In mid 2024 I spoke with one of our Church leaders and told him I was thinking it was time for a name change. I strongly felt that we had to focus on being Ready even more! Knowing that all sorts of things occur in life as well as know that at some point Jesus Christ will return, I felt like "Ready or Not" was an appropriate part of the name and thinking about how Pearls had been mentioned in scriptures it too should be part of the name. I originally thought of Preparedness Pearls as the name. When I spoke with my church leader, he made the suggestion "Pearls of Prepareness" Interestingly, we had never discussed the use of the word pearls previously. I made the decision to go with his suggestion and it ultimately became "Ready or Not - Pearls of Preparedness"
Ready or Not, Pearls of Preparedness #1
A new name for our Preparedness Blurb! – After talking to President Childs, we had discussed perhaps it is time for a new name and direction to the Blurb and other things in store regarding preparedness.
I wrestled with a few different names and could not figure out what it should be. While lying down for a nap I was half awake and half asleep when this new title came to me. It came ringing as I was listening to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ in my earbud. I especially noted the opening line which says, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”. Ready or not, He is coming. Hopefully these Pearls will be of great value to those who have them.
This message, however, is not about how it got its name but a reminder that whether we are ready or not, The Savior will come. I vote for ready.
So, what do we do? The most important piece of readiness gear we can have in our possession is our testimony of Jesus Christ. We must be spiritually prepared. I will never diminish the importance of our temporal preparedness, but it is really a means by which we can advance the Lord’s work here on Earth. Our temporal preparedness should be used to strengthen our spiritual preparedness by learning how we can use our resources to help ourselves, our family and our brothers and sisters who are not prepared for the things which will surely come.
Spiritual prep and temporal prep both require a plan of action. Nothing will change if we do nothing to change things. Our spiritual plan should incorporate following the regular counsel and guidance our latter-day prophets provide, which is always in harmony with the scriptures. In addition, we need to execute this plan by reading and trying to understand how the scriptures are meant for us. Between our latter-day prophet and the scriptures, combined with personal revelation, we can maintain a path of spiritual preparedness.
Temporal preparation requires a thoughtful plan as to what emergencies and situations we should prepare for. Once we list those potential emergencies, such as earthquakes, fires, civil unrest, to name a few, we can make our plans to deal with them. Much like Moroni did as he led his armies, he recognized their weaknesses and areas that needed to improve and then made them strong. The Lord gave Noah the plans for building the ark so we need to make sure we understand what our plans should be for our own ark.
The Lord will be back, whether we are ready or not. So, what stage of your planning are you in and what “pearls” can you help others with?
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness # 2
In Omnia Paratus – I was recently excited to learn this Latin phrase meaning “Ready for Anything”. Wow, I thought – this is a phrase for Preparedness! I went on to learn that it is a phrase commonly used on a TV show called The Gilmore Girls. Not having watched that show, I am happy to say that is not where I learned it. Despite Hollywood, it truly fits our “Ready or Not” emphasis. This particular “Pearl” was inspired by feedback from one of our good Bishops.
How inspired President Nelson is! Our movement away from checking boxes as a Home/Visiting teacher to one who Ministers is truly inspired. Our role as ministering brothers and sisters can and will play a significant role in our preparedness efforts, especially in times of emergencies.
Our relationship with others is at the core of a great sequence of communication events in times of trouble. Not so long ago, many of us participated in an exercise called “The Great Shakeout” which was a trial run to understand what may take place to know about our members during a major earthquake. It was expected that the ministering brothers/sisters would be able to locate and report on those for whom they had responsibility. In many cases it was very successful, in some cases, not so much.
The ability to communicate in times of disaster provides safety and comfort to all those involved. When we hear of things that may affect someone we care about, the first thing we want to do is call and get a report on them. But what if there is no cell service due to disruption for an extended period of time? What then?
There are a good many ways communication can continue to take place. Obviously having an emergency AM/FM radio to hear what may be going on around us is important. Having a two-way radio available and how to use them is also very important- Ham radios are a great method and most people have heard of but requires a class and a test to obtain a license to operate.
For most people having some sort of GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) radios and the understanding how to use them may be the key. They do require a license, but no test and the license is good for the entire family and obtained through the FCC website. They are fairly inexpensive and may prove very serviceable in a disaster and how we implement our personal communication plan. Additional information is also found on the website jjprep.org.
