Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Finding Faith in a Family Room

I was sitting in my English class on March 12th when my friend walked in and said "Did you hear?" "Hear what?," I said. I soon found out that our church meetings had been cancelled worldwide until further notice because of COVID-19. We were shocked. Up until that point, the news of this foreign virus had seemed irrelevant to us. It did not affect us in any way because "It couldn't spread THAT much, could it?" In no way had it affected our lives up until then. Little did we know that the next day, we would receive word that school was cancelled for two weeks, then two more after that, and eventually, would move online for the rest of the school year. Little did we know that this virus would become a worldwide pandemic lasting up until December, and who knows how long beyond that, deadly in nature. My worship services, a huge part of my life and which I attended each week without fail, were greatly changed as a result of the coronavirus. Thankfully, we had been prepared for this. Over the past few years, the prophets and apostles of our church have re-emphasized the importance of building healthy habits of daily scripture study, prayer, and many other things along with strengthening a personal relationship with God. They had created a new and improved system to help you serve those around you, and encouraged everyone to check up on those assigned to them often. Finally, they had cut down the amount of time spent at church buildings each Sunday in order to place the focus more fully on the sacrament, where we remember Christ's sacrifice and renew our promises to him. As a result of these adjustments, among others, when meetings were cancelled, it made worshipping at home a much more comfortable change. If followed earlier, all of these habits were already implemented in your life. Priesthood holders were able to perform the ordinance of the sacrament at home. In my home, this was a very special experience. Each Sunday, we would all get ready and dressed in our Sunday best, and meet in the family room. We would sit on the couch and the bread and water would be set on a plate on the ottoman by the fireplace. We would sing, pray, and enjoy each others company. I felt that by being able to worship at home, with just my family, I was able to see things with a new perspective. I struggled during the first bit of quarantine to understand why everything was happening and what purpose it would serve to help me in my life, but I believe that part of that reason was so that I could strengthen my trust in and relationship with God. By not knowing what would come in the future, I had to believe that God would lead me where I should go, and that things would turn out as they should. I grew closer to Him and my family, and once church returned, I was even more grateful for it than ever before.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Utah

personal story