Provident Living Holiday Gift Ideas

Here are notes from my class today. This is a compilation from quiet a few sites - often the ideas have been repeated from site to site so I've only mentioned (hopefully) where the items are that aren't repeated. A great deal of these came from Food Storage Made Easy - I've marked them with a *.

prov·i·dent [prov-i-duhnt] –adjective
1. having or showing foresight; providing carefully for the future.
2. characterized by or proceeding from foresight: provident care.
3. mindful in making provision (usually fol. by of ).
4. economical; frugal; thrifty.

Areas of provident living: Humanitarian Services, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Employment, Family Home Storage, Gardening, Education and Literacy, Family Finances, Social and Emotional Strength, Physical Health

Remember the reason you are giving a gift to someone is because you love someone. A gift should never be used as a way to get someone to do something. Keep in mind the person you are giving to and choose a gift accordingly.

Amulek in Alma 34: 20-28 tells us to pray always over our flocks and in our fields etc. Then he reminds us that if we pray without helping others our prayers are in vane. Sometimes we look at gifts as just commercialism of Christmas. If we pray over those we love and the gifts we would like to give them our Heavenly Father blesses both.

Just because something is a provident living gift it doesn’t mean it has to seem like a provident living gift. How we present it goes a long way in how it is perceived. If you have someone who is really interested in preparing, present it that way, but if not then present it in a more general way.

One way to think of these gifts is "building". For a neighbor gift you might start with a bag of potato rolls and a recipe. Build on it for a visiting teaching gift or teacher gift by adding a jar of jam. Build some more by adding to a basket. Add a can of potato flakes. Add the cookbook the recipe came from. Add small decorations or candles. This makes it easy work with whatever budget or time you have.

Baskets

Personal Hygiene* - Toothpaste/Toothbrushes, Shampoo/Conditioner, Deodorant, Facewash/Bodywash/Soap, Shaving/Aftershave

Paper Products* - Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Feminine Products, Diapers/Wet Wipes, Kleenex, Paper Plates, Plastic Utensils, Napkins

Cleaning Products* - Laundry Detergent, Dishwasher Detergent, Bleach, All-Purpose Cleaner, Items to make your own household cleaners

First Aid Items* - First Aid Kits, Hand Sanitizer, Face Masks, Prescription medications, Cold medicine

Pet Care Products* - Dog/Cat Food, Extra Water for Pets, Kitty Litter,

Miscellaneous Items* - Light Bulbs, Board Games/Cards (something to do in case the power is out), Candles/Kerosene Lamps, Needles/Thread (for basic mending)

Italian Pasta Basket - noodles, canned sauce or tomatoes, spaghetti serving fork

Canning Supplies

Canned Foods

Three-month supply meal* Add a cute card that tells how many servings are included as well as the expected shelf life of the meal. Example: package of pancake mix, syrup, powdered milk or cocoa mix, and a jar of fruit.

Gardening gloves and tools with a plant or vegetable seeds

Small herb plants with a favorite recipe card for using each, herb scissors.

Handwritten copies of your favorite food storage recipes along with a ingredients for one recipe.

Books
These are either books I have liked or have been rated well on several different websites:

The compost specialist by by Squire, David
Compost: The natural way to make food for your garden by Kenneth Thompson
Encyclopedia of Plant Care by Miracle-Gro Books and Denny Schrock
Grow Fruit by Alan Buckingham
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
Pruning Fruiting Plants by Richard Bird
Shortcuts for Accenting Your Garden: Over 500 Easy and Inexpensive Tips by Marianne Binetti

Deceptively delicious : simple secrets to get your kids eating good foods by Seinfeld, Jessica
Wheat Cookin' Made Easy by Pam Crockett
Cooking with Food Storage Made Easy by Debbie G. Harman
I Can't Believe It's Food Storage by Crystal Godfrey
The Essential Food Storage Cookbook by Tami Girsberger
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg
Essentials of Home Production & Food Storage by LDS Distribution Center
I Dare You to Eat It by Liesa Card
Country Beans by Rita Bingham (Author)
Cookin' With Home Storage by Peggy Dianne Layton
All New Square Foot Gardening Cookbook by Mel Bartholomew

Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook: by Peggy Layton
Preparedness Principles by Barbara Salsbury
Save Energy Save Money by The Family Handyman
New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual by Reader's Digest

