World Wide Fast

President Russell M. Nelson has asked everyone of all faiths to join in a world wide fast.  Neal, Mallory and I had a nice lunch and then had a prayer to begin our fast.

President Nelson recently gave a message of hope when he said, "My dear friends, our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ know us, love us, and are watching over us.  Of that we can be certain.  These unique challenges will pass in due time.  I remain optimistic for the future.  I know the great and marvelous blessing that God has in store for those who love Him and serve Him.  I see evidence of His hand in this holy work in so many ways."

Elder Orson F. Whitney stated:  "No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted.  It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility.  All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worth to be called the children of God and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation that we gain the education that we come here to acquire."

This is a portion of the Salt Lake Temple dedicatory prayer:
"Heavenly Father, when Thy people shall not have the opportunity of entering this holy house to offer their supplications unto Thee, and they are oppressed and in trouble, surrounded by difficulties or assailed by temptation and shall turn their faces towards this Thy holy house and ask Thee for deliverance, for help, for Thy power to be extended in their behalf, we beseech Thee, to look down from Thy holy habitation in mercy and tender compassion upon them, and listen to their cries.  Or when the children of Thy people, in years to come, shall be separated, through any cause, from this place, and their hearts shall turn in remembrance of Thy promises to this holy Temple, and they shall cry unto Thee from the depths of their affliction and sorrow to extend relief and deliverance to them, we humbly entreat Thee to turn Thine ear in mercy to them; hearken to their cries, and grant unto them the blessings for which they ask."

Amazing to me that was said by Wilford Woodruff in the dedicatory prayer, how many years ago?  128 years ago.  April 6, 1893.  I think that is when the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated.  Don't quote me, but that is approximately correct.  (Is there such a thing as approximately correct?)

Isn't that exactly where we are now, beseeching the guidance and blessings from our Heavenly Father with a world wide fast to help end this pandemic.  Oh how grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is normal these days?

Interesting times that we are in right now.  This whole pandemic situation is so far out of anyone,s imagination, that it is still hard to comprehend how we are living our lives at this moment in time.

All the schools have been closed.  Students are doing everything from home.  Home schooling has to be a challenge for some.  It takes a lot of self motivation to keep up with the assignments teachers are putting on line.  Jamie sent me a picture of Peyton up at 7:30 to do Zoom (I think that is what it is called) with her teacher.

We have been asked by the governor to "Stay in place, stay safe".  Almost all business are closed.  Malls, shopping centers, with the exception of grocery stores, almost all medical facilities except hospitals.  I called to see about a dental visit.  Offices are closed.

Pampering yourself with a massage, manicure, pedicure, etc.  Not available.

All gatherings of any kind are cancelled.  Church, temple, ward meetings, etc.  I think you get the picture.

We have been asked to keep a distance of 6' from other people if we do have to go out of our homes.

It is hard to try and find a normal in all of this chaos.  Is there one?

Yesterday Mallory, Neal and I tried to carry on our Saturday as close to "normal" as we could.  Mallory and I took down all the plants off the tops of the cupboards and while Mallory pruned, added dirt and vitamins and water to the plants, I went along the top and vacuumed and dusted the tops of the cupboards and along the walls and ceiling.  It was a lengthy project but such a good feeling to have everything cleaned.  Even the plants were happy with the new soil and the pruning.  A funny story here.  Above our china hutch there are two boxes that hold the electrical connections for the lights inside the hutch.  As I was handing one of the pots to Mallory and it seemed to be stuck on something.  We discovered this:

If you look closely you will see that the plant entered one whole and then wrapped around the whole inside and came out another whole!!  We had to carefully cut the stem and then carefully pull it out.  We had a good laugh over that one.  Silly plant.

After the task, Mallory cleaned the basement and I cleaned the main floor.  I was desperate for something new or a change and so I changed all the furniture in the front room.  Somehow that added to my 'feel good' need.  Neal helped me clean all the blinds and he vacuumed the upstairs.

