Monday Message

 (W. Don Ladd, October 1994 General Conference)
    “We all need to build a personal ark . . . And we shouldn’t wait until it starts raining, but prepare in advance. This has been the message of all the prophets in this dispensation . . . as well as the prophets of old.
    “Unfortunately we don’t always heed the clear warnings of our prophets. We coast complacently along until calamity strikes, and then we panic.
    “When it starts raining, it is too late to begin building the ark. However, we do need to listen to the Lord’s spokesmen. We need to calmly continue to move ahead and prepare for what will surely come. We need not panic or fear, for if we are prepared, spiritually and temporally, we and our families will survive any flood. Our arks will float on a sea of faith if our works have been steadily and surely preparing for the future.”

(Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley, Oct 2002 and quoted again in April 2007)
"The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes..."

How are you set up? Have you been working on your storage and your skills?

The following quote is by Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle in The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was given in April General
Conference 1979, 37 years ago. Because it has been that long ago, it is even more important now.

"I stand before the Church this day and raise the warning voice. It is a prophetic voice, for I shall say only what the apostles and prophets have spoken concerning our day.

.. It is a voice calling upon the Lord's people to prepare for the troubles and desolations which are about to be poured out upon the world without measure.

For the moment we live in a day of peace and prosperity but it shall not ever be thus. Great trials lie ahead. All of the sorrows and perils of the past are but a foretaste of what is yet to be. And we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually.

Our spiritual preparation consists in keeping the commandments of God, and taking the Holy Spirit for our guide, so that when this life is over we shall find rest and peace in paradise and an ultimate inheritance of glory and honor in the celestial kingdom.

Our temporal preparation consists in using the good earth in the way the Lord designed and intended so as to supply all our just wants and needs. It is his purpose to provide for his Saints for all things are his, but, he says, it must needs be done in his own way. (See D&C 104:14-18. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/104.14-18?lang=eng#13)

There is a common axiom among us which states: A religion that cannot save a man temporally does not have power to save him spiritually. If we cannot care for our temporal needs in this world, how can we ever succeed in spiritual things in the world to come?"

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1979/05/stand-independent-above-all-other-creatures?lang=eng

I remember him giving this talk the part that I want to emphasize is that great trials lie ahead. All of the sorrows and perils of the past are but a foretaste of what is yet to be. And we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually.

I think if nothing were to happen, life throws enough at us that this would make us want to heed this warning but with what he says here should be added incentive…

http://www.foodstoragemoms.com/2016/10/feed-family-breakfast-disaster/ what would you be eating??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GVA05MxXTU - this shows how to bind a quilt an easy way.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=For+My+Family+Homesteading&&view=detail&mid=67115CAA1BF0F482D31B67115CAA1BF0F482D31B&FORM=VRDGAR - I thought you could benefit by her binder idea.

http://www.foodstoragemoms.com/2016/10/need-keep-stored-water-safe/ - good info

http://www.1dogwoof.com/crochet-rug-from-t-shirts/ - this can be a frugal thing to do with your crocheting skills
     
http://www.favecrafts.com/Knit-Gloves-and-Mittens-Patterns/Mittens-for-the-Whole-Family-from-Red-Heart-Yarn - this is a great way to build a useful skill.

http://www.favecrafts.com/Knit-Gloves-and-Mittens-Patterns/Mittens-for-the-Whole-Family-from-Red-Heart-Yarn - mittens

http://www.redheart.com/files/patterns/pdf/WR1633.pdf - here is a scarf and hat.  

http://www.freshstitches.com/free-knitting-pattern-easy-peasy-socks-beginner/ - make socks

So these patterns are free and basic and could be done before winter. Knitting is one of your skills to build. Take time to learn your skills and practice them too.

Look for sales to stock your food storage.

Do the best you can.

Monday Message

DIY ornaments are easy and fun to make, plus they make great last minute gifts. Tutorial HERE.

(Gordon B. Hinckley, October 2001)
“As we have been continuously counseled for more than 60 years, let us have some food set aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need. But let us not panic nor go to extremes. Let us be prudent in every respect.”
“From President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor, we hear: "Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year's supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year's supply of debt and are food-free."
“We call upon priesthood bearers to store sufficient so that you and your family can weather the vicissitudes of life.”

http://www.foodstoragemoms.com/2016/10/need-to-be-prepared-disaster/ - a short read.
   
http://www.foodstoragemoms.com/2016/10/15-ways-to-be-prepared-unexpected/ - work on being prepared.
  
