Coronavirus Update 3-29

We have now completed two weeks of quarantine and will enter our third week.

I continue to work at home and love being able to see Shantel and the kids throughout the day. It is the heart of my busy season, so I have been working a lot of hours, but Shantel and the kids have been so good even though I am so busy. We had been on a work from home order through April 3, which I had assumed would be extended and this week our CEO extended the work from home order indefinitely. I cannot imagine better co-workers than these kids and Shantel.

Worldwide the Coronavirus continues to spread. The United State now has more than 130,000 cases and the death toll is climbing. In Utah this week they have continued to urge more businesses to temporarily close. In addition, the US Congress signed a stimulus package of $2.2 trillion to try and keep the economy going while we fight COVID-19. This is the current map of concentrations of COVID-19. We are lucky to be in Utah right now where things are not as severe. New York is especially struggling and running low on supplies with worries that they will run out of hospital space. 

As this situation grows more severe we are lucky to have a prophet of God to guide us. This week all Temples closed completely (they were previously closed except for appointments for live ordinances). President Nelson invited the church and all people in the world to fast for relief from the physical, emotional and economic impacts of COVID-19. Shantel and I are fasting today and are so grateful to follow the prophet. We recognize that we need Heavenly Father's help. Austin and Lydia joined and fasted during breakfast today to also fast and pray for God's help. It was a great reminder that in this massive crisis, we need God's help and must be humble and rely on him. When we face challenges in our lives that our individual challenges, we should likewise be humble and seek for God's help so that we don't have to face those challenges alone. 

 Our Calendar has opened up considerably during this as you can imagine. We have strived to stay home as much as possible.

I went to Sam's Club on Tuesday right when it opened. The line to get in was massive and went past the end of the front of the building. However, the line moved quickly and it only took me about 5 minutes to get in. I was able to go and get everything that we needed (except still no Rice or Mashed Potatoes). I am grateful to have the things we need to take care of our family.

We did decide to do a couple of order pick ups this week to get a chance to get out of house and try to support those businesses. We ordered Waffle Love online and went to pick it up in the Van with everyone. It was a huge hit and was so delicious.

In addition, we kept our quarantine tradition going of doing a movie and pizza every Friday night. We had delicious pepperoni pizza and watched the live action version of 101 Dalmatians.

This there came news from the Philippines that they would be shutting down there borders and that anyone that wanted to leave had 3 days to get out of the Country. Daniel Rencher has been serving his mission for the last 21 months in the Philippines and the Church decided to send home all missionaries in the Philippines (with all missionaries serving in foreign countries being returned to their home country over the next couple of weeks). Daniel made it home safely and his family set up a Sunday Zoom meeting for Daniel to give a talk after returning home from his mission. We joined for his talk and loved hearing from him about his missionary experiences. 

The situation around the world continues to grow more severe and the uncertainty continues to grow. It is a bit surreal and meanwhile, the case count in Utah is still small (but growing) and so we are really trying to stop it from growing while other parts of the world are experiencing really difficult times. Meanwhile I am so grateful that I am married to Shantel. She is the best companion to experience any difficulty with. I am grateful to be able to fast and pray with the whole world today and plead that Heavenly Father will hear our prayers and send relief.