LDS Preparedness Manual 2012 from AVOW

Image courtesy of AVOW.com

This is an amazing offer from Another Voice of Warning (AVOW).  Currently, they are offer their LDS Preparedness Manual for.....free!  It is very comprehensive, and worth taking a look at. You can also purchase it in hard copy for just under $20.00.    There is also a second manual (for purchase) for Wards and Stakes.

To download or find out more about this current opportunity, please go to this link.  

I would encourage you to take advantage of this very generous offer!

I 'heart' organizing.....Food Storage Style......

Yes, this is a real cabinet from a real home.  My spice cupboard does not look this nice, and the funny thing is, this cupboard always looks like this.  Note the top shelf, little baskets holding spices....in alphabetical order.  Want to see more?  I knew you would.....

These tubs hold food storage staples like flour, sugar etc.  When I asked the homeowner why she decided to use these flat containers, she said...look at the vertical space.  She is right.  These are drawers, so it is not like the shelves could be adjusted.  So, she uses flat containers and stacks some of them to have these important staples readily available.  See, she thinks outside of the box, and makes things work for her.  

Aren't these containers cool?  The homeowner, has even put the labels on  the containers at the same level so that the eye can easily scan the labels of the items inside of the cabinet.  

Look at this cabinet.  There are side doors that swing and have storage, and a set in the back that also have storage on either side.

Here is the same cabinet with the 2nd set of doors swung open. See the storage clear in the back?  Really nice isn't it.  

So, who in the world lives this organized?   Well, she is someone I know well.....my sister.  Her whole house is this way.

What are the take away points here?  See them below:

• Use a system when storing foods.  Use similar containers, labeling, and organization techniques (remember the spices).  It is easy on the eye, and makes finding needed items easy to locate.
• Although not shown, my sister also has the same clear plastic jars pictured above in drawers with mixes in them. The Labels are on the lids so that they are easily located.
• Having your food storage staples readily available, makes you more likely to use them and gain the experience and skill to enjoy them.
• It's easy to see if something needs to be discarded.  It's rare to find things that are tucked away and not being used within a safe time frame.

Maybe she will come to my house 

and do this for me:)

It's "Hump Day"....

Rooster Junior with his Mission President and Wife

Today, I have experienced a wide range of emotion.  We had a loved one who passed away this week and was laid to rest today.  This good man finished his earthly mission, and lived a valiant life.  I was honored to have known him and our lives have certainly been enhanced, for the better, for having him in our family.  Our love and prayers go out to his wife and children who now will be forging a new form of 'normal' in their coming days.

I was also very aware that 1 year ago today, we took our son to the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah.  I cried a lot that day, mostly tears of joy.  I felt very blessed to have such an amazing child who had prepared himself.....willingly I might  add.....to commit to full-time Missionary Service for 2 years.

We have had the opportunity to have 2 other sons serve missions, and have been so very grateful for them and their service.  We would literally wait by the mailbox to hear from them each week. Sometimes we didn't hear from them for more than one week due to issues with the mail, transfers, etc.  

Enter the age of cyberspace.  I watch my email each Monday morning between each patient to see if my Missionary has written.  There have been times that I have been fortunate enough to send a quick "I love you" as I calculated whether he may have been on-line at the time.  

Well, he is now a District Leader, and pushing ahead.  He often challenges us to study more, pray more, and to prepare to serve a mission (which we have always planned to do).

So, today, as we said good-bye and shed loving tears for a dear brother-in-the-gospel, I also shed a few tears of joy for our missionary son.  The Lord has a plan for all of us, and each chapter is written with his hand...and the consequences of our own choices. It is my hope and prayer that we all will work to be in concert with the Lord's plan for us.  We never know when our earthly mission will end.  

Widget...from Mormon.org

Courtesy of Deseret News Corp

Some of you may know that Rooster Junior is serving a mission in the Houston South Texas Mission.  Since it was Mother's Day last weekend, I patiently waited until I could talk with my dear son, and I savored every moment.  He has recently been made a District Leader and a Senior Companion....all at once. He is thriving and keeps giving his father and I new challenges for missionary work all the time.  This includes planning on going on a mission when we retire....which has always been the plan and one that we have often shared with all of our children.  I don't know where he was for 19 years, but to Rooster Junior it appears his parents serving a mission is a new concept that he seems to think we haven't considered....which is kind of funny.  

