Covid-19 Visitors, No Need for TP

Another week has flown by and here we still are social distancing, staying home, and staying safe?  We wear masks when we go to the grocery store, but luckily we can go for walks and breath the fresh air.  The weather has been so beautiful and the flowers and trees continue to scream, "it's Spring".  To bad there are not people out to enjoy it!
The work continues on the temple and we continue to go watch 3-4 times a week.

View from North Temple, you can see the spires continuing to come down.

Hazmat team working on getting rid of the asbestos.  It looks like they are afraid of Covid-19!

The deep holes are being filled in with clean dirt

Debra's sister Sherry and her husband Richard Jensen from St George, came for a welcome visit.  They are in Salt Lake working on their rental house to get it ready to sell.  They also enjoyed seeing the progress on the temple.  They continue to remove the spires and it is so hard to see "my temple" the one we were married in coming apart.  But President Nelson reassured us that we will love the finished product and I am sure we will.

Front Sherry, Debra, back Richard, and Bob April 23, 2020

We are doing eight classes a week in our zone for all the missionaries, and having devotionals two times a week and zone leadership meetings about every other week.  Of course all is this is by way of WebeX.  We are getting a bit more familiar with doing everything online, but you never know when there is going to be a glitch.  One class last week started 10 minutes late due to a glitch that had everyone scurrying around.  They finally got it up and going and even still over 100 people hung around for the class.  It is amazing how many just want to see other faces.  We can be grateful for technology even if it is a challenge for us older missionaries.

Friday we had a knock on our door that has added to the craziness of our lives.  UPMA, the company that takes care of West Temple Apartments, wanted to know if we had a leak in our master bathroom as the apartment below us was getting water through their ceiling?  Come to find out the main pipe below our toilet which is encased in cement was broken.  Bob thinks it was probably from the earthquakes.  So now we wait to see where we will be moving.  I'm hoping to stay here at West Temple.  We looked at a couple of places yesterday, but it is up to mission housing to let us know.  We hope to be moving today as it is smelling mildew, and musty.  Luckily we can keep our doors and windows open with the nice weather. In the mean time we have one bathroom and a smelly, but clean, apartment.

Beautiful tree framing the Salt Lake Temple from North Temple

Sunday after our WebX  zone Sunday School we took a ride to the Salt Lake City Cemetery.  We found President Kimballs headstone, also Neil Maxwell, and President Hunters.  It is a beautiful and huge cemetery.  We also found the "Christmas Box Angel" it was covered with flowers and toys.  I was surprised to see so many people at the cemetery.  It is a beautiful setting.

President Spencer W Kimball headstone. at Salt Lake City Cemetary

Christmas Box Angel Salt Lake City Cemetary

We continue to pray for a solution to this Corona Virus so we can be turned loose and get back to work.  I think we will be very busy this week moving and doing classes.

Another Week of Quarantine, Flowers, and Webx Training

Wow, there is not much to say about our week.  Thank goodness for the ongoing construction on the temple.  We walk over everyday to "supervise" the workers, who do not seem to be concerned with this quarantine and corona virus.  We had a "hard freeze" this past week that nipped some of the flowers, but they are still very beautiful.

Taking down the spires.  Notice the men working so high up.

Loading a spire for transport.

Spire loaded on the crane.

Spire going down.

The smaller pieces of granite are taken down in a basket.

We do have a good time with webex and talking and seeing the family.  We do that on Thursday night and this week we played Geneoprody and Wheel of Family Fortune.  They are two fun games your family can play on fhtl.byu.edu.  Check it out, it is really fun and you can get to know your ancestors better.

Flowers in the middle of the road between Temple Square and the Family History Library

The tulips are more open than any tulip I have ever seen.

From the plaza looking toward the Conference Center.

Bob did his first online class on Thursday, and he did a great job.  The training zone is doing two classes per day now.  If there is one advantage of online, we now have over 100 missionaries as opposed to 15-20 attending our classes.  I have to say we are all getting better with this webex stuff and sharing our screen to a power point and then live in Family Search.  All missionaries are required to wear a face mask when we go out.  We still walk without them because there is no one around.

