Rain Water Collection Tips: Making The Most Of Our Natural Resource

Natural rainwater can provide an excellent resource for any extra uses you may need in your everyday life. It can be used for irrigation, livestock water, garden uses and even drinking or bathing water if necessary and proper cleaning practices are ensured.

However, when collecting rainwater it is important to be sure that no regulations are in place and that you are going about it the right way.

Benefits of Rainwater Collection

There are various benefits of collecting falling water, rather than paying for water from another source. For instance, rainwater is soft and therefore doesn’t need detergent in order to be used for general needs.

An additional obvious benefit is the price. You will usually have to pay for the collection or harvesting system itself; however, these expenses are generally fairly cheap and setup is easy.

These systems are primarily being used in countries, such as China, Brazil, Bermuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Senegal, etc. and provide clean water for basic needs.

Rainwater Restrictions and Regulations

It may seem silly that certain countries welcome large rainwater harvesting stations and even have laws that ensure they are installed on all buildings, while others regulate the amount of water that can be stored.

For instance, in the United States, laws and regulations are strict for how much rainwater you are allowed to collect without a permit. Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Ohio are among the most regulated. However, the majority of states have some type of regulation in place and some have even made it illegal to collect at all.

Tips for Catching and Harvesting Rainwater

With all the regulations, you may decide that is just isn’t worth it to go through the hassle of permits in order to collect rainwater. However, if you do decide to go forward with this, here are some tips to help make it easier and more beneficial for you.

• Be aware of the toxins that leach off of roofing materials. I would avoid asphalt shingles if you are planning on using the rainwater for watering or growing purposes.
• Choose your collection canister wisely. Barrels made specifically for collecting rainwater can withstand freezing, expansion and distortion, while trash cans and other garbage collection containers generally won’t.
• Be safe. Keep the rain barrel away from spots where children may consider it a fun water play spot. Don’t place it near stairs, etc. Additionally, mosquitoes and other pests bring disease, so it is essential to either install some kind of system to keep these pests out or purchase an updated system with these blocks already installed.
• Set it up off the ground. This isn’t necessary, but will make it easier to get to the spigot, which is normally located on the very bottom of the barrel within a few inches of the ground. Using cement blocks to prop the barrel up will make distribution easier.
• Keep gutters cleaned out. The leaves, dirt and other materials that often sit in the gutter can cause rainwater to become contaminated and unsafe. It is especially important to clean the gutters before a big storm comes through if you are planning to collect water during that time.
• Use the collected water wisely. For instance, you could use it for laundry or bathing if it is cleaned and stored properly.

These are just a few of the tips that you can employ to keep your collected rainwater safe from toxins and within the bounds of legality.

How to decide which food storage can size is best for you: #10 or #2.5

A lot of people ask me why they should buy food in #10 cans when they are storing food for only themselves or, perhaps, one or two other people. They ask about the food going bad in the opened cans if they don’t eat it quickly enough and what if they open a can of something and discover they don’t like it?

Well, in some cases, #10 cans are preferred. (They hold roughly one gallon, including both food and head space.) Some freeze-dried and dehydrated products only come in that size container, and since most foods will be good for at least several months once opened, you can normally eat the food at your leisure.

However, based on the 5 enemies of food storage, opened cans will eventually succumb to the negative effects of:

• Oxygen
• Light
• Humidity
• Heat
• Pests

Unless you go through food pretty quickly, it’s best to portion out the food in the larger cans into smaller containers, such as canning jars, small mylar bags, and Food Saver bags. By adding an oxygen absorber and then keeping these smaller packages in a covered plastic bin or cardboard box to protect them from light, they should last a very long time.

However, there are plenty of foods that actually are better purchased in smaller quantities. (A #2.5 can holds roughly a fourth of the volume of a #10 can.)

