I called this section Preparedness Blogs - In reality, I have sent out numerous papers depicting preparedness principles. Initially, I just called them a Blurb. Next, I changed the name to Preparedness - Line Upon Line. Finally, I just decided that Preparedness Blurb is a pretty good description of what I was doing. You may see any of these titles but they are all part of our website Preparedness Blogs.
I have written more than 75 in total. Below are the most recent Blurbs since changing the name and sending them out to the entire Carmichael Stake. I reviewed some of my previous "Blurbs" and decided to post many of the older ones on a separate page - I hope you enjoy them and gain some additional insight about preparedness. Simply click on this link - "Older Preparedness Blurbs" - Since creating this page, I have added yet another page called "Pearls of Preparedness"
(How it all started - This is the very first Blurb we sent out in 2020)
The Blub #1 (The Original)
Just prior to our current Pandemic, Janet and I were called and sustained as Ward Preparedness Specialists. We were and still are very excited about this because we have always had a strong understanding of the importance of being prepared for various things life brings our way.
We like to believe we are prepared in many ways but also know we have a lot of areas in our life that need work.
Recently, we spoke with Bishop Steed about how best to serve our brothers and sisters during this crazy time we are going through. He suggested a Blurb. Just something short and to the point on a weekly basis.
This Blurb will include a wide variety of topics.
When it comes to preparedness, Janet is the real inspiration in our family and she will provide that inspiration and I will write them (I actually love to write things)
We hope this will be inspiring as well as fun. If you know us, we love to laugh and have fun. To quote a previous Stake President, Mark Bassett, "If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right". He told me that when I was called by him to serve as a bishop in the Antelope Stake.
We promise that going forward, these will be much shorter and will love to hear thoughts and ideas from you all. Janet will be the editor so if I mess it up it is her fault.
11/2024 - Note - they never did get shorter - there is just way too much to share!
Preparedness Blurb #1 (The current name)
I was asked in my ward calling to provide periodic “Blurbs” regarding preparedness to our ward. The name has changed a couple of times, but after 70+ of these Blurbs written previously for our ward, we settled on a new and simpler name for our message. It is “Preparedness Blurb”. This pretty much says what these messages are. Janet and I have been passionate about preparedness for a long time, so I write the Blurb and she edits/corrects as needed. That said – let’s get into the first of many to come.
Prior to becoming members of our Church, we were in our 20’s and I was serving in the USAF. We lived in Montana and my responsibility was the support of 200 ICBM – You know – end of the world type missiles. It gave us a different perspective as to how fragile day to day life could be. Coupled with that, we were in Great Falls Montana where the temperatures could drop quickly to subzero in a very short time.
We have some friends that I worked with and would go over to their home for dinner and the kids would play in the basement. Down there is where they kept their food storage. Having gone through several years of near poverty with myself and my mom, I thought the idea of being prepared for the unknown was fantastic. Janet agreed, the idea of readiness security made good sense. And so, we were off! It was also interesting to us that this Church they talked about encouraged this sort of thing – imagine that! From there, the rest is history.
Well, the purpose here is not to share personal details but I felt it is important to better understand us.
We look at situations surrounding us today where a few simple steps to prepare for things could have made a world of difference in people’s lives. We currently hear about a significant arctic blast that has swept through much of the country. There was advanced warning of this and yet several people did not think to or take the time to prepare. Many times, the thought is, oh! FEMA/the government will take care of us, or The Church will get us what we need. Do not count on either of these ideas. We must take responsibility to prepare ourselves.
We have heard these warnings for years. In 2013 during a Stake Conference, our then Stake President, Stephen Taylor encouraged us to follow the counsel of our prophets to be prepared. Our Stake President today, President Johnson, encourages the very same thing.
Going forward, we will be discussing several simple ways to become better prepared both temporally and spiritually. Temporal preparedness is great, but we must combine that with our relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. This does not mean we will not have major obstacles, only that we will have done all that we can do, which is what The Lord has asked of us.
Preparedness Blurb #2
Wow did we ever get what we have been praying for? I have lived in California a long time and have only seen this much rain in such a short period, a few times.
So, you may be thinking this Preparedness Blurb is going to be about how we need to be ready for natural disasters. Not this time. It is true that we need to prepare for those things, but this time I want to take things a different direction. Gardening!
Don’t close the email just yet! Spencer W Kimball was the President of the Church when Janet and I were baptized. He adamantly spoke of the importance of growing your own food and we can learn so much through this effort!
