Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Weekly/Monthly Assignments (Week of April 27th)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Family and Friends,

Being self-reliant and industrious is an important part of temporal and spiritual preparedness!

I am grateful I grew up in a home were my parents and grandparents were self-reliant and industrious in every way. They never wasted anything and when things broke they fixed them themselves. If they did not know how they learned how. They worked hard to provide for our family. Mom sold her home made bread, sewed for others, watched other children and did so many other things to help supplement my father's income. She made home made jam, everything from scratch (no processed foods), had a vegetable garden, only purchased things when on sale, made our clothes, had a savings account for raining days,and never used credit except for extreme emergencies. Dad repaired the car and took care of its maintenance, fixed things that broke, or we broke, and helped Mom around the house. They taught us the value of honest hard work and to not be idle. In turn we have strived to teach our own children the value of honest hard work and not to be idle with their time. "The Lord . . . expects us to have knowledge of temporal things so we can care for ourselves temporally; . . . ." (Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1970-1972)

"And again, verily I say unto you, that every man who is obliged to provide for his own family, let him provide, and he shall in nowise lose his crown; and let him labor in the Church. Let every man be diligent in all things. . . . " (Doctrine and Covenants 75-28-29) It is our responsibility and our responsibility alone to provide for and protect our family! We should never rely on our local and federal government, church or other family members or neighbors to provide for our immediate family's needs. "Let us shoulder our own responsibilities, and not endeavor to place them somewhere else." (Joseph Fielding Smith)

There may come a time when our temporal talents, skills, knowledge and abilities will help us work or barter for food, clothing, and other items we might need for ourselves and our family. They may provide us a way to make money to support our family and their needs. It is our responsibility to teach our children and grandchildren to be industrious. We have forgotten to teach our children how to work hard, how to repair things, how to cook, how to plant and grow a vegetable garden and fruit trees, how to save money and how to be self-reliant. In our home I taught our daughters, and our sons, how to cook, sew, clean, basic first-aid and how to take care of children. My husband taught the boys, and even the girls, how to change the car oil, a tire, repair the car as needed and repair things around the house by them working along side him. Being temporally prepared is a very important part of emergency preparedness!

  

 ". . . likewise that a man should be industrious in spiritual things as well as in the immoralities by which he makes a living." (Joseph Fielding Smith)

We need to build our own strong testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ and not rely on others. Others spiritual strength will not get us through the rough spots in life, ours will. "Your personal security and happiness depend upon the strength of your testimony, for it will guide your actions in times of trail or uncertainty." (Richard G. Scott, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

 

Note: Joseph Fielding Smith quotes come from "Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Joseph Fielding Smith", Chapter 23, pages 286-296, "Individual Responsibility". To read the entire chapter click here.

Weekly Assignment: Emergency Cleaning Bucket

Have you ever thought about needing emergency cleaning supplies? For the next few weeks we are going to work on setting up an Emergency Cleaning Bucket. Each week we will add 1-3 items. Most of these items can be found for a dollar each at a discount store (99 Cent Store, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc.). You want to purchase small-medium bottles so all of it will fit in one bucket. Watch the video on the March 16th posting on how to fit everything into the bucket. As we add each item place it into the bucket. Mark the bucket with a permanent marker--Emergency Cleaning Bucket. You can keep this in your garage or home storage shed.

This week add the following items: Last two items

1) 2 pair of latex rubber gloves

2) 5 dust masks 

Optional items for doing the laundry: See March 16th posting for more details regarding below...

1) Old fashioned clothes wash board

2) Old fashioned metal round tub or heavy plastic bin or tub

3) Mobile washer 

Note: If you missed any of the items to add to the Emergency Cleaning Bucket go back to March 16th for the entire list.

 Last Week

April Monthly Assignment: Shelter

Each family will need some type of shelter in case you cannot stay in your home after a disaster and/or damage to your home. We also keep a small tent (3 person), and a large tarp with # 3-5 below, in our truck in case we might need shelter if a disaster strikes while away from home. 

 

This month add the following to your Emergency Supplies:
 

1) Tent to accommodate the size of your family (or several small to medium size ones)

2) Large tarps (2-4)

3) 100 feet of rope 

4) Duct tape

5) Clothes pens or heave clips 

6) Hammer with nails

Numbers 2-6 will help you to construct a shelter. Keep all these items together in your garage or home storage shed. 

 

Click here to read more information about shelter or go to the right of this blog under "Postings". The Boy Scout Handbook and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Young Woman Camp Manual also has some treat tips on constructing different types of shelters. 

I find Big 5 in Southern California USA have great sales prices on tents this time of year and after the summer. Other sporting goods stores and department stores with a sporting goods department will too. There are also great companies and Amazon.com on the Internet. 

Important: If you have never put a tent together and purchase one put it together before you need it to make sure you know how and all the pieces are there and working properly. 

 

Note: New Monthly Assignment starting next week. 

  

Emergency Preparedness Ideas

Are you ready for a big natural disaster or emergency situation?

What about extra food stored?

What about drinking water stored?

What about emergency medical supplies?

What about 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks for each family member?

What about one at work?

What about a 72 Hour Emergency Family Bag?

What about emergency cooking equipment?

What about emergency shelter?

What about emergency lighting?

What about emergency sanitation?

What about emergency heating (for winter)?

What about an emergency cleaning bucket?

What about emergency supplies for those of you who live in hurricane, tornado, typhoon, flooding and tsunami areas?

What about civil unrest or Martial Law?

What about basic first-aid skills?

What about protecting you and your family? 

Note: This emergency preparedness blog is here to help you accomplish all these questions. See the postings on the right under "Postings" for information on each of these questions. Being prepared brings peace of mind! 

Comments: Please post a comment.  All your comments, ideas, suggestions and experiences are welcome! We all learn from each other. Thank you for your comments.