Social media can also play a role in contacting and finding people during a disaster. Many people were located using social media during the Camp Fire a few years back. This does not mean that if you can use Instagram or TicTok, that you are adequately prepared - not even close!
Our most reliable means of communication is talking directly to each other whenever possible. Ready or Not, the time will come when we need to step up our communication skills. Now is the time to figure out our best plans for communication. So - What is your best way to reach out and touch someone and become In Omnia Paratus?
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #3
It is often said that if we want to know what things will be like when our Savior returns, look at how things were the first time he came to us. The Book of Mormon is very illustrative of conditions at that time.
Prior to His return, the Gadianton Robbers were a strong force in government and politics causing murder and mayhem throughout the land. There were cultural shifts taking place wherein the Lamanites who had long disbelieved in the history of their forefathers became the more righteous group compared to the Nephites who allowed greed, immorality and secret combinations to prevail. The world of the Nephites and Lamanites was tumultuous at that time.
Does any of this sound familiar with what seems to be happening today? Throughout history, whether Old Testament times or more recently, as a nation became unrighteous in the desires of the people, government, politics and their nation became more and more corrupt. They forget God, persecution of Christians become more prevalent and civility towards one another seemed to end. Most of these things occur due to selfishness and the grasp for power and greed.
We as a nation seem to be falling into similar traps where we see corruption at every level with civil unrest, fear and doubt creeping in. Nations have fallen in very short times when corruption and moving away from God takes place.
So how do we become better prepared for these things which surround us.
It begins with listening to and following our prophet. He has stated clearly to “Let God Prevail”. It may seem difficult at times when we hear the gentle voices of our prophets, seers and revelators rather than them screaming and yelling to repent and be prepared. We must act with faith. We must develop our personal testimony of Jesus Christ and follow Him.
Can civil unrest become a part of the norm here in the U.S.? It has in the past and no doubt will again as people with differing opinions take to the streets to try to force others to agree with them. I still remember the LA riots in the 60’s. Even if we are not at the center of riots and unrest, we can still be affected when supply chains are interrupted. When the police are busy trying to control those situations law enforcement costs go higher which we all pay for. If an insurance company has to pay a lot for claims, it affects us all, no matter where we are. Remember though, the Lord has told us, if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear!
What are the next steps you need to take in your preparation efforts? One suggestion is to know what scenarios to plan for. Talk to your families. Janet and I met with a lot of children in the Stake Primary and one of their biggest fears all centered around their personal safety. Gather your family and take up the challenge to have a plan – start with a simple plan but make it fit the needs of your own family. Use the links on my website, jjprep.org for some great information and guidelines. Most of those links come from the Church website or Ready.gov. The Nike Corp motto is “Just Do It” – President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Do it Now!”
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #4
It was about 3AM recently when I woke up. It is not like this hasn’t happened before. As I lay there tying to decide if it was simply because my back was a bit stiff or was there something else? I remembered reading that we ofttimes will be awakened because there is some nugget of inspiration that comes to us. In this case, I might call it a Pearl. It was then I realized that these Pearls can be a voice of warning. John the Baptist was a voice of warning prior to the arrival of our Savior. Let it be clear, If John was the Empire State Building, I would be the guy on the street level door tying to figure out how to get in.
D&C 93:36 states “The Glory of God is Intelligence”. Elder David A Bednar said in Oct 2007, “You might think intelligence means being gifted in academic work, but intelligence also means applying the knowledge we obtain for righteous purposes.”
What is the connection between this truth and our preparedness efforts? Each of us has things we have learned through the triumphs and failures in life. These learning events develop skills that can become very useful in our preparedness efforts. Some may have developed the ability to read and understand different life skills, while others have lived through them. I always think about my Pop who couldn’t figure out how to operate his TV and often got things messed up with his remote. I would then get a call to come fix it, He on the other hand had skills from living on a farm where he learned numerous skills that were necessary because there was no one else to solve problems. He also worked in construction where he learned to weld and eventually helped build the Transamerica Building in San Francisco. He couldn’t operate a simple remote but he possessed skills many of us don’t.
