Storm Homes...
Recently at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 183rd Semi-Annual General Conference and our Stake Conference I have heard the terms "fiery dogs of the world" (storms) and "Storm Homes" mentioned. Each of us needs to prepare our homes from storms that may arise temporally and spiritually.
In General Conference Robert D. Hales, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stated "the world is moving away from the Lord.... We need to stand strong against the "fiery dogs of the world". Boyd K. Packer, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stated "we live in very precarious times".
At
our Stake Conference last week, Elder Allen D. Haynie, of the Seventy,
spoke. He spoke about "Storm Homes". Let me share a story he told...
In Michigan USA there was a town where many of the children took a school bus home. Some times the storms were so bad the bus driver had to pull over the bus and wait out the storm. This left the children stranded, scared and in danger. The school board wanted to resolve this problem. They came up with an idea that each child who lived out of town would be assigned a "Storm Home" in which to go, be safe and wait out the storm. One young man had been assigned to a home with an older couple with no children at home. That particular winter was not as bad and none of the children had to stay at their assigned "Storm Home". Each day the young man would get on the bus and think about his "Storm Home". One day the young man decided to stop by to meet his storm family. The couple anxiously hoped he would stop by someday. They welcomed him in and gave him some hot chocolate. As they talked they offered some great advise to the young man. They told him their home was always open to him no matter what the situation. They became great friends and their home became his "Storm Home" against the storms in his life.
Being Spiritually Prepared From the Storms..
Elder Hales stated "the only safety we have is to give heed to our church leaders and their inspiration, listen as if it came from the Lord himself....If we listen and obey we will be strengthened....We will receive comfort and guidance...." Elder Packer stated, "We need to have a gospel centered home....Be watchful and be diligent....The scriptures hold keys to spiritual protection, where to go, what to do and give hope....We can find hope and peace for our family during perilous times."
Elder Haynie stated, "our homes need to be like the temple....To build a temple it takes sacrifice, it needs to be beautiful, it needs to be dedicated, it needs to be accepted by the Lord, and we need to make sure no unclean thing can enter....So it is with our homes....We need to sacrifice by taking time to kneel down and have family prayer and scripture reading and Family Home Evening. We need to give up things that do not allow the spirit to enter into our homes (like violent and immoral video games, moves and television programs).... We need to beautiful and clean up our homes. (We do not need to spend a lot of money or go into debt for it.)...We need to have our homes dedicated by a Priesthood holder and dedicated to the Lord....Once our homes are accepted by the Lord we need to not let the adversary in....We need to make our homes a safe place."
Being Temporally Prepared From the Storms...
We need to have a Food Storage plan and work towards our goal of 3 months, 6 months or a year supply of food. We need to store water. We need to have medical emergency supplies on hand. We need to have our 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks for each family member. We need a way to have shelter and sanitation if we cannot stay in our home. We need to have an evacuation plan. We need to be aware of our surroundings, listen to the spirit and act on the best way to protect our family. (Note: Only store food and water if your country allows it.)
Weekly Assignment: 72 Hour Emergency Preparedness Family Bag
Why a 72 Hour Emergency Preparedness Family Bag? There are some things your family will need in you have to evacuate or are away from home that cannot fit into the 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks.
Last week I assigned you to get a bag, like a sports bag or backpack, ready. You can use one you have around the house, purchase a new one or one at the local thrift store.
This week add the following...
1) A regular portable radio, with extra batteries, or solar radio
Emergency Preparedness Ideas:
I want you to imagine you live in the Los Angeles County in Southern California USA where resides about 3.8+ million people, which does not include Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, Santa Barbara County or San Bernardino County. A mega earthquake hits the area, causing devastation up and down the coast of California and inland. Everyone is effected, including the emergency rescue teams. Buildings will be down, infrastructures will be destroyed, roads will be blocked, no electricity, no clean running water, no food, no medical supplies. Would you be able to take care of you and your family? Do you think the local or federal government will be there to help right away? Look what happened with the Katrina and Sandie Hurricanes! How long did it take FEMA to help? Will they be equipped to help 3.8+ million people?
We need to be prepared to take care of our own family in a long-term large-scale disaster! Many are complacent and say it will not happen to me or here. I have lots of time to prepare. In one second, things can change drastically!
If you are not prepared to take care of your family, then you need to make a plan, set goals and work toward being prepared as quickly as you can. Yes, preparing can be inconvenient, it takes our time and money. But I would rather take time to start preparing now, set goals and start working on them now!
Let's all strive to be the "Five Wise Virgins" and not end up like the "Five Foolish Virgins".
Comments: All your comments, ideas, suggestions and experiences are welcome! We all learn from each other. Thank you for your comments.
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