• Grains such as quinoa and millet that you will only be using in smaller amounts.
• Dehydrated carrot dices. You wouldn’t believe how tiny these are when they’re dehydrated. A single #10 can must contain 50,000 carrots! Unless you are a carrot maniac, buy this in smaller containers.
• Dehydrated onions and celery. Ditto. Dehydrated foods take much less space than their freeze-dried counterparts, so a #2.5 can is a better idea than a #10.
• Dehydrated green onions. Ditto.
• Any other vegetable that you want to store but don’t typically use frequently.
• Bouillon and soup base. These are very susceptible to humidity. Once opened, they can quickly absorb moisture and you’ll have to chip away at the mass of bouillon with an ice pick. Better to either buy in smaller quantities or buy the #10 can and repackage.
• Tomato powder. Ditto.
• Many freeze-dried fruits, unless you eat a lot of fruit in your household. I’ve thrown away #10 cans of freeze-dried pineapple and grapes because the little humidity we have here in Phoenix was just enough for them to form a sticky, chewy glob. Oddly, this doesn’t happen with freeze-dried berries.
• Freeze-dried yogurt bites. We love these but, please, a gallon of vanilla freeze-dried yogurt bites? That’s an awful lot of yogurt bites! I prefer buying them in smaller containers. These, too, are affected by humidity.
• Sour cream powder. Again, the problem is humidity and the powder becoming a hard mass. Depending on where you live and the conditions in which you store your food, your experience might be different, but still, sour cream powder isn’t an ingredient typically used in large quantities, so buying it in #2.5 cans is a good idea regardless.
• TVP, any flavor. When I make chicken noodle soup using chicken flavored TVP, I only use a half cup or so of the TVP. A little goes a long way, especially the taco and bacon flavored varieties.
• Basic ingredients, such as baking powder, butter powder, salt, and cocoa. Unless you make brownies every night, which I think is a fabulous idea!, it takes a while to go through even a small container of cocoa.
• Powdered eggs. A #10 can of powdered whole eggs is the equivalent to about 8 dozen eggs and an opened can has a limited shelf life. Better to buy the smaller version unless you’re cooking for a large number of people who love scrambled eggs for breakfast!

What foods should be purchased in #10 cans?

• Any ingredients that you frequently use in cooking.
• Foods that have multiple uses, such as baking soda.
• Freeze-dried entrees that you enjoy eating, and you’re certain won’t go to waste once opened. Mountain House Mac-and-Cheese. Yumm!
• Versatile grains, such as rice, wheat, and oats. I often buy these in 20-50 lb. bags and then repackage.

If rodents and/or insects are a problem, an open container of any food is the equivalent of posting a big Welcome! sign for them. What you don’t want to have is a couple dozen opened #10 cans of food waiting to be used. Trust me. The pests will find their way to your food before you do!

Bartering Supplies That You Haven't Thought Of; And Some You Have!

When I think of bartering supplies my mind automatically goes to a SHTF scenario. There are a lot of lists out there for such scenes, but ultimately what you choose to barter is up to you. Many people stock things like silver, gold, cigarettes or alcohol or coffee. While these can be great items, they are also expensive.

I will admit, stocking up on cigarettes, coffee and alcohol do go against my health and religious beliefs, but it doesn't stop me from storing it. I would much rather barter an item that I will never use or need, than to barter precious items I do need. In the end, what you decide to spend money on is your choice.

Below is a list of items I feel would make good barter items if, and only if, I have enough extra to get a way with it.

• Salt: We store a LOT of salt. It has multiple purposes and back in the day people actually used salt as currency because it was considered such a high trade value and hard to find. Salt can/was used to preserve food and it helps to eliminate the season availability of certain foods and allowed long distance travel. To read about the many uses of salt, click here.
• Toilet paper: Take the cardboard out and put them in a large vacuum sealed bag storage bag.
• Kitty litter or dehydrated lime for sanitation or easy clean up of human waste in buckets. Can you imagine what someone would trade for this?
• Matches/lighters
• Bleach
• Sugar
• Feminine supplies
• Flu/Cold Medicine
• Allergy Medicine
• Antibiotics/ Pain killers / fever reducer
• Bar Soap
• Seeds
• Toothpaste/toothbrushes
• First aid bandages
• Hydrogen peroxide (You could trade this by the cup or half cup.) I encourage you to read this articleon the uses of Hydrogen peroxide so you will understand the benefits of storing this item.
• Powdered milk (One can of powdered milk cost approx $20 and makes 20 Quarts. This means I could trade a whole quart of milk and it’d only have cost me a dollar.)
• We store small bottles of alcohol for trade. We also have bigger bottles for refills if they want to bring it back for more. ;)
• Coffee: We vacuum seal coffee in smaller portions with 1-2 coffee filters in each bag of coffee. We also have 2 percolators to prepare the coffee if the person has no way to do so.
• Cigarettes: We do not store these but many people use them as barter items.
• Pipe Tobacco: Vacuum seal it to keep it fresh longer
• Spices
• Ramon Noodles: Very cheap and if someone is hungry then this would be good trade value.
• Beans: We stock the 15 bean soup because it comes with a spice packet in the soup. You could trade these by the bag or by the cup depending on the size family they have or if it's an individual.
• Razors
• Coats/Warm Clothing: We purchase used coats at goodwill and thrift stores. All different sizes but especially kids coats. These can be stored in large vacuum sealed storage bags and hardly take up any room.
• Small candles (or wax , wicks and wick tabs for making candles.)
• Chickens: Chickens produce meat and eggs, both of which people will want.
• Fly tape/mouse traps
• Pesticides
• Baby supplies: Wipes, creams, ointments, Ora-gel, diapers, formula
• Socks/underwear
• Information on growing food or slaughtering animals. You could print off some easy instructions and place them in binders.
• Fish hooks, weights, fishing line, bait
• Glow sticks
• Laundry soap powder
• Measuring spoons