Many of the people who lived through the great depression era starting in 1929, by our standards today, might be considered uneducated and unable to survive in our modern society. But what if those roles were suddenly reversed? Could we find our way through difficult economic times like so many of them did? Do we have the basic skills needed to survive? Have we been wise in our own education or even the use of our money, regardless of how much it is? Experience tells us that we can’t even figure out how to get toilet paper in that scenario.
What will happen if all of a sudden, our bank says it cannot allow us to access our money? Is that even possible? According to the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), there were 567 bank failures in the years 2001-2024. Many of those occurred in the 2008 Great Recession when the stock market crashed, and millions of people lost so much of their life savings. Much of this was due to unwise financial decisions. How are we doing with our financial decisions. Are we making sure our assets are protected regardless of how large or small they may be?
The prophets have been very clear on the need to be self-reliant and to stay out of debt. Avoid get rich quick schemes and be careful with our savings. Today, I would also add there is a very strong need to avoid the thousands of scammers that simply want to steal our money through electronic means. In some cases, with us just sending them the money! Cyber warfare is increasing every day, and we are the soldiers in that war whether we like it or not. Cyber criminals will stop at nothing to try to take our money or put us in very precarious situations.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #5
One of the most important things we can do to prepare is to identify various emergencies that may occur in our area. We generally do not have to worry about impactful extreme cold/snowstorms, tsunami or hurricanes as is felt in other parts of our country - but what are some of the things we should prepare for? This is a question each of should be asking ourselves and others within our community.
One emergency that seems to be moving higher up on the list of concerns is civil unrest/civil disobedience. There are numerous government agencies that are preparing for such events. With the tension of the upcoming election process, it seems well established that one side of the political aisle or the other will be unhappy. So, can large groups in our population that are unhappy or mad cause unrest? Absolutely! If you happen to follow sports or even the news, you know that the LA Dodgers won the World Series and caused great jubilation for their fans. During their “jubilation” fans excitement quickly turned ugly by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks at police, burning a bus and looting local stores in the LA area.
So, what will happen when large groups are not happy? Hopefully cool heads will prevail, but it is not the time to stick our heads in the sand. It is a time to be spiritually prepared as well as taking necessary precautions to ensure our families and ourselves are safe and have whatever is needed to endure such a calamity.
There is a reason part of the title of these “Pearls” is Ready or Not. Whether we are ready or not, The Savior will return, and we know from our scriptures that there will be several disruptions throughout the world prior to His return. If we are truly studying our scriptures and want to know what things may be like prior to His return, we need only read and study what things were like prior to His arrival in the Americas. Understanding this will help us know how to become Ready. We know through revelation that times before His second coming will be tumultuous. If we compare what happened then to current affairs, we find that dishonesty, corruption and immorality was widespread. Sound familiar? Much of this was due to pride and people distinguishing themselves by ranks according to their riches. Basically, people turned their backs on the Lord and the gospel. Through all this there was commotion throughout the Earth.
We need only look at the number of wars, the immorality and selfishness prevailing around us to know that we must be ready for whatever may come our way.
The answers are straightforward. As President Nelson has instructed – Let God prevail. Draw close to Him by making and keeping covenants with Him. Draw close to Him by serving one another and protecting our families and others through proper preparedness efforts. As we do all that we can do, The Lord will help carry us the rest of the way, but we must be honest with ourselves and know that we have done all the He has asked. So – Ready or Not we must choose Ready.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #6
In the Book of Ether, we find in chapter 1:
33 Which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.
34 And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favored of the Lord, Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words.
35 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded.
36 Then Jared said unto his brother: Cry again unto the Lord, and it may be that he will turn away his anger from them who are our friends, that he confound not their language.
37 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded.
With everything that was going on at that time, the one thing Jared and his brother seemed most concerned with was Communication between their family members. Communication is so important in our lives that we see everything from how friends are made to having wars begin because of communication or the lack thereof.
No doubt Jared’s family was concerned with the events of the day just as we may be today. While we aren’t necessarily going to have our language confused, we still need to be sure how we can and will communicate with others in the event of an emergency. We often communicate very differently when we are under stress, so it is important that we remain mindful of how we say things to others. I often have to apologize for things I say, not what was said, but how it’s said.