No matter where we have lived, opportunities to share the gospel abound.  Most recently, I was waiting in line at the airport to go through the security checkpoint. The line was very long, so this nice lady who was in line with me and I began to chat.  She was from the Seattle area (which is where I was headed) and was traveling on business.  She shared with me that she had 2 children and a husband that she adored. In the course of just a few minutes we were chatting about our families.  I had the opportunity to tell her that I had a missionary son. She was very curious about what that entailed, and asked many questions. She wanted to know if we required our son to serve, & wanted to know how he prepared to serve his mission.  As I shared the concept of the Missionary Training Center, Seminary, certainly family prayer/scripture study and Family Home Evening, she seemed intrigued at the concept of.....family.  We touched on the Plan of Salvation....all while waiting in line for security.  

The ironic thing is that she represented a National shipping firm....and the LDS church was one of her biggest clients.  She had been in Salt Lake City...on business with the Church.  So, as our paths parted (you know that cattle call for seating on that major airline carrier), I was hopeful that I had planted a seed that she could allow to grow.  It is my hope that she will ask her Mormon neighbor or colleague more as her interest peaks.

Why am I sharing all this with you?  Well, we have been challenged, most recently in General Conference, to share the Gospel message.  One of the ways is through media.  I have written this blog for 3 years now, and have attempted to include the important message of Spiritual Preparedness in concert with the concepts of Temporal Preparedness.

Recently, Mormon.org has come out with a Widget that can be placed on a blog, or website.   I was excited to see this new opportunity to share more about the Gospel message that means so much to me.  So, in view of this opportunity, you will see the widget in my sidebar.  It is my hope that those of you who may be curious or want to know more will choose to take a peek.  As always, there is no obligation to do anything but learn more.

If you would like to add this widget to your online media, please go here.   So, this week, I will write my missionary and 'report' to him.  One of the greatest joys in life is knowing that this good son, and all of my beloved children and grandchildren are sealed to my husband and I.  I look forward to spending a lot of time with them......both here....and in the eternities.  It makes living a life that pleases my Savior.....a joy to live.  

If you have questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, see the widget to the right or leave a comment for me.  We can chat :) !

This moment brought to you by ......our Heavenly Father

As I was driving to work yesterday, I realized that I had the opportunity to see 3 different LDS Temples during the latter part of my week.....each week.  Where else could I have that opportunity?  It is a blessing that I am grateful for.  It is one....that brought us this great moment.

So, in the spirit of preparedness....and things you may consider sweet to the taste....consider this wonderful message.  It is indeed, worth 'enduring to the end' while watching.

Mother's Day.....the most popular post ....

Well, I am looking forward to tomorrow....when I get to "Skype" with my Missionary Son...I Can't Wait!!!!

Last year, I wrote the following post about the history of Mother's Day. This post, by far, is the most viewed.  Just this week, nearly 9,000 folks have viewed it.  (Addendum, as of 6:00 p.m. on Mother's Day, over 15,000 have viewed it).  So, in view of the holiday, and because this post has reached so many, I will repost this article on Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers and Grandmothers!

(From 2011)

Mother's Day has unique beginnings from early Egyptian and Roman Goddesses.  England celebrated a "Mothering Day" that the English Settlers chose not to celebrate, most likely because everyday was just a struggle in survival.

More recently, Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamaition of 1870 began the holiday we know as Mother's Day in American.  There were efforts to make July the 4th Mother's Day, but that was soundly defeated.  Another American woman,Anna M. Jarvis proposed a  Mother's Day in 1908 to remember the service of her own mother.   It was associated with her church congregation, and white carnations were given out as they were the favorite flower of her mother.   Through her efforts, President Woodrow Wilson signed Mother's Day into an national observance by 1914.

Despite how you feel about your feel about the commercialization of Mother's Day, consider the demands that you have made on your mother when you were influenced the commercialization of your childhood.  She deserves all the wonderful things you care to share.

Happy Mother's Day to every kind and worthy mother.  I will end with the wonderful words from Elder Faust:

“There is no greater good in all the world than motherhood. The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation”

James E. Faust, Ensign, Aug. 2004, 3