Fortnite

Although I've been aware of the word "fortnite" all of my life, I'd never heard it used, on a regular basis or spelled this way.  In fact, my computer wants to correct the spelling.  I've seen many words that are spelled differently in Australian signage but this word caught my attention.  It is a part of conversation here and I love it.  It simply means "two weeks".  I was reminded this morning when I was at the gym that a particular section was going to be closed in a fortnite.  The word is apparently an Old English term meaning simply "fourteen nights".

I guess my weird mind has been connecting the origin with the counsel regarding the Coronavirus of isolation for 14 days.  To stay put, or isolate yourself for 14 days sounds a bit like putting yourself into a "fort".  You see, I was raised in the western part of the US where historic sites are often forts.  They were built for safety and protection.  There are hundreds of forts that have been preserved.  One of them, Cove Fort, is even a church history site that has some amazing stories recorded.  President Hinckley had a particular fondness for that site as some of his family were there.  One of the commonalities was a constant mindset of being able to close the gates against adversaries and be able to have provisions sufficient to outlast any onslaughts from without.

Now, the news is constantly being updated with border closures, public gatherings stopped, and even significant events like General Conference and Temples schedules being changed.  Dani, one of our sweet students has been planning on attending conference for months.  Now she will not be able to attend that historic event, at least from inside the Conference Center.  When they announced that the MTC in Provo and in Preston, England were closing my mind immediately went to Shannia who was planning on flying out, on Tuesday morning, to begin serving her mission by entering the Provo MTC.  Now she will be staying at home, set apart as a missionary, and begin her preparations with online studies and even have a companion assigned to her.  It will be different than anything she had expected but she's going to be a part of history.  When I saw her, last night at Institute, our conversation was regarding her flight time and how early we'd be meeting at the Canberra Airport.  I haven't spoken with her since the announcement but I have great confidence in her missionary preparations.  We love her!

This morning was District Council and the Assistants to the President were in attendance as well as the Sister Training Leaders.  It was a wonderful meeting and Elder Eden did a great job of teaching and training.  This is Sister Haridas last week and we're going to miss her dearly.  She will always have a place in our hearts.

Comments

  1. Paradise Dawesville - GayleMarch 12, 2020 at 2:39 AM

    I visited Cove Fort in 2008, and just loved it, there was a very special spirit there.

    ReplyDelete

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