In an emergency, we must think about how we will communicate if we are separated from family or if normal communication channels are not available. Recently, I have begun to look more and more into the use of GMRS radios which stands for General Mobile Radio Service. I recently added more information about these and where to learn more on my website- jjprep.org - which is created solely to help others as a preparedness guide. As always, most importantly, have a plan on how you can and will communicate when normal means are not available. Cell phones, texting, online communications are great but sometimes ineffective. It is always best to be prepared for whatever may come along.
Today may be the ideal day to give thanks for the opportunity to reach out and communicate with someone.
I know - I skipped #7 and went to # 8
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #8
The title of these “pearls” is significant because things in life will happen whether we are ready or not. Each of us has experienced some sort of event in which we did not feel adequately prepared for.
Our good friends, Brother and Sister Kwan were recently called to and are now serving a mission in the small country of Vanuatu. On Tuesday December 17th, Vanuatu experienced a 7.3 earthquake, an event I am certain the Kwans did not feel prepared for after having just recently arrived. I am also certain they understood the need to take care of their own immediate needs and those around them until help arrives. “Ready or Not” takes on a whole new meaning than just the title of these Preparedness Pearls.
On December 18th the following message was posted on the Church website
:
“The Pacific Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made the following statement today following yesterday's 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Vanuatu.
We are deeply concerned for the people of Vanuatu in the wake of the 7.3 magnitude earthquake which struck on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. We are communicating with Church leaders and government officials on the ground to understand the impact of the disaster on our members and friends throughout Vanuatu.
All full-time missionaries in Vanuatu are safe and accounted for.
As we understand needs more clearly in the coming hours, we will mobilize our humanitarian efforts to provide food, water, medicine, temporary shelter, and other supplies as needed. We will work with the Vanuatu Government and other organizations to contribute to the emergency response in an organized and effective manner.
We urge Latter-day Saints throughout the world, and all people, to pray for the people of Vanuatu, seeking God's comfort and blessing to be upon the people.
We pray that our collective response will be swift, coordinated, and exactly what is needed to alleviate suffering and foster resilience and recovery.”
Please take note that while the Church response to these events is quick and decisive, it takes a matter of days to mobilize the Church response to such an event. Therefore, we as Latter Day Saints need to be vigilant in our efforts to be prepared to help ourselves and others until additional help can arrive.
Hopefully we can all take just a little time each week to become better prepared for such things because they do happen, Ready or Not.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #9
What has happened to our food supply in America? Rarely does a day goes by that there isn’t some sort of recall on food. Reasons for recalls are varied. Some contain allergens that may be harmful to some people and are not declared that may result in anaphylaxis if consumed. Others include problems with the presence of foreign substances due to processing systems that may include plastic or even metal shavings. Most of the recalls include some sort of microorganisms that may bring about illness and, in some cases, even death. I went to the grocery store the other day and wanted to buy some cucumbers but there have been so many recalls of this vegetable lately, I opted to hold off. It almost felt like I might be gambling with my family’s health.
Listeria, Salmonella and E. Coli are the most common. No fun when we order lunch with a side of stomach problems. About 1 in 6 Americans get sick from foodborne illness every year, according to the CDC. Of those 48 million people, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die.
Recalls amount to millions of pounds of food being removed each year. In 2023 that number was about 48 million pounds and is expected to exceed that in 2024. We have already seen several recalls in 2025 and we’re just getting started.
Improper cooking techniques and temperatures are also a source of bacteria found in food.
Fortunately, there are solutions to many of these problems. Again, self-reliance heads the list.
Be aggressive about washing fruits and vegetables before putting them away.
Cook meat to achieve the proper temperatures.
Wash hands, cutlery and counters often, to control bacteria.
Follow food recalls from the FDA on their website (more information on jjprep.org)
Growing your own food – this is an excellent way for each of us to ensure we have clean healthy foods. If space is a problem, get some others together and each grow something different and share.
These are all ideas that we can use to be better prepared with the very food our family consumes. Should we just ignore these warning signs and dangers? If the oil light in our car comes on, do we just ignore it or when the gas gage is nearing empty what should we do? These are all simple things to take care of. Try making a practice of getting gas when the gage reads ½ and keep track of when we need to maintain our cars and other things we depend upon.
Using tactics such as making sure our food is safe and taking care of the simple things daily are not only very good preparedness tactics but will wind up saving us money and time in the long run.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #10
It’s interesting how when we study the life of Joseph Smith, we learn of the visits that he had in the beginning from the Angel Moroni and how Moroni repeated several times, the exact same instructions to prepare Joseph for what was about to transpire.
