I love so much), and about 10 other girls. They wanted to split the boys and girls apart because of a boyfriend and girlfriend problem, haha. Well, it was quite the adventure and gave me a taste at parenting teenage girls. Two girls in particular were battling it out in front about the kinda radio station we should listen to. One girl, Jocelyn, was very animated when it came to singing songs out loud. It bugged the other girl, Teresa, to the core. So, ultimately, I decided to turn off the radio all together. Teresa was also bugged by other girls taking pictures. She didn't want to be in any of the pictures. I still like her, though; she means well in the long run, and she comes to our classroom to help.

Like was mentioned previously, Gavin was having a heyday of a week this last week. Since I'm the only one that really goes after him, it was kinda exhausting. It was also upsetting because one day, when I came back from lunch, I look around and notice that I can't find Gavin. I ask where he his, and shear panic feels Eva. He was gone. She and I leave the classroom, and look at his normal outside route, and after some scanning, Eva spots him, practically running all the way across the campus. I run after him and catch up with him. Nothing bad happened, but I still let our boss know how annoying that was. Hopefully, something will be done. Not only that, but I think the same day, the teacher tells me to take him outside for a walk. It would've been fine if Gavin was fin, but he was not. I kid you not, we walked his normal route 5 times before someone came to help redirect him. The security was also really annoyed with us because I kept calling them for help. They were like, why don't you take him out to the stadium where the track is? I got annoyed by their annoyance. I got more than 20,000 steps that day.

Our Amazon office changed buildings this last week. So, a lot of things have changed, which takes some getting use to. Change is usually good. Anyways, it's different. Everything felt new, even though I have worked at Amazon the past three or so months. We do have a popcorn machine, though. And the break room is still pretty well-equipped. The views from the break room aren't anything to brag about, like the last building's views, but we do have a nice view of a small river from the work area. Parking is good.

Sarah came to pick me up for lunch on Saturday, because my shifts had an hour and a half in between them. We went to Kneaders.

One more thing, instead of a vlog this week, I worked on a Wedding Video for our friend, Nicole Rodriguez, who is a special ed teacher at Mesa. It turned out really good. I will send it to you soon. Probably not tonight, though.

Otherwise, great week.

Love you, brother. I hope you are doing well. Thanks for everything you do.

John

2/17 Letter #107

Hi Jacob!

How was your Valentine's day? I hope you were showered from love on every side. I know that this day can be a hard one, seeing as how it sometimes focuses on having a partner that loves you...but it is so much more than that, it is showing love to ALL. Even when you are in the dating game, you need to be kind to all love the people you are serving with all your heart.

People keep asking me what I did for Sarah for Valentine's Day. It wasn't just one thing on that specific day that I did for her. I tried to show my love for her every day. This week has actually been very special. I actually didn't have to work on Thursday, for a change, so, Monday through Friday (besides school work) I had free to spoil and be there for my wife. We had decided the previous week, that we were going to go to the Phoenix Art Museum on Wednesday. It was truly an amazing experience. I got to learn more about her likes and talk with her about the things that were in there that were special to both of us. The highlights: well, we were able to go to this Islam exhibit (which is normally one you pay extra for) and just relished in the beauty of the culture that we were able to see. Intricate details that the people poured into their relics and into their faith. It was quite inspiring. Next, something created out of destruction. The story was a church had burned down, and while that can be a tragedy, the artist took the pieces of charred wood and hung them up in a cube-like manner, and made something beautiful to behold. It was something of awe. Later, we went into a room of nine projections that a group of people did in 2012. They got together in nine different parts of the globe, and made music, each person adding something of value to the whole. And then, the thing that got us ultimately, the thing we had to stop on to make the night very meaningful, something I didn't get a picture of, was a room. A room that was pitch black. You walk in to this void. But in this void are mirrors on each wall, and little lights hanging from the ceiling. You feel like you have walked into the cosmos. A room of eternity. You cannot see where one thing ends and another begins. I stood in that room, clutching Sarah's hand, and as I felt I was nothing in this grand room, I also felt that I could create something of this sort with Sarah. That she and I have begun on this path to the eternities. That we are inheritors of creation. It was truly awe-inspiring.