Freshman College Course Manual 3rd Edition: Personal Finance Series (BYU)
Intermediate Investing Course Manual 3rd Edition: Personal Finance Series (BYU)
High School Course Manual 3rd Edition: Personal Finance Series (BYU)

10 Secrets Wise Parents Know by Brent L Top
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff by Richard Carlson
Counseling: A Guide to Helping Others, by R. Lanier Britsch
Great Kids are Homemade by Shelley Wille
How to Hug a Teenage Porcupine CD by John L. Lund
For All Eternity CD by John L. Lund
52 Weeks of Fun Family Service by Merrilee Boyack


Neighbor Gifts

Don't fill limited. Search for "neighbor Gifts" and then change them to reflect Provident Living. For example I changed "We 'whisk' you a Merry Christmas" to "We 'wheat' you a Merry Christmas"

Salt - I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

Bean Soup Mix - Wishing you a "Souper" Holiday Season!!

Popcorn Balls and a Bag of Popcorn Kernals - Hoping you have a "Ball" this Holiday Season!

Loaf of Bread - For being there when you were "Kneaded", for "Rising" to the occasion, large or
small, for never "Loafing" on the job, for helping others to "Heel" with TLC; no matter how you "Slice it", you do a terrific job of loving others. Merry Christmas!!

Bag or can of wheat - We wheat you a Merry Christmas!

Jar of Jelly - Jelly is like love - you can't spread it around without getting some on yourself! Merry Christmas!

First Aid Kit - You've been a life saver! Have a great Christmas!

Paper Towels - Blot out your troubles; absorb the Christmas Spirit!

Measuring Cup or Glass Measure - Wishing you Joy Beyond Measure!

Flour - Flower - If friends were flours, we'd pick you! Happy Holidays!!

Filled Basket - Wishing you a basket full of Christmas blessings

Salsa or spice jar - Add a little Spice to your Holidays! Merry Christmas!
Spice jar - Seasonings Greetings!

Flashlight - Christ is the light of the world

Emergency Candle - Candle - May your days be happy, your heart be light, your Christmas merry and the New Year Bright!!

Popcorn or Carmel Corn - "Just "Popping" by with a Holiday Hi!" Or "May your Holidays be Poppin'!"

Seasoning Mix - "Seasoned with Love" Merry Christmas!!

Dried Apples - "May your New Year be Festive and Fruitful!!"

Orange punch mix - " Orange" you glad we're Friends!?" Merry Christmas!!

Mint extract -"Friends like you are worth a Mint!!" Merry Christmas!!

Matches - "No one Matches you as neighbors!" Merry Christmas!

Flashlight or Box of Light Bulbs -"Have a bright and radiant Christmas"

Bear shaped Honey - "Have a Bear-y Sweet Christmas!!"

Cocoa Mix - "Wishing you a warm and wonderful Christmas!"

Muffins or Muffin mix - " You're getting "Muffin" for Christmas!!"

Veggie Dip Mix- "Dip into a wonderful Holiday season and a Healthy New Year!"

Pasta -"Have a Pasta-tively Happy Holiday!"

Cinnamon Rolls - "Here's a sweet treat "Rolled" up with warm Holiday Wishes! Merry Christmas!"

Cans of corn or Cornbread Mix - "We're not trying to be "Corny" we just want you to have a Merry Christmas!"

Dehydrated Carrots- " I Really "Carrot" a lot about you!! Merry Christmas" (include recipe)

Bag of nuts - Don't go "nuts" this Christmas! From your "nutty" neighbors.

Bag of ice melter and scoop — "Scoop" up a safe and fun holiday season!

Pancake mix & syrup -We're "pouring out" Christmas wishes and hoping you have a Christmas to "flip over!"

Bounty paper towels — This season may the "absorbing" spirit of Christ "blot" out your problems, "soak up" your sorrows, and "wipe" away your difficulties and may the new year bring you "bounteous" blessings all the year through!

Soup mix — We wish you a wonderful holiday "simmering" gently with love!

Bean soup mix — You've "bean" such good neighbors!

Flashlight — We love how you "light up" our lives. We've come to depend on your "glow."

Bread with tag printed from here: http://everydayfoodstorage.net/handouts/bread-tags.pdf

Water - We hope you get “water” ever you wish for Christmas!


Recipes

Blender Wheat Pancake Mix…in a Tin Can*

Use a 14.25 oz. tin can. You can use cans you may have around the house that are slightly smaller or larger than that…just make sure you wash them first.