Have you ever heard someone say after General Conference, “nothing new, they said pretty much the same thing as before?” I guess when we look at how The Lord teaches his children it is like us trying to teach our own children. We sometimes repeat several times, as needed, the instructions and counsel we have for them.
We have been counselled to stay out of debt. Read our scriptures, learn what we can of our family history and a variety of other things. This life is a preparatory stage for all of our eternal journeys.
Janet and I have been asked to give a short lesson about preparedness each month in our ward’s Elders Quorum. Our time limit is always about 10 min or less. We had done this class before, but this time was going to be a little different. Normally, we quickly show or tell people different things they can add to their existing preparedness efforts. This time we were asked if there is something the class members could take home and do right away without having to buy anything but can help their preparation efforts. This was a great idea!
We decided to ask each member of the class to take 5 minutes and write down on a piece of paper what they would do in the following scenario:
You have 20 minutes to evacuate your home, what will you take with you?
After those 5 minutes we spent 5 more minutes asking what they wrote down. The answers were varied, and each depended upon that person’s situation. It was a great exercise to help begin to map out a preparedness plan.
This does not mean only preparing for a disaster but also the little things that life brings. We have been counselled time and again to prepare ourselves for whatsoever may come our way.
So – question of the week - How many times must we be asked to become better prepared?
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #11
Recently while driving home from helping a relative with some things, a rock flew up and cracked our windshield. At first there was a short time of fear because the sound was so loud and seemed to come out of nowhere. Next there was recognizing and assessing what needed to be done next. Lastly there was the matter of going to the shop that had all of the tools including those needed for recalibrating some of the sensors on the car and making the whole thing renewed.
Fortunately, we had enough common sense and forethought to carry insurance on our car. The job that would normally be over $900 came in at $100. Painful still, but much less painful.
Preparedness is similar to the situation I just described. Being prepared for unforeseen situations is much like carrying insurance against difficult events. Yes, there is a cost involved, but like insurance, it is far better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
The title of these messages was derived from some thoughtful consideration of what Noah must have gone through. The price he paid was his hard work and the love he had for people who would not heed his warnings. In spite of all that, he continued to share and work in spite of disinterest by so many others until the point that was finally reached – Ready or not – the rains came.
The renewal of a glass windshield is nothing compared to the renewal we can receive from our Savior. He has all of the tools to help us become recalibrated with our covenants. He strengthens us so that when the rocks fly at our spirits, we have the ability to overcome them and avoid spiritual breakage.
Interestingly, a small chip in the glass can and usually does spread to become larger cracks. Similarly, if we do not take care of those things that chip away at us, we too can become weakened.
Pearls of Preparedness #13
Way back in the mid-1900s, when I was just a little boy, one of my favorite things to do was to go out to our little airport with my Grandpa and watch the planes come and go. The airplanes were just small crafts but watching them take flight was amazing to both of us. It was amazing to me because those things seemed big to me, and I could not understand how they stayed in the air. I’m sure they were amazing to my grandfather because he was born in the 1800s and watching the advancement of technology was no doubt incredible. My favorite thing to watch was what we called the whirlybirds – the helicopters. They could go straight up and down and take off and made a cool sound.
The absolute best part for me was that I was spending time with my grandpa, who I loved and admired and always knew he felt the same way about me. While it seems like a whole different world today, we now have jets that take off vertically and go so fast and others that literally cannot be detected by radar. We also have jumbo jets that move a lot of people great distances, oh how have things changed, or have they really?
It is my belief that our environments have changed but what has stayed constant is the need for the love of others. The focus of our preparedness cannot simply be the “stuff” we have set aside. Sure, it is very important, just ask Joseph who was sold into Egypt. Having the food stored at that time not only helped those who were going hungry, but it also allowed Joseph to forgive his brothers and save his family from starvation. Why would he do that after all he went through? Because he loved them, and it was the right thing to do.
Gather Israel, our prophet has proclaimed. Gather is a verb that means action. Do something – Put aside extra for those in your family and community that may need help or show our love and doing something about it is one way we prepare to gather Israel. Sharing the Gospel with our friends because we love them is one way to gather Israel. Another is through our family search to gather those on the other side of the veil.