Just like growing our testimony we learn about how work combined with hope and faith can yield fruit from our labors.
We learn about delayed gratification and patience - a lesson greatly needed in our microwave world today.
We learn about self-reliance. Once we become more self-reliant, we can then share with others our knowledge and help them to become more self-reliant or even share our excess with others.
Our garden, no matter how large or small will teach us to be responsible and how important it is to personally attend to things. if we don’t, we will not get the desired outcome or have a fruitful harvest. There is nothing quite as sweet as home-grown food. For example, the tomatoes grown at home actually smell and taste like tomatoes!
Yes, it is only January so why even discuss it? Because this is the Preparedness Blurb, and it is time to start to prepare for our gardens.
Like every aspect of preparedness, we need to start with a plan. Plan what, where and how you are going to grow your garden. Discuss it with family, friends, neighbors or any others who are interested. Will you grow in soil or pots and buckets or hydroponically, etc. We do them all and have a lot of fun with it.
Applying these concepts will help us to become more spiritually prepared. There are so many scriptural references to growing and sowing and reaping, it is amazing. As we see a plant grow from a tiny seed, after it has been nurtured and properly cared for, we will see an amazing process. Seeing this can help us understand our own testimonies in a different light. Just like our garden, regardless of the size of our testimony, we need to plant gospel seeds, nurture them through the scriptures, staying on the covenant path and continue to develop our faith so our testimony will grow.
Here are a three of several related links that you may find interesting:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2007-07-14/family-gardens-80532
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/self-reliance?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/inspiration/prepare-your-spiritual-soil?lang=eng
Preparedness Blurb #3
What an exciting time of year! Lots of ads coming out daily about baseball, grilling and gardening to name a few. February is almost over; the days are getting longer and warmer. How can we not become more excited about the time of year? Janet just mentioned how happy our chickens are as they have begun to lay more eggs with the extra light in the day.
Aside from all of that, these are truly exciting times for many other reasons. In the October General Conference, we heard President Nelson talk about our noble youth and the building of so many more temples. What a great time in history this is. Sometimes it is difficult to remain positive, but as we look around, we have so many reasons to rejoice. I cannot imagine what the Saints in Ukraine and Russia must feel at this time.
Regardless of who we are, where we live or our financial status, we must all prepare for our specific needs and requirements. Here are a couple of real situations that have come up recently. Our area had a power outage, something we all should prepare for. We spoke with our neighbor across the street because her husband is in dialysis and must have power to run his machine at home. She indicated that they do have some sort of backup generator if she knows how to connect it. As a result, Janet had a great conversation with her about preparedness. We have a gas stove in our kitchen, ironically, the igniter uses electricity and without that a lighter or match must be used which is what we did. A small thing, but one of those things we tend to take for granted and overlook. Cooking for many people may become a real problem.
Power outages can occur in so many ways. Power lines taken down due to accidents, grid overload, fires and weather. Even sunspots can affect our aging power grids. The question is what things do we need to be prepared for in a power outage? Obviously, medical devices such as the dialysis machine mentioned, oxygen machines, CPAP machines, stoves/ovens, refrigeration, and freezers. Our friends in Auburn recently lost power for a few days and wound up losing a whole freezer full of food. During the fires near Napa last year, my cousin’s family lost their whole inventory of foods for their deli because they were not prepared. They are now.
Power and grid outages are just one of several things, not to be worried about, but prepared for. Worrying does no good. Action and planning do make the difference. Act - don’t wait to be acted upon.
A simple plan to know what to do in situations is critical and not a hard work, it just takes focus and provides peace of mind.
Preparedness Blurb #4
It was about 3 AM one evening when I reached for my phone to dictate some thoughts that later became this edition of The Preparedness Blurb. Later that morning at about 7:00 AM with some additional thoughts. I felt impressed to talk about pressure canning of all things.
Janet and I held class on alternative ways to cook and store food. Pressure canning is a great way to store food for an extended period of time. There are several safety factors that must be observed when doing this. This is not a water bath or steam bath but canning meats and vegetables or meals that have a low PH so they are safe to eat later. One of the absolute truths in pressure canning is to follow an approved recipe and the proper process. Failure to do so can result in serious consequences. A reliable source of information such as one of the University Extensions is a great place to start. Truthful information – this is critical. Unfortunately, in society today, we have to question what is truthful information and what is not, all of the time. This is not so when developing our spiritual preparation. Much like the availability of food preservation information from higher education, we all have higher knowledge available that will provide perfect recipes for our personal growth and well-being in the form of scriptures, prayer and our Prophets.
