“The revelation to store food may be as important to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.”
-- Pres. Ezra Taft Benson
This week has been interesting- life changing, I dare say.
I have started coupon-ing, and because of that have been able to save hundreds of dollars. I went to a friends house on Wednesday to teach her how to coupon. She then started talking about food storage.
She was talking about the last days and how prophecies are being fulfilled, how the prophets have warned us again and again to get our food storage.
Right now, Ben and I don't have much of a food storage. I have kind-of been buying items here and there, but nothing significant.
As my friend was talking to me, the impression came to me: "If not now, when?"
I thought about that (all of this is happening in my head in about 30 seconds), and I thought, "right now, Ben and I are at a pretty good place. If we can't do it now- or make up excuses as to why to not do it now- when will we do it?" Plus, we have extra money because of how much I am saving, so we can use that for food storage.
Then my friend started telling me about visions people have had, about quotes from prophets and scriptures of what will happen in the last days and why/how they are being fulfilled all around us, and another thought came to me: Even if none of this is true and it does not happen as she thinks it might happen, the worst that can happen by us getting our food storage is that we will be following the prophet and have peace of mind.
I came home and told Ben I wanted to make food storage a priority. I was a little nervous about his reaction, because he is even more concerned with money than I- if you can believe that! To my total surprise, he was like, "OK- let's do it."
So the past few days I have been looking over price sheets, trying to organize cannery trips, scheduling meetings with people in our ward who have their food storage to see how they do it- basically, doing as much research as possible as to the best way to do this.
The amazing thing, though, is that I have a complete mind change- I feel like none of the material things I thought were so important 3 days ago- new curtains, a kitchen island, a remodeled bathroom- mean anything to me anymore. I feel like getting our food storage is my #1 priority. I truly do feel an urgency- not a fear, I very much feel that as long as I am prepared, I need not fear- but a strong feeling that waiting to do my food storage is no longer an option.
I know we are all in different places on this- I'm not trying in any way to say that my personal revelation (which I believe this to be), is right for anybody else- we are all entitled to our own revelation for our own families. I just felt I wanted to share my newfound testimony on this to somebody- and I think this blog is more appropriate than mine because you all share the same beliefs as I do and will understand.
And, I wanted to tell mom and dad that if you haven't gotten our Christmas gifts yet, or if you want other ideas, a gift card to REI for emergency supplies or the water filtration system on providentliving.org (click the very long link below) plus some water filters would be AWESOME!!! But, Ben says I am ruining Christmas by asking for such mundane things, so if you don't want to get us that, I am totally OK with that too!!!! http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&productId=16351&langId=-1&cg1=14087&cg2=10002&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=&sortId=1&sortOr=1&retURLtext=Back%20to%20
And, of course, if any of you have food storage suggestions, let me know!
For our family, food storage is important because of Tabatha's diet. If we had to rely on others, wheat would be a #1 item, and Tabatha can't eat that. I have been stocking up on Rice, Rice Milk, Potatoes, popcorn (got to have fun food too) and beans, beans, beans. We also filled our freezer with meat when we could (I just hope the electricity doesn't go out).
ReplyDeleteIf you don't know, the Howard Hansen Dam in our area had a lot of damage to it last year when there was a lot of flooding. In our ward, our leaders are constantly reminding us that this winter may have major flooding and other issues like electricity loss that would be caused by the dam failing (we hope it doesn't). It might not happen, but like you said, if you are prepared ye shall not fear. I would love to know how you are doing yours too. I would just highly recommend to rotate. Our Relief Society challenged us to make two weeks worth of meal ideas (with family input so it is meals you like ) and then multiply by 24. Then you have a good idea of what you would eat in your food storage. Include breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.
Mom and dad have a lot of food storage they have been working on, and as a family we are trying to work on it too. Good luck.
We don't have any food storage stocks, and no plans to now, since we can't take it with us when we move. We are not supposed to ship any foodstuffs. Anyway, we do talk about what we want in the future. Our townhouse has 0 storage space, so it is hard to be able to keep much, but we can keep some. We probably have enough in our shelves to last us a good month or two, if used right.
ReplyDeleteLiss - I think I would skip the wheat as well. It just isn't as practical for our family. You would need a wheat grinder and right now that doesn't sound like something I want to be doing!
My advice is don't buy anything for food storage that you or your loved ones wouldn't eat for dinner tonight. It is no good to have a storage if you wouldn't use it. And Melissa is totally right, use it and rotate it. Otherwise you are just throwing money down the drain.
Good luck.
From the research I am reading right now, it looks like the church is saying to have 3 months of food that you always eat and that you rotate frequently. Then, have rice, wheat, beans, etc. as your long term food storage that you don't rotate (because it lasts so long). That is what we are looking to do, so the first thing I want to do is concentrate on the long term, life sustaining food. Because of my couponing, my 3-month supply is happening by accident- I am getting TONS of food that we always eat for almost free, so it goes into food storage to be rotated.
ReplyDeleteShells, you might be interested in a company called Mountain House (when you get back from England, of course). They have full meals that you just add water to- and presto! Pasra Primevera or chicken ala king. It is incredibly expensive, but so incredibly cool! Their food lasts 25-30 years, so I figure we can buy that, and when Claire goes to college we can give it to her to eat, then buy us new ones. By the time the second round expires, we'll be dead! But, we can't afford to get much of it- it is pretty pricey, but oh so cool!
I think my chances are about zero of convincing Dave to buy food that you add water to in order to make. Other than pasta that is! But I might check them out for me and the kids :)
ReplyDeleteI just met with the lady in our ward and she did what you are describing, Liss, and planned 15 meals 24 times.. She gave me all her papers, and now that I see it I understand how she did it and love that plan. Plus, she made this AWESOME storage shelf to store it all! I'm going to try to make it with Ben and then I'll post pictures- it should be interesting!
ReplyDeleteOur ward puts in a monthly order to Emergecy Essentials to get the cheaper price on items. If you buys in bulk and go in with other people it is less expensive. We have cheese, granola, etc. that we got at a cheap price by doing it that way. Plus, they have non-food essential items as well (i.e. flashlights). Putting a little money aside each month for food storage makes it pretty easy.
ReplyDelete