Recently my sweetheart and I were able to attend the temple and seal together my grandpa and grandma for time and all eternity. It was better than watching a whirlybird! I could not stop smiling through the entire sealing because of the Spirit that was so strong. Even now I smile just thinking about it.
Prepare to get to the temple, share the Gospel or simply do whatever personal revelation tells you to do to become better prepared in this life and life with our Heavenly Family.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness #14
Have you ever listened to a telegrapher punch in a bunch of “clicks” on the telegraph machine? Maybe it was on an old TV show or movie. Those audible clicks were actually an electrical connection being broken and closed to represent a code – Morse Code. The code was named after Samuel Morse who is credited with its invention even those there were others developing something similar before and during that same time. Currently, without fanfare on April 27th we celebrate “Morse Code Day”
The first recoded message sent using the several combinations of dots and dashes representing letters asked the question “What has God wrought?”
Modern day Artificial Intelligence will tell us this means- “a phrase expressing wonder and marvel at something, often referring to a miraculous or extraordinary event. It's a statement of awe and admiration for God's power and creative abilities, particularly in the context of the Bible”. This essentially means that it is through God that such an incredible event can occur.
In 1838 Morse sent a letter to an Illinois senator named Francis O.J. Smith in which he said, “This mode of instantaneous communication must inevitably become an instrument of immense power, to be wielded for good or for evil, as it shall be properly or improperly directed.”
Today we see the same thing Samuel Morse was concerned about. There are marvelous tools that have been created but can be used for both good and evil. The internet comes quickly to mind. There are so many wonderful things online such as Family History, as well as all our scriptures available at the touch of a button. At the same time, some of the most vile and evil things can enter our homes with a similar click or two.
This preparedness pearl is about being prepared to use the great gifts we all have and do great things and at the same time be prepared to ward off the evils that are ever present. Using the gifts we have been given; we can prepare ourselves and others to receive the blessings of the temple. By doing so we become more spiritually prepared ourselves and do as President Nelson has asked “Gather Israel”. This expressed in Morse Code is --. .- - .... . .-. / .. ... .-. .- . .-.. Each letter represented by "dots and dashes"
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness 15
I really like the phrase “ready or not” in the title of these “Blurbs “. It truly reinforces exactly how things are in life – things happen, whether we are ready for them or not. Having grown up in a family that loves baseball (the game itself, not necessarily some of the business aspects of baseball), I tend to look at life’s situations as I would a baseball game. I’ve been making these analogies for as long as I can remember.
For example – in baseball, we have rules, things that can and cannot be done, or at least shouldn’t without penalty just like we do in life. We are a society of laws and expectations.
In baseball, we have coaches who provide guidance and direction to the players, whether it’s pitching instruction, hitting, fielding or even handling personal issues. Similarly, we all have people in our lives that coach us, parents, teachers and church leaders to name a few. At the head of the team, we have a manager who controls the team. His or her word is final. Umpires fit in because they are the ones who enforce the rules, much like our police and judicial system – It’s a very simplistic way to look at things but in a baseball game, just about anything can happen. YouTube is full of some of the crazy things that happen.
“Ready or Not” – would we go out to play the game with our backs turned towards the batter? Of course not, we would not be ready. Why then do we turn our backs on the concept that life brings challenges that we should prepare for? Each of us can think of one or several occurrences which we were not prepared to deal with.
We know that crazy things happen, things we do not expect, but we know they can happen. We need to choose what we should prepare for. For example - Do we carry auto insurance? Of course, but we hope never to use it. When things happen, we are glad we are ready for them. I can’t help but think of 2020 and laugh about toilet paper. We did need it, but it often was unavailable unless we were adequately prepared ahead of time.
There are devastating things that happen each day, but this is not meant to be a message to scare anyone, only a voice reminding us to think and plan ahead. Make your plan. Find out what you and your family’s needs are and figure out those areas where you feel most vulnerable and start to work on them. Check out the website we have created at jjprep.org which is designed solely to bring information about how best to prepare. We have also provided links to other sites that are helpful as well. Regardless of what we do, do not turn your back on the batter because mostly like the ball will eventually come your way.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness 16
Wow! It’s already June 2025. Time seems to go fast sometimes. It really seems to be and perhaps truly is fast when we look at how quickly our children or other people’s children grow up. We look and think “how did that little primary boy who used to be bouncing off the walls become an elder going to the temple and off on a mission?” It almost feels like it happened suddenly.