For Reference, here are the items you need for your mix:
1 C. Whole Wheat Berries

In Dry Mix baggy:
3 T. dry powdered milk (non-instant…if you use instant it would be 1/3 C.)
2 T. powdered eggs
2 tsp Baking Powder
1-1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbs. Sugar

Place wheat in the can. Put other ingredients in baggy, tie with ribbon and then cut excess plastic bag. Attach label: Every Day Food Storage


Potato Rolls

1 c sugar
2 T yeast
4 c warm water
½ c oil
1 c potato flakes
4 eggs, beaten
1 c powdered milk
1 ½ t salt
9-10 c flour

Mix together sugar and yeast. Stir. Add warm (almost hot) water. Let sit until it becomes bubbly. Add oil, flakes, eggs, powdered milk, and salt. Beat together; add flour. Mix in mixer and knead until thoroughly mixed. Spray a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Cover bowl with a dish towel. Let rise approximately 1 hour.

Divide dough into thirds. Roll each third into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut into 12 pieces. Roll up each piece, starting at the large end, into crescent rolls. Let rise 1 hour covered with a cloth. Bake at 375 degrees for 13 minutes. From: Celebrate Festival of Trees: Recipes from the Heart

Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins*

2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. oil
3 eggs (3 T. Dehydrated Eggs + 1/3 c. water…(use your left over carrot or raisin water)
2 c. carrots, finely grated (1c. dehydrated carrots. Pulse in blender before re-hydrating to make them smaller pieces. They take 20 minutes in cold water to rehydrate so if you need them sooner, simply put them in warmer water.)
1 c. crushed pineapple, drained (If you have orange juice you’ll be serving, drain the pineapple juice into your orange juice for a fun topical blend orange juice.)
3 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. salt
1 T. soda
1 t. cinnamon
2 t. vanilla
1 c. raisins
1 c. walnuts, broken

Method:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2 bread pans, 1 Bundt pan, or 2 muffin pans (12 each) with vegetable cooking spray. Beat together brown sugar, oil and eggs (no need to reconstitute eggs before adding to this mix). Stir in carrots and pineapple. Blend together dry ingredients; stir into batter thoroughly. Add vanilla, raisins, and nuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake bread pans for 40-45 minutes, muffins for 20 minutes, and Bundt pan 1 hour or until done.
Makes 1 Bundt pan, 2 bread pans, or 24 muffins.

Adding the nuts on top of the muffins not only gives it a great look and flavor (it lightly toasts the nuts) but it is also a great way to serve nut lovers and non-nut lovers alike since it becomes obvious which have nuts and which don’t.

Red Hot Jelly

2 c apple juice
4 c sugar
½ t margarine
1/3 cup red cinnamon candies (Patty’s note: these should be small, too large and they don’t melt quickly)
6 oz. Pouch liquid pectin (Patty’s note: I wouldn’t use this much. Perhaps 3 oz.?)

Combine sugar and juice; stir well. Add margarine and candies. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin and return to a boil for 1 minute. Skim foam from top and fill jars 1/4 inch from top. Wipe jar rims and seal jars. Makes 4 half pint jars. From: Celebrate Festival of Trees: Recipes from the Heart


Rice and Lentil Soup in a Jar
2 T chicken bouillon granules
1/3 cup uncooked instant rice
1/3 cup red lentils
1 T dried parsley
1/2 t ground black pepper
1 t poultry seasoning
1/3 cup uncooked instant rice
1/3 cup green lentils

2 t butter or margarine
8 cups water
1/4 cup chopped celery (optional)
1 cup cubed cooked chicken (optional)

Measure the chicken bouillon granules into a 1 pint jar. Top with 1/3 cup of instant rice, red lentils, dried parsley, pepper, poultry seasoning, 1/3 cup of rice and then the green lentils on top. Seal with a lid and ring for gift giving.

To make the soup, bring the butter and water to a boil in a large pot. Pour in the contents of the jar and add celery and chicken if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. From allrecipes.com

Corn Bread Mix

1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar (optional)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Sift together all ingredients and store in a plastic bag, at room temperature.
Makes 1 package.

To use: Pour package of mix into a bowl. Add 1 egg, 1 cup milk, and 4 Tbsp.
softened shortening. Beat until smooth (about 1 minute with egg beater).
Pour batter into a greased 8x8x2 inch baking pan. Bake at 425 degrees for
20-25 minutes or until knife inserted at the center comes out clean.

