Be your own emergency plan

There is never really an ideal time to start thinking about or working on topics of Emergency Preparedness. Just like there is never really an ideal time for an emergency or a disaster to take place.

The phrase "I will just go to so and so's house or I will just go to my neighbors house if we ever have an emergency because I know they are prepared" Has been said out loud many times, even by members of the LDS church.

Perhaps the first question that should be asked in response to this is: has your neighbor or other prepared person reasonably stored enough food for the entire ward or even the city or town you live in? More than likely they have only stored enough food for their own family and/or extended family. Anyone else showing up will undoubtedly put them in a very precarious position.

There may be many reasons that get in the way of us getting our own food storage together. Finances, not knowing exactly how much to store, not knowing what to store, lack of good space to store any food, the thought that we have all the time in the world to get this started, or even picking back up after we have started it several years ago.

As members of the Church, we know that it is our responsibility to provide for ourselves and our families both in good times and in bad. Part of fulfilling that obligation is making preparations now to face whatever challenges may come our way.

President Spencer W. Kimball taught that we must be “anxiously engaged in a positive program of preparation.” It is not enough to hope for the best; we must prepare for it.

He explained, “The Lord will not translate one’s good hopes and desires and intentions into works. Each of us must do that for himself"

There is no need for the thought of getting our own food storage in place to be

overwhelming. All it takes is doing SOMETHING. It can be creating a space for storing food, it can be picking up a can of food each time we go shopping, it can be purchasing dehydrated/freeze dried food, or even finding a way to freeze dry our own food. There are people all around us who may be willing to allow others to use their freeze dryers from time to time. The key to making this all work is being consistent, making sure it's something we constantly think about.

One thing that makes storing food easier is to store what we already like to eat. Use that as a guide as to what to store. Also store some fun things, like freeze dried skittles or even dark chocolate.

Your best bet for facing a disaster or even unplanned circumstances with confidence is to "be your own emergency plan".