Preparedness not only means putting aside emergency items for difficult times. Our Preparation efforts go way beyond these things. It also means helping our young people, the ones President Nelson refers to as “the rising generation” become prepared to meet the world head on. I can’t help but think of the movie Finding Nemo where that father clown fish had to deal with all the obstacles his world presented while doing his best to bring his missing son back to safety. When we look at most intersections these days, we see some of the “missing” children from families. In most every case, they appear lost and have no idea they are a child of God and have immense potential.
While serving the first time as a bishop about 25 years ago, our ward had about 220 active people and a large percentage were younger married couples. While giving a talk to our ward, I felt impressed to make the following statement – “Parents, teach your children. If you don’t society will, and you probably won’t like what you get.”
One of the most important lessons to be taught at home is how to love, honor and respect each other. How we raise our children will have a direct impact upon their children and families because they will know no better.
The Savior obviously loved and adored the children; we must do the same.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness 17
July 2, 2025 – This is the halfway date for this year. I can only imagine how much preparation will be made to celebrate 2 days later, on the 4th of July! It is generally a joyful time as we appropriately celebrate our nation’s birth. During that preparation perhaps we should ask ourselves what we have done to become better prepared for future events that may be unseen, unknown or unintended challenges that life brings. We all know that things happen and happen quickly. The year will be half over and what have we done differently?
I am not the half-gone type. I like to think, I have a half year to change my situation! Yeah, it’s the old glass half empty or half full idea, but it is true. How we approach our future should be a time that we look forward to. Yes, there are problems all around us but here we are. We are in the pool, should we sink or swim? I say – swim! Let’s look at what areas of preparedness we need to improve. Do we know? Have we taken a little time to do some self-evaluations? This is a personal question we should each ask ourselves and then write down what we will do about it. It won’t improve unless we do. Don’t try – you may know by now that I love to quote Yoda – Do or do not – there is no try! When we joined the Church, President Kimball was our prophet – I always loved his statement – Do it - NOW!
Our efforts could be purchasing an extra can (or case) of beans or whatever your family uses the next time we go shopping. Maybe it is how we become better prepared spiritually and read our scriptures more often. Perhaps it is family history efforts or some other way to “gather Israel” We each need to decide. If we do something or do nothing, we have still made a decision.
I have been continuously updating our website jjprep.org to bring more information and links to reliable preparedness sources. It is there for anyone to use. Spend a few minutes and look at the information contained on that site. If there are other areas you need help with, please let me know. We visited a ward that has a monthly preparedness meeting after church and discussed the website there and it was great. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts.
I will share some personal insight with you – We have decided to work on a couple of specific things – The first is organization – we are pretty well organized but know that we can improve. The second is canning more food ourselves. We have really enjoyed pressure canning to go with the regular homemade jam that is so easy to do.
So – what will you do? Please make a list or jot down a couple of areas you want to improve to move forward or perhaps get started in your personal family preparedness efforts.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness 18
“Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness” – Each of these preparedness messages is its own “Pearl” – it is the question about our readiness that is the key.
I have been on this Earth for more than a minute or two – about 38,040,480 minutes as of this writing and more by the time it is read. Wow! (There are few of those I wouldn’t mind getting back.) During this time, I cannot remember when I have heard about so many natural and man-made disasters. Maybe we should start believing the scriptures where it talks about the world being in “commotion” in the last days.
“Ready or Not” – let’s begin by asking what should I be ready for? What sort of event can occur that will affect me and my family? The answer is the same and different for each of us. The same because most of the recipients of this message live near each other but different due to our own specific circumstances. Where we live, how we drive, are we near an area that may have a chemical spill from one of the several trucks carrying who knows what close by? Perhaps we live at the bottom of a hill where high waters might prevail. Do we have neighbors who take no regard or respect for others creating some sort of dangerous conditions? Add these to earthquakes and other natural disasters that may happen, and it should give us pause to at least consider some of these things.
One might say, “these disasters won’t occur here”, and they may be correct because we live in a safer area than many other parts of the state. Earthquake faults, large dams and reservoirs and mountain peaks that are still “alive” major disasters have the potential to impact us all.
