Prepare every needful thing . . .
Self-Reliance
In Doctrine and Covenants, Section 109, Verse 8, we are admonished: "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."
Often when we think about emergency preparedness we only think about food and water storage and emergency preparedness supplies. Besides food and water storage and emergency preparedness supplies it entails a lot more. It includes every aspect of our life.
Finances
Education
Employment
Physical Health
Mental Health
Spiritual Health/Guidance
Vegetable Gardening (and fruit trees)
Knowing Resources available to you
And many other areas
The Provident Living website (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) can give you lots of insight and help in these matters. Click here to go to their website.
Consider all the things it takes for you and your family to live during a year. Sit down together as a family and list the things you need to survive during the year; food, water, clothing, shelter, medical supplies, light, heat, employment, money, spiritual guidance, etc. Set goals and improve those areas where they need improvement. Review you goals often.
Spiritual Preparedness
"Have patience as you are perfecting your ability to be led by the Spirit. By careful patience, through the application of correct principles, and by being sensitive to the feelings that come, you will gain spiritual guidance." Richard G. Scott (Apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
New March Monthly Assignments
Food Storage . . . Honey
Honey is an important part of our long term food storage. It can easily be used as a substitute for sugar and is better for you.
How to store: Honey stores indefinitely. Do not purchase honey in metal cans, the honey will become rancid and the cans will bubble and leak after time. Only purchase and store honey in food grade plastic bottles or glass jars. Keep the honey in a cool, dry, dark place and invert every 6 months. Honey will crystallize after a period of time. If it does crystallize you can heat up the honey in the bottle or jar in a pot of boiling water. You can also remove some of the crtstallized honey from the bottle or jar and heat over a double boiler until liquefied. Do not leave the pot unattended.
Where to purchase: After some research I found the best place to purchase honey is at Costco or Sams Club. If you live in a part of the world where there are no Costco or Sams Club check with your local bee keepers to see where to purchase the honey. Costco and Sams Club honey comes in 5 pound plastic bottles for about $15.00.
How much to store: 2 pounds per adult for 3 months. Adjust according to how many months or years you have set your food storage goal.
How to substitute honey for sugar in baking and cooking: Click here for the link
Warning: If you are allergic to bee stings you are probably allergic to honey.
Emergency Preparedness . . .
Electrical and Heating
Are you ready if you loose your electricity and heating?
How many times have we heard in the news, or experienced, that areas have lost their electricity and heating for several hours, days? Remember, business will close, gas stations will close, ATM machines will not work, banks may close, schools will close, street lights and signals will not work. It will effect may aspects of our life. Why not be prepared ahead of time for these types of emergencies?
Click on the link on the right of this blog under "Postings", "Cooking, Healing and Lighting", or click here to learn about how to prepare for electrical and heating outages. Heating and Electrical is after the Cooking section.
Great tips from The Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles, California, USA regarding power loss:
1) Stay calm and make an official report of your outage by calling your power company. DWP 800-342-5397, Edison 800-611-1911, or your local power company.
2) Have a flashlight and extra batteries nearby at all times. NEVER use candles during a power outage.
3) Turn off lights but leave one light on so you will know when the your service is restored.
4) Turn off and unplug appliances and other electrical equipment. Unplug heat-producing items Ike space heaters and irons. This helps prevent circuit overloading, which could delay restoration of service.
Emergency Preparedness Ideas
Vegetable Gardening:
Now is the time of the year to start preparing to plant your vegetable gardens. Click on the link under "Postings", "Vegetable Gardening", on the right to find great information on vegetable gardening and fruit trees.
Great vegetable gardening tip: Produce more tomatoes, peppers and roses by spraying the following on them:
1 teaspoon of Epson Salt
4 cups of warm water
Spray when planted and 10 days later.
Great article from Emergency Preparedness Blog regarding "Keep Life in Your Food Storage". Click here to read the article.
Comments: Please share your comments and questions below. We all learn from each others experience and knowledge. Thank you for your comments and questions.
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