Photo of me at work, in the mood to be at California Adventure, riding Toy Story Midway Mania.
I have a new calling in my ward, which kinda surprises me. I'm the emergency preparedness coordinator. We have block captains and it's my job to help the ward members, with the help of the block captains, get prepared. Luckily, the stake has a monthly initiative, so all I have to do is get that to the ward members via a ward email.
August's initiative was to get some first aid training, so I found some websites with first aid information and included that in a message to the ward members. I also included a challenge...the first 5 families to text me and let me know they'd learned some first aid would get a dozen cookies from me. The email went out on Saturday morning and by Saturday afternoon, a cute young mom had texted me that they had taught their little boys some basic first aid. She sent photos and it was so cute. It reminded me of the time we taught the kids how to escape from our house in Texas. We practiced for family night one Monday. The kids had to have been 2, 4 and 6. Allie had to open the girls' bedroom window and help Mel out. Our neighbor Sue watched the drill and had suckers to reward the kids when they completed their task. What a great memory.
I took my new momentum and watched some first aid videos, especially about burns and cuts. Those are the most common things in the food labs. I also learned that back blows are the first thing to try when someone is choking, then you go to abdominal thrusts. Good to know. I also gathered all of my information for my important documents and accounts and hid it in one place where that the kids know. They now have access to my account numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, financial advisor info, etc. It feels good.
Earlier this week, I was walking and talking with a former TA, Becky Hinchcliff, and we got on the topic of preparedness. She told me about a story one of her YSA leaders told. He's a recreational pilot. He said that if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear has a whole new meaning when you're flying over Spanish Fork canyon and your engine stops. He knew he was prepared with good training, though, so he was FOCUSED. He remembered that he had an extra fuel tank and switched to that tank for more fuel. That fixed it. If it hadn't taken care of the issue, he knew how to perform an emergency landing. He was prepared. Great story. Becky later asked me for the link to a first aid presentation and quiz. I told her to let me know when she finishes it and I'll venmo her money for a treat since I can't get a dozen cookies to her, as she lives in Moab. We walked and talked for an hour. It was great.
My sister Kristen also told me a story that she heard dad tell. It was about his obedience garden. In the 1970's, the prophet started emphasizing personal self reliance and told us to plant gardens. Dad planted a garden in the best spot he could find in our shaded backyard in Pleasanton. We had 6 walnut trees that shaded almost every inch. Dad tried his best year after year and never got even a zucchini. BUT, dad was confident that if there were ever an emergency, our family would have food somehow because he had always planted a garden. I think that's a cool story. Obey. Do your best. Don't say you can't. Don't come up with excuses. Do your best.
I'm happy that I'm on my way to getting some things back in order. I am going to work on buying more food storage. My cupboards are pretty bare. Time to work on having those shelves full. Luckily mom and dad live 2 miles away and they have a lot of food, so my plan for now is to walk to their place in case of emergency.