We have this tradition of going to get ice cream after temple trips. Well, we changed it up this week and while we were in Phoenix, after the museum, we went to get ice cream from this sweet little shop. It was called Novel Ice Cream and it was just superb. They had a choice called the Leslie Knope and they have an option that comes and goes called the Ron Swanson. The guy at the counter was super friendly and answered all our questions and let us taste every option of ice cream, while telling us why it was the best ice cream in the United States. He wasn't wrong. The two options above have things like waffles and even some bacon. He told us to follow them on Insta. We ultimately decided with a ice cream-filled glazed donut, splitting it up half and half with two flavors of ice cream, and to top it all off, they add some sort of breakfast cereal to the mix.

We then noticed across the street, a nice little pizzeria called Grand Ave. Pizza Co. We walked in and while small, there was lots to look at in this little restaurant, including a mural of the street that we were on with the corners of the street, and of course, in this mural, were many universes combined, including a Ninja Turtle and the Batmobile. And on top a devil eating some pizza on a unicycle. We got two slices of the special which had so many things on it that you wouldn't think would normally go on a pizza. And surprisingly it was soooooooo good. Needless to say, our excursion to Phoenix was successful and fun.

Our Valentine's day was actually super awesome, too! First of all, I was asked to be a DJ for our Special Ed Valentine's day Party. The party was in our classroom in 501. When they asked me to do so, I was a bit daunted, but then I asked Sarah to help me and everything worked out so much. At first I had the idea just to make a YouTube playlist, which we did, but then Sarah reminded me about the Ads that populate YouTube in between songs. So Sarah had the great idea to make the playlist on our Spotify account, which has no ads (since we pay premium). It was a good idea, and the music on the playlist we made was very well received. I kept on telling everyone that I don't want to be a DJ professionally because it is hard being the person in the room who everyone hates or simultaneously loves, haha. I was only kidding.

But what was also awesome, is Sarah and I were also invited to a courthouse wedding on Valentine's day and a later dinner at a restaurant called Buca di Beppo. The wedding was for our friend and colleague Nicole Rodriguez. She was getting married to a man named Adam, who I hadn't met previously. Only a couple of us were invited, so it was pretty intimate, and it was a nice wedding. The judge was pretty cool. He had a long graying beard. He read everything that he said, but some of the stuff that he read was super insightful and profound, about love and the things you bring in to a marriage. It was a nice little ceremony and I felt happy to be included with my wife. The dinner afterwards was small and intimate as well. This restaurant is meant for the family and Sarah and I got a shrimp pasta. It lasted us two days. We were like, if we're going to spend several dollars, might as well go for something of value, besides your usual pasta dishes like spaghetti or lasagna. This restaurant, though, was a spectacle to behold. I've never really seen a restaurant like it. There were pictures and collages on every wall of just about everything. Sculptures and the like. No two spaces were alike. The company was pretty cool to. The people who came were a lot of her aides and our friends, Pam and Sabrina and Annie and her husband Jonathan, and the two witnesses, who were Adam's friends. It was quite the event to go to on Valentine's day. The restaurant even offered a heart-shaped Lasagna on that day.

Other interesting things that happened this week is that Gavin was sick most of the week. We think he has an aversion to the bus now because of throwing up the last few times he's been on them. So much so that when we take him to the bus at the end of the day, he makes a run for it. He's successfully attempted to run away multiple times. And of course, I am the one that runs after him. Well, he makes it to the field on the opposite end of the field, and we have to calm him down. Fortunately, the security guards have been of great help the last couple of times, when they could probably be doing other things of import. We find that if we have Gavin push the bike the security guard is on, it calms him down and leads him to the place we need him to go. Well, he was so uppity one of the times that when the security guard offered to let him push her bike, he actually got on the bike. Like literally on it, riding it, the security guard on his left pushing and me on his right helping to push. Well, we actually and literally pushed him from the fields all the way on campus to the buses on the other end of the school. We were definitely a sight to behold. If someone had a camera, they would have seen a grown boy pedaling with two adults on his left on his right going down the sidewalk passed passerbys and walking to the bus. I would pay for that picture and the memory. I'm sure I'll get more memories like this.