One of the many flowering trees

Debra watching the crane work from the plaza.  This is how we supervise.

Bob's back has been giving him problems this past week.  We are working on it and pray it will improve quickly. We did have two more good aftershocks, both were 4.2.  Will we ever stop shaking, or should I say quaking?
We found a good Thai restaurant called Sawadee that we will go to again.  Of course everything is takeout right now.  Great Green Curry, Debra's favorite.

One deep hole!

Looking South at the temple construction.

Looking straight up.

The biggest back hoe ever.  It was picking up huge slabs of cement to be hauled off.

Easter, Dad's Birthday, Pink Moon

This has been a busier week as we continue to learn how to work on the internet and with different forms of group meetings.  We have tried Zoom, Teams, and now we have settled on Webex.  Now the learning curve continues.  We had our first mission wide devotional on Thursday April 9.  President Fenn did one on Easter, Passover, Good Friday, and then prayed to open our mission wide (world wide) fast.  It was the first of many more webex meetings and classes we will be doing from now until this Coronavirus is contained.  We enjoyed being a part of a world wide effort to bring this pandemic to a halt.  We have now been "stay home, stay safe" for over a month.  Thank goodness for walks outside.
Wednesday was the pink moon.  It was beautiful.  We walked up to the State Capital for a good view.  The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the night was gorgeous.  We watched it come up then took a picture when we got back to our apartment.

Utah State Capitol April 8, 2020

Cherry Blossom lane at the State Capitol.  It was a beautiful afternoon. 65 degrees.

Pictures do not do it justice  it was beautiful!  April 8, 2020 Pink Moon

Pink Moon shining between the Conference Center and The COB Church Office Building

Beautiful Pink Moon!

We did a zoom meeting with our kids on Thursday night and that is going to be an ongoing Thursday night activity for now.  It helps a lot to see their faces and hear their voices.  We are blessed to have such technology now especially when we are so isolated.  We count my blessings every day, even as I grumble at having to learn such things I never thought I would need to know.

We picked up a Honey Baked Ham bone and was surprised to find enough ham on it for two meals and the ham and beans, and split pea soup.  I know you all don't love it, but we do.

The Honey Baked Ham Store was near the home Bob lived in 1959-1960  4636 South Sycamore Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah

The flowers and trees are in full bloom and it reminds us that although a small little virus can stop the world, nothing can stop Mother nature and the hand of God as the world moves on.

I am always amazed at the beauty and varieties of tulips.  By the Tabernacle 

The inside of the tulip.  Gorgeous!

Easter Sunday was also my Dad's, Clyde T Higginson, birthday and also Bob's sister, Jo-lynn Hatch's birthday.  After our zoom Sunday school class, we took a ride to Pleasant Grove to the cemetery.  Dad is now 103 earth years old.  It was quite cold, we even hit a short snow storm on the way down.  We drove around Pleasant Grove and reminisced about my growing up years.  The town has changed so much.  It was 3,000 people when we moved there, it now has 39,000 people.

I put a penny on Mom's side and a dime on Dad's.  Heads up of course.  A fresh picked bouquet of sunny dandelions.

Bob and I at the Peasant Grove Cemetery. April 12, 2020.  Happy Birthday Daddy.

Pleasant Grove Cemetery war memorial.  Dad's name is on panel 6.

This is the house I grew up in Pleasant Grove, Utah.  308 North 300 East.  It looks similar but different.  It was white with a red tile roof when we lived there.  Some of the big trees are still there, just bigger.

We are now doing from 1 to 3 classes online everyday.  Bob gets to teach his first class on Thursday.
The construction goes on.  They are all still working like crazy. They are taking down many of the spires with a huge crane and men on the roof.  It has been really fun to watch the work progressing.  We have to see it from ground level now with all the buildings closed.

