Today was the first day in over a year that we were back at church, every row filled and no masks. We’ve been back at church now for several months but with a rotating schedule, everyone in masks, every other pew empty to allow for social distancing and no second hour meetings in person. In February we went from group limits from 99-150 people. Last summer we were having to reserve a spot to attend one of two meetings each day because only so few people were allowed to gather. But TODAY, we were all there! We had elderly members who I hadn’t seen who could now come because so many are vaccinated, we had whole families, people hugging and sitting next to each other. It was delicious. It was joyful! It was so, so marvelous. It was if we hadn’t seen our family in so long and now we were back together again. Usually we try to sit reverently in our seats for a few minutes before the meeting starts but today the volume and energy was high with people greeting one another and catching up. It was so, so nice to see smiling faces. I am so grateful that this pandemic is slowing down and things are starting to get back to normal (kind of). Next month we resume in person second hour classes for everyone including primary aged children!
Beverly Cleary
Yesterday Beverly Cleary died at the age of 104. Her books were beloved to me as a child! I remember my first grade teacher letting me read out loud to my little reading group. I was reading out of the book, “Ramona and Her Mother”. Although it was a little challenging for me at that age and reading level, I wanted so much to get to know the characters and the plot that I struggled though it! I read a similar sentiment in her obituary on NPR when she said, “I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids. That’s what I wanted to read about when I was growing up. I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and in my school. And in my childhood, many years ago, children’s books seemed to be about English children, or pioneer children. And that wasn’t what I wanted to read. And I think children like to find themselves in books.”
And then this other quote from the same article, “Decades after they were written, Cleary’s books still ring true for children. “I think deep down inside children are all the same,” she said. “They want two loving parents and they would prefer a house with a neighborhood they can play in. They want teachers that they can like. I don’t think children have changed that much. It’s the world that has changed.”
The world is a better place because of writers like Beverly Cleary. My daughter, Anna (11) just walked in and in after I told her that the author of the Ramona books just passed away she exclaimed how amazing she was and that she has read all of her books, “Like five times”. Enough said.
Sam is Back
Homeward bound missionaries at the Cali, Colombia airport on their last day in country
A year ago Sam, along with many other North American missionaries were evacuated from the Cali, Colombia mission due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
They returned home and were reassigned state side while their South American and Latin American counterparts stayed there and manned the mission through the difficult conditions of quarantine and Covid restrictions since many of them couldn’t return to their countries. Sam is now back and is so happy to be in Colombia. This was his email for the week:
What is up friends and family!!! I am alive and not dead and Colombia is amazing! This last almost two weeks here has been so sweet! My new comp is named Elder Benavides and he speaks, no joke the fastest Spanish I’ve ever heard. He’s from the Amazon and he’s such a dope guy. We’re pretty much best bros and we’ve been seeing a lot of success in our area. Its actually pretty wild, as of right now there’s 11 Americans in the whole mission and only 80 missionaries total so pretty much everyone is opening areas (including us). The funny thing is that 10 of the 11 Americans go home in 4 months so from July to December I’ll be the “old man gringo” of the mission 😎. Our house is brand new (brand new missionary house, not a brand new house sadly) as well because of the new area and it’s been a little tuff because we still don’t have gas for cooking and I’m still getting used to the whole cold water out of a PVC pipe for a shower thing. Also midgets made our house because all the doors are 5′ 6′ no joke. The hope is that I’ll slam my head hard enough that I miraculously pick up a Colombian accent so everyone understands me better, I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. But yeah, honestly life is so good here! The work is amazing and it’s been cool for me to see that no matter where you go, missionary work is missionary work and the gospels blesses lives everywhere, despite language, culture or country. Oh and also I really miss my Toyota Corolla that I got to drive, that thing was the best. Anyways I love you all! Have a baller week!
-Love
Elder Beckwith
I am so happy he is happy. He always has such a positive attitude. I also love that companionship have phones now. He used to have to call from internet cafes and now he can call from his apartment. He gave us a tour last week of his apartment and his street. It was pretty great and really nice to be able to envision what his life is like there.
Sam’s new shower that delivers fresh cold water for his showers
Sam’s new apartment in Cali (on the left). The power lines are so close the the buildings he can reach them from his balcony
Sam’s new area (red marker)
The Reason to Write (or Teach)
Recently I read a book called, “Old School” by Tobias Wolff. The book wasn’t my favorite I’ve ever read but definitely had some fine parts. Towards the end it had this quote that I really appreciated:
“Teaching made him accountable for his thoughts, and as he became accountable for them he had more of them, and they became sharper and deeper.”
I believe this is true about writing. I notice that Grant, who teaches and writes all the time can express himself and his thoughts with perfect clarity and concision. I am constantly gathering, searching, seeking knowledge but I am never accountable for it and therefore I find difficulty in expressing what I learn or sharing it with others. The words don’t come, the thoughts fade away. However, I have also noticed that when I regularly write in a journal, or blog, my thoughts come more sharply and flow with greater ease. I think as I age I really, really need to get better at writing things down and exploring thoughts and information!
A Banner Week
This week we got some really, really good news! Thursday (the 11th) we heard that Sam will be returning to Colombia to finish out his missionary service. He will be departing on March 4. By the time he gets back it will have been a few weeks shy of a year since he and other missionaries were evacuated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Even though he has loved the people and luxury of serving in Arizona (warm showers, a car to drive, plenty of food) he is so excited to go back. On Friday (the 12th) Lizzie heard that she was accepted to BYU! We were so, so excited for her! We feel overwhelmed with the joy of the good news and positive direction for our two oldest kids. 
