Highlights:
Spiritual
We had a great Sunday. We were able to attend church, and were told we can attend every week, beginning the week after General Conference. It will be so wonderful to have so many more of us there. We will still need to wear face masks and sit two rows apart, but it will still be wonderful. We enjoyed the day as we fasted for our Fast Sunday. We enjoyed visits in person from Nathan and Jessica and the girls, and on FaceTime from Ethan and Cameo and the kids. We studied scriptures and listened to talks. It was a pretty good Sunday.
Temples continue to be closed to work for the dead.
I continue to listen to an April General Conference talk daily until I can listen to Octobers on Sunday or Monday. I did complete my 8th time through. I read the Book of Mormon this week and did my best to prepare for Conference.
We enjoyed watching General Conference on Saturday morning and afternoon, and I watched the Women's Broadcast Saturday evening.
I have indexed 15,569 records and reviewed 88,269 records so far this year.
Family
The Wilkins Family
The Wilkins family had a good week that included their traditional Toast To Fall dinner on Wednesday with a menu of Garlic Brown Sugar Pork, green beans, homemade applesauce, and pumpkin bars. They had a fun Pizza Cookoff on Sunday. Entries were Allison's Dreams, Mike's White Pizza (homemade alfredo sauce led this one to be the winner), Adam's Little Crispy but Not Burned, Grace's Jack o Lantern Hawaiin Pumpkin Delite, Josh's Ellebelle's Favorite, and Sam's Sam Wilkins The Gorilla. It was a yummy event. Mike continues to apply for work and finish the work on the house. Allison had broken tooth repaired with a crown. She spent Sunday delivering newsletters to the ward Young Women. She also taught via Zoom on Sunday. Grace was her biggest fan and that helped so much. Youth have suffered so much during these times of not being permitted by the government to attend church. Adam is enduring school. Games of Minecraft where he is able to talk with his friends are enjoyable. Grace doesn't enjoy online school but was very excited to get a call back on her vocal solo.
Joshua is going through Taco Bell Withdrawl without his favorite menu items. Sam likes school and plays a fun game they got called Master Gymnastics. The better you vault the gymnast, the more points you get.
The Ethan Rice Family
Ethan, Cameo, Kaylee and Wade are doing well. They have had lots of rain and the temperatures are decreasing. Ethan got a load of mulch and went around making the flower bed and around the tree look so nice. Cameo has the inside decorated for fall and shared some of her outdoor scarecrows. Kaylee is dong well at school and started back to full time in person two days a week on Thursday.
Wade was having a good time playing with the balloon animals Ethan was creating.
The Doran Rice Family
Doran and Amber and the kids had a busy week: work, virtual schooling, and even parent teacher conferences...what?
Amber finally got the face mask she has wanted...
Morgan
Morgan is doing well.
Kayty
Kayty had an interesting work week. She was shipped a new laptop and had to spend one day being converted from Windows 7 to Windows 10. She grouched a lot, but finally made it through.
1 Minor and 1 Major low this week.
The Nathan Rice Family
Nathan and Jessica and the girls had a good week which included a couple of visits, soccer practice and a game for Anna. Nathan came and joined the brethren in our ward in removing a tree from someone in the area's back yard. He also came Friday and finished sawing the mesquite limb that had broken and loaded it on the trailer for Doran to transport the next time they are out here. He came with the girls Saturday afternoon and while we played he put up our new ceiling fan.
Dad's Garden
Basil still is growing strong. His plants are managing to keep alive, especially after I got wire dollar tree trash cans to put over them and protect from hungry bunnies. Snow peas are also sprouting.
Other highlights
Saw an amazing shooting star on my Monday walk and a lesser but beautiful one on Tuesday morning.
Pictures from the tree removal project with ward members. Dad sawed it down and into usable logs.
First Presidential Debate on Tuesday night. I didn't watch. I especially did not watch the recaps or read about them. I remember when Bill Clinton was running for President. That is when I learned what Spin Doctoring was. Someone else would interpret what was said and what had happened. It is VERY biased, and little truth is shared from either side of the issue or person. I do not even understand the purpose of debates. You have two individuals. Their vision for the future and actions of the past are clearly simple to locate. Why in the heck two we think two people of very different views need to be left on a stage share why they are different?
Dad made a charcuterie board for me on Friday and Saturday.
Not so highlights
What a year 2020 has been. One cannot turn the page of the calendar and not become concerned with what will happen next. Our presidential election is a month from today (Saturday). My first time voting for President of the United States was when I voted for Ronald Reagan. I remember then, in 1980, Dad's Dad, Grampa Rice, would come visit a lot. He was a staunch Democrat and would always get at me about voting. I knew the platform that Mr. Reagan had and what his vision for America was (there was no internet so one had to do some research.) I decided then that, more than ever, I wanted to vote for someone who valued life...the preborn, unborn, physically challenged, elderly. I was pregnant at the time with a baby I lost in December, but that life inside me was special. Both my brother and my sister were adopted from people who had come to this state to privately deliver their babies and give them up for adoption. I valued all life and decided that the candidate's stance on abortion would be a true benchmark for me. I remember Grampa Rice saying over and over "Reagan isn't going to stop one abortion!" He was insistent. I stood up decided that life was what was important to me. I took his constant barbs politely, but voted as my heart dictated. Each and every election I have voted in that way, choosing life and the value of all Heavenly Father's Spirit Children. This year, it became especially dear when Allison made me aware of child trafficking and my research taught me so much. This week, while so much has happened that might seem negative, I was also led to many Christian people across the country who put themselves out there, standing up for the value of life. Women have joined across the country in an Esther movement. Every day, they pray for 30 minutes at noon, praying for the president of the US, for the life of babies, for the new Supreme Court nominee, and for government to not be involved in funding abortions. While I don't pray for 30 minutes, I do pray each day for this. I have been so uplifted by the forces for good all across this nation.
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