Once we have the recipe from the best sources available, we must be sure there are no outside influences that make us change our process or recipe. Influences such as “my grandmother’s sister always did it this way” or “I will just make it up as I go”. These are examples of things that can alter our path to achieving successful canning. Not listening to the Spirit, praying or not trying to understand what the scriptures are telling us are just a couple of examples of things that can alter our spiritual path to success. Below are some excellent references to become successful in both areas.
For canning and most types of food preservation, here are 2 excellent choices.
University of Georgia https://nchfp.uga.edu/
UC Davis https://mfp.ucanr.edu/Resources_/
For Spiritual preparedness, here are 2 excellent choices plus one great process.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference?lang=eng
Process – Seek Truth, Make and Keep Covenants & Gather Israel
Preparedness Blurb #5
During this time of chaos and uncertainty in society, we have all had emotions that have run high at some point or another. Emotions may also run high when there is illness, loss of employment or any number of changes in our lives that have a significant impact on us, family members or someone close to us.
It is one thing to "prepare" by storing food and water or learning ways to become self-reliant. It is a whole different thing to prepare ourselves to deal with emotions. We may have to deal with our own emotions or help someone else through a crisis. Either way, preparation for those times can be challenging.
We all have seen people who are called "stoic" or "in-control" when things happen. What makes them different? What have they done to prepare to deal with things in a way so as to be more resilient to emotions?
The single, most obvious way to prepare ourselves is to become Christ centered in our lives and to keep an eternal perspective. This is what keeps us grounded during trying times.
So, how do we become more resilient to emotional setbacks and see things through our spiritual eyes? Far too often when we have these setbacks, we need to look at our core methods of reaching our Heavenly Father and allowing Him to reach us. Prayer is at the top of this list followed closely with maintaining our worthiness to receive His blessings. Prayer and Priesthood blessings can and should give us strength and comfort through the promptings of The Holy Ghost.
Not long ago, members of the First Presidency the Quorum of the 12 Apostles and other General leadership have given instruction as to how to best "Hear Him". It is up to do what we can to
Hear Him”.
Always remember - We are never alone; it just sometimes only feels that way.
Preparedness Blurb #6
Did you ever stop and think about how things are going in life and wonder “how am I doing?”, or “am I on the right track?”, or perhaps, “should I be doing something differently?”
Other questions may be, are there too many distractions going on? Are those distractions preventable or do I just allow myself to get too wrapped up in them?
We all seem to go through these things. Some are preventable by us not allowing the outside influences to take hold of our time. Others are simply things that occur in life.
The question to all of this is “what are we doing about it?”
There are times when I have personally felt that I was not reading my scriptures as I should. Other times I realize that I haven’t looked at my Family History on Family Search often enough. There are plenty of things that we need to do and several that we like to do. We just have to make clear decisions on what the priorities are.
Our preparedness efforts are a great example of one of those things that we think we can too easily push aside. Not true. Our preparedness efforts, both temporal and spiritual, are critical to our well-being both physically and spiritually.
How hard is it to read a chapter in the Scriptures? Easy! How hard is it to pick up a few extra canned goods if we can afford it? Also, easy.
As we prioritize things in our life, we will find joy and satisfaction in our efforts. Dallin H Oaks gave a great talk a while back where he spoke about Good, Better and Best.
This is where our free agency comes into play – we must decide what is best for ourselves and our families and follow that path. That path should ALWAYS lead to the Savior.
Preparedness Blurb #7
We can learn so much from some of the little stories told to us as children or that we may have shared with our children or others. I was reminded recently of the story of The Little Red Hen. This story told us about a dog, a cat, a mouse, and a little red hen. To summarize the story, the dog, cat, and mouse would not help with any work at the house, the little red hen had to do it all. One day while cleaning up outside, the little red hen found some wheat. And just like all the other chores, no one else was willing to help her with it. She then harvested the wheat, took it to the mill and made flour. With the flour, that again no one else would help her with, she baked a cake and suddenly, every one of them wanted to help her eat the cake.
There are understandable circumstances that keep us from making more effort from time to time, but it is important that we do all that we can to help ourselves, especially when it comes to personal and family preparedness.
I am certain some people feel like another children’s story where Chicken Little kept saying “the sky is falling”, “the sky is falling”, when it comes to preparedness. Yes, it is true that we hear a lot of things that “might” happen that don’t. That said, things turn around very quickly in our society to the point where we may think that our personal sky is falling.
