Monday Message

President J. Reuben Clark (Church News, 1953) –
“When we really get into hard times, where food is scarce or there is none at all, and so with clothing and shelter, money may be no good for there may be nothing to buy, and you cannot eat money, you cannot get enough of it together to burn to keep warm, and you cannot wear it.  You can’t eat money, but you can eat your three-month supply of food – IF YOU HAVE IT AND KNOW HOW TO USE IT."

We had a tough week here in central Iowa. Of course, it will be two weeks from now when you read this.

We had a storm on July 1st in the very early hours (more like all night). The news was reporting that areas to the northwest were going to get three inches of rain and about an inch in central Iowa but the rain came so hard and so fast. In Ankeny, Iowa, ten inches fell causing flooding. We are north of there and we have two sump pumps, one slightly above the other in case one fails. Both were working and the water from the rain overtook them both and we got six and a half inches of water in the basement.  

I consider us the lucky ones. Our Church set to work immediately contacting those that were affected. Those who were not affected could come to church in work clothes for a shortened service, then they divided up and went to help those who were affected. 

We had missionaries and young men here to help us. We moved some heavy buckets and then sent them on to help those who needed them more. Our basement is not finished and I had things at four inches off the ground but the water was six and a half inches. Other people had carpet that had to be cut out and all the furniture and things you would have in a living space, also gardens and fences washed away. One man in Des Moines was killed in flood waters. Some had sewage that came into their homes…needless to say a hard time.

The call went out for volunteers from our church and others who went to help those in Des Moines on the Fourth of July - a wonderful thing.

I have been working hard in the basement ever since. We have fans going and a dehumidifier. While I did not suffer the huge losses that others had there was still a lot of clean up. While doing so, I also did more preventative things. 

I had buckets of old beans that I planned to throw out, instead I put them under other buckets that were already on a platform four inches from the floor. I added 2x4's on top of the platform and now my buckets are up even higher off the ground. It has been a lot of work but next time it won’t be as bad. The buckets that had the two and a half inches up on them were fine as well as water tight - thank goodness! It could have been much much worse. 

We had clean ground water, others had rain and river water, and the worse was the homes that got sewage water.

We had water come in before that was much worse than this storm.  Buckets were toppled and took in water but not this time and that is why I had things up high and things low that water would not hurt.

Clean-up is never fun. The cardboard I used in holding my canning was all wet and got heavy - who would think, but it does.

I moved shelving which meant unloading, then moving the load back up and there were pockets of water stuck under so it was good to move. I forgot that some were eight inches high off the ground so that was good to not have to mess with.  

I still have some days and days of work ahead but I feel blessed.  My poor fibro body is hurting like crazy. Two wonderful meals were brought in that lasted us for several meals and helped tremendously.

I am bringing this up to remind you that things can change quickly. You cannot be prepared for everything but trying to be as much as you can and then help others as you can. Life isn’t always easy.  Also, I want again to say bad things do happen to good people too.  Though this was a rotten thing there was so much goodness and helping others and that is a good thing.

So with the flooding it was only right to put a pic of Noah’s Ark at the top.

I had wanted to get a t-shirt made from the sewing videos from earlier but water sports had to be done instead booo.

Just before all that happened I did finish a dress…

This method of knitting is a good method is a good one for you to learn -
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE2Y0UudmwE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrYpvfcmVbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwTxbT-GC8M


https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/how-to-darn-a-sock/ - this is a great thing to have under your belt.

https://www.wikihow.com/Darn-a-Sock - how to darn a sock in 7 steps.

This week I used the darning method to fix some holes in my chair, so building skills help us in different ways.

Determine what would benefit your family then share what that is.

If you crochet make clothing items that can best serve your family.

Working in the basement as I have has taught me to never give up even with loss, don’t give up.

Being selfless is part of this kind work. Doing good for others is so needed as witnessed here in Iowa this week.

Keep watching sales flyers. Keep growing your storage, make canning a skill to work on.

Keep looking after others. Build your skills and build your storage.