These are just a few ideas to help you get started. Notice, I did not put silver or gold on the list. While this is a great item to have, I believe that if we are in a grid down situation, not many people are going to barter for something they can not eat or use to stay alive. Please don't misunderstand me, it is alright to have these items for yourself, but for bartering, I just don't feel it will be helpful in that area.

Idaho Falls Bishops' Storehouse Emergency Communications Training Conference

Here is a link to the web site: http://www.idahoerc.org/conference/index.html

Major Upgrade for Gospel Library App for iOS Devices Announced

Watch this video about the Church’s newest version of the Gospel Library app for Apple mobile devices now available for free from the Apple app store.

• "The Church has dedicated significant effort to improve this app in order to support Church members as they seek to increase their gospel learning and inspiration using mobile devices. We encourage members to use it to enhance their study and draw near to the Lord and His holy prophets." —Elder Christoffel Golden, Jr. of the Seventy

Those who use the Church’s free Gospel Library app for mobile devices are in for some exciting changes. A significant upgrade has been released that contains a host of improvements and new features.Available since 2009, the Gospel Library app has attracted more than 1.5 million active users. It’s a tool that can help you study, search, mark, and share gospel content. While the Gospel Library app is available for iOS, Android, and other devices, the current 3.0 upgrade is for iOS 6-compatible devices. (For older iOS devices, version 2.5 is still available.) The new version, titled Gospel Library 3, is now available in Apple’s app store.Elder Christoffel Golden Jr. of the Seventy explained the importance of the new upgrade: “The Church has dedicated significant effort to improve this app in order to support Church members as they seek to increase their gospel learning and inspiration using mobile devices. We encourage members to use it to enhance their study and draw near to the Lord and His holy prophets.”When you download the upgrade and run it for the first time, the new user guide comes up, detailing the major changes. This new version of the app includes a simplified interface, improved content layout, and improved study features.The first noticeable change is the new interface. As a whole, the app is more intuitive and easier to use. Swipe from the left on your device and open up the “library area.” In it are photo thumbnails of Church magazines, scriptures, general conferences, and much more.The latest version of the Gospel Library app is more intuitive and easier to use. Swipe from the left on your device and open up the “library area.” In it are photo thumbnails of Church magazines, scriptures, general conferences, and much more.Swipe from the right and open a “related content area.” Use it to see personal notes, footnotes, links, related audio and video recordings, and other scriptures and references related to what you are studying.Another great change is the design, which includes better typography, more images, imbedded videos, and improved layout. For example, go to the library and open the newCome, Follow Me youth curriculum. Gone are the endless pages of black and white text, and in their place are videos, color, well-designed text, and organized topics. Preach My Gospeland Daughters in My Kingdom are other examples of great redesign. These digital books look and feel like their printed counterparts. The app also includes new content, including Personal Progress and written and audio versions of Jesus the Christ.“This new version will help members improve their study by inclusion of additional materials, images, and videos to the content as well as improved personal study and sharing tools,” said Elder Golden.For video content, there are two ways to view it: stream it or download it right to a device so it can be viewed later. For example, the videos section of the library is expanded for teaching and personal use. If there is a video that would be helpful for teaching a lesson on Sunday, it can be downloaded at home and played at Church later without an Internet connection. Another wonderful change is the download speeds within the app. They are much faster!For those who enjoy marking up their scriptures, the upgrade allows you to highlight or underline in multiple colors, create notes, link related passages, and tag verses. The new bookmarks allow you to easily remember your place in a book not just by chapter but also by exact verse. A new notebooks section allows you to record your thoughts and feelings or review your tagged content.Underline or highlight text (new colors added), create notes, link related passages, or tag verses related to the same topic..Sharing your content is now easier. Email, text, tweet, or post your discoveries to Facebook. As you sign in with your LDS Account, all your previous annotations are transferred into this new version. As you subscribe to select content, when new issues of the Ensign or other content comes out, it will appear automatically in your library.Print, email, text, tweet, or post to Facebook content and thoughts about what you are studying.The best way to describe the new version of the Gospel Library app is to say that the technical aspects of the app get out of the way so the content and function can be enjoyed. It’s exciting to explore the new app to see what changes have been made. With so many significant changes, users are going to be spending a lot more time with the app.Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve said: “Who could have imagined not very many years ago that the full standard works and years of general conference messages would fit into your pocket? Just having them in your pocket will not protect you, but studying, pondering, and listening to them during quiet moments of each day will enhance communication through the Spirit” (“For Peace at Home,” Apr. 2013 general conference).

