Preparing

We always hear about food storage and being prepared in the church.  But it seems to me that lately we've been hearing more and more about it, including an official statement from the First Presidency read in church recently about saving money for a rainy day.  I received this email the other day and thought it was a good wake up call or reminder to all of us to be continually preparing. 

 

"On April 26, 2008, President Packer unexpetedly attended the Highland Utah Stake Conference.  He spoke on some very sobering topics regarding the events that are about to come upon us.

He first had his secretary, who lives in the stake share her testimony.  She quotes D&C 68:6: "Wherefore be of goof cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come."

Then he spoke frankly on several things and he did not beat around the bush, but also in a way that did not cause fear.

1.  The church is now larger in countries outside of North America

2. North America and Europe are no longer considered Christian regions or nations.

3. South of the equator and other 3rd world countries are more Christian but very destitute.

He said the time has now come that we will see some very hard times.  He talked about how we have basically grown up in luxury, but that he had not.  He lived during the depression.  he talked about things that occured during the depressions such as soup kitchens, vagabonds and hobos that traveled the train system looking for work and food.

He told the youth and their parents that they will need to be thrifty.  Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.  He talked to the youth about obeying their parents, respecting their mother, and learning to eat differently than they had before.

He talked to parents about families.  The church is not, and will not be responsible for raising their children.  The church programs will be different.  He made this seem like this change, and other changes that will occur, will be happening very soon.  He stressed that things will change, but that the church is on the right course, and he stressed this several times. 

He said the saints in the 3rd world countries will need our help and it will be our responsibility (the Church's).

1. Ramp up your food storage in a major way.  The status of the church with regards to food storage is that 27% have short term supply and only 13% have long term supply.

2. Consecrate our efforts by asking for a blessing

3. Stake temple service will help us better weather the fallout of the storms that are ahead.

D&C 38:30 "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear"

For those of you who are living in tiny apartments like Richie and I, all this talk of food storage is sometimes hard to take because really, where in the world are you going to put it?! :)  Well, we have found that under the bed works great! Just buy some of those long skinny plastic bins from Wal-Mart and they fit so nicely under there.  

Also save all your big juice and soda bottles to put water storage in.  (which also fit nicely under or behind the bed.

Another way to feel prepared is to have a 72-hour kit date night! When we first got married we spent a FHE going to the DI and wal-mart to find old backpacks, food, matches, flashlights, warm clothes, can openers, dishes and such things.  Then we put them in those backpacks and put them...you guessed it! Under the bed!

Any other tips from anyone on how to be more prepared?? 

The big 22!

Yes, this past weekend we celebrated my 22nd birthday! And it was awesome. :) First we went out on the lake and did some wakeboarding, then a bunch of the family came over and we had a big lunch with birthday cake and the works.  Richie and I then went to Boise to do some much needed...okay wanted...birthday shopping.  It's not Richie's favorite thing in the world to do, but he was so patient with me and we had a good time. Thank you babe!! Then we went to Mary and Lane's wedding reception. (A friend of mom's from college) It was a fabulous day and a great way to kick off another year!!

Everyday stuff

Nothing very exciting has been happening, I just thought I'd post some random pictures cause those are always fun to look at.  Richie's internship is going well and has a promising future with this company, so his uncle/boss says.  My two jobs are going well.  Subbing is not easy! holy smokes! Especially little kindergartners, it's like herding cats! The other job is boring but works around my schedule well so I'm enjoying it. We are really enjoying are time here in Nampa and feel like we are learning a lot.  This past week we went out on the boat and both got up on wakeboards for the first time! Wahoo! Unfortunately Richie got a killer sunburn on his back. Our best friends here are Brandon and Cole (our cousins) and we are usually playing fooz-ball or something with them.  We also like long walks in the  rain, chocolate bon bons and elavator jazz. Life is good!We miss you all!! 

