7/1 Letter #75

Hey Man,

What a week it has been...I'm sure you've heard news from Mom and Dad about our new little nephew Cohen. I can't wait to meet the little guy. We are planning on going up for the baby blessing, so we have something to look forward to. According to Granny, Mom and Dad were bushed, as they made the Rexburg to Hurricane trip in one day, and today they made it back. So many hours in two days on the road, as they were on the road for 7 long hours today.

We had the Sisters over today for an impromptu dinner with them. We solely spoke Spanish as to help the new Greenie Hermana Hawkes. It is always nice having the missionaries over, as they invite the spirit into our home. They shared the Mormon Message "None were With Him" video in Spanish.

Well, I spent all of the weekdays preparing for a NES test in Special Education. I took it on Thursday. I needed 220; I got a 204. I'm going to retake it sometime this week, probably Thursday or Friday. I have ordered Test Prep materials and will probably be ordering sample tests. The hardest part is that the test costs $95, each time you take it. I have a good feeling about this next time that I take it. Prayers would help, of course. I'm going to spend every second at home this week to studying for the test. I wasn't as devastated. Of course, the initial shock was a bit much, so I had to drown out my sorrows with a torta from a mexican restaurant. But really, I got over it quick. In studying for it this week, I'm going to look for the procedures that a Special Ed teacher takes FIRST in different situations, as there were a lot of those questions. Also, the preparation that I did with Study.com, only worked so much. They didn't prepare me as much as I had hoped. And I spent a long time studying from that material. Sarah had the idea to take a practice test the day before the actual test I took, and it was an eyeopener. I hope not to be shocked with the coming test that I take this week.

So yeah, we are making plans to move to Arizona. The details aren't set in stone yet. We did think about going to Arizona at the end of this week, and staying with Aunt Kerry for a night...but we'll see what happens. Apartments are definitely a lot cheaper there. What it costs for us to have a 1BR house here, is what it costs there to have a 2BR house. We are unsure of where we are going to live just yet, and trying to make spirit-guided decisions about what Spanish Ward to be in there. We are thinking about calling the mission president of Mesa Arizona and asking him which wards need us most, as he suggests.

We got to do Baptisms for the Dead with our ward on Thursday. There were many people there, including the Mondragons. I had the opportunity to do confirmations, in Spanish. It was definitely a learning experience. There were times I messed up and had to start over. A couple of times, I forgot to say Church of Jesus Christ. Instead, I said Church of Latter-day Saints (all in Spanish, of course). It was definitely a time well spent at the temple. I always enjoy going there. There is so much that the spirit teaches while we are there.

Afterwards, Sarah and I decided to go to Jimmy John's, as Sarah has been craving those sandwiches for the longest time. It was my first time I think. But we found this whole center that is well hidden in the Redlands area. There were even movie theaters and lots of restaurants and stores. I was amazed, because they had Bahama Bucks. I had to share the amazing drink I had gotten there before. However, Sarah didn't like it as much, and we were sharing. The sandwiches at Jimmy John's were so good, though.

Yesterday was Natalie Young and Luke's wedding reception. We went to it. It was a good time, in that we saw old friends, and new ones, and in between. I got to reconnect with the Harris' and the Bishop of the single's ward, Bishop Ellsworth. The chicken garlic pasta was the greatest thing there. Not to mention, Sister Young told us that we could take home as much food that was leftover as we wanted. And there was a lot. So of course, we took her up on her offer at the end of the reception. The food was good, the cake was good, and I think I missed out on chocolate fountains. I saw a returned missionary, Jeremias Platero...Diego Salas, Scott McDermott and Rachel Wheeler, and of course, we said hi to the newlyweds.

That, and we were proud to announce to everyone in attendance, that we were celebrating our 6 month-a-versary at the party. It was definitely perfect, being able to celebrate at a function that we were celebrating as well. For our anniversary, I got the idea to make a heart out of post-it notes with 50 things I love about Sarah and stick them to our bathroom mirror. Funny thing, I decided to do it Friday night, after Sarah fell asleep. By the time I was done (it took me some time), I went to lay down next to Sarah. Well, when I moved the bed, it woke her up. Well, she went to the bathroom, and was so surprised to see it. Fortunately it was after 12 midnight, and I told her HAPPY 6 MONTHS! Another Funny thing, is that she didn't fully realize that it was the shape of a heart until after she had gone to work the next day. Haha. Fun times.

Sarah and I went to pick up dad from the airport on Monday. It was my first time driving into LAX on my very own (with Sarah's help). She knew how to get there as well, as she knows the LA freeways like the back of her hand. We tried to guess what type of shirt dad would be wearing and what color the background of the walkway would be. I introduced Sarah to it, as she had never been to Tom Bradley International airport arrivals. Needless to say, dad was wearing a button down white shirt with stripes.

