We haven't come this far only to come this far...

We still venture out occasionally to buy groceries, get some exercise or do our part to keep the local eateries open. This sign at a local jewelers puts into words what everyone is wondering - how long?

We took a drive north about 20 minutes to Rickwood Caverns State Park. The cavern tour was closed so no one else was around making it easy for us to social distance. We took a short hike and just enjoyed being outside on a beautiful spring day. There were certain dangers, however, which added an element of risk above and beyond a global pandemic.

This is the only snake we saw.

Be careful - a cave may sneak up behind you.

 After many years of intense study of the natural world, with a laser like focus on attention to detail and precision, holding to the highest scientific standards, we were able to identify and photograph a few of the natural wonders we observed and now share these in the interest of furthering human knowledge.
 

Mini-cave surrounded by Rocks and Moss

Flower

Tree

Another Tree

You're welcome.

We are grateful for the opportunity to (still) be here and rub shoulders (at a distance) with the wonderful missionaries in Alabama.  Lately we've been able to do apartment checking with them over the phone and are amazed at how up beat and energetic they are even under these trying circumstances. We can see how they were prepared to serve here at this time as they use technology in some creative ways to still contact and teach as much as possible.

General Conference was certainly one to be remembered. Maybe it's time for us to sit up and really pay attention.

Mission Miracle:

It truly blows me away at how blessed Sister Smith and I are right now. We average about 2-3 phone lessons per day with investigators, plus more with less actives and returning members. We are so lucky to be able to share the gospel via technology!! Heavenly Father has set us up for so much success lately, we can't believe it. When our families call us, they typically ask how in the world we're so happy amid being trapped in our apartments. We just explain to them that through the help of the spirit with our area and our friends, we are surprisingly happier than ever, because we are actually teaching more lessons to friends in a day than we could have possibly fit without technology!! Our area is big, so we could never teach all our progressing friends or returning members in the same day, but now we can! Here's the miracle. Sometimes THEY call us. We nearly cry, our hearts get so full. Technology has enhanced our work and allowed us to teach and teach. Our Father in heaven has truly graced us with so many people to teach and reactivate, all in the few weeks before this all happened. We count our blessings each night. This would never be possible without the constant help of his spirit. This is what this generation was prepared for, times like these! Thank goodness you and Sister Allred are so tech savvy!! How lucky for us.