If there is one word which best describes what has happened worldwide in the first 90 days of 2020 ... it is "cancelled!"
Since December 31, 2019, when Wuhan, China announced they had a crisis on their hands in the form of a virus they called COVID-19 the world has been struggling to cope with a pandemic like never before. Nationwide, schools, restaurants, gyms and bars are closed … non-essential employees are encouraged (ordered) to work from home … curtains are down on Broadway’s Great White Way … major sporting events, including the 2020 Summer Olympics are postponed … production of movies and TV shows has stopped until further notice … the stock market has tanked … guards are stationed at the front door of businesses to prevent more than a few customers at a time from entering … weddings and funerals (Jay Ence and Elsie Barney) are limited to no more than 5 ... and all of us are asked to avoid shaking hands and hugging and encouraged by government leaders and healthcare professionals to practice “social distancing” which means staying at least 6 feet apart in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Churchwide, all of our 168 temples are closed all around the world and we are attending church at home, thanks to the vision of President Russell M. Nelson who, in April 2018, introduced the “family-centered, church-supported” Come Follow Me Sunday School program for living, learning and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And on the weekend of April 4-5, 2020, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s First Vision at the 190th Annual General Conference, which for the first time in church history, will be presented without an audience in the 21,000 seat Conference Center. But President Nelson gave us a hint of things to come when he said in his closing remarks in October 2019, “General conference next April will be different from any previous conference” after he had aleady encouraged us to "Wait till next year, and then the next year. Eat your vitamin pills. Get some rest. It's going to be exciting."Travel-wise, borders between countries are closed, leaving vacationing tourists self-isolating in hotels far from home and on cruise ships for at least two weeks. Planes are flying virtually empty and hospitals in nearly every country are running out of common medical supplies, such as ventilators and face masks while thousands around the world are being hospitalized ... or buried.
In Rotary, the Pan America Rotaract Conference in Puerto Penasco, MX was cancelled in the first week of March, along with several Global Grant projects around the world. Last week, the cancellation of the RI Convention in Honolulu was announced, and District Conference in Park City became a casualty of the coronavirus. All 36,000 clubs have decided not to meet until there is an end to this difficult situation even as I am preparing to be Rotary District 5420's first ever "virtual" District Governor.
In the marketplace, Walmart and CostCo seem to have been the only winners in this healthcare war, but both are struggling to stay ahead of empty shelves and mobs of people fighting over a single role of toilet paper, bottled water and fresh vegetables while looking for nearly 50,000 employees.
Family-wise, we started the year with plans to attend high school or college graduations for 7 family members (Kendi, Kaler, Taisley, Erin, Kole, Stephanie and Simeon). Today it appears these important milestones have been cancelled for all seven of our kids and grands.
And just when we were certain things couldn't get any worse, on March 18, 2020 there was a magnitude 5.7 earthquake centered in Magna where our granddaughter Whitney lives. And, two weeks later on March 31, there was a 6.5 quake a few miles outside of Boise, ID which Kaytee and her family felt in Anaconda, MT. A 5.7 isn't a serious trembler, though there was some damage, but coupled with the possibility of harm to our precious family members, its a good reminder of how fragile we all are.
Through it all, we have stayed calm because we have been obedient in heeding the counsel of church leaders who have encouraged us to prepare, because “If ye are prepared, ye have no need to fear.”
I am so grateful to know we have a living prophet on the earth and a Heavenly Father who loves us.
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