Get your friz on

We're always trying to find fun but cheap things to do.  Here's our favorite thus far.  Go to a sports store, buy a nice frisbee, maybe 170 grams for about 7 bucks and you have hours of entertainment!! Tossing it around, ultimate frisbee, and our most recent favorite, frisbee golf.  You can play it absolutely anywhere, but we found an actual frisbee golf course at a park near where we are staying and it's great!  We have since gotten Brandon (13) and Cole (10) addicted to it and have purchased the actual frisbee golf discs!! By now, you are probably wanting some expert  advice on how to properly throw a frisbee during frisbee golf. Here's the tried and true techniques we have accumulated. 1. Bring your game face (as demonstrated above) 2. cross your left foot over your right in order to wind up (also demonstrated above) 3. keep the disc flat 4. flick your wrist  5. Never under-estimate the grunt and 6. Wear shorts just in case you have to wade into a still pond full of duck poop to retrieve your disk!   Happy Frisbee-ing!

Bored

Well, I officially got a job as a substitute teacher in the Nampa school district! Wahoo!  Unfortunately school gets out at the end of this month...dag nabit.  I also have an opportunity to get a job pushing some paper in Boise, we'll see how that pans out.  But until I got this job, and I assume for some time after, I have been bored almost out of my mind.  I know people don't usually have this much time on their hands, but if you ever do, here are some things I've done to keep myself occupied!

*Go to the temple!

*Watch episodes of "The Office" over and over again

*Create a blog! 

*Go window shopping

*Crochet

*Write letters/write in journal

*exercise!! I have had no excuse lately with so much time!

*Take pictures

*Read!

Anyway, I've been trying to make the most of my time, but I need to improve, so if anyone has any ideas on what I should be doing these days, I'm up for suggestions!

New to the Blogging world!

Bear with me, as I try and figure this all out. Both Richie and I are somewhat technologically illiterate, but we want to stay in better touch with family and friends.  So for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of visiting us in the frigid land of Rexburg, I'll post some pictures so you can see what you've been missing out on.  This is our tiny, wonderful apartment that we just moved out of.  Is it silly that I was terribly sad about moving? Richie was fine with it as long as we took our new baby. Now don't get excited, I'm talking about our new Mac computer.  His new favorite pastime is cleaning it with a soft rag. I'm still not totally converted to macs yet because I don't quite understand how they work, but I'll get it eventually. The picture you see of our snow covered apartment complex parking lot was taken on April 25th, and we got 4 inches of snow that day.  Welcome to the burg! 

Nampa or Bust!

Last Saturday, Richie and I finished packing up our apartment (biggest pain in the world) and with the help of our ward and Richie's cousins, we got everything into our storage unit and drove the 5-6 hours to the Boise/Nampa area.  Both cities are bigger and more developed then I thought, but where we are staying is more 'out in the country' and it very beautiful.  The climate is somewhat like Salt Lake and the people seem to be really nice. We are staying with Richie's boss/uncle and aunt  Jo and Jolene.  They have been so generous to us and it's a real blessing that's helping us save some money.  The guest room we are staying in is about as big as our entire apartment, and a maid just got done cleaning our bathroom.....It might be hard to go back to a tiny apartment without a basketball/tennis court, swimming pool, boat, or flat screen TV's.  Yeah, we're pretty much livin the life.  Except that I'm bored stiff until I get a job!! Richie is liking his internship and we may post his internship journals on here if I can figure it out eventually.  

Gradumacated!

That's right I finally graduated! Wahoo!  I look forward to doing my student teaching in the Fall, but no more classes and books and the like.  It was great. We heard from President Clark and Elder M. Russell Ballard who both gave great talks. Richie's whole family and mom and dad came up for a day or two and we got to spend some time together which was the best!! Thank you so much everyone for driving to see us and everyone who gave us presents!! It was so fun and we REALLY appreciate everyone. One of the classes I took this last semester was a cake decorating class which didn't count for credit but was a blast anyway, here is a picture of my final project! Not bad eh? eh?