A couple of these things might include the looming wheat crises in the Midwest due to drought conditions or perhaps shortages of medications, job loss or concerns about armed conflict in the world. Fear has not now or ever been the intention of this Blurb or of our Stake preparedness zoom/podcast on the first Sunday of each month. (Information is in the calendar in tools). Our next podcast will be on July 2nd at 3:30 PM and only lasts ½ hour so it doesn’t interrupt family dinners, meetings, etc. These are simply efforts to help others become better prepared for unavoidable things that may come along.
Please take a few minutes and discuss within your own families what your next steps to preparedness will be. Don’t be the Cat, the Dog, or the Mouse, be the Little Red Hen. It is time for us all to go to work and learn additional skills and develop our own plans for preparedness. Waiting is not a good option.
Preparedness Blurb #8
We are finally in the hot weather that we have come to expect in our area. The month of June this year was one of the most pleasant I can recall. Having grown up in the Chico area, we knew what “hot days” were. There is no such thing as a Delta breeze in that area.
None the less, we expected and planned for the uncomfortable season. As children we ran through the sprinkler and after would go in to stand near the swamp cooler. The swamp cooler is a big box with filter pads that had water run through them with a huge fan called a “squirrel cage” that would blow the moist air out into the room. We knew people who had central heating and air conditioning but not many where I grew up.
Despite the lack of a good cooling area, we learned to be prepared for the hot weather because we knew it would surely come. We had to make sure the pads were clean and there were no leaks in the system. We also made sure we kept our curtains closed to keep out the sun’s hot rays.
Similarly, today, we know when the hot weather will arrive and try to be prepared. The question is, what else do we expect to come our way that will make us uncomfortable? Are there things we do not expect to happen, but certainly might?
We must be prepared for those temporal events as best we can. We may be able to afford a large contingency of supplies like those with air conditioning had in my childhood, or we may have just enough to find our way through challenges with a “swamp cooler” array of necessities. Either way, we need to be prepared.
But what about those unexpected spiritual challenges that arise? These are the things that can affect us spiritually, physically, and emotionally and leave long-lasting scars on our spirit.
To help us through those times our preparation should include being mindful of and taking note of our blessings. As we are grateful to our Lord for the blessings we have, we can develop a stronger relationship with our Savior. As we make and keep covenants with Him, our spiritual strength grows to help see us through those difficult times.
It doesn’t mean it will make life easy or the problems will go away. Like the swap cooler, it may not be exactly what we prefer as our first choice, but with His strength, we can endure the heat those moments bring.
Preparedness Blurb #9
As I was sitting at home very early in the morning on the first Sunday of this month, I remembered when Janet and I went to this Church for the first time, it too was the first Sunday of that month. It was a day dedicated to fasting and prayer and testimonies being shared by random members of the congregation.
This was extremely different than anything we were accustomed to because we were members of a different faith and had no idea what to expect. A typical Sunday for us was to show up and usher the kids off to some nursery for babysitting while we attended our 45-minute service. Afterward we often went shopping or headed out into the great outdoors since we were in Montana serving in the military.
The key point to all of this is that we were unprepared for the changes in our lifestyle that awaited us when we discovered that we needed to become members of this church. This all occurred over 50 years ago and was so different than we anticipated that we almost never went back. It was noisy with all the kids that were there and adults just standing up and going up front, it seemed chaotic to us. Fortunately, we learned what that particular church service was all about and became prepared for a return visit.
The importance of being properly prepared for changes in life became evident. That evidence remains true to this day and is perhaps even more critical today. Life will take many different turns as we go through our journey. There are guideposts and signs we can follow as we move through that path. It is up to us to read the signs and listen and learn what may lie ahead. We certainly would not jump in our car to take a trip and not have a clue which direction we should travel or what obstacles we may encounter that we must prepare for.
Our first church visit occurred in 1980. We had just experienced the nationwide oil crisis where gas prices surged from just under $1.00/gallon to about $1.25/gallon. Wouldn’t we love to those prices today.! At that time, it was about a 30% increase. It would become difficult to survive financially if we didn’t change some things to overcome this.
Today, we need to make changes in our daily way of thinking, ahead of time, to overcome pending food insecurities, civil unrest, possible power grid failures, out of control inflation and many other things that can occur without much warning. If we properly prepare and have a plan, we can be better educated as we navigate these scenarios.