Mark your scriptures, conference talks, and lesson manuals, and sync annotations between your mobile devices and LDS.org.

INDEPENDENCE DAY!

"And for the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually affirm our oath and pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor!"

Benjamin Franklin -
"Here is my creed: I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion."

Benjamin Franklin-
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

PLATO-
"The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men."

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BORN IN THE 1930's,40's,50's,60's,70's& early 80's!!!.

First you survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, your baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

You had no child proof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when you rode your bikes, you had no helmets, not to mention, the risks of hitchhiking...As children you would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags. Riding in the back of a van-loose-was always great fun.

You drank water from the garden hose pipe and NOT from a bottle. You shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. You ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it but you weren't overweight because ...........YOU WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING. You would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as you were back in when the street lights came on, No one was able to reach you all day. And you were OK.

You would spend hours building your go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill only to find out you forgot the brakes. After running into bushes a few times, you learned to solve the problem.

You did not have Playstation, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..............YOU HAD FRIENDS and you went outside and found them!

You fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. You played with worms (well most boys did) and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although you were told it would happen, you did not poke any eyes out.

You rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Local teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! The idea of a parent bailing you out if you broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!.

This generation has produced some of the best risk takers and problem solvers and inventors yet. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovations and new ideas. You had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and you learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

How To Use Modern Cloth Diapers (Not Your Mother's Cloth Diaper!)

Diapers. The modern solution to stinky baby butts. In some cultures, it's normal to simply hold the baby away from mom while he does his business, but in our culture, this is not the case. We require that babies are encased in something; paper, gel, cloth – so long as it soaks up the bad stuff, we're pretty much good with it. Some of it though, is not sustainable.

Disposable diapers, convenient though they are, will be with us long after the death of the user. Had Christopher Columbus been in 'sposies, his would still be in our landfills. Yes, there is evidence that they last 4-600 years in the landfill. Sustainable? Probably not. Then there's also the question of “What on earth goes into the diapers?” Well, to build that supremely absorbent material, there's a lot of questionable stuff. Carcinogens? Maybe. Is it good for your newborn's tush? Probably not.

So what do you, the caring parent do? You look elsewhere. What else is on the market to use? Cloth? We all go...”_I_ remember those...they were AWFUL to wear!!!” Alternately..."They were AWFUL to use!!!”

Fear not! Things have changed. These are NOT your mother's cloth diapers.

New technology!!

Flats, origami folding and rubber pants? A thing of the past. Throw the idea out the window. Now, there are many other options! All-in-one diapers, pocket diapers, hybrid diapers and convertible diapers!

All in one diapers: These are just like disposable, except, well, you scrape the poo off & wash 'em.

Pocket diapers: These have a pocket so you can insert a padding to soak up the stuff you want to flush or wash.

Hybrid diapers: These are a combination of both all in one and pockets. They have a tail like all-in-one's, but it fits into a pocket, so it's tucked away!