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/blog?view=entry&id=88 I encourage you to read this, it doesn’t matter where you are.

How are you doing building your skills?? I have to tell you I have seen lots on frugality and skill building this last week and I can tell you it just makes me feel so good to see and hear these things. I am also so excited to see the younger people working on their skills too.

None of us get through this life without trials. It is up to us as to how we handle it, how we plan and prepare, and skills can make the difference as how we get through it and keep those who depend on us from having a harder time.

I have been checking out YouTube videos while I am trying to heal a tare in my tendon just below my right knee and boy does that hurt bad.

So one I watched this mother and daughter went out to pick carrots to can, it was nice to watch https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=homesteader+canning+carrots+you+tube&view=detail&mid=BB16CB200E388F490659BB16CB200E388F490659&FORM=VIRE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNrOlAsVn4E this is on making an apron out of sheets. I want you to notice her sewing machine. It is what a new treadle looks like. This woman is striving to have off-grid things. It is interesting to watch and the apron is so cute. I think her approach is a good idea. You might think what things you could do to be more self-reliant. I found this interesting.
  
With weather running amok it seems are we ready for such things, fires in the west, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, earthquakes and soon winter storms will be here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GByuvpwa5Dg what I want you to see is the few things she does and that is because she is always ready.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bARrivHM4CI - this is living on a dime.

part 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzI0UkyYT9k - there may be something useful to you.

http://www.biblemoneymatters.com/100-frugal-creative-homemade-christmas-gifts/ 

http://www.frugal-living-tips.com/frugal-halloween.html - Halloween

Last minute/frugal gift ideas as things get more hectic for you...

http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2013/12/monday-message-last-minute-christmas.html

http://www.squawkfox.com/2008/12/02/holiday-gifts-8-homemade-gifts-in-a-jar-with-free-printable-gift-tags/

http://innerchildfun.com/2008/12/frugal-last-minute-gift-idea-for-kids_19.html 

http://beingfrugalbychoice.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-fast-last-minute-holiday-gift.html

http://innerchildfun.com/2008/12/frugal-last-minute-gift-idea-for-kids_15.html

These below are wonderful ideas for maybe stocking-stuffers... They are broken down by age groups.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/96897829456569928/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/96897829456569938/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/96897829456569935/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/96897829456569921/
   
http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2013/12/monday-message-last-minute-christmas.html

As we approach this Christmas season don’t go into debt. If you think it would not be fair to the kids it is time for a family meeting. You could go to Dollar Tree and turn everyone loose, learn to have a fantastic Christmas and find new ways to make it fun.

If we cannot afford old family traditions then it's time to make fun new traditions. Pick an elderly couple or person or even just a lonely person or just someone having difficulties - pick them as a family to do fun things for. It could be pictures the kids have made with coloring, etc... you have fun planning as a family. Your kids will talk of this forever. 

http://www.frugal-living-tips.com/frugal-christmas.html - frugal ideas

http://www.frugal-living-tips.com/frugal-ideas.html 

http://www.biblemoneymatters.com/100-frugal-creative-homemade-christmas-gifts/ you may find good ideas here.

You could do a search on frugal gift giving, the main thing is that you stay inside a budget.

Keep working at getting storage in, sales will be going on. Practice or learn your skills.

Monday Message

(Ezra Taft Benson, October 1973)
“The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.”

(J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, April 1937, p. 26)
“Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead. You of small means put your money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in stocks and bonds.”

I think we all saw the empty shelves with hurricane Matthew, it makes so much sense to have food and any storage up in your home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-MSAyMMXAM this is from one of our own, Deb Hadden tells us of her preparedness, they will all follow if you keep on as she did in segments - thanks Deb! 

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/living-on-food-storage this is so inspiring to see her storage. I have had this on before and I follow her, she is a member of the church and still works actively on her storage and she works on her skills. She is teaching herself French and makes gifts for birthdays and Christmas.

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/recipes/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=271&Itemid=423 you can see some of her skills on the left.

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/blog?view=entry&id=88 this is very much a great read!

I think we all too often think nothing will happen to us, but the truth is we all should be prepared.

