Happy Easter . . .
I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Easter is a very sacred day for me. I hold it close to my heart and spirit. This video will explain why . . .
Spiritual Preparedness . . .
Prayer, Listening to and following the Spirit
"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63)
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, ...." (Hebrews 10:22)
Temporal preparation is very important, but being spiritually prepared will bless us in many ways. Praying daily, reading the scriptures daily and listening to the Spirit and following the guidance from the Holy Ghost will bring peace of mind and protect us. Let me give you some personal experiences my family has had . . .
May 22, 2011 our daughter had just left church and was attending the Joplin High School Graduation where some of their church youth were graduating. While at the graduation ceremony she felt a very strong impress to leave and go home. She sat there for a few seconds and then heard the prompting again, leave now. As she left the high school graduation and opened the doors she saw the sky and new things did not look good. She stepped back inside and told a fellow near by he might want to warn everyone. Before she could get home she had to pull off the road and take shelter in a near by store, the tornado was upon her. Little did those in Joplin know they were to be hit by a category 5 tornado, the tornado was wrapped in heavy rain and it was hard for the Nation Weather Department to see it coming and how bad it was before the sirens could go off. Many lives were lost and much property destroyed. The high school was one of those structures destroyed. If she had not listened to the prompting of the Spirit she might not be here today.
While our son was serving his mission in Honduras in 1998 a category 5 hurricane, Hurricane Mitch, hit the area.One again, many many lives were lost, property was lost. I am grateful for my son's Mission President who listened to the prompting of the Holy Ghost (Spirit) several months prior that he needed to stock up on food, water and emergency supplies for his missionaries. He did not know why, but he followed the prompting. Because of his obedience the many missionaries under his direction had what they needed and they were able to help others.
A few months ago I mentioned in a blog posting that I felt the prompting we needed more food storage. Little did I know that in a few months one of our family members and their family would be living with us for awhile. We may not need it, and I hope we do not, but I am thankful for the promptings of the Spirit.
About a year before 2010 I woke up, sat up in bed and felt a very strong impression I needed to be better prepared and warn others that they should be better prepared too. I was not sure how I would accomplish the inspiration I received. I decided I could start a blog to help my family and my Ward about emergency preparedness, and possibly others, both temporal and spiritual preparation. Little did I know this blog would spread all over the world. In August of 2010 I started this blog to help others to be better prepared. Shortly after that I was called to be our Ward's Emergency Preparedness Specialist. About two months ago I was called to be our Stake's Emergency Preparedness Specialist. Heavenly Father has provided a way for me to reach out to many. I am grateful for those of you who following this blog, share with others and are working on being better prepared. I am grateful for the things I learn from you and can share with others. I am grateful for the Spirit and His promptings and that I listened!Our family and friends have been inspired many times by the Holy Ghost. I am grateful for this inspiration, guidance and protection we have received and will continue to receive it we strive to keep the commandments and covenants we have made, that we pray and read our scriptures daily for guidance and are striving to be prepared the best we can.
I am grateful for the wonderful 185th Annual General Conference we are able to witness and listen to this weekend. Ponder and apply what you have heard and follow the direction of our General Authorities and become more spiritually prepared for the days ahead. If you did not get a chance to watch or listen go to lds.org and listen to or read their inspiring messages.
Temporal preparation is great and needed, but spiritual preparation will help us endure the trails and challenges we may face. I testify to you if you will "draw near" unto our Savior, Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, you will feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost and their guidance.
April Monthly Assignments
Food Storage: Rice . . .
Go back to last week's blog posting dated March 29, 2015 to see the information about adding rice to your food storage.
Emergency Preparedness:
Vegetable and Herb Gardening . . .
Emergency Preparedness Ideas
Phones during a disaster . . . As many of you already know traditionally modern land lines and cell phones will probably not work during a disaster. It takes electricity to run the land line. Unless, you have an old fashioned push button or rotary corded phone you can directly plug into the phone jack. If you do not have one I would suggest you purchase one at a thrift store or garage/yard sale and add it to your emergency supplies. You will be grateful you will have a phone that may work during a disaster. (Thank you to D.F. who reminded me of this.)