Convertible diapers or shells: These are a diaper that you either snap or insert a filler into so that it sits right next to baby. These can be disposable or re-usable.

Right now, these diapers all run about $20 a pop. OMG. Right? For a single diaper? You've got to be kidding!! No, really, think about it. The average kid runs thru a package of disposables in a week. That's $20 a week, $100 a month or $1200 per year. Most kids are in diapers between 2-4 years depending on gender – sorry guys, boys stay in dipers longer - so for your average girl, $3000 in disposable diapers (2.5 years) and for your average boy, $4200, (3.5 years).

The average kid will need approximately 30-40 cloth diapers to go 4-5 days before washing. At $20 each, 40 diapers will cost you $800. Yes, a steep admittance price, but over the lifetime of your kid? Huge. Plus, if the if there is an long term emergency and the grid is down - you can do 'em by hand! (It's relatively easy – I do them by hand every year for 2 weeks during the summer on our annual camping trip.) Disposable diapers take up space and will be gone when they're gone. New cloth diapers? Hand 'em down & re-use 'em!!

Repelling Ticks & Fleas Before They Infest Your Yard

It is that time of year again!! Fleas and ticks are starting to be reborn just to terrorize us and our beloved animals. They can be very dangerous giving your animal heart worms or lyme disease and just like with our own bodies we may not want to put harsh chemicals on our animals or our yards. (Some of those chemicals have been known to kill dogs/cats.)

There is good news!! You do not have to go broke treating your animals, yourself or your yard to repel these nasty boogers. You can make your own using natural ingredients at half the cost. Below are a few ways to keep the ticks off you, your pets and your yard.

Garlic

• Ticks HATE garlic so as my Grandmother and Ben Franklin use to say.... "An ounce of prevention is greater than a pound of cure." Plant garlic in your yard, around your yard or anywhere you do not want the ticks to live. Not only will these deter them from your yard, you will also have fresh garlic when you need it. You can also eat raw garlic or take garlic tabs so it is in your blood. They can smell it and will not attach themselves, if garlic is in your system (garlic tabs are safe for your dogs as well).

Neem Oil

• You can either use neem oil or soak neem leaves in hot water and then apply this on the skin.
• For Pets: Prepare a general flea and tick spray by mixing 2.5 ml (1/2 ounce) of organic neem oil with 1-2 ml (1/4-1/2 ounce) of mild soap or detergent and 2 cups water. For a stronger solution if there is a problem or the dog will be going into deep bug country, mix 5 ml neem oil, 2 ml mild soap or detergent and 2 cups water. Use warm, not hot, water to dissolve the oil. Mix water and soap first and then slowly add neem oil for flea and tick control. Add to sprayer and use immediately. Discard after use. Neem oil is unstable and breaks down after 8 hours. Mix new each time.
• Place a few drops of neem oil on palms and simply rub hands through your pet's fur for effective flea and tick control. Neem oil is best used this way for dogs, only, not for cats. For sensitive dogs, dilute the neem oil 1:10 in a light carrier oil like almond or jojoba and rub palms first. Then run hands thoroughly through the dog's coat for natural, effective flea and tick control.
• Warnings: Caution is advised when using neem oil on animals that are breeders or about to be bred. Use neem oil at half strength for flea and tick control. Do not treat cats with concentrated neem oilthat is left on the skin. Using neem leaf tea is far safer for felines.

Tea Tree Oil

• Tea Tree oil is a great repellent. Once mixed, you spray it on the skin or fur and rub in. I also make sure and pray it on our shoes and pant legs if we are going camping or into the woods so we don't carry home any piggy back riders.
• To make: Mix two ounces of tea tree oil in water and pour it in a spray bottle. Spray this regularly on
  your skin.
• You can also spray your yard area with this mixture.

 

Other effective natural remedies

• Natural herbs: Lavender oil, lavender plants, lemon Grass, peppermint or citronella are all very effective in keeping fleas off your yard. We make sure to have some every year and we have not had to use chemicals on our yard/ house or body for fleas, ticks or mosquitoes in 3 years now.
• A few more ways to repel fleas and ticks; eucalyptus, myrrh, rosewood, or lemon.
• Lemon: Take 6 lemons and cut in half. Boil these in a quart of water and steep for a few hours. Strain the solution and pour it into a spray bottle. Spray the solution on the pet’s fur but avoid the eyes.

