Pamela

As I understand it, there was no death in the world of Adama and Eve or for any other living thing as well. Because of the fall, death was brought about, which introduced mortality and what we know know on earth. Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekial 36:35 explains what the earth will return to at the Second Coming of Christ, which is very comforting to me.

You are so right! Do what you can now and remember that there is a time and season for everything.

I am realizing that my food storage is not just for me and my family - it is for others who are not able to afford their food storage at this time. When others are blessed with the resources to build up their food storage, I believe we have an obligation to share it with others in the church and in the community.

I have been where you have been - with five children to raise. There must be rules in our homes. We are the parents and they are the children. In my opinion, one rule should be 'we go to church together on Sundays'. It seems that if you say 'yes' to most things, then when you do say 'no' it won't be so bad. Just a thought

When my kids were growing up, we had family home evening every Monday night. I could plan on the adversary working his hardest to keep us from having it. When the kids are bickering, when husband is late getting home from work, when dinner doesn't turn out, etc., etc., it is easier to say 'forget it'. However, when I realized that the adversary was doing this, I became more vigilant in having fhe. I wasn't about to have him win. Sometimes it is better in some families to have little snippets of lessons. Maybe you can only handle 5 minutes or maybe only 2. It doesn't have to be this big planned out evening. Ask the Lord what you should do, he knows your struggles.

As we were raising our children, the Family Home Evening Manual was a tremendous help. Not only are there lessons for Monday night Family Home Evening, but it also includes a great section on 'Family Activities'. It includes 'activities and games for family fun and learning, plus activities to teach emergency preparedness; suggestions for improving your family home evenings, and examples and ideas to help you solve problems and develop a strong family.' With so much help given from the Lord, it was easy to create memories with our family - we just had to make sure we weren't so busy as to not take the time.

"We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. "We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve." (The First Presidency) For years we have been counseled to get a year supply of food. For years now, we have been counseled by our leaders to plan more than just food. Included in emergency preparedness is being financially, emotionally, and spiritually prepared. Food storage is wonderful, but if we neglect our responsibilities in serving in the Church and our responsibilities in our own personal and family preparedness regarding scripture study, family home evening, prayer, etc., what have we accomplished. The Lord does not give us these 'preparedness' commandments to torture us. He knows what it will take for us return to Him and our Father in Heaven. It all seems overwhelming at times, but does the Lord ask of us what He does not ask of Himself?

For as long as I can remember, I have been taught to do the genealogy for my family. As a young mother I felt pressure to do 'everything'. When feeling overwhelmed with everything in life that needed to be accomplished and by the pressure I put on myself, I needed to know exactly what the Lord wanted of me. I wanted to be a good wife and mother, fulfill my callings in the church, attend the temple on a regular basis, and I wanted to do my family history which involved researching and gathering information of all my previous ancestors. However, I could not do it all and I needed the Lord to help me. The scripture in Ecclesiastes 3:1 came to my mind in that the Lord was telling me that everything has a time and season and this was not my time to do my family history. After I raised my children, I was impressed to begin my family history and have continued with that these past 5 years and what great blessings I have received from doing so. The Lord does not expect us to do everything all the time. If we truly listen to his guidance after we have prayed with sincerity and humility, the Lord will bless us in those things that need to be now and later.