Week #57 - Simply Awesome

This week was pretty awesome! Simply that...

(the end?)

Haha just kidding, I should say more concerning the week.

Well the week started out how it usually starts out.. .uper duper slow. But from Thursday on, the rest of the week was pretty awesome.

To start with the good, we had our zone conference on Thursday which was a really great experience for me personally. President Nelson started out the conference very very seriously, talking about the obedience to the mission rules. Which is normal, but this time he was especially serious. In the past week, four missionaries were sent home from the mission. Why? Disobedience. It was honestly really sad, because I knew them, they are my friends. But the temptations got the best of them.

Hermana Nelson got up to share a little talk during the conference as well, and her few words were filled with love, and concern. She talked about the time when she was a seminary teacher, and one of her favorite little videos to share with the class. Basically it is about this young man, who conquered this big mountain, and when he got to the top of this mountain, he found a snake. The snake spoke to him, saying "Please help me, the top of this mountain is cold, and there is no food. Put me in your shirt and carry me down the mountain." But the young man responded, "No. I know what you are. You are a rattlesnake. If you bite me, I will die." Then snake goes on persuading the young man that he wouldn't bite him, but just to help him down the mountain. Eventually, the rattlesnake did convince the young man, and he put him in his shirt and carried him down the mountain. Once they got down to the bottom, the young man took the rattlesnake out of his shirt and placed it on the ground. And in that moment, the rattlesnake curled up, shook its rattle, and bit the young man. The young man was very upset, saying "But you promised that you wouldn't bite me!" The rattlesnake responded, "You knew what I was before you picked me up."

Thanks to the Light of Christ, we already know was is sin, and that that isn't. And as members, we have the additional help from the Spirit, to make better decisions concerning right from wrong. But, if we make one wrong decision, it is easier to do it again. And again. And again. So we need to do all that we can to make to decision that is according to the will of the Lord.

I heard somethings that I really needed to hear. Knowing that my obedience wasn't perfect in that moment, we returned home from the conference, and we committed ourselves to be exactly obedient missionaries of the Lord. And with that commitment, we immediately saw miracles. We had more lessons, found more investigators, set baptismal dates, and with other such miracles, we had a great rest of the week. 

I know the obedience isn't always easy, but it is certainly possible. As we are constantly being tempted and persuaded by that rattlesnake, we are more powerful than him. And as we obey and keep the convents that we have made with the Lord, we will surely be blessed.

*** Step Stats ***

Impressive 5k results from Cooper and Keaton! I remember running a lot sophomore year. Then I got out of shape. Here are the steps from this week ...

Monday, March 14 - 20550

Tuesday, March 15 - 22412

Wednesday, March 16 - 20932

Thursday, March 17 - 9984

Friday, March 18 - 15740

Saturday, March 19 - 20243

Sunday, March 20 - 19980

I updated SuperCooper's Fitbit profile picture to the cute one I took after his 5k on Saturday (you can read about it in Cooper's letter below). I did better this week but oops, Daddy dropped off!  He's been doing some biking, and that usually doesn't show up as "steps" on Fitbit counting. Good to see Grandpa in the Top10 again!. 

*** Between Brothers ***

Dear Landon, I did have one game this week, I got 7 points with a few assists. Near the end of the game, I took a shot and a kid full on pushed me to the ground. One ref called a flagrant foul but the other ref overruled it because he just wanted the game to end. Golden State now has 7 losses because they went against the second seed San Antonio. Spurs were undefeated at home, so that was the main reason they won. Warriors will have to win 11 of their next 13 games to beat the record that the Bulls set in 1996. Dad, Keaton, and Coop all went on the 5K run. (3 miles) I didn't go because I heard there was going to be over 300 people there. On the lowest part of the hoop, I was able to dunk on it with a mini ball! I was at school a few days ago playing tornado, the kid in front of me already got his shot off before mine because the ball slipped out of my hand, so I cam hurrying back then I just chucked up the ball and made and got him out! Anyway, I don't have anything else to tell you about, soooooooo, talk to you next week! Love ya. ColtBolt

