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10 April 2020  A Little Calmer?
Today is a worldwide, interfaith prayer and fast day dedicated to relieving the strain and stress of COVID-19,  The fast was announced at General Conference on Sunday and thousands of people outside of our church have asked if they can join.  It is deeply touching to witness the unity and selflessness of so many people who want to be part of the solution.  It is a great counterweight to what is going on in Washington.  Politics is the great divider, faith is the great uniter.  Pres. Fenn held a mission conference last night that was moving, inspirational and instructive.  He spoke about the 4 cornerstones of his faith (and of the church).  They are 1. The Atonement of Jesus Christ including his sacrifice of his life and his miraculous resurrection.
  1. The restoration of the Gospel and church of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith the prophet and the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. 3. The Priesthood of God, ordinances of salvation. 4. Revelation, ongoing, personal and through the mouths of his servants.  He emphasized that we are all joint heirs with Christ, we have eternal blessings, we can be sanctified by the Holy Ghost and we are born again by degrees.  Pres. Fenn says he has a simple faith.  That may be true, as he sees it,  but it is a faith that is supported by deep pondering and study.  I know I can rely on these cornerstones of my faith to provide a sure foundation as well as comfort and certainty that the Lord prepares me and protects me and blesses me. 
Ed has been working very hard getting conference set up.  He is mostly learning new (to him) technology but also being stymied by out of date or unusable equipment.  Pres Fenn want more and more of these meetings, especially daily ones with the young elders. While I am working from home most of the time, he has no choice but to go into the office.  Yesterday a couple came to help him.  The Welshs have years of experience with video conferencing so they were of great help. I only went to the office on Tuesday this week when the Keyes moved in.  I have 3 moving in next week.  It is surprising to me how I can successfully work from home since I can access my office computer from home as well as call forwarding and email.  More surprising is how calm this week is.  No more lists of people moving in or out.  Maybe things have died down for awhile until our regular missionaries can come or maybe we are in the eye of the storm.
There are lots of questions that need to be answered about the renovations of apartments: when, in what order, how many at once etc.  So that is keeping everyone guessing along with the “when will things get back to normal” question.  I love the the Lord has taught us how to respond and react to crisis and dilemmas thrown our way,  What a blessing to be a disciple of Christ and to be a member of His Church, to have a Prophet of God to lead us and other men and women who have been raised up to lead us through all this.

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