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| Early Spring, 1820 |
Sunday March 29, 2020
Status report:WA State Confirmed COVID-19 cases: 4896 (+556)
WA State Confirmed COVID-19 deaths: 195 (+6)
US Confirmed COVID-19 cases: 142,000 (+26000)
US Confirmed COVID-19 deaths: 2500 (+600)
Things got real for Trump today. He saw that his old neighborhood in Queens (NY) was parking refrigerator trucks outside of the hospital to store the bodies. Because they ran out of room. Maybe that was the reason he stopped trying to convince the country it would be a good idea to go back to work and school by Easter. Instead, he called for another 30 days of social distancing.
**This is the first day that I know someone with COVID-19. It is an acquaintance I talked to on the phone today that I know from church. They seemed very reluctant to even say that they had tested positive, but did say that they were starting to recover after being incredibly sick.
World-wide day of Fasting
In our church, we fast regularly once a month. We go without for for 2 meals/24 hours-ish, pray with a purpose, and give extra offerings to the church that are earmarked to be used to help the needy.
This month, our church president Russell M. Nelson invited everyone of any faith to join together in fasting for relief from COVID-19.
It was a powerful experience. Our big kids joined us. We felt our faith strengthened. This is going to be a hard thing. For everyone in the world. But we are hopeful that people will remember God and will strengthen their desire to do good.
Conference Prep 2020
We are also getting excited and getting prepared for our upcoming worldwide General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Usually, conference is held in Salt Lake City, Utah. There is a huge choir (the Tabernacle Choir sings at many sessions), many speakers, their spouses, officers and leaders of the church, and members from all over gather in the Conference Center and on Temple Square to hear the words of Apostles and Prophets.
Not this year! With COVID-19, only the speakers will attend. It will be broadcast live digitally. The choir is pre-recorded.
And it promises to be unique in other ways. Last October, our prophet told us that this would be a special and unique conference, unlike any other (he's not wrong!). But the other reason is because we are celebrating 200 years since Joseph Smith, just a boy, prayed for his soul in the woods. God and Jesus Christ appeared and spoke to him. This event was the catalyst for the restoration of the gospel.
Our prophet invited us to immerse ourselves in the restoration, to study the first vision, and to ask ourselves how our lives have been changed by this event. It has been an awesome 6 months as we have tried to follow his council. Now, in the last few days before conference, here are a few resources we have used or are going to use while we prepare:
1. Here's a really fun conference packet full of coloring pages, activity pages, and journaling pages. It's free to print at home.
2. This is a 3 1/2 minute video on the first vision. It's done by a YouTube channel I found recently called Latter-day Kids and is super cute.
They also have one that introduces kids to each of the apostles. I found it to be a little slow/long for my taste. But I like the idea:
3. Conference Bingo
Here's a free printable. Although, we like to make our own on a big poster board. We add silly things and serious things (a pilot story, an exciting announcement, a primary song, the restoration, etc.) In our family, we get a fun treat when we get a bingo, and if we get a black out (over all of the conference sessions), then we have an ice cream sundae party.
4. I've never done this, but apparently this is a Fantasy General Conference. I think it would be fun to do with extended family. Here's a free printable.
5. Paint your own Sacred Grove.
I did a fun watercolor this week (see top of the post). And I think the kids and I are going to do an acrylic painting this week. I found this tutorial for painting your own sacred grove. It's pretty long (about an hour), but fun!
I have LOVED listening to The First Vision--a Joseph Smith Papers Podcast. My favorite episode was 3: "I Retired to the Woods" about the sensory experience Joseph would have had in early spring. It talks about the sights (blossoms, animals), sounds, smells, etc. that Joseph would have experienced that morning. But all of the episodes are really great.
US Confirmed COVID-19 deaths: 2500 (+600)
Things got real for Trump today. He saw that his old neighborhood in Queens (NY) was parking refrigerator trucks outside of the hospital to store the bodies. Because they ran out of room. Maybe that was the reason he stopped trying to convince the country it would be a good idea to go back to work and school by Easter. Instead, he called for another 30 days of social distancing.
**This is the first day that I know someone with COVID-19. It is an acquaintance I talked to on the phone today that I know from church. They seemed very reluctant to even say that they had tested positive, but did say that they were starting to recover after being incredibly sick.
World-wide day of Fasting
In our church, we fast regularly once a month. We go without for for 2 meals/24 hours-ish, pray with a purpose, and give extra offerings to the church that are earmarked to be used to help the needy.
This month, our church president Russell M. Nelson invited everyone of any faith to join together in fasting for relief from COVID-19.
It was a powerful experience. Our big kids joined us. We felt our faith strengthened. This is going to be a hard thing. For everyone in the world. But we are hopeful that people will remember God and will strengthen their desire to do good.
Conference Prep 2020
We are also getting excited and getting prepared for our upcoming worldwide General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Usually, conference is held in Salt Lake City, Utah. There is a huge choir (the Tabernacle Choir sings at many sessions), many speakers, their spouses, officers and leaders of the church, and members from all over gather in the Conference Center and on Temple Square to hear the words of Apostles and Prophets.
Not this year! With COVID-19, only the speakers will attend. It will be broadcast live digitally. The choir is pre-recorded.
And it promises to be unique in other ways. Last October, our prophet told us that this would be a special and unique conference, unlike any other (he's not wrong!). But the other reason is because we are celebrating 200 years since Joseph Smith, just a boy, prayed for his soul in the woods. God and Jesus Christ appeared and spoke to him. This event was the catalyst for the restoration of the gospel.
Our prophet invited us to immerse ourselves in the restoration, to study the first vision, and to ask ourselves how our lives have been changed by this event. It has been an awesome 6 months as we have tried to follow his council. Now, in the last few days before conference, here are a few resources we have used or are going to use while we prepare:
1. Here's a really fun conference packet full of coloring pages, activity pages, and journaling pages. It's free to print at home.
2. This is a 3 1/2 minute video on the first vision. It's done by a YouTube channel I found recently called Latter-day Kids and is super cute.
They also have one that introduces kids to each of the apostles. I found it to be a little slow/long for my taste. But I like the idea:
3. Conference Bingo
Here's a free printable. Although, we like to make our own on a big poster board. We add silly things and serious things (a pilot story, an exciting announcement, a primary song, the restoration, etc.) In our family, we get a fun treat when we get a bingo, and if we get a black out (over all of the conference sessions), then we have an ice cream sundae party.
4. I've never done this, but apparently this is a Fantasy General Conference. I think it would be fun to do with extended family. Here's a free printable.
5. Paint your own Sacred Grove.
I did a fun watercolor this week (see top of the post). And I think the kids and I are going to do an acrylic painting this week. I found this tutorial for painting your own sacred grove. It's pretty long (about an hour), but fun!
I have LOVED listening to The First Vision--a Joseph Smith Papers Podcast. My favorite episode was 3: "I Retired to the Woods" about the sensory experience Joseph would have had in early spring. It talks about the sights (blossoms, animals), sounds, smells, etc. that Joseph would have experienced that morning. But all of the episodes are really great.
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