Memorable Times

"We're living in momentous times, Garion. The events of a thousand years and more have all focused on these very days. The world, I'm told, is like that. Centuries pass when nothing happens, and then in a few short years events of such tremendous importance take place that the world is never the same again."

"I think that if I had my choice, I'd prefer one of those quiet centuries," Garion said glumly.

"Oh, no," Silk said, his lips drawing back in a ferret-like grin. "Now's the time to be alive-to see it all happen, to be a part of it. That makes the blood race, and each breath is an adventure." (Eddings, David. Pawn of Prophecy, New York: Del Rey, 1982)

Hannah has been home for a week now. Tomorrow John will have been home for a week. Although we have already been in quarantine for a couple weeks now, it is looking like that quarantine will last for the next month or so. This morning, CPR reported "Colorado is approaching 3,000 cases of the coronavirus. There are currently 2,966 known positive cases, 509 of which have been hospitalized. The number of Coloradans tested stands at 16,849 and there have been 69 deaths."(source) Meanwhile we are doing what we can to stay home and help to "flatten the curve."

Yesterday we received emails from the Church and our stake president, and accordingly, John has been released from being a missionary for the time being. He now faces a choice of either waiting until things quiet down to be reassigned and finishing his mission with his original release date, or waiting several months, and then being reassigned with a new end date. He has until the end of the month to decide.

As I mentioned in my blog a couple days ago, over that past week we have found things to keep ourselves occupied. A lot of music has been played on the piano, viola, and ukuleles. Josh and Peter have played a lot of Minecraft. Hannah has spent a lot of time on the phone talking with friends she has made over the last 17 months. I've found crafts to work on and books to read. At least once a day, I've left the confines of the house to take a walk, careful to maintain my distance from others also taking advantage of the sunshine to get some exercise. Now that John has been released, we can watch movies and he will be able to find more things to do to keep himself occupied that were not allowed him as a missionary.
 
We've suddenly become very acquainted with Zoom, a meeting platform that I had never even heard of a couple weeks ago. Our mission president used it to release Hannah from her mission and chat with John when he returned. Our ward used it for a Sunday School class last Sunday. Josh and Peter use it now for seminary. Hannah and John have used it to participate in institute classes for newly returned missionaries. Josh and Peter will likely be using it for school, which just launched remote learning today.

In spite of everything, I'm really feeling very grateful. Steven is able to work from home, so we aren't facing unemployment or the financial difficulties that many are facing at this time. We are all healthy, except for some allergies and a knot in my shoulder that I haven't been able to get rid of. We have plenty of food and supplies, so we're not really affected by the shortage of TP and other supplies; in fact we've been able to help some other people out with what we had. I don't feel like we are totally cut off from the world as we continue to use the internet and phones to keep in touch with friends and family. I've really enjoyed the spirit in our home as we have worshiped together at home on Sundays. I am grateful for the many people who risk their own health in order to help others - doctors and other medical people as well as grocery store cashiers, mailmen, police officers and more. I'm looking forward to watching General Conference in a few days. I'm sure it will be memorable in many ways.

So I guess my point is that these are memorable times. I'm not sure whether or not I'm glad that I'm alive to see them, but they definitely make life an adventure.