These are just a few of the simple ways you can prevent an infestation of fleas or ticks in your living area and make the family pet a happy-go-lucky Fido instead of a miserable, itchy one.

Church Responds to Supreme Court Marriage Rulings

Salt Lake City — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement today regarding the decisions announced by the United States Supreme Court on cases involving marriage:

"By ruling that supporters of Proposition 8 lacked standing to bring this case to court, the Supreme Court has highlighted troubling questions about how our democratic and judicial system operates. Many Californians will wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong when their government will not defend or protect a popular vote that reflects the views of a majority of their citizens. 

"In addition, the effect of the ruling is to raise further complex jurisdictional issues that will need to be resolved.

"Regardless of the court decision, the Church remains irrevocably committed to strengthening traditional marriage between a man and a woman, which for thousands of years has proven to be the best environment for nurturing children. Notably, the court decision does not change the definition of marriage in nearly three fourths of the states."

Concern Over Changes to Home Storage Centers Unnecessary

NEWS RELEASE — 17 JUNE 2013

Over the past several weeks, misinformation and unnecessary concern has been circulating on blogs, over social media channels and by email regarding changes in operations at the Church’s home storage centers, which are located in the U.S. and Canada. No home storage centers are being closed, but the Church is making welcomed modifications in its operations at most of these centers that will help to better serve the needs of members of the Church, as well as significantly improve efficiency.

In all but 12 of the Church’s 101 home storage centers in the U.S. and Canada, patrons will no longer self-can products, but they may purchase these same items pre-canned or prepackaged at no additional cost.

The Church currently operates 101 home storage centers in the United States and Canada where food storage items such as beans, dry milk, wheat, rice and sugar may be purchased© All rights reserved.

These changes have been considered for some time as the Church has looked at the best way to provide home storage goods to Church members efficiently. Much of the discussion regarding this issue has suggested that this change is due to food safety regulation. While it has been a factor, the concern expressed regarding that issue has been overstated.

While many individuals have enjoyed self-canning at the Church’s home storage centers, the advantages of providing pre-canned or prepackaged goods include:
It’s more efficient and cost effective for the Church to produce and ship high-quality, pre-canned or prepackaged goods in bulk rather than ship the same goods and empty cans to a location where individuals can them on their own.
By offering the goods pre-canned or prepackaged, the Church utilizes less warehouse space.
Pre-canned and prepackaged operations allow for higher quality and safer preparation of home storage food. 

It is much more costly to maintain and upgrade facilities that must meet food production standards (such as in a self-canning operation) than it is to maintain a facility that simply distributes pre-canned and prepackaged food.

 
Volunteer personnel time can be used more efficiently.

The following 12 home storage centers will continue to offer self-canning for the time being as the Church continues to monitor the goods and services offered at home storage centers and makes adjustments as needed:
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Mesa, Arizona
Boise, Idaho
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Carrollton, Texas
Lindon, Utah
Logan, Utah
Ogden, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah (Welfare Square)
Sandy, Utah
Springville, Utah
St. George, Utah

The remaining 89 centers will provide pre-canned goods. A list of all home storage centers is available here.

A Miraculous, Little-Known Story About President Monson

Every time I see or listen to President Monson, I’m always reminded of (and deeply impressed by) his loving character and his private ministry.

Here’s a little-known story about him that touched my heart:

In 1971, when Mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, the doctors said she had less than a 20 percent chance of surviving two years. Mother did not know this. Dad did. I found out only because I overheard the conversation between my father and the doctors.

Months passed…it was stake conference, a regional gathering of church members that meets four times a year. My father was a member of the stake high council, a group of high priests who direct the membership on both organizational and spiritual matters. President Thomas S. Monson, one of the Twelve Apostles, directly beneath the Prophet, who at that time was Joseph Fielding Smith, was conducting interviews for the position of stake president.

Before the conference, President Monson met with my father privately, as he did with all councilmen. he asked him, if called, would he serve as stake president? My father’s reply was no. In a religion that believes all leadership positions are decided by God, this was an unorthodox response.

“Brother Tempest, would you like to explain?”

My father simply said it would be inappropriate to spend time away from his wife when she had so little time left.

