Coronavirus Pandemic, Self-Quarantine, Home Church

As Sarah had warned when we came home from our cruise, "Life as we know it has totally changed."

Boy was she ever right!!!! This strange, unexpected, unprecedented, worldwide pandemic known as COVID-19 (coronavirus) was out of control!!

Glen and I were in self-quarantine because of being out of the country. He got sick the last day of our cruise with what he called a bad cold. I called it bronchitis. He had such a juicy cough, runny nose, sneezing and carrying on. I was absolutely terrified I would get it and it would go straight to my lungs.

He quarantined himself to the basement to sleep. He spent his days in the office as his work really ramped up since he is a manager over welfare and self-reliance. We were only together during mealtime and I sat as far away from him as I could.

Rebecca insisted she would do all our grocery shopping for us. The sad thing is when she makes her grocery deliveries, we have to keep a barrier or lots of space between us. I so wanted to give them a hug, but we just looked longingly at them through the door as they left the groceries on the porch.

It was quite the announcement when we got the notice that church meetings were temporarily suspended worldwide. That meant that each family will now be holding our own Sunday meeting and teaching the gospel solely in our homes.

This news made us appreciate the revelation our prophet had received a while ago about switching the emphasis to home-centered, church-supported gospel learning. The inspired Come Follow Me became our course of study as we put into practice more learning in our homes. Look how that is paying off now!!

We had a play scheduled at Hale two days after we got home. Needless to say, we were soon informed there would be no play as all performances had been suspended until who knows how long this pandemic-causing social-isolation will remain in force.

We would have had to cancel our plans anyway as Glen was sick and as we were in self-quarantine. But, their hope of being open by March 30th was just a dream.

While on our cruise, we had heard how people were hoarding up food and paper supplies--toilet paper-- in preparation for the need for everyone to hunker down in their homes for an indefinite period of time.

Upon assessment when we got home, I found we have an abundance of candy, hot chocolate, toilet paper and popcorn.

We had to laugh when we texted Morgans and told them we had finally gotten home safely. Patricia said she had fixed herself some popcorn for her dinner. I then texted her this photo taken as Glen was just finishing up fixing himself popcorn for his dinner. Those two are so much alike!!!

Our daughters could not emphasize enough the importance of us staying inside and not going anywhere and not being around anybody!! They frequently asked me if my parents realize the seriousness of what's going on and the need for them to stay in and stay away from people.

First of all, I was already being a good girl putting myself in self-quarantine for 14 days after our out-of-the-country trip. The sicker Glen got with his cold, he finally grasped onto the virtual meetings idea. WHEW!!! 

He was making me crazy thinking he could just come home and go, go, go. 

I took the self-quarantine and social distancing literally! I didn't let Glen within 6 feet of me. I could not afford to get his cold or bronchitis or whatever illness he was dealing with as my poor lungs struggle enough as it is!!

It was a comforting thought about how we have been prepared for home-centered gospel learning for a while now. The reality that Sunday worship service relies solely upon each individual family unit did not even faze those of us who were already doing Come Follow Me each week.

I sat clear across the room from Glen during our Sunday sacrament meeting.

It felt like such doom and gloom as we were all sequestered in our individual homes, worried sick about how this pandemic was running rampant in the world and wondering when the deadly virus would affect us or someone we know and love.

Such an unsettling feeling of the unknown future. Each morning I would wake up and the first word that came to my mind was coronavirus. I would always hope it was just a frightful nightmare, but then reality would set in and confirm it was real and we were living it every day.

All it took to get our minds off the coronavirus was an EARTHQUAKE!!!

Because Glen had been sleeping in the basement, I was alone when the loud noise and the shaking of the house happened. I was still in bed, so I remembered what I had learned long ago that staying in bed is a safe place to be during an earthquake. I was actually too scared to even think about moving.

Glen had gotten up early that day and was working in the office when he got startled by the rumbling and a couple of decorative things falling over on the office shelves.

He ran upstairs to check on me and noticed the entryway chandelier swaying so much it almost hit the window above the front door.

As if the earthquake wasn't bad enough, then we had to experience the aftershocks--which were just as terrifying as the initial earthquake because we never knew if it would be as bad as the first one or if it would be worse. Talk about jittery nerves for the next few days...weeks...month...!

I purposely avoided going downstairs until the chandelier quit swinging. The one other earthquake I have experienced was when I was a teenager and I was at a meeting two houses down from us and the earth started quaking and I kept looking at the hanging light in their living room and that has haunted me ever since. 

I did not need another haunting image from our own home!! It was a bit unnerving to walk out of the bedroom after I had gotten ready for the day and spotted something out of place.

My little homemaker statue had gotten knocked off balance.

On the main floor, I found several Easter decorations had fallen.

The pictures on the walls needed to be straightened.

I had to laugh about what our neighbor posted and felt the same way!!

These are another couple of things I saw that really sums up the times we are living in right now.

With so much uncertainty in the world, with people told to stay home and not go to work, with the worry about grocery shelves being bare, it felt like our world was falling apart.

It was actually comforting to see the trash truck going up and down the street. It was a small semblance of normalcy.

It was sad to learn all the temples around the world were closing. That is unheard of to be sure. It made me think again about the revelation our Prophet had gotten about members not needing to wait a whole year after a civil marriage to be sealed in the temple.

We are seeing this being played out with our missionaries. They are home and falling in love and anxious to start their next phase of life--getting married. Rather than wait until an uncertain future date when they hope the temples will be open again, they are able to have a civil marriage now, with plans to get sealed in the temple as soon as they can.

When I posted a photo on Instagram while we were in New Zealand, I got this surprising comment from our neighbor Candace George.

I was so worried wondering if Candace was able to make it home safely from her trip. In response to my email, she wrote that we were lucky we made it to Australia and New Zealand.

She and her sisters had planned a cruise beginning in Auckland and ending in Sydney. They ended up not being able to go on the cruise and Candace ended up being the only sister who went to Auckland. Luckily she had a friend to stay with there. She was unable to go to Sydney and flew home from New Zealand.

Candace said we were lucky to make our trip without incident. She said they were one week too late. She heard that the ship she had planned to take encountered no problems in New Zealand, but the rules changed and they were unable to dock in Australia. She is not even sure what the fate was of that ship.

Counting our blessings once again for being able to have an uneventful cruise and being able to fly home from Sydney as planned!!!!!

In all the bleakness, I found a sign of life going on despite what is happening around the world.

Blossoms!! Spring has sprung!!

Another bright spot in our day--when Rebecca brings us our grocery order. She keeps her distance and puts the food just inside the garage.

I watched the movie on the plane about Mr. Rogers and then saw this quote by him which I really love. Rebecca has surely been a helper to us. 

Another Sunday rolled around and we were still self-distancing--except since the night of the earthquake I wanted Glen to sleep upstairs with me instead of in the basement. 

The bishop authorized the priesthood holders in our ward to be able to bless and pass the sacrament in their own homes. It was a very sacred experience to be able to participate in that ordinance together, just the two of us.

I love this artwork that our neighbor drew. It represents so well the feeling of the sacrament being such a personal, individual experience.

I love the Sabbath Day!