Friday, August 22, 2014

Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Weekly/Monthly Assignments (Week of August 24th)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Torrance Stake Family, Family and Friends,


"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we will reap, if we faint not." (Galatians 6: 7-9) 

"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated---And when we obtain any blessings from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2021)

What is this saying? What we sow, is what we reap!

How many times, how many years have we been admonished by our General Authority Leaders, and more lately, our Community and Government Leaders, to be prepared with extra food, water and emergency supplies? How long does it take us to follow their warnings?

"God's laws of the harvest is that if we want something later, we have to work for it now. If we want to grow a garden, we need to plant the seeds, water them, and protect them from weeds. If we don't do this, we won't have any harvest later." ("God's Harvest", President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, August 2014 Ensign, page 4-6)

And, if we want to feel peace in knowing that we are prepared with extra food, water and emergency supplies when a disaster hits our life, we need to work towards them daily. What will we reap, what blessings will come from it?

1) We will have peace of mind knowing we are prepared.
2) We will be able to take care of our family the way the Lord has admonished us to do.
3) We will able to help others.
4) We will be blessed for following and striving to follow our General Authority Leaders.
5) We will be able to reap what we have sowed!

Complacent!

I think in parts of the United States, and the world, we become too complacent of how a disaster can effect us in just a second. In some parts of the United States we have natural events in nature like hurricanes along the South Coast and the East Coast and tornadoes in the Midwest. When you live in areas like that you know to be prepared each season. But when you live in areas like California USA or other parts of the state you never know when a large earthquake will hit. What if a total power grid failure happened in the United States that lasted for several  months, or your country, could you take care of your family and your needs, could you survive? We need to be prepared at all times!

We also think, "It will never happen to me" and "I have plenty of time to prepare". It only takes a second for things to change drastically! It is to late to prepare when the disaster or emergency situation is upon us! We need to start preparing now!


 
Coming Soon!

The Carson Ward Emergency Preparedness Fair
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Saturday, September 6th, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm

Carson Building, 22721 Main (Main & 228th), Carson, California
 Pancake breakfast (9:00am), Emergency Preparedness Displays, Booths, Demonstrations, Handouts, Finger-Printing/Emergency Cards (0-18 years) and Safety class for children (3-11), 
Hot dogs and chips $1.50 (11:30am-12:30pm, sponsored by our Cub Scouts.  

 Bring your family, non-member friends and co-workers. 


Let's be better prepared!


Weekly Assignment: Family Emergency Medical Kits
 
Many of us have some sort of medical supplies in our homes like band-aids, alcohol, peroxide, anti-infection creams, pain killers, etc.. Some of us have limited first-aid kits in our cars and home that we probably have not checked in months, years. Medications do expire!

If there was a major disaster or emergency situation would you have the proper emergency medical supplies to take care of you, your family and help your neighbors. I would say most of us do not! Right?

The next few weeks we are going to work on our Family Emergency Medical Kit. We have done this before but I am sure there are some of you who did not do it, never completed it and some things need to be replaced due to expiration dates.  Some of these items can be found at discount stores and drug stores. Make sure you check the expiration dates before purchasing them, you want them to last for at least a year or more.

Note: Make sure you keep this out of the reach of your young children and explain to the family is your Family Emergency Medical Kit/Supplies. If you need to use an items from it, make sure you replace it right away!
This week add the following:
1) Eye wash solution  (1-2 bottles)     
2) Visine (or another product) eye drops  (1-2 bottles)
Monthly Assignment . . . Food Storage


For the next several months we are going to work on Food Storage. Each month we will work on one aspect of food storage, canned vegetables, fruits, soups, packages items like pastas, pancake mixes, etc., and many other items. Hopefully, with this process you will discover how easy it is to set up and add to your food storage.  

 
August Monthly Assignment: Tomatoes


Go back to last week's blog posting, August 17th, to read more information on adding tomatoes to your food storage for this month and see what items we added last week.

This week add the following:

1) Spaghetti Sauce: Any variety, with or without meat. Watch for sales. Check the chart you kept on how much spaghetti sauce your family uses in a month. Purchase enough for one-three months supply, what ever your family goal is for your food storage. If you have spaghetti (or other pasta dishes that use spaghetti sauce) 4 times a month and you use 2 cans or jars each time, then add 4 jars of spaghetti sauce to your food storage for a months supply, or more if you desire.



Emergency Preparedness Ideas . . .
    We all need a plan!


Quote: "As residents of California (USA) we have been, and continue to be, subject to earthquakes. Nearby neighborhoods have been evacuated for several hours due to refinery accidents, toxic spills and local flooding. Additionally, a legal decision from a court of law caused riots with resultant heavy property damage. Next time any of these or other situations could be worse, closer to home, and suddenly have a devastating impact on our lives." (Brian Butler, California Torrance Stake Emergency Response Communications Committee)

This statement applies to all of us throughout the world. As we hear and read things in the news and from our neighbors we all realized we are subject to these types of events happening in our lives. This year alone we have heard about plants accidentally dumping chemicals into community main water sources causing them to not being able to use their water for weeks. We have heard about flooding in some areas, wildfires in others and extreme droughts in some USA states. He have heard about devastation from tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes and other natural disasters throughout the world. Civil unrest. Conflicts and wars. Diseases spreading.

What can we do? We all need an emergency preparedness plan!

Be as prepared as possible with extra food (1-3 months), drinking water (2 weeks-1 month), emergency supplies (shelter, sanitation, lighting, heating, cooking, etc.) and emergency medical supplies. We all need to have a family emergency plan and a family evacuation plan in place. Plan on being alone for several days, may be even several weeks or months. We all need to have 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpack (or some call them "Bug Out Bags") and a 72 Hour Emergency Family Bag in case we have to evacuate immediately.




Being prepared will be bring peace of mind to you and your loved ones. 
 

Comments: Please share your comments, ideas and experiences below. We all learn from each other.

1 comment:

  1. It's funny how easy it is to not consider the disasters and food/water supply disruptions that can happen in any area. Living in Arizona, people think we could never have an earthquake, but we are surrounded by mountains. They didn't just pop up overnight! We never know when something may happen that prevents our families from getting the supplies they need. It is so much easier to sleep when you are well prepared.

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