For muffins: Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 425 degrees
for 15-20 minutes. From: Make Your Own Mixes


Dill Dip

1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon accent (optional)
1 teaspoon season salt
1 teaspoon onion flakes
1 teaspoon parsley flakes

Combine all and place on a piece of foil and wrap, or place in a
small container. To use: combine with 1 cup sour cream and one cup
Miracle Whip in a small bowl. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to
allow the flavors to blend. This makes an excellent vegetable dip
as well as one for chips. From: Make Your Own Mixes



Items

Water
Water Filter
Water Storage Containers
Water barrel wrench and pump

Food Storage
Food storage shelves
Gamma lids
Food storage buckets
LDS home storage kits
Bucket of wheat
Home storage foods (#10 cans, bottles of juice, home bottled preserves, buckets, etc.)
Bag or can of wheat with 7 Great Ways to Use Wheat handout
Chest or stand up freezer
Comfort foods

Cooking/Heat
Dutch oven
Wheat grinder
Camp stove & propane tank
Canning supplies
Dehydrator
Grill
Fireput
Wood burning stove
Generator
pressure cooker
solar oven
Fuel for your camp stoves or grills
Mess kits

Gardening
Square Foot Garden frames
Seeds
String
Water Walls
Shovel

Emergency
Generator
First aid kits
Car safety kits.
72-hour kits.
Fire safety ladder.
Money for financial reserves
Emergency binder
Jumper cables
sleeping bag
Address book w/ family addresses and phone #, also poison control, fire & police dept, hospital. Include a note stating that this is to be kept in the car or 72 hour kit.
Solar-powered radio
Ready-made 72-hour kits
Puzzles or travel games for 72 hour kits
Hat, mittens, and/or scarves so the old ones can be added to car kits
Backpacks -for 72 hour -fill them w/ a few basics
Non-electric can opener
Fire extinguisher
Pocket knife
Compass or small camping gear
Propane Lanterns
Rope
Tent
Give a lump of coal (i.e. a bag/bucket of charcoal)!
Military Scriptures

Something a Little Different

Neighborhood Christmas Food Drive in Lieu of Neighbor Gifts

Dear Friends and Neighbors

At Christmas time we like to give
to friends and neighbors dear,
but maybe we could think of those
less fortunate this year.

Instead of giving neighbor gifts
we'll fill the Food Bank's shelves. ...
Let's warm the hearts of those in need
like Santa's little elves.

As friends we'll join together
and bring food in cans galore,
non-perishables are very best
because of how they store.

Monday Night, December _____
will be the time we meet,
from 6 - 7:30
it's cocoa, donuts & heat.

__________________'s
is where we're going to be.
Dress up warm, we'll be outside
and bring the family.

But if you cannot make it -
no big deal, you see,
we'll still be glad to take your food
to the Food Bank charity!

Just drop it off on __________'s porch
or _____________'s will do,
up to a week beyond the date -
Merry Christmas to YOU!!!

From: Preparedness Nibbles


Coupon book:
DLTK

Ideas:

canning pickles
changing car tire
sewing
crochet or kniting
cooking
haircuts
beginning a budget
cleaning
repairing hole in the wall
plumbing
painting
dry pack cannery
child care
sprinkler system
gardening
building shelves
maintaining a heater
speciality cooking
organizing
decorating
investing
internet savy
couponing
restaining a wood item
food storage organization
charitable project
reading books
working out

Computer Back-up*

One thing people rarely think about with Emergency Preparedness is computer back-up. With all the pictures, work, and data on our computers, the last thing we would want in case of a fire or earthquake is to loose all that precious stuff! Consider purchasing a monthly, or one-year subscription to our favorite online back up.

72 hour kits and Making You Own stove

A ward member approached me with wanting a list for a 72 hour kit. I told her I would email her one. Looking around I got kind of excited. Through the years we have been variously ready with our 72 hour kits. I got real excited a couple of months ago and started getting them ready again (the food in our old ones was OLD), but never got them completely put together. So now I want to share with you links I found.

Red Cross list - probably the most complete, basic list.

Emergency Binder - list or 72 hour kit items and other things such as birth certificates and passports to keep in a binder. It also has items to put in a car kit and places for emergency phone contacts. They suggest you keep this in a fire/water proof safe you can take with you.