Dear Landon, this week I practiced a lot with my ball handling (even though I am still really good at it). I have been bringing two balls to school, so I could practice dribbling with both of them, and I learned more stuff. Some of the things I learned is doing them through my legs, behind my back, switching them back and forth, and some sort of juggling that I do not know what to call. And with one ball, I can dribble really low, and it makes it look really cool. But it also comes with a price, because I have cut some of my fingernails too short, and there is a nasty cut on my middle finger. I have had the cut on my middle finger for about two months, but it never bled. But a few weeks ago, it started bleeding, and it can't stop because I keep on hitting hit everywhere. So mom and I bandaged my fingers up, and it has helped a lot. There has been a few cool games this week, like the Charlotte Hornets have been dominating in March. I do not know if I have told you, but the Hornets are my favorite team, and I think they will have a playoff spot at the end of the year! San Antonio, Golden State, OKC, and the Cavs have all clinched a playoff spot, and that means no matter how many losses they get right now, they will still be in the playoffs. On the other hand, Philadelphia, LA Lakers, Phoenix, and Brooklyn have all clinched NOT being in the playoffs, so no matter how much they win, they won't be in the playoffs. One of the games that was cool was San Antonio vs Golden State or #2 vs #1. They are both undefeated at home, and it was at San Antonio, so I was ready for the Warriors losing. And it happened, because SAS only allowed them to score 79 points, as they got 87 points. Now the Warriors are 62-7, meaning they have to win 11 out of their las 13 games to beat the best record in NBA history (72-10, Chicago Bulls). Dad, Keaton, and I all ran a 5K (3mi.) race yesterday, an it was really fun. I estimated that there were probably 350 people there, and I got 19th place overall, and 2nd in my age group with a time of 23:55.5! Keaton got 20th overall, and I got 12 seconds faster than him. We got some cool shirts as well to kind of prove that we ran this race, and there were also some prizes at the end. Love, Cooper

Dear Landon, it's only a three day week for school this week because of spring break on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. Next week we have two days because it's the end of the quarter. I think I have all A's, but I'm still worried if I mess up something at the last minute and I can't fix it. Next week is Easter. Do they celebrate Easter down in Mexico? I'm thinking that we'll go to Grandma and Grandpa's house this Saturday for the Westra get together and Easter egg hunt and we'll go to Maga's on Sunday for something Easter-ish. I forgot to tell you last week that we had daylight savings. Our time jumped forward an hour, so now we have the same time! I actually like this daylight savings better because the sun is out longer at night. In gym, we were playing handball this week and some guy was talking to his teammates and said, "Don't worry about him. He's a cripple!" I was like, "Hmmmmmmm..." I was playing against that guy and I totally bodied him on a pop fly and knocked him into a wall. Also, we were right next to each other and both jumped for the ball. Of course I got it, since I can jump higher, but he jumped for it too and his nails skidded on my cast and started bleeding, and I was like, "Who's the cripple now??" It was so funny. So yeah... Your boi, Keat

• Dear Colton: Ah what a shame.. I would've called it a flagrant.. can't be pulling that kind of stuff on the court! I heard that March Maddness has started, with Utah in as a number three seed, what?! That is pretty awesome!
• Dear Cooper: Wow, sounds pretty impressive with your ball handling skills! I am alright with my ball handling skills in basketball, but now I need to improve them for soccer! I got nothing when it comes to soccer. But I have made some goals, but just thanks to teammates who know how to set me up, haha. Ugh.. That is the worst! I also had the same problem.. It hurts sooo bad. And then you just have to wait an eternity and a half until they heal. Sounds fun
• Dear Keaton: I'm sure you can deal some serious damage with that cast.. You are a bit like Ironman in a way! Haha. So to answer your question, yes. oh yes, they sure celebrate Easter here. But here it is called "La Pascua" or "Semana Santa" (Holy Week), where they actually have all sorts of different activities they do all week. Marches, reinactments, fairs, etc.. The Catholics go crazy during Semana Santa.. One of the traditions that is especially weird is on Saturday. It is called "Sabado de Gloria" (Saturday of Glory) where all the little pranksters of the town get people in the street wet with water (sometimes beer)... Soooo.. Not looking forward to that. Also in general, working is harder, because everyone is either partying, sleeping, or drunk. But oh well. I will let you know if anything "interesting" happens this week.. Hopefully no!