Gavin has been acting really strange lately, and I met his mom one of the days this week for the first time. She's unsure what is really wrong with the guy, since he can't really talk. I follow him out to the field and he walks the same loop like twenty times in a row before he breaks out of it, or I have to be relieved. And sometimes when he does get out of the loop, it is hard to even get him back to the classroom without him bounding straight back to the field. It's a little annoying, really. Sarah actually followed me out to the field to help me with Gavin and let me know that it was lunch time. She got Gavin out of his loop and we walked around the whole of the school before Eva took Gavin back to the classroom, or so we thought. He actually stayed outside and Eva stayed out with him for like an hour, according to her.

We have many friends that we eat lunch with. We have lunch with Shellie and her daughter Aundreia, who is an aide and SpEd teacher respectively. A couple of aides, Sabrina and Kari. A guy that stays on his phone and watches videos and doesn't interact with anyone. And two women from the school office. Both of which are our friends. One of the woman is named Robin and she cracks up at all of Sarah's jokes. She and Aundreia have daughters in girl scouts. A couple of weeks ago we helped them out by buying girl scout cookies from them. Robin has a good sense of humor and is very real. The other woman, Birdie, or Bertie, is an attendance worker. She is hispanic and has given us oranges to eat on occasion. She sits by Sarah and me. She is good friends with us and at the end of the day, when we're ready to go out to the car, we stop by her window and just talk about certain things. Also on our way to see Aunt Kerry. The lunchroom is actually a fun place to be at, and I'm grateful for all the friends Sarah and I have made.

We had Elder's planned for Tuesday but actually it was Wednesday when we were suppose to feed them. Well, since we had actually planned Phoenix Art Museum for Wednesday, we proposed that we buy them a $20 gift card to a restaurant of their choosing. They said they would love that and that they had to discuss which restaurant that they wanted. They ultimately chose Jack in the Box of all choices. We gave them $20 to go spend there.

Sarah was asked to give a talk this morning at church on the talk that Elder Holland gave in conference called " The Ministry of Reconciliation." She did so great. She had everyone in the room close their eyes and think of the person they would want to see most and put all the feelings of love and joy they feel from this person in a box to think about later. She emphasized that we need to forgive others. She brought up a Hawai'an word that means four things: I forgive you, I'm Grateful, I'm sorry, and I can't remember the other. She kicked butt with her talk.

On Tuesday at church meetings, I successfully helped one of our brothers retrieve his lds.org username and password. The sad thing about his username is that his name has an acccent on an e so everytime he enters his username with a keyboard, he needs to know how to do that with the keyboard. It's much easier on the cellphone. Sarah had a relief society activity, and I also helped reimburse the sisters with their receipts.

Well, I sent you the last two vlogs. I hope you enjoy. The last one was hard to make, as I hardly had any footage, but as you can see I chose a Back to the Future theme and did a lot of talking. I didn't have a lot of time to spend on them, but ultimately I am happy with them.

Saturday at work was not so fun. But I got through it. And after work there was a Branch Valentine's day party where there was a dance and posole and tres leches cake.

I've been watching a whole bunch of cooking shows with Sarah. We have settled on a show called Zumbo's Just Desserts on Netflix. We are going to finish the last two episodes of the season today. It should be good, in that we have invested a lot of emotions of the characters and bakers of the show.

I hope you have a good President's Day. Briana found out about the missionary info first, at least, she texted the family about it first. I think mom and dad heard about it before her. It's pretty fun news. Hopefully we'll use the time talking with you to our advantage. We love you soooooo and enjoy hearing from you, whether it be letters or video chat or texting. We're excited.

Love,

John