I will never forget when Janet left the chapel that day very upset and referring to our previous church, she said “you need to take me back to our church”. To us, it was a challenging time far worse than the gas crisis because it affected how we would eventually do everything in our daily lives. Will major changes and obstacles occur in each of our lives? Yes, most certainly, but now is the time to do our best to prepare. When those changes and obstacles come, it is too late.
Preparedness Blurb #10
In 1865 Lewis Carroll wrote “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and the title of Chapter 1 was “Down the Rabbit Hole”. It’s true, rabbits do have holes or burrows they go down, but it is often something I find myself doing far too often. I go to my computer to look something up or check on something specific and the next thing I know – Yeah – I am down a rabbit hole. It is so easy to become distracted with computers and phones and electronic media of all sorts to become completely unplugged from the world and plugged into another “world” or even someone else’s world. Can you say social media browsing?
So, what does this mean to preparedness? We live in a very busy time with a lot of concerns like inflation, family finances, wars and rumors of wars (I think I read that one somewhere) and then there is AI, Artificial Intelligence. All of these and many more things can cause us to lose focus on what is truly important and what is happening to our society all around us.
We cannot afford to continue to procrastinate our preparedness, no matter how busy and crazy life becomes. Preparedness is a way to help overcome some of the worldly concerns by knowing what we will do in different unforeseen situations.
It is easy to procrastinate – How many times have we said that we were going to join a gym and get in shape or lose 20 pounds or do better at reading our scriptures. We may have even said “I need to become better prepared”.
When it comes to preparedness, it is way too easy to go down the rabbit hole, especially when there are so many companies trying to get our business and the number of people on YouTube and other places can be overwhelming.
Keep it simple. Line upon line, here a little, there a little are great methods to follow. If you can do more, do it! If not, don’t put it off, just do what you can.
Like everything else, The Lord does not expect us to be perfect, he just expects us to do our best.
Preparedness Blurb #11
I know this is coming out right on the heels of my previous Blurb, but what tends to happen is this – I get inspired by things I have seen or learned but usually through promptings I receive. I honestly don’t believe I could come up with some of the topics or information found in these Blurbs myself, so I believe the Lord certainly has a hand in them.
This month of September is also National Preparedness Month as part of FEMA’s “Ready Campaign”. I like to call it “Preptember”. Since we have a grandson serving his mission in Wisconsin, I tend to be sensitive to news from Wisconsin. Until he was called to serve in Wisconsin, the only news from there that I cared about was regarding the Green Bay Packers. As I was browsing the National Preparedness Month topic, I found this piece of advice going out to people in Wisconsin to be applicable here in NorCal as well. The following is a quote from the “Ready Wisconsin” website.
“During the month of September, ReadyWisconsin encourages everyone to prepare by:
· Creating or updating your disaster plan. This should include what to do in the event an emergency or disaster forces you to remain at home for several days or you are forced to leave your home. Make sure the plan is practiced.
· Create a disaster kit that includes three days of supplies, such as water and non-perishable food, a first aid kit and flashlights. Remember to think about medical needs and don’t forget to include supplies for your pets.
· Talk to children about what to do at home, school, daycare or when they are not at home. Make sure they know who to contact and identify a safe meeting place.
· Identify disasters that are likely to affect your community and the resources available to respond.
· Review your insurance policy to make sure you have adequate coverage for your home and other property. Remember that most policies do not cover flood damage, which will typically require its own policy.
· Get emergency notifications on your phone. When emergencies strike, public safety officials use timely and reliable systems to alert you. These include Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) that can broadcast from cell towers to any WEA-enabled mobile device in a targeted area. Check with local emergency management on other emergency messaging systems available in your area.”
This just seemed like great basic ideas. On the topic of websites – I have put together a website that is designed to be a resource of information for people. It is not designed to earn income in any way and does not require any login or personal information. This website is a personal website and is NOT a site authorized by the Church and clearly states this. It is simply my way of trying to quickly make more information available to more people. It is constantly being updated and I regularly check out the links provided to make sure they are active – that website is jjprep.org. You will now find these Blurbs posted there as well. I sincerely hope this helps others to become or stay better prepared.
Preparedness Blurb #12
Preparedness is a vital part of our daily and long-term success. It is not simply storing wheat, canned goods, or other material supplies. These are very important segments of preparedness, but preparedness is also a crucial part of our happiness and joy that we experience.
When we live our life preparing for all things, we can feel security and peace in our lives. This does not mean we can control every situation that comes along, but it does help us see our way through challenging times.
