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| Our stay at home, no make-up, happy selves ready for home church! |
Life was just moving along. We were happy with our home, family, callings at church, temple attendance and I was starting my real estate career by doing online classes and hoping to take the exam in May. We had heard some reports of a Corona Virus which was affecting people in China and there were starting to be deaths from it. It didn't really affect the U.S. yet. We hadn't built up our food supply since moving here a year ago but we felt like maybe that's something we should start doing, now. We used our date night about three weeks ago and shopped at Costco and our local grocery store, Macey's. Costco was already out of water and toilet paper and things hadn't even really been declared as a major world crisis yet.
Our world has turned upside down very quickly as this serious and deadly virus has been spreading for the last few weeks all over the world. It started in China and quickly spread through Europe and now here and literally everywhere. Nothing like this has ever happened in our world before, but, this is such a concern that countries everywhere, including the USA, are encouraging and soon enforcing social distancing to try to slow the virus down. Schools have been closed and kids are being taught at home or online. Colleges and universities have shut down and gone online.
Todd, who teaches at Utah State University has been preparing online presentations for his students to get them through to the end of the semester which is April 29. Restaurants are closed to inside seating and you can only do drive-thru or take out. Movie theaters are closed and all sporting events including professional sports are cancelled. Everyone who can is asked to work from home. We are now doing home church and all social events are cancelled. Our church's General Conference which is scheduled for March 4-5, is going to be confined to just the First Presidency and the speakers for each session, no choir, no members allowed in the conference center.
We had a dear friend die this past week, Barbara Madsen, and her family held a very small family graveside service for her. No funerals, weddings, graduations, etc. We are asked to limit our social circles to 10 people or less and to keep six feet between us and the next person. Grocery stores are running out of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, baking supplies and water. We stocked up on a few things before the confinement started and we can still make trips to the grocery store as needed. Stores have started having early morning shopping hours for seniors only so that has been helpful. We can also do grocery pickups at some of the stores and we can order online from Costco and Amazon.
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| People lining up to shop at Macey's after senior hour is over. I had just finished my shopping and was on my way home. |
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| My beautiful hand soaps from Bath and Body Works! |
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| One of our neighbors has goats. She invited anyone who needed to get out of the house to come over and feed them. She said they would probably be around back and out of sight so just stand by the fence and shout, "Hey Goats!" So I took Violet to see them and that's what I did. I felt kind of silly and hoped no one would hear me except the goats. They didn't come at first but then all of a sudden they came running over. It was so fun to see how excited Violet was to feed them and to visit with them! Nature is so beautiful in all it's forms! |
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| Yesterday, Eric and I met in South Jordan and took a long, long walk along the Jordan River Trail. It was soooo good to be outside and it really is starting to be Spring! |
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| Daffodils in the neighborhood! |
It's a scary time, but somehow Mike and I both feel peace. I forgot to mention that this week Utah experienced a 5.7 earthquake. It woke me up and I woke up Mike when our room was shaking and the blinds were swaying. There was no real substantial damage anywhere and no lost lives, but it was another wake up call to be prepared. There's a scripture that says, "If you are prepared, you shall not fear." We filled our two, 55 gallon water barrels and put batteries in our flashlights. We are preparing our 72 hour kits and I have a little emergency bag packed in our closet, water and blankets in the car.
We feel peace because we feel prepared. We love our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and trust in them and their plan of happiness. We know they are in charge and know what's going on in our world today. They provide the peace when all the world is scared and reeling. We love having home church. We sing hymns, pray, partake of the sacrament, and study the gospel together. It is so reassuring and sweet to feel the Spirit so strongly within our own home. The church has been stressing the past year Home-based, church-supported gospel study. So prophetic!
We have a friend, Kim Passey, from Rexburg, Idaho, who we served with (with his wife Carol) in Brazil who has the virus. We are praying for him to get well and for her not to get it. They are quarantined in their home for at least two weeks. They are the first people we know to have it.
So, this is real. It may change our world and our economy forever, but we remain hopeful that through our faith and the faith of so many good people in the world and so many good works that we will survive this and come out of it better and stronger, more caring and more mindful of others around us and the world we live in. We are so grateful for all the healthcare workers, the grocery store employees, drive-thru workers and everyone who is keeping things going.
For now, we will do our best and hope and pray for the best. We know we are in God's hands and we hope that we can be His Hands here as best we can.
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