Insta Fire . . . This stuff is amazing. It was created by 3 Mormon return missionaries who discovered this while Boy Scouts in Idaho. They created this wonderful product that should be in every one's emergency supplies. You can use it to start camping fires, charcoal briquettes and a BBQ in place of kindling, even in wind. You can even light it on top of water and snow. It comes in different size buckets, #10 cans and small packets that are just the right size to put in your 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks. You can purchase it from many emergency supply websites: emergencyessentials.com (Called Fired Up! in #10 cans, smaller cans and buckets. On sale this month), amazon.com (2 and 5 gallon buckets and packets), InstaFire website and other websites you can Google.Watch the video below how it works.Family Emergency Response Team . . .
What is it and how does it work?
It is a team made up of your family. The father, or mother if a single parent, is the team captain, the mother is the co-captain and the children are the crew. Each one has a responsibility, depending on the age of your children. You can have monthly or quarterly meetings to discuss individual responsibilities, assignments and follow up on previous assignments, discuss drills and evacuation plans. It can be a part of your monthly Family Council Meeting. Each family member, if old enough, is given a responsibility on the Team. You can determine what those responsibilities will be.Father (Captain)--In charge of the all the emergency equipment, making sure it is in good condition, working properly and you have the needed fuel. If a disaster occurs in charge of sanitation and shelter. Making sure all car gas tanks are kept full or no less than half full. In a disaster checks all utilities to determine if they need shut off due to a safety hazard. Makes sure all family members are out the house if a fire or immediate evacuation is needed. Secures all windows and doors if you need to "shelter in place".
Mother (Co-Captain)--In charge of the food storage, she inventories their food storage quarterly and assess what is still needed and sets goals to accomplish it. If a disaster occurs is in charge of all cooking and making assignments involving the family. In charge of all first-aid and medical care. Assists the father of making sure all the children are out of the house and in a safe place if you need to evacuate. In charge of grabbing the Family Emergency Preparedness Notebook (vital records and documents) if need to evacuate.
Father and Mother in charge of helping older parents who live with them evacuate and assist them with what ever is needed. If need to evacuate make sure everyone has their 72 Hour Emergency Preparedness Backpacks. And of course, they will work together with their responsibilities above.
Children (The Crew)--The older children can have various responsibilities. An older child (teenager) can be in charge of a younger one, making sure if you have to evacuate they get them out of the house and into the car or to an assigned meeting spot if there is a fire. Helping them grab their 72 Hour Emergency Backpack. They can be in charge of the family pet(s). Middle aged children can also have appropriate assignments. Younger ones can assist the teenagers.
Each family's plan will be different according to their needs. Remember, the success to any plan is preparation, discussion and practicing it often. You are a Team, work together.
Water Barrels . . .
With a serious drought upon us in California USA and other states and the world, it is even more important to store water. We just learned that the Governor of California USA has asked us all to cut back 25%. That is a lot. I would strongly suggest you store extra water, either in small drinking sizes or in 15, 30 or 55 gallon water barrels.I just learned the fellow I purchase water barrels from has moved locations. The 55 gallon barrels he sells had apple juice or Hawaiian Punch in them. He cleans them out and sells them for $25 each. Much lower than those you can purchase at emergency preparedness supply stores and websites, they are usually $100+.
If you are interested you can contact him at:
Mario Salgado
Cell: 310-489-4485
1472 Cota Ave.
Long Beach, CA
8am-5pm, Monday-Friday
You will need to call him ahead of time to arrange how many you want. You will need to pick them up. He also does large group orders for churches and others he will deliver. He only accepts cash.
Comments: Please share your comments below. We all learn from each others experiences and knowledge. Thank you for your comments.
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