I am reminded of the story of the 2 wolves. In simple terms, one wolf represents greed and selfishness while the other wolf represents kindness, caring and love. Basically, one being good, the other evil.
These 2 wolves are in each of our lives. How they impact us depends on one thing. Which one do we feed? If we feed the good wolf, it will become the stronger part of our life. If we feed the evil wolf, it will become more dominant.
Janet raises chickens and has become a “chicken expert”. She is always reading and trying to make sure she knows what is good for the chickens and what can be harmful. For example, apples are good for them and ok to feed them and I unknowingly would have included the seeds, however, apple seeds can be harmful to them, so we leave them out.
Each day possesses things that are good for us, and others that will cause us harm, either physically or spiritually or both. The Church has given us an abundance of “good food” that will enrich our lives and help us to have a strong inner wolf. That food comes in the form of Church and Temple attendance, Family Home Evenings, Come Follow Me, and various talks in General and Stake Conferences, to name a few. These all feed the good wolf.
Society on the other hand is like the apple, some of it may be good for us but some will be devastating for us. There are countless things in society that feed our inner wolf. The challenge becomes understanding which things will be good to “eat”, which things are just ok, and which ones will destroy us. Our Heavenly Father gave us our agency so that we can learn and understand what “food” is best for our own inner wolf. So, the question is, are we prepared to know what food to give our inner wolf, or do we just go ahead and include the apple seeds?
Preparedness Blurb # 13
Wow – Blurb # 13 - “Lucky 13” – ever wonder how the number 13 gained such a terrible reputation? There are numerous philosophies as to how that number gained such negative notoriety. Like most superstitions, there is no specific evidence making that number any different than any other number, yet society tends to avoid anything that may potentially cause us discomfort. Is this also why we avoid becoming better prepared, to avoid the negativity that surrounds the NEED to prepare?
In my website, jjprep.org, I am constantly looking to enhance various pages on specific preparedness information. I began to realize that while there is a great deal of really good information and links to other sites, I believe I had been trying to make it “too comfortable”. There is harsh reality that comes with proper preparation. It’s not like we are preparing for a trip to Disneyland, but rather preparing for very uncomfortable unforeseen events.
One such page on the website is relating to Communications. It is one that I am continuing to enhance. Remember during our pandemic lockdown how difficult it seemed to be able to communicate with each other. We couldn’t see each other in social settings, this thing called “Zoom” became the only link many people had to see people while speaking to them.
More than most, we as a Church need to be strong and proactive in our communications. Conferences at both the General and Stake levels are great communication tools that the Lord uses to provide inspiration and insight to us. Ministering one with another is critical in our efforts to provide help and support for others.
Our personal and family preparation should always include a plan on how we intend to stay connected should events cause disruption in cell phone service or the ability to go about and connect with others. We need to listen to others and understand how this changing world will potentially affect us and our families. Listening is a big part of communication.
Whether we decide to use Family Radio (FRS) walkie talkies for a short distance or Ham radio operations for longer distance communication to talk and listen to others, we should consider our options. At a minimum we should have a radio that receives the NOAA All Hazards radio network. While it is only a receiver, it can help provide timely information for you to make your best decisions. You can learn more about this network on weather.gov -> NOAA Weather Radio
Thanks for listening, now it is time to act.
Preparedness Blurb # 14
October is designated as Cyber Security Awareness Month. It seems like every month is designated to something. I am glad there is an effort to make people more aware about Cyber Security. It is one of those things that affects us all.
Many of us know someone or personally have been a victim of Cyber Security issues, especially identity theft. According to a report co-sponsored by AARP nearly 42 million Americans were victims of identity fraud in 2021, costing consumers $52 billion in total losses. Keep in mind that thieves and their techniques evolve each year.
We hear about data breaches all the time on the news and some of those include giant financial institutions that we would expect to be out in front of things.
Often, personal information is lost through something known as phishing (sounds like one of my favorite things to do but I spell mine---fishing). Phishing is when someone sends emails or phone calls from what looks like a reputable firm, but they are just trying to get you to click on a link or give them bits of personal information. That link can cause problems ranging from personal information being shared with a thief to someone overtaking your entire network. At the end they are looking to steal your money.
Does any of this ever happen to you? If you think not, guess again. I am super cautious about my information but one day, I received what the police said was ransomware. The criminals were trying to get me to send money or gift cards by saying they have compromising pictures of me. Well, I knew that was false, but it was very upsetting, nonetheless. I spoke to law enforcement, and they said this sort of thing happens all of the time.