President Monson stood and said, “You are a man whose priorities are intact.”

After conference, my father was returning to his car. He heard his name called, ignored it at first, until he heard it for a second time. He turned to find President Monson, who had put his hand on Dad’s shoulder.

“Brother Tempest, I feel compelled to tell you your wife will be well for many years to come. I would like to invite you and your family to kneel together in the privacy of your home at noon on Thursday. The Brethren will be meeting in the holy chambers of the Temple, where we will enter your wife’s name among those to be healed.”

Back home, our family was seated around the dinner table. Dad was late. mother was furious. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he opened the door. He walked over to Mother and held her tightly in his arms. He wept.

“What’s happened, John?” Mother asked.

That Thursday, my brothers and I came home from school to pray. We knelt in the living room together as a family. No words were uttered. But in the quiet of that room, I felt the presence of angels.

The mother of Terry Tempest Williams was healed and lived until 1987, sixteen years after President Monson had made the quiet, prophetic declaration that she would “be well for many years to come.”

Source: Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge: an unnatural history of family and place. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. Print.

Shelter: Choosing a Bug-Out Location

In prepper parlance, the term “bug out” refers to fleeing the dangers that ensue after a natural disaster or some man-made cataclysm causes a collapse of the social order. Indeed, at the first sign of trouble, a lot of preppers anticipate rushing off to a house and land in some isolated rural area, where they’ll be able to grow their own food, generate their own power, and stay out of the way of the chaos and mayhem that the rest of society is succumbing to.

But as the situation escalates, it may not be so easy to keep from avoid the danger. As grisly as it may be to think about the worst-case scenario, you have to be prepared for the possibility you’ll find yourself confronted by an onslaught of intruders who overwhelm your defenses—or that a sudden disaster such as a fire or flood will render your main retreat uninhabitable. If any of those bad things happen, you’ll be forced to flee a second time. That’s why it’s a smart move to have a back-up dwelling at another location where you can seek refuge. Such a spot also can serve as a rally point for survivors of an attack who need to regroup, tend to injuries, and re-arm themselves to retake their main homestead.

Here are some tips on setting up a second bug-out location.

• Safe Distance: You want your fallback location to be far enough away that you’re out of the line of fire. It could be unoccupied land, or else property owned by another friendly prepper who’s willing to provide refuge. Practical Preppers consultant David Kobler suggests having it at least several miles away from your main dwelling. To get there quickly, you’ll also need to have some sort of bug-out transportation. A utility vehicle with ample space is great, but a motorcycle, ATV, folding bicycle, or an adult tricycle with a basket for cargo may make it easier to slip away. Bugoutvehicles.net is a website devoted to various types of escape transportation.

• Providing Shelter:  A conventional trailer or camper van could serve as an emergency redoubt. Another option is a“tiny house” with just enough space for a bed. Some of these minimalistic dwellings are mounted on wheels, so they can be moved to another location if need be. It’s also possible to construct a temporary structure on the site, as this YouTube video illustrates.

• Set Up Caches:  Kobler advises burying or concealing a cache of food, water, first-aid supplies, and other survival equipment, such as flashlights, ponchos and multi-purpose buckets. Savvysurvivor.com provides this guide to preparing a supply cache, while Prepperideas.com offers a detailed how-to on building a cache gleaned from the military’s special forces manual. Modernsurvivoronline.com offers advice on how to conceal your cache.

• Giving the Signal to Flee:  Having a bug-out location or rally point prepared won’t do your community any good, unless people get word that it’s time to flee, and know where they should go to. Kobler advises equipping community members with handheld radios that they can use to communicate. But since there’s a chance that attackers may intercept your radio transmissions, it’s crucial to have everyone memorize a pre-arranged code word that indicates that it’s time to flee to the other site. Modernsurvivalonline.com offers this guide to survival communications gear.

If You Only Do Three Things:

• Have a means to escape.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a beat-up old mountain bike, as long as it gets you to safety
• Have a place to go that’s far enough away to be safe. You need to get at least several miles from whatever trouble has erupted, so you safely can regroup and figure out what to do next.
• Hide some supplies someplace.  Even if it’s just a metal canister or duffle bag with some preserved food, water, a flashlight, poncho and a survival knife, you’ll be glad to have it in an emergency.

