Helen, my mom.
I worked this weekend on Sat. and was at my mom's of Sunday, so I watched conference at a later time. I am still watching talks from Sunday but have some thoughts that I picked out from Saturday's sessions I would like to post here. I love that we have this opportunity to have messages spoken to us in this forum. I know that sometime I am not as "in to it" as I should be but usually hear something that is said that is just for me! I am going through a hard time right now as I mourn the loss of my mom. She has not passed away but is getting more confused and doing things that are not "my mom". I am saddened, worried and just do not know what to do. I have been praying and wondering where I am headed on this path? Sr. Julie Beck's talk on Sat. was a message that I could take home and I would like to put down some of the thoughts and quotes from her talk.
"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life." How I need personal revelation right now. How do I handle my mom thing? I keep praying for patience but now I realize I need to pray for something else. Heavenly Father keeps giving me opportunities to develop my patience skills and I think that I would like no more of those opportunities right now. (watch what you pray for)
"A good woman knows that she does not have enough energy, time, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do." I try and yet I know that I can not do it all. But we all try and sometimes feel so discouraged at our failures without looking at all that we have done. This is an eye opener, again, as I know this but sometimes fail to remember this. "Revelation can come hour by hour and moment by moment as we do the right things."
I think I might need it minute by minute! "Because personal revelation is a constantly renewable source of strength, it is possible to feel bathed in help even during turbulent times…." I need a long soak!
I am so greatful for this counsel and Sr. Beck's thoughts. What a blessing and opportunity to re think the things we do, the things we can do and our being in "the right place".

Food (planning) for thought

Water Storage: Did you know that your body can only survive a few short days without water before suffering internal damage? The human body is over 70 percent water, making it vital to keep hydrated. All the food storage in the world will do you no good if you have no water to drink!

Also, how many of you plan on adding dehydrated or freeze dried food for your food storage? These items need to be reconstituted so it would be wise to have a method of water filtration on hand in addition to the water you store.

Emergency Kits: I always had an emergency kit in my car at home with a small amount of food and water when the children were small but now I do not have these any longer. My intention was to get them together, again. Each day I forget to git together! With the recent disasters , it is a reminder again to "get it together".

These kits should be portable, preferably stored in a backpack or other easy to carry bag, and should contain necessities your family would need for the first three days of an emergency. It should contain water, food, sanitation, along with first aid and other important survival items. We'll go into detail on everything you should have in your emergency kits in the weeks to come.

Food Storage: After you've stored appropriate amounts of water, and have your emergency kits on hand, it's finally time for you to work on your food storage! Though many of us imagine using our food storage should a natural disaster occur, there are other emergencies that may require us to use our food storage. With the recent economic uncertainties many have experienced, some of us might find ourselves under-employed or even unemployed. Wouldn't it be nice to have some food storage on hand to supplement or even replace that large "grocery" portion of your monthly budget? Making your family as self sufficient as possible is a great priority.

I also challenge you to look at your food storage in a whole new light and from a different perspective than you may be accustomed to. In order to maximize nutrition and reap the greatest value out of your food storage, try out the mantra of "eat what you store, and store what you eat." Don't worry, it isn't as intimidating as you might think.
taken from LDSLivingmagazine

Be Prepared!

1. Anywhere, Anytime-- Disaster can strike our family or our community whether we are rich or poor, where we live, what kind of job we have, or whether it is a good time for us. All we can do is prepare for the worst, and hope for the best.

2. Warn Others-- One of the most beautiful things to see in Haiti, was the outpouring of love and support in response. However, one of the saddest things to watch was the desperate people fighting for food...making it dangerous to deliver supplies (for the people and the relief organizations). All it takes is desperation for people to act less civilized. We must encourage our neighbors to get prepared, even at just a basic level so that they don't panic and start acting irrationally.

3. Chance To Serve-- A crisis bring about an opportunity to help others. But we can only be of service, if we are prepared. Despite our warnings, there will be many that don't get prepared. Due our preparedness, we'll be in a position to serve others.

Soles 4 souls

We collected 1,697 pair !! Needess to say, we exceed all expectations. Thank you all who donated!!! Some earthquake victims in Haiti are going to be very blessed by the shoes coming their way soon.

