9/9/2018 - Butterfly Rain Forest, Hurricane Florence, Saints

9/9/18 - When you add the month and day together, you get the year, so there will probably be lots of weddings today.  We have served ten months now and, I think we have said this before, it seems short and it seems forever.  It has been a great blessings in our lives.
   Last Monday on Labor Day, we went to see the Florida Museum of Natural History.  Connected to the side of the museum is the Butterfly Rainforest area which we specifically went to see. It is at the right of this picture, enlarged a few pictures below.

"The lush landscape is planted in tropical trees and colorful flowering plants and amid small waterfalls and a walking path that features hundreds of free-flying butterflies and birds from around the world along with an assortment of other animals including turtles and fish."  We saw lots of butterflies, a few birds - one splashing in a big puddle in a waterfall area,

and some fish.  The area is like a huge greenhouse covered with a mesh kind of covering and when it rains, it rains inside.  This is the enlarged picture.

 We were about halfway through on our second time and the rain started.  Mike pretty much was soaked,  The ground area is only about a thousand feet, but it goes way up high.

It is a bit like taking a picture of every squirrel in the Grand Canyon (something we have joked about in our family for years because when we went to the Grand Canyon, there were lots of pictures of squirrels and that all look the same when you get home) - but there is a large variety of butterflies and all are different and they are beautiful.  It isn't creepy at all, they fly in and around you, landing on clothes and sometimes on hair.  We liked the blue ones best, but they are hard to get because when they land they close their wings and the outside is brown and grey

They put out half bananas and the butterflies gather to eat.  We didn't realize, but after a butterfly comes out of the cocoon, they live a very short time, some a few hours or a few weeks.  The monarch lives about 9 months.

Although this isn't a hurricane that will impact Florida except maybe some extra rain, still it is interesting the preparation that begins.  Already, a memo came from our Stake President to Bishops and Branch Presidents to start organizing their crews because if it hits South Carolina where it is projected, then the Florida Helping Hands crews are ready to respond.  The news says "there is an increasing risk of two life-threatening impacts from Florence:  Storm surge, or rise in ocean water above normally dry land at the coast which can flood homes, roads and businesses, and freshwater flooding from a prolonged heavy rainfall event inland.  South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia have declared a state of emergency to position money and resources for the storm."

We attended the YSA face-to-face fireside with Elder Quinton Cook tonight about the new book, Saints.  We agree with and share these thoughts from our son-in-law, Craig: "So I got called in to work tonight to do event standby (his work at BYU includes Risk Management) and I'm really grateful I did.  We watched the broadcast, face to face fireside with Elder Quinton Cook in Nauvoo at the foot of the temple.  He had two church historians with him and they answered questions about the early church and introduced the new church book, Saints. There was such a sweet, powerful spirit manifest during this fireside.  I highly encourage all families to watch it if you didn't have the chance, or if you were like me, and had no intention of watching it.  While I haven't read any of that new book, I am very interested based upon what I heard and felt there tonight, and I highly recommend it to all!"   There are also extra articles and videos you can access.  It is available on Gospel Library, or you can get it from Deseret Book for only $5.75.  Our guess is they are pricing it so everyone can afford it, free if you go to Gospel Library.    

We are grateful for the church, grateful to be able to be here together and grateful for all of you.   (sorry for the hard-to-read color, can't get it to change to anything else that is readable...but we are grateful for computers and how they keep us connected. )