~by Michelle
I grew up in a home where food storage was just a part of life. And I grew up hearing stories about the period early in my parents’ marriage when my dad was unemployed and their (our) food storage made a huge difference.
Sometimes people ask why Mormons have a food storage. This example from my parents’ life has been replicated time and time again. We can all fall on hard times, and having a little bit of food on hand can make a big difference.
Emergency preparedness in a more broad sense is also something that Mormons talk about and try to practice. There are even callings (assignments) in local Mormon congregations to help Church members and those in their communities be prepared.
I was sobered to read this story by Joyce Anderson, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who lives in the Los Alamos region of New Mexico. With the recent Los Alamos fire, her family had to evacuate. It’s a powerful post. It’s one thing to talk about food storage and emergency preparedness; it’s another thing to hear first-hand what a difference being prepared can make.
One of the things that stood out to me is that Joyce was not only prepared physically, but she was prepared spiritually. She was able to draw on her spiritual resources in a time of crisis.
The first post is about the evacuation. In was moved by the author’s faith, in her testimony of prayer, and in how emergency preparedness helped them be ready for this difficult time. The second post talks about how the Latter-day Saint home and visiting teaching programs and a focus on service are also part of Mormon emergency preparedness. (You can read more about “The Mormon Network” in this post.)
Stay tuned…there will be more to come from this author.
Running from the Fire: Our Escape
Running from the Fire: Serving and Being Served
I really enjoyed this post on on being prepared.
We were evactuated from our home in Spokane due to a fire storm. A few years later we had an ice storm that caused the power in our area to be out for several days. I celebrated my 50’s birthday by keeping warm in a sleeping bag by our fireplace. The lessons learned from these two experiences taught us the importance of being physically and spiritual prepared.
I loved the stories and enjoyed reading and relating to them.
LeAnn…you’ve definitely had your own personal experiences with preparedness! Whew. Feel free to share more about your perspective on this…. 😉
~Michelle