Milk Jug 72 hour kit - This is a fun little kit that you could change to fit you. It is only the food part of the kit.

Wing Stove - While looking at the info of the milk jug kit they listed a wing stove to warm up your food. You can find these several place on the internet for various prices.

Make Your Own Stove - While looking for the wing stove I found this cool website that give you information for making a number of small, portable stoves and information about using them.

Usenet 72 hour Kit List - If you are really into preparedness you might want to check this out. It has an extensive list on putting together a 72 hour kit.

First Aid Kit - If you want to make your own instead of buy one.

72 Hours.org - This is a fun little site to read and learn from.

Zucchini

Last year we planted zucchini. I'd always hear about how you only plant one because you will get tons. And we got...none. So this year we planted more plants and the plants are producing! I love it! Rex brings a few zucchini in and I either slice them or grate them and then freeze them, but not before making something fresh with some of it! I've found an awesome recipe for zucchini and I agree that this is the BEST zucchini bread.

BEST ZUCCHINI BREAD

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/4 c. all-purpose (white) flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. clove

2 1/2 c. zucchini, shredded (about 3 medium zucchini)

1 c. pecans, chopped

4 eggs (or 1/4 c. powdered eggs + 1/2 c. water)

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. oil

1 tsp. lemon zest

Measure and sift together the first eight dry ingredients and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, sugars and oil. Blend thoroughly. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture while stirring. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold in zucchini, pecans and lemon zest. Pour batter into two greased 8 or 9 inch loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

with her own NOTES: To make this recipe healthier (but just as tasty!), I cut the oil measurement in half with applesauce (1/2 c. oil + 1/2 c. applesauce), leave out 1/2 cup of the white sugar, and use 1 cup liquid eggs (like Eggbeaters). To save time, sometimes I substitute 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice in place of the ginger, allspice and clove. If your garden produced more yellow squash than zucchini, you can substitute part or all of the zucchini with shredded yellow squash (I cut the squash in fourths, length-wise, and remove the seeds before shredding.) with virtually no difference in taste. I like to use my food processor to shred the zucchini because it keeps the zucchini from getting soggy the way it does when grated by hand.

You can find it http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/2009/07/the-best-zucchini-bread/.

This morning I am trying it with 3/4 c pumpkin and 1/4 oil instead of the straight oil. I'll let you know how it works. I have also been using only whole wheat flour (no white) and love it!

Freezing Your Harvest

I was reading Organic Gardening this morning while we were waiting for Gavin to go to school. Found a good article on freezing your garden food. Did you know you can freeze tomatoes whole and the skin comes off easily afterward? I didn't know. So I thought you might find this information helpful as well. This is not the same article that was in the magazine, but in some ways it had even more info: Freeze With Ease. I also found Freezing Basics. And then I even found Your Harvest Guide. None of these are extremely detailed, but they do give a lot of good info.

And just for fun I found Garlic for Beginners. I'm wondering if it is too late to plant garlic right now or if it is the perfect time. I'll be looking at that the next couple of days.

Weeping and Wailing

Taking great liberties with Jeremiah chapter 9:

19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Patty's house, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the water storage, because our body odor has made us cast out.

20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Patty, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your children of emergency wailing, and every one her body hygiene.

Yes, in our house there was great wailing as the children came home and I don't blame my children. This wasn't a fun challenge, but it was even less fun than it could have been. See, I had not adequately prepared my family. I never even thought of telling them this challenge was coming up. My mind was wrapped up in other things and obviously the challenge would affect me more than them so why worry. Besides they had done so well when we lived for a month on our food storage.

I've been reading Counseling with Our Councils. Most of it applies to ward councils, presidency meetings etc., but part of it applies to families and you could even apply it to work settings.

So as the afternoon wore on I realized that we would have to have a family counsel. Over dinner we sat and talked. One child refused to come to the table at first. We talked about what we had learned about the challenge so far. We talked about how things would be different if this was a real emergency. Then we talked about what happened when we lived on our food storage last spring. Boy were my eyes opened! Why had we never sat down as a family and discussed that? Oh, we said things to each other here and there, but never had a discussion specifically about what we liked, didn't like and what was learned.

By then it seemed everyone had calmed down about things. So we took a vote. Would we continue on with the challenge? Or would we quit the challenge and work on some things that we had been negligent on? There was not a single vote to continue with the challenge and all supported in helping me get things prepared.