I have been fretting for the past few weeks about a lot of things that were out of my control. Will Sam be able to go back to Colombia? Will Lizzie make it into BYU? Will our Hawaii trip happen over spring break despite the current prohibitive quarantine requirements in Kauai? Will we get enough moisture this year? It has been a pretty bad snow year and that usually means a summer full of fires. (Not to mention the pretty terrible skiing conditions we’ve had so far!) Will this pandemic ever end? Finally, I took all of these worries to the Lord and told Him that I recognized he was in control and that I would stop worrying about it all and trust Him. I couldn’t believe the peace I felt when I finally turned everything over to Him. And then when these amazing things happened I felt so happy for our children but the happiness I felt in knowing that things were turning out how I hoped was not nearly as much as the pure peace I felt in knowing that a loving, caring God is in charge.
How Do I Really Feel?
So the Corona Virus pandemic has been in full swing now for 6 months and I have spent a lot of time writing statistics and how things have changed, but I don’t know that I have really taken the opportunity to write down how I have felt through this whole ordeal.
From March until about July I was in one perpetual bad mood. My fuse was short, my attitude bad, and I was really and truly annoyed at life in general. I didn’t like that how I lived my life and the way I interacted with people was dictated by so many rules and restrictions. I thought all the efforts to distance ourselves and put up barricades of cloth or plexiglass were the antithesis of what it means to have human connection. My attitude was so bad that Sam, during his two months at home between mission assignments noticed it and kindly said, “Mom, you kind of have a bad attitude.” He was right. I did. I complained about not being able to try on clothes in stores (We still can’t in most places – it is thought that maybe we pass along the germs by trying on clothing!). I thought it was crazy how one day after the outlet stores opened up again we were shopping and noticed that some of the stores allowed 35 people in at one time and others allowed 5. I hated how every place of business (and every person) had a different idea of what “safe” was. Most of all I hated – and still do hate – how political and divisive this whole pandemic has become. If you don’t think masks are important or effective you are a selfish, ignorant conservative. If you insist on everyone wearing masks, you are a self-righteous, liberty-denying liberal who wants to tell everyone what to do. The name calling and shaming and ridicule that has happened during these last few months has been intolerable. I found this article in June called, “How Mask Shaming Is Becoming a Public Battle”…
Covid-19 Case Update
I realized that I haven’t updated the case counts in a very long time. Here is where we are at:
Worldwide cases: 21.6 million (deaths: 774K)
U.S. cases: 5,340,232 (deaths: 168,696)
Utah cases: 46,652 (deaths: 364)
Things aren’t looking too great. If the Spanish Flu of 1918 was any indication of trends we won’t be out of this for another 18 months. Hopefully a vaccination will be developed in less time than that!
Some Quotes
“The Lord does not ask about our ability or inability, but only about our availability, and if we prove our dependability, the Lord will take care of our capability.” – Neal A. Maxwell
“There is nothing healthier than confidence in yourself, confidence in your Heavenly Father, confidence in others. The only way to achieve this confidence is a clear conscience.” – Unknown
and lastly,
“The escape from a trial will never be out of the trial but through it.” – Henry B. Eyring
I keep putting off writing because there is so much going on. I know, I know, that is the worst possible reason to NOT write. Yesterday I came across a box with all my pre-smartphone notebooks that had all my to-do lists and notes and thoughts. They were not my journal, nor my college or high school class notes but had basically everything else in them. I realized that I had a lot of great things written in them. So, to get me to write I think I will attempt to occasionally share some of the great quotes found therein. The above quotes were on the first few pages of my notebook from 1998
And now kid quotes
Last week Lizzie hurt her knee while long-boarding. She had to be on crutches for a few days while the swelling went down and the pain subsided. She was on dishes duty and so I encouraged William and Anna to help her out. I said, “If you guys want to be super awesome you can help Lizzie with her dishes.” Anna replied, “Mmmm. I don’t want to be super awesome. I’m ok with just being cute.”…
Some Book Club Member Recommendations
When I found you
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack
A Child Called It
As You Wish: Inconceivable tales from the Making of the Princess Bride (listen to audio version)
Present Over Perfect
Rising Strong
Anita Stansfield – The Barrington Family Saga
A Better Way to Teach Kids about Sex
Bob – a kids book
Lilac Girls
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Out of the Best Books
Light Between the Oceans
Amelia Peabody Mysteries
Varina: A Novel by Charles Frazier
Book of Ages – Joan Lepore
The Other Wiseman
Fortunately the Milk
The Fantastic Eyes of Peter Nimble
An Invitation
There is quite a bit of construction work happening on our street, including significant amounts on our own frontage. Today we went up to cemetery hill to watch some fighter jets fly by and on our way home Anna started to play in the pit in front of our house. Grant told Anna that she isn’t supposed to cross the yellow tape line and that it says, “Caution” because it might be dangerous. Anna said, with shock, “It says ‘caution’? I thought it said, ‘Come in”! I love a child’s perspective of the whole world being a playground. When does that change? When do we start reading “caution” on everything instead of “Come in”?
In the same vein, when the workers pulled out our thicket in front of our house Lizzie sadly said, “There goes my fairyland.” It’s true. The kids spent hours and hours in there as small children. It had shrubs and trees all around, much taller than they, a stream that ran during the spring and early summer, a dirt hillside that they could dig in and a hole that went into the hillside that had no end. It was pretty magical. This is what it looked like before: (Thanks to google earth for the image since I failed to take a before shot.)
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