With the house all clean and sparkly, Mallory and I decided we needed to get some exercise and some fresh air so we went for a walk.  It was absolutely the topper for my day.  We walked for about 45 minutes and I listened to her stories about her mission.  One funny thing on our walk.  We were walking down one of the side streets and we saw a lady get out of her car.  Mallory said that for just a minute she was in missionary mode and felt like she should run over and talk to the lady about the gospel.  Actually, I kind of wish she had.  It would have been fun to watch her in action.  We also saw some signs of Spring.  So fun to see the buds starting to form and pop out and to feel the temperatures getting a little bit warmer every day.

 Mallory spotted this tree on our walk.  Had to take a picture of it.  Very clever.

Mallory and I did run a couple careful errands.  We stopped at the grocery store and bought just a couple items, then to home Depot and then to Coasta Vida for our pick up lunch.  The governor encouraged us to try and do take home at least 3 times a week to help our restaurants get through this crisis because they are obviously all shut down as well.  So we are ordering and picking up.  Actually, I love the idea of ordering dinner 3 times a week.  I hate trying to figure out what to have for dinner!

So to all - happy new way of living for a while.

Sunday Thoughts

Neal and I had a stay at home church along with all the members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Home centered has certainly come to be a reality.

Last week Susan sent me a quote from 2nd Chronicles where King Solomon had completed the temple and the Lord told him, "Whenever I hold back the rain or send locusts or epidemic, the people need to pray and repent and then I will hear them."

The fires in Australia were so devastating and it didn't rain until after they were out, and African right now is having a locust infestation, and the world is having the Coronavirus, so we are right in the heart of that prophecy.  Goodness, a little scary.

Howard W. Hunter said:  "Fear, which can come upon people in difficult days, is a principal weapon in the arsenal which Satan uses to make mankind unhappy.  He who fears loses strength for the combat of life in the fight against evil.  Therefore the power of the evil one always tries to generate fear in human hearts.  In every age and in every era, mankind has faced fear."

I am thankful for the covenants I have made in the temple and every Sunday when I partake of the sacrament to do my best to obey Him and keep His commandments.  That is a great protection to me and my family.

I came across another scripture today:  "I glory in plainness, I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus."
I love this and find deep comfort in its words.  With all the turmoil and stress going on in the world, I can say with confidence and with strength, that I too glory in my Jesus because I know that He's in charge, He's aware, He provides, and with faith in Him I have no room for fear.

"Our love of God must be pure, without selfish intent.  The pure love of Christ must be the motive in our devotion."

My prayers are for my family and am so looking forward to General Conference where we can her from our prophet and all the general authorities.  We need their guidance and their words of peace.  Let us all listen carefully and prayerfully.

Watching Old Home Movies

Yesterday while ironing, I put on a home movie DVD that Annie had given me and had just a fun time watching Jeffrey and Lynda Ann when they were little.  I had to call Annie once because there is picture of her trying to blow out her birthday candles when she was three years old and she just couldn't do it.  It was so dang funny.  What cute kids.  This first picture is Annie with her grandmother Grace Hintze.

 This picture shows how I did her hair every Saturday night for Sunday.  Piled it up on top her head and put rollers in her hair.  That way she didn't have to sleep on them.

 cute picture of Jeffrey at Christmas time.  This is when he got his first snowmobile suit.

So fun walking down memory lane.  Loved every moment of it.  Love these two kids.  Miss one of them a lot.

Cleaning

I spent the day that I was sent home cleaning.  I couldn't stand to just sit and do nothing and got anxious listening to the news and all the damage that happened to the town of Magna.  Mallory had been picked up by Annie who was on her way home from work.  I know that Mallory was totally freaked out by the earthquake.  She shared with me that earthquakes have been the fear of life ever since she was little.  She needed to be home.  There is a feeling of 'safety' in home.  I was glad she was with her mom.