10 Great Recipes for the Solar Cooker:

1.  I Don’t Want to Bean Hungry Bean Bake

2.  Lentil Me See If We Have Something To Eat Casserole

3.  Quick!  Cook All the Freezer Meat Stew!

4.  The Police Have “Desserted” Us, Peach Cobbler

5.  Crab All the Food At the Grocery Store
**Skip the frying pan and put some oil in your dish and lay the Crab cakes in it. Then put in Solar Cooker until hot and heated or spread in a dish and use as a dip.

6.  Did Grandma REALLY Eat Chicken Foot Soup?
**Recipe is in second paragraph

7.  Dark Disaster Dream Bars
**Cook in Solar Cooker until it looks done, moist but not too jiggly

8.  A Loaded .22 Baked Potato

9.  Squirrely Friends Should Stay At Someone Else’s House

10. TVP (The Vegetarian Penne)
**Substite the beef with TVP if desired.

Shelter: Generating Power

The ability to generate electricity is so integral to modern living that it’s strange to think that for most of human history, people lived without it. But in a crisis situation in which electric generating plants went offline for an extended period, preppers would need to generate their own juice to keep the lights on and their refrigerators and computers running. Fortunately, there are multiple technologies available to tap into natural, renewable energy sources and generate electricity, ranging from wind, solar and hydroelectric power to generators powered by biomass fuel.

Practical Preppers consultant Scott Hunt says it’s smart to have multiple systems for generating electricity from different sources. That way, you’ll remain up and running even if the wind dies down or the Sun goes behind a cloud—or the nation suffers an electromagnetic pulse attack, which not only could wipe out computers and communications, but also solar power-generating technology.

How much electricity do you need to generate? According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. residential utility customer consumed 11,496 kilowatt hours (kWh) or electricity annually. Tennessee had the highest annual consumption, at 16,716 kWh, while Maine had the lowest at 6,252 kWh. But odds are, you’ll be using considerably less electricity, since there won’t be any cable channels to watch on your old energy-hogging home entertainment system. Prepper expert Matthew Stein, author of the book When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, advises that you can avoid overtaxing your resources by planning your energy use on a daily basis. You can observe the weather and see whether your solar battery is fully charged, and then plan which appliances you can run that day. Additionally, you can pick appliances and devices—a laptop computer instead of a desktop, for example, because they use less energy and have their own battery capability. Here are some sources and technologies that preppers can use to generate electricity.

• Solar:  Hunt says that houses should be built facing south with pitched roofs, so that they can be outfitted with solar panels. A $30,000 solar panel array optimally could provide you with about 11,000 kWh per year. Remember that you’ll need to equip your system with an inverter to convert the DC current generated by the solar panels to the AC that your appliances will need.

• Wind:  To keep up the average consumption, you’d need the equivalent of, say, nine WT6500 Honeywell wind turbines  (1,500 kWh apiece per year), which could set you back about $6,000 apiece. On the downside, wind power may require climbing a tower occasionally to keep your equipment maintained.

• Hydroelectric:  Setting up your own micro-hydro power plant, using a stream on your property, is an idea that’s been around for a long time. That’s evidenced by this 1978 U.S. Department of Agriculture primer, which is dated technologically, but still contains some useful guidance on how to calculate the energy potential of your water source. But for up-to-date information, you’ll probably want to consult a recent work such as 2010’s Serious Microhydro: Water Power Solutions from the Experts, edited by Scott Davis. According to Homepower.com,one advantage of hydroelectric power is that it tends to be more continuous and dependable than other alternative energy sources. Hydroelectric also is the cheapest in terms of startup investment, with systems available for as little as $4,000 to $6,500, according to equipment supplier backwoodssolar.com.

• Biomass: A generator that runs on biomass fuel—chunked cord wood, corn cobs, wood chips, tree branches, and the like—is another option. These are pretty pricy, with a system by Victory Gasworks running about $35,000.

If You Only Do Three Things:

• Get rechargeable batteries and a solar-powered battery charger. Prepper author James Wesley Rawles points out that a lot of sophisticated survival gadgetry will be useless if the batteries run down.
• Become more energy efficient.  If you don’t need as much, you won’t have to generate as much to sustain your lifestyle.
• Install a backup diesel generator. Be sure to put it outside your home so that you don’t fall victim to carbon monoxide.