This is not about Doom or Gloom –it is simply about taking a few minutes each day to consider what will help us when we need help and there is no help readily available.
Is the whole world in commotion as the scriptures imply? Regardless of where we get our news, that seems like a good description of our world today.
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness 19
I have written and distributed over 110 of these messages. Several times when I have met someone in our Stake for the first time, they say to me, “Oh, you’re that Blurb guy” and fortunately the feedback is usually very positive. I also get a few people who email me with their thoughts and sometimes recommendations, which I really appreciate. I have covered so many different topics regarding both physical and spiritual preparedness and even developed a website devoted to preparedness as a useful tool for anyone to use.
It is now time to take this message to a different level. From time to time, I plan to include a meaningful request (call it homework as we prepare for school and seminary to be back). That request will be to put some action into our discussions. Here is the first one.
Personal and family preparedness is one of the things that attracted us to the Church back in 1979 followed by our subsequent baptism in 1980 because we became interested in a faith that teaches us about life today, not just what happened 2000 years ago. In our case, personal and family preparedness became a great missionary gateway tool to introduce us to the Gospel. Our local Home Storage Center has told me several times that a large percentage of people purchasing food there are non-members. With that in mind, I am sure that we are all surrounded today by many non-member friends and neighbors who recognize the importance of becoming better prepared in day-to-day life.
So – this first get up and get going request will have 2 parts. The first part is – pick up an extra can of something your family likes or needs and put it aside as extra. It doesn’t matter if it is a can of beans, a box of cereal, batteries or whatever. The 2nd part is to pray about who you might tell about your preparedness efforts or what the Church says about it. Who you tell (this time) doesn’t matter – if you are nervous about it, tell a family member or you can even tell me! I will be interested to know how some of those conversations go.
It is time to get up and get going with our preparedness efforts – It is amazing how The Spirit will direct you and others as you share ideas with them that are just simple reasons why we do what we do.
To put this into perspective, during a recent High Council handbook training session, we discussed Extreme Preparation and Survivalism. It was a great discussion. The General Handbook is very clear on these matters. At no time should we ever go into debt or become so entrenched in our preparation efforts as to push Gospel principles aside. These “Pearls” are strictly intended to help us remember the need to prepare for things, especially spiritually as we have been taught by Church leadership for years. As we become more spiritually prepared in our daily lives, our temporal preparedness will follow suit. So, let’s get up and get going!
Ready or Not – Pearls of Preparedness 20
In the last get up and get going request “Pearl”, I mentioned it is time to take things to the next level. While the responses I received were scarce, those that responded are moving things in the right direction. There was some discussion about how different individuals could talk to friends or neighbors about preparedness.
If you think people outside of the Church are not interested in personal and family preparedness, you would be incorrect. Evidence is clear by the people who go to our Church run Family Storage Center at our local Bishop’s Storehouse. Each time I have been there I am told that many if not most of the people buying food there are not members of our Church. Also, if you ever watch some of the YouTube videos about preparedness, most are not members. People of all walks of life recognize the need to become better prepared.
While sharing a message about food storage or preparation in general is a distant priority to sharing Gospel messages, it at least gives us a common place to stand with our friends and neighbors.
Time to keep ourselves moving! I am certain that most everyone reading this message has been to a grocery store, ordered from Instacart or Amazon or some other place since the last Pearl was sent out – now it’s pop quiz time! Did you pick up an extra something/anything to enhance your personal preparedness efforts? Or did you take a moment to share ideas of preparation with someone else? If you did, fantastic. If not, we can still do this – there is no time limit, that is, unless the clock runs out and we are faced with a situation that requires us to be self-reliant.
So – here is the 2 part get up and get going request this time around
1. Read the scriptures and use Come Follow Me as a guide. I know personally, it has helped me become much more consistent in my studies,
2. Same as part 1 from the last time - pick up an extra can of something your family likes or needs and put it aside as extra. It doesn’t matter if it is a can of beans, a box of cereal, batteries or whatever. If you didn’t do this one last time – do it twice if you can. If you did it last time, you already know how easy it is and can continue to build your self-reliance efforts.
The great thing about these requests is that they are designed to help each person or family individually to become stronger and better prepared both temporally and spiritually. The more we are individually prepared for things, the stronger it makes our community.
OK – so now is the time to get up and get going!