So what do we need to do?

• Buy and fill more 5 gallon water containers. Having 55 gallon drums is nice. It stores a lot of water well, but even with the pump it isn't the easiest thing to use. By having more 5 gallon containers we can scatter them throughout the house better.
  
  
• Get a disposable toilet. There are several to choose from. You can get a seat that goes on a 5 gallon bucket. There are cardboard toilets. And camping toilets you can buy from the store. You line these with bags and have chemicals of some sort to take care of odor etc. Why get them? Because even if you are trying to conserve by not flushing for liquids you will go through a lot of water just for toilet needs. Your basic 2 week supply isn't going to last 2 weeks.

• Update our 72 hour kits. It's time to change when my 15yo can get into his change of clothes and find that it will fit my 9yo. It's certainly time to change when you realize that can of chili has been in there for 5 years! Our new goal, ok well, our old goal that never got done, was to change out things at conference time. We have renewed motivation this time.

• Now that we have chickens we have to remember water storage for them as well.

• We also need to figure out a system that works for us for filtering fresh water found in canals, rivers and lakes.

So our goal is to have this done by conference in a few weeks.

NO WATER!

Back in August I joined a 7 day challenge. The challenge would be announced on a surprise day in September. It was to see how well you would do in case of emergencies of some kind. You even get to fill out a report card showing how you have done. The challenge started today!

A disaster has occurred near the water supply source for your town. All of the water supply has been contaminated and is no longer drinkable or usable for cooking/washing/etc. It is estimated that it will be several days before things are restored to normal. For today’s tasks, assume it is the end of the third day of having no water.

If you want to see more of the rules just go to the linked website. I challenge you to start this today (whenever you are reading it). See what you can learn from it.

My biggest fear for today? I put off doing the white laundry yesterday! Ughh! So not looking forward to doing it by hand. My second biggest fear is wondering if I will be able to get the water out of the drums by myself.

I was thinking the rest wouldn't be too bad. It didn't take me 5 minutes to discover there are many things I use water for. I went out to collect eggs from the chickens, headed into the kitchen to wash them and then realized that I will have to get the water from the basement first. This will be interesting.

I'll be honest. I have no desire to do this challenge. When I decided to live off food storage for a month I was kind of excited. No excitement for this one. I've thought several times of not doing it, but that just makes me realize I really need to do it.

Today’s Tasks:

• Go and shut off the main water supply to your house immediately. DONE!
  
• You must find a way for you (and your family if applicable) to bathe or shower today
• Cook all of your meals with only the water you have in storage DONE!
  
• Locate the nearest source of fresh water to your home DONE!
  
• Print out some resources on alternate water sources and water purification in case the contamination is prolonged. DONE!
  

Today’s Limitations:

• For this day, and ALL days of the challenge: no spending money, no going to stores, and no restaurants.
• You can’t use a water purifier for your tap water, the contamination is too bad.
• Remember that this is the third day without water and account for that when you consider how much you have stored.
• Also remember … toilets require water to “flush”.

Advanced Tasks:

• Go to the nearest source of fresh water and fill up several water containers.
• Purify that water with either a water purifier or an alternate purification method.

Keep Trying

During my class someone told me that I do this food storage thing well. I can't remember the exact words. It doesn't really matter. I often get uncomfortable about this kind of thing because sometimes teaching a class on something is so much easier than living it. And having a "testimony" of an idea doesn't mean you always live according to it.

I have some friends who think I must pray all the time, because when they want answers to questions I will tell them that it is important to get their own answers to prayers. I tell them this, because I have found it to be true. There are no better answers than the ones I get from God. I find that when I make prayer a real part of my life that the days and moments are so much better.

Like most everyone else though, I go through periods of being prayerful which alternate with periods of my prayers not even reaching the ceiling because I just haven't put enough thought and heart into them. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father continually puts forth his hand to welcome me back each time I'm in one of those slumps.

It's the same thing with food storage. There are times I use my food storage a lot. Procrastinator that I am, those classes I teach really get me going! Other times I am concerned with being healthy and using my food storage in my daily meals. And then, like with prayer, I get into slumps when we eat pretty unhealthily.

Life is line upon line. We work little by little on praying, food storage, spending money wisely, exercising, reading scriptures, being Christlike. None of us are perfect and few of us are experts, but if we do our best, Christ takes care of the rest.

Doctrine & Covenants 12:3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.