Men working at taking down the spires.  Thank goodness they are harnessed in.

You can see one of the spires on the crane being lowered to the ground.  The Cedar of Lebanon tree lives on.

The huge crane moving a load

This is where they are storing the granite spires for now as they bring them down.  They a much bigger than they look!

Quorantined boredom and Zoom

One can only sit in an apartment and do Indexing and Family Search for so many hours a day!!  It truly becomes a physical, mental and emotional monotony.  At least twice a day I just have to get outside, breath fresh air and do some walking and mind clearing.  Thankfully our Heavenly Father has made some beautiful sights to see.

Spring has sprung

Historic home with spring blossoms next to our apartment.

Popcorn from our balcony

We were able to get into the JSMB (Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg) where we normally work to copy some flash drives for leaving missionaries.  It is interesting to see our training spaces totally empty of people and seemingly begging us to stay, learn and work.  But alas, we could only be there a short while.

Our desks are the ones by the pillars.

Our empty training lab where we can train up to 30 missionaries.

The awesome part of the week was of course General Conference!!  OOOHHH what an amazing spiritual and edifying two days.  We were able to watch all 5 sessions in our apartment and truly enjoyed it.  A few of our takeaways were:

Debra's insights -

1.  The restoration is ongoing.  I had thought of it as an event with Joseph Smith and the first vision.  I understood that revelation was ongoing and would continue but I did not realize that revelation is the restoration and will continue till the great Jehovah says the work is done and the Savior returns.

2.  Hear Him was very much a recurring message.  I liked President Nelsons, Hear, Harken, and Heed.  Do something with what we hear.

3.  For our missionary service the message from Elder Holland "We didn't come this far only to come this far."  Even though our missionary service is very altered for now we will endure and continue on.  We still have much to learn not only about the work but also about ourselves.  We will endure to the end.

Bob's insights - 

- Hear HIM!

  How do I hear HIM?

  Harken, Hear HIM, Heed HIS words!

  Hear and follow HIM!

- Unity

  Choose to Unify with Christ.

  Unity with each other.

  Unity in marriage.

- HE is the source of all Joy.

   Christ is Joy

- Do not loose hope.

  We did not come this far only to come this far!!

There were many other touching feelings and thoughts, but these are the ones that resonated the most with me at this time and at this place that I am currently in.

Of all the businesses that are closed of only partially open, construction is still going full bore.  The Salt Lake Temple construction is moving quickly along.  The have this huge crane that is here to take down the Angel Moroni and some of the spires for structural fixes, strengthening and giving Angel Moroni back his trumpet.  Our 5.7 earthquake and the hundreds of aftershocks did some damage to the temple that I don't believe was foreseen.  Our God works in mysterious ways.

Large crane in resting mode.

Workers on Southwest parapet removing one of the loose decorative spires.

I love watching the big backhoes at work.

This gives a small perspective of how huge this crane is.

This picture does not show how scary this looked.  This huge back hoe was balancing on his roller wheels down into a very deep hole and pulling chunks of cement and debris out to put in the long dumper truck.  We estimated it was a 25 degree angle.

Today the training zone did its' first online zoom meeting training.  Sis Kay, one of our best teachers,  taught about reverse indexing.  It is new from the BYU family history training lab.  She did an amazing job.  There were 74 missionaries in on the training.  We are now working on developing other classes to share with the entire mission to help them learn and fill their time as they are confined to their apartments.  We never knew when we were called to this mission that we would have to learn so much technology, computers, power points, and now zoom meetings.  It is so amazing, though, how good it is to see the faces of missionaries we don't even get to see at church now.  The Lord has truly blessed us as we give our best effort.

We were even able to have a zoom meeting with all of our kids at the same time on Thursday April 2.  We are planning to make that a weekly gathering for now.  We pray for our family and friends that we will all make it through this corona virus well and still sane on the other side of this.  We are grateful to be able to join with the world in fasting and prayer on March 29 and now again this Good Friday, April 10.  I know the Lord will hear our prayers.