So back to my day.  I decided to do some cleaning.  I got the vacuum out and noticed that it wasn't really picking up very good.  So I tipped it upside down and this is what I pulled out of the rollers.  I literally had to use some scissors to cut some of it out.  Disgusting.  That is literally a huge ball of hair!!!

The vacuum worked like a charm after that!

Then to bring some laughter to my day, Annie sent me this.  Great comic relief.  Thanks Annie.

Earthquake 5.7

Amazingly, Salt Lake experienced an earthquake at 7:09 on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.  It was a 5.7.  I was on my way to work.  Had stopped at Walgreens to pick up some candy for my candy dish on my desk at work.  I was standing at the check out area and all of a sudden heard a loud noise and the whole building began to shake.  It literally took me almost until the earthquake was over to realize that I was experiencing an actual earthquake.  I paid for the candy (after the quake) walked out of the store and realized I was a little bit sick to my stomach.  I got in the car and looked up at the Heaven's and said, "We are in the middle of this stupid COVID-19 virus and now we have an earthquake!"  And then I started to cry.  It was all so overwhelming and scary.  So surreal.  Of course the county buildings all closed down for the day and sent us all home.  About 1:09 that afternoon I was down in the kitchen preparing lunch for Neal and I went we had a 4.7 after shock.  We have had over 100 after shocks since then.  Just today Mallory and I were in the kitchen talking and there was another 4.1 aftershock.

Interesting side note is that Angel Moroni lost his trumpet.  Crazy, huh!

The yellow on the map is the EPA Center in Magna and the red dots are the after shocks.  Remember this picture is from the actual day it happened.  The map would now show hundreds of  red dots for the after shocks.

Thank goodness all the family are safe.  So thankful for that.  Maren mentioned that Greg was in the tower at the airport.  I will be anxious to hear his story of his experience.  The airport was actually shut down for about half the day and planes all diverted to other airports.

COVID-19

We are in the throws of COVID-19.  Every single day we get notice of something else has been shut down because of this virus.  There is so much fear in the United States and the world right now.  The lines in the grocery stores are long and the shelves are bare.  This is what I ran into at Costco.  I stood in line for nearly 45 minutes.

Its mayhem and it is scary.  I believe the devil uses fear as a weaponin the hearts of men because he knows it stops the work of God from progressing.  There is a scripture that I keep repeating in my mind:  "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear"  (D&C 38:30)
We have been counselled by prophets and church leaders to be prepared physically and spiritually.  Remember the quote by Gordon B. Hinckley:  "I have faith that the Lord will bless us, and watch over us, and assist us if we walk in obedience to His light.  His gospel, and His commandments.  He is our Father and our God, and we are His children, and we must be in every way deserving of His love and concern."

This message was from Russell M. Nelson:  "We live in a time of turmoil.  earthquakes and tsunamis wreak devastation, governments collapse, economic stresses are severe, the family is under aattack, and divorce rates are rising.  We have great cause for concern.  But we do not need to let our fears displace our faith  We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith.  Start with your children.  You parents bear the primary responsibility to strengthen their faith.  Let them feel your faith, even when sore trials come upon you.  Let your faith be focused on our loving Heavenly Father and His beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Teach that faith with deep conviction.  How you deal with life's trials is part of the development of your faith.  Strength comes when you remember that you have a divine nature, an inheritance of infinite worth.  President Thomas S. Monson has given us his prophetic witness.  He said:  "I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure.  Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments."  Be of good cheer.  The future is as bright as your faith."

Abby turns 19!

Wow.  Abby turns 19?  Where does the time go.  Neal and I were invited out to Annie's for games and dinner to celebrate Abby's birthday.  We had a delicious dinner of baked potatoes, marinated chicken breasts, salad and corn.  For dessert we have strawberry pies.  We also played a new game called Fruit Salad or Green 2, played with Rook cards.  We also played Shanghi.  After dinner and the games we had Mallory give us a lesson on Joseph Smith's First Vision.  She did an excellent job.  The spirit was certainly felt in that little meeting in the Gertson front room.  Thank you Mallory for filling my well and I'm sure your parents and siblings.  So thankful for the gospel!  Certainly thankful for my grandchildren.

