* All About Mormons Newsletter *
March/April 1999
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*In this newsletter:
*Book of Mormon Quote of the Month
The Book of Mormon is a volume of sacred writings comparable to the Bible. Its principal purpose is to testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of his teachings. For a free copy, call (U.S.) 1-800-528-2225.
"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Nephi 25:23, 26)
*Focus This Month: Preparedness
Latter-day Saints have been taught for years about being prepared—temporally, spiritually, mentally, financially, and emotionally—for any kind of situation. This year, many people are focusing on temporal preparedness because of the so-called Y2K bug. However, Y2K bug or not, we should be prepared for various difficulties and disasters. Nearly every family will be affected by a job loss, major storm, fire, flood, power or gas outage, or even a water main break. Being prepared can alleviate frustration, anxiety, danger, discomfort, and even death. Besides these normal occurrences, we learn through reading the scriptures and words of modern day prophets that there will be increasing numbers of floods, earthquakes, plagues, fires, hurricanes, mud slides, tornadoes, and other natural disasters as Christ’s second coming draws nearer. We also know that there will be wars and rumors of wars and socio-economic instability. In light of these teachings, each of us need to learn how to deal with these difficulties and prepare for them.
I remember being about 16 or so and having the house 2 doors down burn almost down to the ground because of a fireworks accident. We had to evacuate our home immediately. I wish that I had thought about what was most important for me to grab before I was told I had a few minutes to get out. I was very glad that my parents had thought of these things and had collected birth certificates, insurance policies, and other important documents in an easily accessible, easy to carry box. We also grabbed family pictures. We of course gathered all of the family members. If our house had burned down, we would have the most important things with us.
How prepared are you? Do you know CPR? Do you have cloth or a clothes supply? Do you know how to sew? Do you have enough warm blankets? Do you have food storage and know how to use it? What about water storage and 72 kits? Do you have emergency plans for fire, flood, tornado, no power, no gas, no water, or emergency evacuation? Do you practice these plans regularly? Do you know how to garden and do you have the items necessary to do so? Do you know how to can? Do you know how to cook while camping?
These are obvious things to prepare. But did you think about the following? Do you know how to budget, live on less than you earn, and are you out of debt? Do you have a usable and marketable skill to support your family and are you training yourself continually to maintain and improve your skills? Do you know how to barter and how to get good deals? Are you organized and able to quickly find important papers and items? Can you deal with stress and are you developing supportive relationships with family and friends? Do you read the scriptures, pray, have Family Home Evening and listen to General Conference? Do you follow the prophets?
This list can seem overwhelming, but if you take simple, small steps you can begin today to prepare your family for anything that may happen. As you begin preparing, remember the following counsel given by the First Presidency.
"Occasionally people speculate about possible disasters, which speculation engenders fear and can cause members to become caught up in emergency preparedness efforts that are not only costly but go beyond the basics consistently taught by the First Presidency. … Member preparations require wise planning, diligence and provident living.
"We continue to encourage members to store sufficient food, clothing, and where possible fuel enough for at least one year, We have not laid down an exact formula for what should be stored. However, we suggest the members concentrate on essential foods that sustain life, such as grains, legumes, cooking oil, powdered milk, salt, sugar or honey and water. Most families can achieve and maintain this basic level of preparedness. The decision to do more than this rests with the individual.
"We encourage you to follow this counsel with the assurance that a people prepared through obedience to the commandments of God need not fear." (First Presidency letter, 24 June 1988)
The Doctrine and Covenants teaches us, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30)
Let us all start or continue our preparations, not in the spirit of fear or panic, but in the spirit of wisdom and obedience. To help you learn more about temporal preparedness, I have prepared a section with valuable web site links, ideas, and information. It is at Food Storage. And as we prepare temporally, let us also prepare for a more important future day by becoming more righteous, kind, and obedient and by strengthening our families. These preparations will last beyond this life and bless us in eternity as well as today.
*Object Lesson: The Dash by Linda Ellis
Now only available at http://www.lindaslyrics.com
*What’s New on All About Mormons?
LDS Humor is continually expanding. Thanks to all those who have contributed so far! Keep on sending us your funny stories, jokes, etc. We want our humor to be enjoyable to all of our visitors, members and non-members alike, so please use discretion when choosing which ones to send. Our Other Good Stuff section is especially for non-religious humor. Laugh With Us!
All About Mormons has information to keep you in touch with the Church, including Church related web sites and Internet services, Church phone numbers, and magazine information. Check it out on our Welcome page!
For links to the following articles, check out our What’s New page.
Leaders section has been totally spell-checked with improved links! (03/01/99)
Young Women Leader Survival Kit in the Leaders section (03/01/99)
Bible Night in The Young Women's Corner
Food Storage Section in Relief Society Rest Stop
Doctrine and Covenants Night--lots of ideas for a variety of activities based on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History (02/16/99)
Book of Mormon Night--many ideas for activities based on the Book of Mormon (02/16/99)
More funnies under Other Good Stuff and Mormon Culture 3 (02/16/99)
Relief Society Birthday Party Ideas (02/15/99)
Fact Finding Mission--Activity for Homemaking or other get-togethers (02/15/99)
FHE Kits--new ideas for easy Family Home Evening Planning
More Camp Themes and Fundraising Ideas
I Hope They Call Me on a Mission and Becoming a Righteous Husband and Father new under A Year of Activities at The Young Men's Corner (02/03/99)
Activities Committee--fun ideas for your ward (02/02/99)
Singles Corner--an affiliated site that shares ideas for many kinds of Single Adult activities. (02/01/99)
Leadership Training Ideas--ways to teach and things to encourage (02/01/99)
W. John Walsh, Michael T. Griffith and Kenneth W. Godfrey answer the question: How can you explain the resemblances between Masonry and the LDS temple? (01/31/99)
A Year of Activities With a Theme--now updated for a more spiritual emphasis (01/24/99)
Special Activity Nights--now updated for a more spiritual emphasis (01/24/99)
All About Mormons Idea Index--Find more ideas by subject (01/24/99)
A new article answering the question "Was the God of Mormonism once was a sinner?" has been added (01/10/98)
The King Follett Discourse by the Prophet Joseph Smith, considered by many to be his greatest theological sermon, has been added. (01/10/98)
Successful Service Projects now available. (1/3/99)
All About Mormons Idea Index beginning--Find our Service ideas throughout all our sections here. (1/3/99)
*Response of the Month: How are you as a family or as an individual preparing for emergencies and disasters?
Our family this year has made it our goal to get a full year supply. In order to afford it, we are discontinuing our 401K contributions for the year. This sounds drastic, but as my husband has pointed out, "You can't eat money." It is going very well so far and I have such a warm feeling inside that we are doing the right thing. ~Whitney
I’ve been learning how to bake bread, store food, etc. We’ll be putting together 72 hour kits for Family Home Evening soon and we have been buying a little extra each time we go to the store. We’re also saving our juice bottles and pop bottles to store water. We’re not panicking. We just want to be prepared for any kind of emergency that comes our way. ~Jen
*Question of the Month: How do you make sure that you spend time together as a family?
Thank you for your wonderful responses so far. Let us know what you think. We want your wisdom and input!
Reader responses will appear in the next newsletter. E-mail responses to jenny@mormons.org
See you later!
John and Jenny Walsh