Here are just a few of the ways we can prepare and be safer in the digital world.
1 – know who is sending you information. One of the best ways is to look at the URL. An example of a URL is https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/ which is for our Church. Sometimes just one letter or number is changed which would send you to the wrong website. Also – know who your email is coming from. I always look to see if it is a legitimate website or not.
2 – Keep your eye on your accounts. Make sure you know what you have and what the transactions should be.
3 – Never share personal information (SSA#, Medical info, etc.) unless you know exactly who you are speaking to and NEVER give out your password.
4 – Become educated - suspect anything that doesn’t look right. Things are not always what they appear to be. I heard recently that salt and sugar look the same, but they are not. Same is true with emails and websites. Study and learn how to protect yourself and your information. As always, personal preparedness and understanding the challenges around us helps bring more comfort and safety.
Preparedness Blurb #15
I know this is a pretty quick turnaround for our next Blurb, but the vast amount of information and concern for Cyber Security has prompted me to do so. That said - I think we are going to call this one “Part 2” of our Cyber Security Awareness Month Blurbs. I received a lot of positive responses to Blurb 14, no doubt because so many of us have either had a personal experience or know someone who has had some identity theft issues. It was even suggested that perhaps since this is “Part 2” I should refer to it as “The Second Factor” which is a clever reference to an important cyber security method.
The Second Factor is in reference to that pain in the neck question or code that has to be entered after your password when logging into a site. The reality is, that Second factor can possibly save you a lot of grief and even a lot of money. It helps tighten down access to your account(s). It does not guarantee cyber safety, but it sure helps. To go one step further, on one of my accounts, I have a physical key that have to plug into my computer USB port to access that site which makes me feel much more comfortable and I strongly recommend using something like that if your website has that capability.
One of the biggest mistakes most of us make is to use the same password on multiple sites. Here is a statement explaining why this is not a good idea. “Reusing the same password for multiple accounts makes you vulnerable to cyberattacks such as credential stuffing. This is when a cybercriminal uses verified login information – commonly found on the dark web after a data leak – then tries those credentials on a variety of other websites in an attempt to gain access.” There are far too many data breaches this year for me to list but those data breaches put everyone at risk in some way.
What to do? Check out how your devices and sites you visit are password protected. A little effort now can save a bundle of time and money later.
One quick illustration of this – A good friend with a prominent position in government recently tried to get a loan to buy an RV to travel with her family. When she applied for the loan, she was informed that she had recently purchased 2 new cars and numerous other items – none of which she knew about. It literally was making her sick, physically, and emotionally. She has now spent countless hours trying to get this cleared up.
There is software available to combat this. It is best for you to decide what works best for you.
It is amazing what our computers and other electronic devices can do for us. They are truly a blessing in so many ways. They are amazing in the right hands. Unfortunately, there are those people who have greed or even mayhem on their mind and want to destroy things that are good.
Be diligent, take the time to know what you are clicking on and always check to be sure you know who or what is on the other end of the message or website.
Preparedness Blurb #16
It was about 6:00 AM and I was getting dressed and thinking, I had better go to Sam’s Club and get the van filled up with gas. Crazy right? I mean the van still had about ½ tank full. This wasn’t one of those ½ full or half empty situations for me. When our gas tanks reach ½, we try to treat it as though they are almost empty. The reason for this is because if there is ever an emergency, sitting in a line of cars at a gas station is the last place we want to be. One small benefit is that it doesn’t feel as painful paying for ½ tank of gas rather than a full tank, especially at these unprecedented high prices.
Preparedness is just that, being prepared for small things and not just the apocalypse. For as long as I can remember, our Church leaders have advised us to have what we commonly refer to as a 72-hour kit. These are very basic necessities that will be a major relief not only in a time of emergency or crisis but just knowing you have it in case it is needed is comforting.
Other simple preparedness ideas include how we act in public settings. Some of our law enforcement friends have always emphasized that we “keep our head on a swivel”. This means that we should always pay attention to what is going on around us. I marvel at watching high school students as they leave the building and walk along the street, heads buried in their phone. I guess part of my marvel is I can’t walk while looking at my phone without getting dizzy or tripping over something. Young people are not alone, however. When I go by a bus stop or anyplace where there is a need to stand around, most everyone is looking at their phone. I wonder what we would do if cell services were down for extended lengths of time!
