Blame It On The Weatherman... A Lesson About Being Prepared

This week's weather has been wet. Wet and miserable. We're not talking usual United Kingdom wet weather, here. We are talking, really wet and windy, thanks to the tail end of Hurricane Gonzalez. 

Source: BBC Weather, 22nd October 2014

Of course, in the United Kingdom, we are used to it being a bit wet and wild out there, but this has been something new and yesterday, the weather was so bad, I couldn't bring myself to leave the warmth and safety of my home. DISCLAIMER: I'm fending off some sort of flu-like lurgy and the thought of being blown down the street was a little less than appealing. I thank Heavenly Father that I'm not a missionary out tracting in this weather! Let's spend a little moment to pray for them, shall we? Keep safe, elders and sisters!

Source: Telegraph Online, 21st October 2014

My lack of enthusiasm for the weather yesterday has left me with a quandary today: I must leave the house today in order to get in the shopping, otherwise we are going to run out of supplies rapidly. This exact situation is why the Church teaches Members to prepare every  needful thing. Never mind zombie apocalypses, bog-standard poor weather, sickness or even a dud car can mean that you are quickly stranded and supply-less in a short amount of time. Now, I understand, why the Church is so keen to have us prepared. As Benjamin Franklin keenly pointed out: "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail". 

So, what does a new Church member do to 'be prepared'? 

LDS.org has some great advice about Emergency Preparedness as well as a Stake and Ward Emergency Planning Guide. Make sure that you and your loved ones are familiar with both of these.

Church members are counselled to become self-reliant. That means that if anything does go wrong, (and things so often do), there will be minimum stress and anxiety! 

Let's not sit on our laurels any longer, let's make sure that we are prepared! I will be posting updates about things my family is doing to help become more prepared and I hope that these updates will help anyone out there, who (like me) is feeling a little overwhelmed! Let's build our castles to be safe and prepared ones. 

In 2005, President Gordon B Hinckley gave us excellent counsel about being prepared in the Priesthood Session of General Conference October 2005. Let us heed this counsel and begin making preparations for our own families and personal situations.