A special thanks to Ti Chambers who headed up this project, and her husband Eric who was her right arm. Ti was just recently called to be MV 2nd's Humanitarian Specialist, and really started things off on the right foot...(pun possibly intended). They made the collection go smoothly with their willingness to collect from the buildings and volunteer their house as our official shoe hub!

I will be in touch soon about the hygeine kit project which is starting up this week.

Because I Have Been Given Much

I am sitting here today cleaning and getting it all together as I am back from my trip to Haiti/Dominican Republic. I am waiting for my floor to dry so that I may continue to finish cleaning up around here and decided to play some church hymns. One night as I was out in the field among the people of Haiti I heard a hymn being sung in Creole. It was a familiar hymn and it brought me a feeling of peace as I listened to them sing with such sweet voices together.
I played a few hymns and turned to hymn # 219. I played and then read the words and felt so blessed to be able to give and grateful for my blessings and abundance. I asked the question to the others I traveled with as we looked out on the people at the area we were working. Why was I born where I was and not here? We all asked that question many times over the week as we looked around.
Because I have been given much, I too must give.
Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live
I shall divide my gifts with thee
With every brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me
Read this hymn and the visiting teaching message this month, Feb. ( Click on the handout to link to the full message.) Wow, is all I can say. We receive great counsel and we must heed it's message. I know from experience that this is important, this is how we need to structure our lives.
Have faith in the Savior—not just to do better but to be better.
I know It takes great faith to utter those simple word. My goal, my mantra: do not just do better, BE better!

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Soles 4 Soles

We will be collecting gently used shoes for men, women and children at each building until January 31st. All shoes donated must be clean and bound together by either tying them or in a clear zip lock. Since we are striving to keep it neat and orderly, we are asking all specialists to check on and collect the shoes when the bins get full -as to not have any overflow onto the floor.
Get the word out to everyone. The shoes will be delivered on January 31st to the Soles4Souls charity program sponsored by SportChalet. They are making an extra push for donations because of the crisis in Haiti .

Please spread the word to your ward members.

Thanks for your help. Sorry for the sudden notice!
Laurie

P.S. FYI Planning for another project involving assembling hygiene kits for Haiti is in the works...info coming your way soon. :)check out the pic of the hygeine kits to be put together.

Humanitarian Information for Haiti

SALT LAKE CITY 14 January 2010
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is sending a team of doctors and medical supplies to Haiti immediately to help care for those injured by the devastating earthquake. The doctors will set up a temporary medical center in a Church meetinghouse in Port-au-Prince . The meetinghouse is largely undamaged by the quake.

Nate Leishman, manager of the Church’s humanitarian emergency response efforts describes aid being sent.

“We’re finding one of the greatest needs is medical care. Entire hospitals have been destroyed. Medical supplies are scarce. So this temporary medical center will be a tremendous asset,” said Elder Francisco J. Viñas, the area president who oversees the Church in Haiti .
The doctors are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have volunteered their time and skills to assist people in Haiti who are in critical need of medical assistance.
Other urgent needs following the devastating earthquake continue to be water, medical care, shelter and food. The Church is responding to those needs by sending relief supplies in addition to the medical personnel. Some shipments have already arrived, others are in process, and more are being planned.
Two planes, each loaded with 80,000 pounds of supplies donated by the Church, are expected to leave for Haiti on Saturday and Sunday. The supplies on the planes include 15,000 personal filtration bottles, which can each filter and purify 400 gallons of water. Also included in the shipments are food, blankets, hygiene kits, tarps, tents and other necessities. The first flight will leave from Denver on Saturday, 16 January, and the second will leave from Miami that day or the following day. Additionally, hygiene kits and other supplies sent from the Dominican Republic by truck arrived in Haiti on Thursday.
Some of the Church’s meetinghouses in Port-Au-Prince are also being used as temporary shelters for displaced persons.
“Normal daily activity has come to a stop in Haiti . Helping to restore normalcy in the midst of devastation will be our greatest goal. Our focus will be on helping people become self-reliant again.” said Elder Viñas.
The Church continues to monitor the humanitarian situation on an ongoing basis to determine how to best help. Donations for relief efforts can be made at http://give.lds.org/emergencyresponse.