Because our valley is like a little bowl, it has a tendency to trap pollutants and such. As a result, bad air quality is not a new thing for us. But in the past week we’ve hit a high on the air quality index which actually means we’ve hit a low in terms of breathability. Due to weather conditions and a load of smoke from wildfires burning both near and far, our air quality has been the worst in the world on multiple days in the past week. Kevin has been to India and when our air quality is worse than New Dehli’s, we are not in a good place. Even yesterday’s torrential downpour did nothing to dissipate the yuck in the air. It was so weird to have it pouring rain and still be able to see and smell the smoke in the air.
Kevin changed the furnace air filter yesterday and it was pretty appalling. I went grocery shopping this morning and with just the brief times between the car and the store, my eyes were stinging, my nose and throat were irritated, and I could taste the smoke in the air. As for my two asthmatic kids, they are struggling. There has been a lot of albuterol used in our house in the past week. It’s bad enough that even those of us without asthma are feeling the effects of the polluted air we are breathing.
I can’t help but think of the “vapors of smoke” that are prophesied to occur in the last days before the second coming of the Savior. (D&C 45:41) I feel like we have seen many prophesied signs in the past two years. D&C 45:39 says, “And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.” So the question is, am I looking? Are you? Are we all preparing for that day? No one knows exactly when the Savior will return, but we have been given these signs so we will be watchful. I, for one, feel like the time is drawing near and that I need to be firm in my conversion so that I won’t be among the number whose “hearts shall fail them.” (D&C 45:26) The Lord has promised us time and again that if we remain faithful and endure well, he will not leave us helpless. So I do my best to stay on the straight and narrow path and try to help my family do the same. I do my best to be mindfully penitent each and every day. I do my best to make my conversion, my change of heart, a daily experience. I do my best to love and serve those around me. And as I do these things, I remember those promises. “Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.” (D&C 6:34) We all need to stand together to strengthen ourselves and those we love against the evil that is here and that which is yet to come. I guess that’s what being a Zion people is all about.
Kevin changed the furnace air filter yesterday and it was pretty appalling. I went grocery shopping this morning and with just the brief times between the car and the store, my eyes were stinging, my nose and throat were irritated, and I could taste the smoke in the air. As for my two asthmatic kids, they are struggling. There has been a lot of albuterol used in our house in the past week. It’s bad enough that even those of us without asthma are feeling the effects of the polluted air we are breathing.
I can’t help but think of the “vapors of smoke” that are prophesied to occur in the last days before the second coming of the Savior. (D&C 45:41) I feel like we have seen many prophesied signs in the past two years. D&C 45:39 says, “And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.” So the question is, am I looking? Are you? Are we all preparing for that day? No one knows exactly when the Savior will return, but we have been given these signs so we will be watchful. I, for one, feel like the time is drawing near and that I need to be firm in my conversion so that I won’t be among the number whose “hearts shall fail them.” (D&C 45:26) The Lord has promised us time and again that if we remain faithful and endure well, he will not leave us helpless. So I do my best to stay on the straight and narrow path and try to help my family do the same. I do my best to be mindfully penitent each and every day. I do my best to make my conversion, my change of heart, a daily experience. I do my best to love and serve those around me. And as I do these things, I remember those promises. “Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.” (D&C 6:34) We all need to stand together to strengthen ourselves and those we love against the evil that is here and that which is yet to come. I guess that’s what being a Zion people is all about.
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