JUL_2_18_MOM_PITT_From Cohen's Grandma

 Mother!!

From all of the pictures that I've seen of Baby Cohen, it DOES seem like he's serious all the time!! As he continues to get older, I'm sure that he'll develop more of a personality. At least, by the time his Uncle Jake comes home, he'll be ready to laugh at all of the crazy faces I make at him. I mean, he'll probably cry at first, because I'm not that good with kids. But after that initial crying phase, he'll learn to love me!! I'm sure of it!!

I saw the pictures of all of the clothes that Dad brought Baby Cohen from Peru!! They area absolutely adorable!! I can't wait to see pictures of Cohen wearing them! The pictures of you and Dad holding him and making faces at him were priceless as well!! It seems like you're assuming your role as doting grandparents very well!! Keep up the good work!!

As I was writing in my journal last night, it occurred to me that the Fourth of July is coming up soon, like you mentioned!! I remember the last Fourth of July like it was yesterday!! It's crazy how fast time goes on the mision!!I remember what I was wearing (white shirt and tie, go figure), where we went, and what we did to celebrate (proselyte). This is my first recurring holiday on my mission!! So far, Elder Jones and I don't have too many plans. We're thinking about going to the house of Brother McDermott, a less active member of our ward, for dinner. Last time we were at his house, he made some SPICY Jamaican chicken. It was super good, but it basically killed my taste buds. I'm excited for it!! Also, I think it'd be cool to go on the roof of our building at 9pm and watch the fireworks. We'll see if I can convince Elder Jones to do it, as he doesn't seem too hot on the idea right now.

Regarding transfers, they are on July 19, so not for a few more weeks. Which means I'll find out who my new companion is the Saturday before then.And yeah, we had Zone Conference just this past Friday. It's always fun to see other missioaries. Almost all of my past companions were there at Zone Conference (not Elder Payne, since he's at home, and not Elder Petersen... for obvious reasons). It was pretty cool to catch up with them, especially Elder LIn. He had his first baptism a few weeks ago, so it was cool to talk about that!! I wish me and him could be companions again. That was the point of my mission that I was defintely the happiest. Companions are EVERYTHING, let me tell you. It's not so much the place you are, but the people you're with.

NOT too much happened this past week. I went on exchanges with Elder Stock, who is one of the Zone Leaders. He's an awesome guy, and I always know that whenever I'm with him, it's going to be a CRAZ day. He's a great example o talking to EVERYONE. And I mean literally EVERYONE. Nobody walks by without hearing about the Restoration, or getting a card, or something. And in downtown Pittsburgh, that's quite the feat. We missed a couple o busses because he was too busy talking to everyone. 

We also got to teach a woman named Maria who is pretty cool.When Elder Jones and Elder Aguinaga were here on exchanges, it was raining like crazy. While they were waiting at the bus stop, Elder Aguinaga gave his umbrella to Maria, who was just standing there getting soaked. She was extremely grateful for the act of service, and invited us to learn more about th message we share. She's pretty awesome!! Service totally opens doors!! And it makes you feel good too :)

Anyways, here's the highlights for this week!!

- I've decided to take a picture in front of all of the murals in Pittsburgh. So you can look forward to seeing more pictures like the ones I sent you. Because there are LOTS of murals here in Downtown.

- There's a woman named Linda Zellars in our ward who is the self proclaimed "Poster Girl" for the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission. She always makes posters for us, and comes up with a nickname. Well, apparently I'm Elder Gospels. And Elder Skinnybones, Elder Speedy, and Elder Guns-All-Of-Us. Yup. You read that last one correcly. Kinda disturbing hahaha,

- I talked to my first Hebrew Israelite!! They are an interesting bunch. They believe that Jesus was black and that only black people will go to heaven. Hmmm.

- I made enchiladas for me and my companion!! Mom, you would be so proud of me!

That's all I've got for this week!! I love you!! Keep on keeping on! Fight the Good Fight!!

Elder Jake Gonzales

On Sun, Jul 1, 2018, 9:45 PM <perucalica@aol.com> wrote:

Sunday, July 01, 2018

Hi Buddy Boy,

Wow, what a week! As I’m sure that you are aware, I left to go to Rexburg on the 23^rd to spend some time with Briana, Tony and Cohen. It was a very uneventful week with regard to doing anything outside of just trying to figure out how to keep Cohen happy.  He had his days and nights turned around in the beginning.  The first night that he was home, he slept all day and was up all night long.  That’s pretty exhausting.  The older he has gotten, however, the more he is learning that when it’s light outside it’s time to be awake and when it’s nighttime, it’s time to sleep.  Poor Briana has gotten the brunt of trying to keep up with him but she has done a good job.  Tony is also very helpful.  He really is a beautiful baby (and I’m not just saying that because I’m his Grandma!)  My favorite times with him were when it was late at night and I’d be holding him and he would just look at me with his dark eyes and listen to everything that I was talking to him about.  He has the best expressions that he makes with his little face.  He seems very serious all the time.  Sometimes when Briana would be burping him, he would turn his little head and look at her like “Really Mom, do you have to do that?”  In case you couldn’t tell, I think he’s a cute little thing and I’ve fallen in love with him already.

Dad arrived in Rexburg on Friday evening.  He was in a hurry to come home as he said that he’s sick of traveling and just wanted to have some time at home.  So, we left Rexburg yesterday and drove as far as Hurricane.  We stayed with Granny last night and continued home today.  Sundays are definitely not a good day to come through Las Vegas.  It took us 7 hours to drive from Granny’s house to home.  I am just glad to be here, too.  I was trying to add up the number of days that I’ve been home in the last little while and I can tell you, that it’s not very many.  It’s hard to believe that I have to go back to work in about 4 weeks.  I’m not ready for that.  I haven’t even thought about work at all this summer.

The 4^th of July is coming up soon.  I think that Dad and I may be going to the Claremont fireworks this year as we tried Fontana’s show last year and it was an organizational nightmare.  Even though it costs less here I think that it’s worth paying a little bit extra and not having to deal with the mess.  What are your plans for the 4^th?

Well, BYU is within about 2 months to go before their first football game.  I’ll be so glad when it’s footbal season again.  I’m not sure how we’ll do this year as I hear that it’s a very tough schedule but we can always hope.

As for ward news, Natalie Young got married yesterday.  Obviously, we were unable to attend but I did see some pictures on Facebook. So, all the Young girls are all married now.  As for other ward news, I don’t know any because I haven’t been to church in 2 weeks now.  Today as we were driving home from Utah I was thinking I’d rather be in church.  I miss going.  The Millers came home fromt their mission yesterday.  Remember, they were serving in Massachusetts Boston Mission as Mission President and wife.  They finally got back.  3 years flies when you’re having fun!

How’s the missionary work going for you and Elder Jones?  How many weeks more is it until transfers?  Have you had any zone conferences or interviews recently? 

I hope that everything is going well for you.  I think about you constantly.  The kids continue to talk about coming to California when you get home so that we can all go to Disneyland together as a family.  I am so proud of you and your efforts even when everything isn’t always pleasant nor easy.  You’ve got this and you are a good example to me and your Dad and siblings of endurance.

I love you sooooo much. Have a great week.

Love,

Mom