By Lee Pectol
Originally published May 27, 2020
This has been a time of healing.
Melissa’s story:
On March 12th, 2020, Utah’s Governor, Gary Herbert, announced a ‘stay home, stay safe order’, At this time I was at a doctor’s appointment learning that my 9th baby, at 19 weeks, no longer had a heartbeat. My husband, JJ, was in Detroit on a business trip.
Now almost 2 months into the ‘stay home, stay safe order’ this has been a time of healing and focusing on the importance of family. With eight children at home there really never is a dull moment. The children have always been homeschooled so they have been able to keep going with their typical school schedule. They have missed doing activities and lessons with other families, though.
JJ is still working, so that hasn’t changed either. Sundays at home have been very much enjoyed. I make bread each weekend for the sacrament (sourdough is the favorite!), while JJ blesses and passes out the sacrament. After partaking of the sacrament we have our Come Follow Me discussion where we discuss what we have read in the scriptures throughout the week. The discussions cover the meanings and history of the scriptures, as well as, how those teachings apply to their own lives.
When we look back at this time it will probably be remembered as a time where we played lots of board games, went on walks and hikes often, and tried many new recipes.
8 children on their porch for the Front Porch Project Utah.
JJ’s story:
We were very blessed that I was able to work continuously throughout the quarantine. The company I work for only employs 2 other workers. I am not required to deal directly with people, so exposure was very low.
During this time, we have grown together as a family by going on hikes and going over our Come Follow Me lessons after partaking of the sacrament on Sundays. There was some strife when we played Monopoly and Risk as a family but was quickly repaired when we played Quirkle or Bang instead. Melissa did an excellent job keeping the kids busy with homeschool work, Our oldest, who is 14, worked hard on her application to Snow College’s concurrent enrollment and got accepted to start this fall…
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