Of all the things I've recorded in these journals, this is one that our posterity might actually want to look back and read about, so I'll try to be thorough. Sometime in February of this year we started hearing about a deadly virus that had broken out in China and was spreading to Korea and Europe (Italy was particularly hard hit), and would soon make it's way around the world. The day I believed it was real and would actually affect us was the day The Church asked us (like, everyone, in every country) to stop congregating for church or holding meetings or gatherings of any kind. This was around Spring Break, so - middle of March. Not long later, the schools announced that they would be closing down and switching to distance learning for the remainder of the year. And not long after that, the Governor of the State of Kansas issued a "Stay-at-Home" order. Then we started to get a daily news report of the number of new Corona Virus (Covid-19) cases in the United States, as well as the number of deaths. All restaurants, movie theaters and non-essential businesses have closed down, and many grocery and hygiene items have become scarce. It has been the most dramatic and surreal global event (maybe the only global event) that I have witnessed in my lifetime. It's the beginning of May now and here in Pratt, KS, we haven't yet seen a surge or an outbreak of illness - so, the only side effect of the Pandemic here so far is widespread worry over the loss of jobs and the state of the economy. Other than that, I've noticed a lot of positive changes - as you drive around town you see a lot of strange scenes that you would never see normally. Like, dads hanging out with their kids in the middle of the day, a mom playing basketball with her son in the driveway, and a school teacher out walking her dog during daylight hours. Weird but wonderful.
I know it couldn't possibly be the case, but I hope everyone else here is experiencing what we are experiencing during this crisis - a little tightening of the belts, but for the most part we have everything we need and life has slowed way down and let us spend a lot more quality time together. Scott works less and we spend a lot of our free time outside in the yard or in the parks. Homeschool was a struggle at first, but we're in a pretty good groove now and I really enjoy studying and learning with the kids. We all feel very prepared and grateful for the foresight of the Prophet to switch us to a home-centered curriculum ahead of all this, so we could have a smooth transition into home church. We miss our Branch family (as Primary President, I have been reaching out through mailings to all the Primary kids, and Scott has organized a geo-cache for the Young Men so he could leave them treats and uplifting messages, and we have attended online Sunday School classes taught by Brother Hitoto) but at home, and partially thanks to a serious trial that Devin and Maranda are going through, we have really grown together spiritually and I feel us coming closer as a family.
At the turn of the year, as a resolution, I vowed to slow down and simplify and make this last year with all our kids at home a memorable one - just cherishing each other. I had no clue then that there would be a global pandemic, and it would eliminate every extra, unnecessary, time-consuming thing from our busy lives. Whatever this is, it's not over yet, but so far (though we fast and pray for the relief of others), we just feel blessed and grateful - for more time and lots of togetherness.
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