Slowing the daily pace

On Wednesday Kristin sent me this picture.  Her son, David, found it in a box in the basement.  I am not positive if it was taken in the Dominican Republic or Hawaii, but either way, it conjures up memories of fun times. 

I enjoy thinking about past memories and the times spent with Kay, family and friends.  With this slower pace of life, I find I am enjoying the “travel” I can take through my memories, reading, and videos.

Jim and Deanne and I were talking one afternoon this week after Jim had posted some pictures on FaceBook of trips he had taken.  We began to talk about trips that Kay and I took.  Just before Kay became too weak to travel, Jim took us on a trip to Florida and particularly, Key West.  Jim sent me some pictures that caused a lot of joy in the remembering.

Visiting the Ernest Hemingway Home / Museum in Key West

Kay loved to fish.  We went deep sea fishing off the coast at Key West.

The fish were biting like crazy.  Kay was so excited.  This cast he caught 3 fish at one time.

Sunset on the Gulf.

On Monday I received the following FaceBook message.

On Wednesday this Emergency Alert came to my phone.

I have had very few medical calls this week.  I am not sure if everyone is immediately healthy or if they are too caught up in being in lock down and preparing to return home.  All younger missionaries are to return to their home countries.  The missionaries from Australia, Hong Kong, California, Hawaii, and some other US destinations have left in the past 3 days.  More are scheduled to leave at intervals over the next week.  However, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Philippines, and a few other countries have locked their borders even to their own citizens so missionaries from these countries will remain in the mission.  After all have gone that can leave, we will have fewer than 50 missionaries remaining in our mission.

Like everything else in the COVID-19 environment, this is a unique and strange situation for a mission.  This is certainly a learning time for all.  Speaking of memories, we are creating memories like never before right now!

One of my dear friends and my travel buddy here in the mission, Sister Bunker, finished her mission.  She was scheduled to fly out on April 8 but since we were going into lock down, she decided to move her departure.  She went home last Tuesday. She will be missed.

Sister Bunker showing me a souvenir that she was given after she visited Kiribati to help
with the English curriculum in the Church schools.

Several other senior couples in my mission have also chosen to return home.  Sister and Elder Packard left on Friday.  Their mission was to end middle of April but again, because of lock down, they opted to depart early.  Sister Packard has been my mentor.  For several months between the time the previous nurse left and I arrived, she acted as medical coordinator, so she was familiar with the health care system and insurance procedures.  It made my mission so much easier to have a knowledgeable teacher to help me get started.  She and her husband also helped missionaries without cars to get to and from doctor appointments.

It is so difficult to tell those you love and admire good bye.

I have tried to create a new routine for myself.  In the past, my day usually started with texts and calls from missionaries and then I usually remained busy the remainder of the day.  Now with fewer calls, I am beginning my day with 20-30 minutes on the recumbent bike.  Then I do stretches and some floor exercises.  (I have to do something to offset my increased “grazing” throughout the day.)  I do the daily chores that need to be done such as laundry or cleaning or taking out the rubbish.

Then I spend some time studying and trying to prepare for general conference coming up next weekend.   I have liked having time to study and read and ponder.  Maybe I will get better at “pondering” about scriptures and such. 

I like to buy a rotisserie chicken each week, take the meat off the bones, and use it throughout the week in salads or sandwiches because it is quick and easy.   I had some chicken left in the fridge so on Friday I made Italian chicken soup.  I froze most of it in meal sized containers to last through the lock down. 

I had some cake mixes in the cupboard that I bought when I first came thinking I would use them but I have had no occasion to bake so I decided to make some oatmeal raisin cake mix cookies on Thursday.  Now I have cookie dough in the freezer.  When I have the oven on, I can bake a couple and eat them fresh. 

While I made the cookies I watched a National Geographic show on Disney +.
It was a great documentary about how dogs get their shapes.  Since I love dogs, it was fun. 
If you want something good to watch, I recommend watching it.

I have been walking to the beach with Sister Lucas in the evenings.  I see families with their children out playing and running on the beach but those of us who are single walk at least 2 meters apart.  Because the foot path is not wide enough to separate by 2 meters, we walk in the streets as they are empty more or less.

Sister Lucas being funny with her “social distancing”
I’m surprised she didn’t pull out her binoculars.  Just kidding!

If you zoom in you can see how people are spread out across the beach. 

Empty streets

The temperature is cooling off and it is beginning to feel a little like fall.  There are showers now and then as well.  Saw a beautiful rainbow after a light sprinkle Friday as we walked along the beach.

 

I don’t mean to bore you with so many beach pictures but every day the colors are different and the sky and clouds are amazing.  The rock formations are fascinating to me. 

Everywhere I go there is beauty.

I have never seen oyster catchers at Takapuna Beach before.
Caught a pic of these two before someone scared them away.

I managed to get this Tui bird with a berry or seed in his beak.

It has cooled enough that I can use my oven again without making it unbearably hot in my flat.
My favorite way to eat vegetables is roasted in the oven.  I highly recommend trying it if
you don’t already know about this method of cooking.

Sunday with “social distancing” I went to Sister Lucas’s flat where Elder Mayberry administered
the Sacrament.  Otherwise a quiet day for study, reflections and rest.

Monday family Zoom conference call.  

A friend in Australia sent these thoughts to me by President Thomas S. Monson.

During the week I had studied about building stronger faith and testimony.  

As I studied Enos and Jarom one morning, this scripture in Jarom stood out to me:

4 And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.

It is important to me, especially in this troublesome time, to keep my faith strong so that I may be guided by the Lord and receive personal revelation.

This led me to think about how our faith and testimony are strengthened. I remembered a talk by Elder Neil L Andersen in April Conference 2014:

“In nature, trees that grow up in a windy environment become stronger. As winds whip around a young sapling, forces inside the tree do two things. First, they stimulate the roots to grow faster and spread farther. Second, the forces in the tree start creating cell structures that actually make the trunk and branches thicker and more flexible to the pressure of the wind. These stronger roots and branches protect the tree from winds that are sure to return. 

“You are infinitely more precious to God than a tree. You are His son or His daughter. He made your spirit strong and capable of being resilient to the whirlwinds of life. The whirlwinds in your life, like the wind against a young tree, can increase your spiritual strength, preparing you for the years ahead” 

So every obstacle and trial we have strengthens our faith.  However, we must also CHOOSE to learn and grow.  It is not just something that happens without effort on our part. 

Here is a thought from Elder L Whitney Clayton:

“Prophets across the ages have encouraged us and even implored us to believe in Christ. … The decision to believe is the most important choice we ever make. It shapes all our other decisions.  

“Belief and testimony and faith are not passive principles. They do not just happen to us. Belief is something we choose—we hope for it, we work for it, and we sacrifice for it. We will not accidentally come to believe in the Savior and His gospel any more than we will accidentally pray or pay tithing. We actively choose to believe, just like we choose to keep other commandments” (“Choose to Believe,” Ensign, May 2015, 38).

I pray that as we go about our week, we will take some time to think about the path we want to choose.  Have the courage to walk that path through our trials and to be faithful so we can be  guided by the Holy Ghost.

I love my Savior.  I love you my family and friends.