Happy birthday Abby!!

Maren Walking Down Memory Lane

Maren has been going through all the pictures she has collected over the years.  She is sorting them and organizing them into different boxes.  She sent a couple pictures to Neal and I that were certainly fun to look at and take us back in time.  I'm not sure my memory can give an accurate place and time.  Hopefully Maren and Lynda Ann can put a date on them if needed.
Thanks Maren for sharing your finds with us.

 Lynda Ann, Maren, Edwinna and I.  What a fun picture.

 Ahhh.  What a cute couple :-)

Carving Finished

Neal finally finished his goal of getting all the neckerchief scout slides done for the boys receiving their Eagle.  The boys seemed pleased with slides and Neal certainly should have felt proud of what he accomplished.  Below is the pictures of the slides:

 The frying pan is my personal favorite.

 Scouts with their slides on and taking their Eagle Scout Oath.

A job well done Neal.  I think these boys will appreciate the hours and hours of work that went into making these slides for them.

Thinking about my mom.

I've been going through papers of my mothers and found this poem that she wrote.  Oh, how I miss her.  I'm so glad I have her journal and things she wrote.  I hope my journal will be a blessing to my posterity some day as my mothers has become a priceless treasure to me.

"You never know when someone
  May catch a dream from you.
  You never know when a little word
  Or something you may do
  May open up the windows
  Of a mind that seeks the light .
  The way you live may not matter at all,
  But you never know, it might.

  And just in case it could be
  That another's life, through you,
  Might possibly change for the better
  With a broader and brighter view,
  It seems it might be worth a try
  At pointing the way to the right . .
  Of course, it may not matter at all,
  But then again . . . it might."

Sunday thoughts

In the scriptures, there are very few sacred instances in which the voice of God the Father has been heard.  So, when He says something we really need to listen.  Repeatedly, He has personally introduced His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, with a specific charge to "hear Him!"

Have you ever stopped to ask, "Why?"  Why is our Heavenly Father so insistent - and consistent - in His plea that we should hear His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ?

Jesus answered this question Himself.  He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me".

Our father love us and yearns for each one of us to choose to return to His holy presence.  He pleads with us to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed and appointed as our Mediator, Savior, and Redeemer.

In this special year, as we commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first vision, I invite you to think deeply and often about this key question:  How do you hear Him?  I also invite you to take steps to hear Him better and more often.  Throughout this year, we will focus in a special way on the historic event that took place in the Sacred Grove.

I invite you to be proactive and look for opportunities to share your feelings about the Lord Jesus Christ with your family and friends, including inviting your friends to join you in worshipping Him on Easter Sunday.

Now, as one of the Lord's special witnesses, I bless you in your efforts to get on and stay on His covenant path, and strive with all your heart, might, mind, and soul to hear him!"

President Russell Nelsen

Susan's Birthday

Right after Emmi's birthday comes Susan's.  Lynda Ann, Mallory, Abby, LIghtyear, Hayley and I drove up to Midway to celebrate Susan's birthday.  Actually her birthday isn't until next Saturday but this Saturday worked the best for all of us to get together.  We drove to a hamburger place and had a delicious lunch.  After, we went back to Lila Mae's and visited, reminisced, laughed and then had some delicious cake (made by Annie) and ice cream.  We had a wonderful afternoon and headed home about 4:00.  This was better than shopping because we spent a lot more time just visiting.  It was great.

 Delicious birthday cake with a surprise candle on top.  It was like the fourth of July on top of a birthday cake!  Amazing.  I'm seriously going to have to invest in some of those candles.

 What a fun day.  The only little oops was that Abby forgot her jacket that had her car keys and her wallet in the pocket.  It wasn't discovered until we got out of the canyon in Salt Lake.  Annie, Hayley and Abby drove back up the canyon to Midway to get Abby's jacket.