Earlier that day, we went to Sarah's mom's house in Torrance and visited with her sister Lisa and my nephew and niece Adina and Julius. Lisa asked me for a blessing, as their family is going through hard times right now. Adina was feeling sick, so I also blessed her, and after the blessing she felt much better. Julius read us a Sponge Bob book that he really likes. It was good being there for their family in their time of need, and just building relationships with my family.

I went to help Sarah's dad do some stuff on Wednesday, I also helped him do his laundry. Since he is older, he has a harder time carrying things and standing up for long periods of time. So, it was good to help him out. We invited him to date night with us on Friday. We watched Ant-Man, in honor of the sequel coming out this next friday: Ant-man and the Wasp. We will be watching it sometime soon, for sure.

Well, I'm out of news for the week. It's been a good, crazy week. Oh yeah! Dad got me a BLACK Peruvian Jersey, as we watched the Peru vs. Australia game and went to eat breakfast burritos at Nogales Burgers. It was quite the time.

Wimbledon starts tomorrow. Crazy as well. And Argentina and Spain are out for the count in the World Cup.

Well, have a great P-day, and we love you!

John

7/8 Letter #76

JACOB!

Just thought I'd write your name in all CAPS, no biggie.

I just sent you news of Federer. Hopefully, it comes to your liking. I'm sure it will since you'll read that he's still in at Wimbledon and making his way to be Grand Slam champion. We may even see him in a rematch of his life against Nadal (and win, of course). I was looking at the draw and they could definitely play in the final. Here's the 16 left in play. Of course, there are a lot of sweet potentials in the sweet 16, so even if it isn't Nadal, and it's someone else, it should be quite the match-up.

Round of 16·Court 12 4:45 AM M. McDonald 13 M. Raonic

Round of 16·Court 2 4:45 AM 24 K. Nishikori E. Gulbis

Round of 16·Center Court 5:00 AM 1 R. Federer 22 A. Mannarino

Round of 16·Court 3 6:00 AM 9 J. Isner 31 S. Tsitsipas

Round of 16·Court 1 6:15 AM G. Monfils 8 K. Anderson

Round of 16·Court 2 6:45 AM 5 J. del Potro G. Simon

Round of 16·Center Court 8:15 AM J. Veselý 2 R. Nadal

Round of 16·Court 1 8:15 AM K. Khachanov 12 N. Djokovic

Unfortunately, I haven't been, watching it at all. But, I just made a deal with Sarah to find the streaming for me on Monday (that way there are no potential spoilers as to who won, and by how much. Maybe you know where to find it to stream, for a replay. I honestly hope I don't get any spoilers as to the winner.

That said, I have been paying attention to the World Cup, for the most part. I ended up seeing the end of the Belgium vs. Russia game that happened on Saturday. I guess, by the end of regulation time, they were tied 1-1. By the end of overtime, each team had scored a second goal, 2-2. So, they ended up going to a much needed penalty tiebreaker. Well, it was a heartbreak for Russia, that's for sure, although, dad told me their draw wasn't that hard to begin with. Well, They lost to Belgium 4-3 in penalties.

So, the Final Four are France vs. Belgium, and Croatia vs. England. I would be happy if Belgium upset France, in that Peru was in their group and lost to them. But, I guess that is the opposite as how you think, in that, like in football, you want the opponent of your team to win all their games in order to show how strong your team is if they lose to them. Boise State is coming to mind. Like, if Boise beats BYU, you want Boise to win all their games to show that BYU still was resilient. Anyways, I might be looking into things too much. Anyways, Belgium deserves to win, as I have never heard of them winning a World Cup final before. Nope, just checked, they have never won. You know, an underdog win would be great, like them or Croatia. I guess, by next Sunday (or Monday, since that's when I hope to watch it) we will have some news for you. Who's your pick of the four? You, probably don't care at all. I know I haven't really since Peru didn't make it.

Well, it's been a crazy week. I like crazy weeks, though; it means things have happened. Which keeps me and my beautiful wife busy.

I'll start by saying: we have decided to move to Arizona. Our plan is that I move first to Arizona on my own for a month and live with Aunt Kerry. We got the okay from her to do so. In that month, I will have acquired a job, hopefully the aforementioned job where I work with Rio Salado College and get my credentials in two years. That is what we are hoping for. In the mean time, Sarah will continue living in California for the month or until we are fully satisfied with my being in Arizona and acquiring a job (whichever comes first[but no longer than a month]). We're still working out the kinks about what is going to happen with our apartment. According to the apartment contract, we need to give 30 days notice that we're leaving before, or they can make us wait a month before we move out. So, since today is the 8th, we may not be able to move out until the next month (meaning at the end of August). We're hoping after we talk to our landlady, that that'll not be so, and that Sarah and I can move out by the end of July, perhaps put our stuff into storage, and Sarah move back in with Shaunna Lee, the lady she lived with before we got married (who was Mormon and great). We had a long conversation about it today, which is why we haven't acted before this to talk to our landlady. Pray for us. We have been fasting and praying about this stuff for a while now. This is definitely a big, life-changing moment in our lives.