Do you know how to can?? I think this we should all know how to do it. I can tell you we have been enjoying homemade bread toasted with peach jam from peaches from our own peach trees.

I have sourdough going and have been adding a half cup into my bread, it is sooooo wonderful.

Does it take work? I have never lied, it does take hard work, but we should never shy away from working hard.

I have been working at learning to weave and while I watched General Conference I worked on the table top loom which has four harnesses. I put it on the foot stool and I worked on it while watching then we broke for chili, stew and big homemade cinnamon rolls.

This is what I am learning and teaching myself it has been hard but worth it. And is helping me make gifts.

I have been knitting, crocheting, weaving, tatting and sewing to get these gifts tended. I like to have my gifts in the mail by November.

I have an incredibly painful tare in the tendon in my right knee so I have been going very very slow, it causes me cry baby pain. I had this a few years ago in my arm but I could rest my arm more, really hard to do when it is the knee. Vary hard, hurts horrid whether or not I hold it still, it is in bad pain. I hate having to slow down but we need to listen to our bodies. The hardest part of having fibromyalgia is I cannot feel well enough to be physically present now when there is so much need. I do pray and send names into the temple. But I hate not being able to be there in person to help, there is no shortage of people who need help.

I am not whining much, things could be far worse.

We must find joy. 

I packed my projects in a bag and has everything I need and I keep it near. This has been very helpful.

Keep working on your storage, no matter how poor we are get a jar of peanut butter or two packages of jello or a box of band-aids, very little if that is all you have like us, it will add up. Plus, we have been told if we truly will work on it we will be blessed.

I am noticing we need to build up our milk powder from the cannery. That is our goal to build that and oats and I truly believe a way will be made to acquire these.

We use both these items each day and it has been several years since we got these items and so we stocked well to go three years.

So no matter your income do what you can. Learn skills, build storage.

Cooking from scratch can do two things - one, can extend your dollars and, two, is if you have no dollars you still eat well because you used your skills.

Do the best you can… Pray for what you need.

Monday Message

Keep Christmas this year in your budget by making homemade presents click HERE.

 LDS Church Handbook 2, Section 6.1.1)
“Church members are responsible for their own spiritual and temporal well-being.....To help care for themselves and their families, members should build a three-month supply of food that is part of their normal diet. Where local laws and circumstances permit, they should gradually build a longer-term supply of basic foods that will sustain life. They should also store drinking water in case the water supply becomes polluted or disrupted."

(J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, April 1937, p. 26)
“Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead. You of small means put your money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in stocks and bonds.”

(Ezra Taft Benson, October 1973)
“The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.”  

http://www.simplyprepared.com/consideringwhatif.htm - What if??

http://www.simplyprepared.com/freezing.htm - Yes, you will want to turn off outdoor water and those spray attachments that you put on end of hoses, take them off too. Water sits in those and freezes and breaks the seals inside, hmmmmm how do I know this??

http://www.simplyprepared.com/the_elements_of_self-reliance.htm - good info

http://www.simplyprepared.com/if_your_freezer_stops.htm - have you ever given this thought? I like to have meat in jars as well as in the freezer. Also, I keep canning supplies always on hand and I have a gas stove as well as a wood burning stove so I could can my meat. Check your freezer often to make sure there is not a problem. You would catch it but if next week your freezer goes out and you are not catching it, you would have loss but if your electricity is out you don’t want to open it often, but helpful ideas there in the link.

http://www.randomlyhappyblog.com/2013/10/diy-pattern-how-to-make-your-own-leggings-part-i.html/ - brrrr better get started.

http://www.cottonandcurls.com/2013/10/diy-full-circle-skirt/ - this would be a good starting spot so dust off your machine.

I hope you are working on Christmas. Please do not go into debt for Christmas gifts. The people you give to would feel very sad if they knew you were struggling to pay for it.

Have a homemade Christmas. I  have wisely been using the free ten dollar coupon from Khols and making the rest.

http://thehappyhousewife.com/home-management/homemade-christmas-gifts/ some ideas here.