Mom, Dad, Sarah, and I went to go watch the firework show at the Claremont Colleges this year, like two years ago. Sarah and I picked up the tickets on Monday and met at our house to drive together. Since dad has his handicapped, we were able to park super close to the field. The only thing, the way in and out was super barricaded and super narrow to get through. On our way out after the show, dad accidentally drove over the side of the curve and bumped into some traffic cones. I don't blame him, though, I mean, he was driving the van, of all cars in the narrowness.

The show was great! But what was fun was the anticipation and the things we did before hand. We went to Stater Bros before and picked up some fried chicken, potato wedges, and potato salad. We ate that like pigs. We had brought my BYU blanket and another blanket from home to claim our spot. Mom and Dad had bought 2 new lawn chairs, so we each had a place to sit near our spot. We played a game of Skunk, although, Dad got super frustrated with the game and quit right before we were about to finish because he thought I had taught the wrong rules. The band, we think, was the same band from the year we all went together as a family. The Bangelers or something was there name. They played some fun songs. And actually, Sarah and I danced to the slide. Then we also danced some more. Lots of people were looking, but it was great. And lastly, dad had brought the official FIFA World Cup soccer ball. I started playing around with it. Dad was surprised that I could hold my own juggling and he wanted in. So we practiced juggling the ball in what little space we had, at least until we knocked the ball into a neighboring claim. Sarah was playing with us too. But when that happened, we stopped. It was a good thing we brought two blankets because by the time it was getting ready for the firework show, it actually got a bit chilly. We watched the show and were amazed. 

That being said, the last three days have been excruciatingly hot here in Bloomington/Fontana. Like in the 120s, no kidding.

The wife of my friend, Gus Falcon, who got married at the same time as Briana and asked me to be a best man, is pregnant. We missed the baby shower, because we were doing the camping. We decided to get them a card to support them and we took it to their house on Thursday, so we could visit with them. We ended up going to Del Taco and eating dinner with them on the fly. It was a nice time. That night, they invited Sarah and I out to the movies. We turned them down, but rainchecked for the next day.

Of course, we had to go watch the movie Ant-man and the Wasp, newly released this week. It was definitely a really great movie. Another plus for the MCU. I wanna say more about it, but I don't want to spoil the awesomeness of the MCU and how this movie ties in with Infinity War. All I'm going to say, is, where ever we are, I hope we can watch these movies together. We went to Edwards at Ontario because Sarah and I had free tickets from Sarah's friend. So, we got to take some pictures next to an Antman sign and I took a picture next to Jurassic World (even though we haven't seen it yet). 

Ant-man and the Wasp: a must see when you get home, hands down.

Sarah and I spent our time with Sarah's mom on Saturday at her house in Torrance. We were planning on going to Arizona this weekend, but plans changed. We helped Sarah's mom make a dent in cleaning out her garage. We were there for a while. We had beans and hotdogs for lunch, and later, Sarah and I went to Tommy's Burgers on our way home. We were cleaning out the dirt and files of paper and the odds and ends. Moving shelves and recycling unwanted books and keeping several books. At the end of all this, Sarah tried to help her Mom connect two printers to her new laptop. She has a Chromebook, which is new tech, and it wasn't really compatible with any of the printers they had in the home. But we were able to get a printer to work with my computer, which is something we have been praying for. We didn't have a printer, and Sarah's mom gave it to us, when hers didn't work with her computer.

Today, I cut my lip while shaving. The cut wouldn't clot, so I was just bleeding and bleeding. So, Sarah got a small band-aid from our first-aid kit and we put it on my lip. It finally stopped the bleeding, since Sarah used Neosporin. I did wear a band-aid all day at church and Self-reliance class. I got many questions about what I did to my face. Mostly all concerned members of the church, so I took no offense, haha. Sarah taught a lesson about Gideon from the bible, and I taught a lesson about the covenants we make, while also reviewing last weeks lesson about ordinances.

I found out that I need to wait 30 days before I can retaked the NES Special Ed test again, and the TIR HR person in the Mesa Schools HR isn't going to be in until the 19th of this month. Once again, pray for us that everything will work out.

One last thing: last week was Sarah and my 6 months together. I made Sarah a heart shape out of post it notes and stuck them to the mirror. I am going to send you that picture. On each not was a thing I love about Sarah.

Otherwise, it seems to work when I tell you to send me a line, so please do...You know how much I love to hear from you.

Send me questions if you have any.

Love you, bud,

John