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/giftstomake/tp/HomeMadeGiftIdeas.htm - ideas

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/handmade-christmas-gifts/ - ideas

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/11/13/a-do-it-yourself-christmas-34-great-gifts-you-can-make-yourself/ - great ideas

http://www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/handmade/40-homemade-holiday-food-gift-recipes-pictures

http://dodoburd.com/Diy-Christmas-gifts - ideas

http://www.momswhothink.com/christmas/homemade-christmas-gifts.html - great ideas

Now if you are tight, let the kids know it will be homemade gifts this season. Or you can do an old-fashioned Christmas.

http://www.oldfashionedfamilies.com/50-ways-to-have-a-more-old-fashioned-family-christmas/ - good things here.

These things can be just as fun as things that are expensive. You could do old-fashioned candy or cookies, have your own fun. If traditions of the past were to costly for this time, make new ones to fit in your budget.

Are your kids beginning to act greedy? They can deliver goodie plates to those with less. We witnessed a family who had their children find someone in goodwill Christmas eve who looked like they were in need and present them with a twenty.                                                                                                  
Or if they could put boxes of food items together and deliver them to someone who could use it, if you need a name to do this you could go to any Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ask a Bishop if you could bring a box for someone in the ward who might need it, they would be all to happy to deliver it for you.

It never hurts to tell your kids you are having a hard time and we all need to pitch in to make a special Christmas.

One important last comment - don’t be judgmental of others unless you are willing to walk in their shoes because if you knew what the hardship was you truly would have felt bad for judging. Bumps in the road come to us all. We must feel bad of ourselves either, unforeseen things happen. Health issues grab many of us, so we square up our shoulders, roll up our sleeves and push on a little harder.

Keep doing the best you can.

Monday Message

“From President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor, we hear: "Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year's supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year's supply of debt and are food-free."
“We call upon priesthood bearers to store sufficient so that you and your family can weather the vicissitudes of life.”

Last month was national preparedness month!! What are you continuing to do to make sure that you are prepared? 

http://nws.noaa.gov/com/weatherreadynation/prep.html  would you be ready???

It is a good month for you to see where you are on your family's preparedness. 

Winter is on its way, do you have a car kit??
http://readywisconsin.wi.gov/winter/HowToMakeAKit.asp - I know these guys have a great place to start.

Do you have a weather radio?? It is a good thing to get, we have one in the living room and in our bedroom. It will sound when your county goes into a storm warning. Also, get your cell phone set to send you warnings. Our daughter has her's set to her weather alerts in Alabama and ours in Iowa.

It is very important to follow directions. If they say no travel advised, stay home that way others don’t get placed in danger because they have to save you.

I will also add if you do not have a desire to watch the news please watch the weather every day. You need to know if weather is coming I know when you are in a bigger town you might not be aware of how bad things are outside of town.

When they pull the plows off the roads you had better be all snug at home. It is not the time to go for milk and that too is why you need to know the weather forecast. So you don’t run out with the masses buying eight gallons of milk.

You try to be aware of your area. Do you have flashlights? Blankets? Just because you have never had a storm that has taken the power down for long periods of time does not mean that it doesn’t happen.

Do you have a plan? Do others in your home know the plan?

Information to tuck under your hat. Tornadoes can’t happen in winter - FALSE - just ask anyone in Woodward, Iowa. Flooding occurs in winter as well but mostly snow storms and the dreaded ice storms.

What could you do for heat for food if you needed too?

If you have not had any experiences learn from others. There are many who have told of their experiences.

Whatever you do stop telling yourself it won’t or can’t happen to you, because it can. So be prepared.

http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2014/10/monday-message.html  - worth reading
http://frugalmeasures.blogspot.com/2013/11/monday-message.html - this too

http://www.backwoodshome.com/lessons-learned-from-an-ice-storm/ - read this to see what she has learned.

We have tried to be as prepared as we can. We have a gas fireplace that works when power is out. We have a generator that is hard to start and is good to keep our sump running.

We do have a wood burning cook stove. We have a carpet sweeper. In case of no power we can still clean the carpet. We have candle and lamp and oil. We have a phone charger in the car, food stored, water, winter kit... try to do the best you can and try to think ahead to be prepared.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=outreach_beingprepared read
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=outreach_beingprepared2 read
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=outreach_beingprepared3  read

It is best learning all you can and learn from others who have been through it. Same goes to learn from others who have skills. There's so many things you can do.

Keep working on your storage don’t be caught being unprepared, your family is counting on you.