The idea in this Blurb is to point out some very simple ideas to be better prepared. As with any area we want to improve, we should start by taking care of the basic things. Having fuel, having a go bag or 72-hour kit and even just paying attention to our surroundings are all basic, fundamental ideas that can come to our rescue when things happen. If you ever think “it won’t happen to me”, guess again. We all have situations that arise and sometimes just paying attention can make all the difference.
Much like our gas tanks, we need to check to see how full our “spiritual tank” is as well. Are we preparing ourselves spiritually or just running on fumes? Again, taking care of the basics is how we stay prepared spiritually also. Prayers, scripture study and attending church meetings and callings. Talking to our family members and setting family and individual goals and holding each other accountable is a way to strengthen testimonies and family bonds. Ministering is another simple and basic way to help keep our own spiritual tank full. The Lord was very clear in the simple things He asked. “Come follow me” and “feed my sheep”. As we do these things, the Lord will bless us and sustain us and when He does, we become better prepared.
Preparedness Blurb #17
Thanksgiving is just about here so let’s take the time to express our gratitude by giving thanks to those who have helped us or even just been kind to us this past year. We especially need to offer our gratitude to a loving Heavenly Father who made the greatest sacrifice for us, His beloved son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the essence of Thanksgiving.
Along with our Thanksgiving holiday it means Black Friday ads are already piling up in email boxes everywhere. Remember, just because it is a good deal, doesn’t mean we need to run out and grab it or start clicking the mouse right away. To entice us, retailers put a lot of emphasis on FOMO – Fear of Missing Out! If something is a good deal and it is something needed, great! If not, think twice. Your pocketbook will love you for it.
This time of year also means traditions. Some of the best traditions are those that help other people. Many people have found ways in which they can reach out to help others. One thing our family has tried to do the past several years is turkey shopping! Turkey shopping means, we try to get extra turkeys, along with some extra canned goods or other food items and donate them to Loaves and Fishes. The folks there always appreciate it when we pull up. If you have never been there, it is an awakening. The numbers of people in need seems staggering. If that doesn’t develop a sense of gratitude, I am not sure what will. This is a very modest expense and helps serve a lot of people and just about anyone can do it.
Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, we can continue to show our thanks by helping someone else in any number of small ways. There are dozens of ways to illustrate our gratitude and I am sure most of you have several. As we do this, we are simply fulfilling a request from The Savior Himself. “Feed My Sheep”. Afterall, are we not all beggars when it comes to the gifts we have received from our Savior? Simply said, let’s all try to remember the Thanks in Thanksgiving.
Preparedness Blurb #18
As I am writing this - Today is the 4th Sunday in January! So why is that so significant regarding preparedness? It is because today we held our Preparedness 2024 meeting for January! (don’t worry, we will have another in February)
We had some great people online with us. Everyone in attendance seemed to have a good time and learned a few things. We had a couple from Utah who are YouTube celebrities with a video about water. If you missed it, you are in luck – We will be posting the video on our Carmichael Stake YouTube channel as soon as it is ready to go.
We even had a surprise visit from President Nelson – It was a quote from The Church website (I didn’t say he was there in person), but it felt like he was.
After our meeting, I had conversations with a few of the folks that were on, and the consensus was that there are a lot of people missing the boat. I am not going to doom and gloom you over this and I will not try to force people to take care of themselves but if we continue to be soft on our warnings about becoming better prepared, we are fooling ourselves.
OK – maybe a little “gloom”, but no doom! We know based on prophecy and just watching the news that things are a mess in the world. Wars and rumors of wars? Not rumors, but fact. If we think that these wars and our economy are not going to affect us, we are sadly mistaken. If we are not affected now, perhaps very soon.
Do we really want to be standing in line again for toilet paper? It was not that long ago. It’s time for action. As Elder Bednar said “act, don’t wait to be acted upon”. This does not mean to run out and buy up a bunch of TP - what it does mean is that we have to be consistent and diligent in our efforts to support ourselves and our families during a crisis. I used the metaphor today that building our Preparedness plan and our subsequent efforts should be a little like building a puzzle. Start with the pieces you know and build from there, one piece at a time if need be.
If you are of the handful of people who are well prepared, think about your extended family members and neighbors. Do we really want to just turn our backs on people in need in a crisis? I hope not.
I created a website for anyone to use for references on a variety of Preparedness topics. It is – jjprep.org. Check it out and see if there are answers there that will help you better prepare for the challenges that lie ahead for each of us. When you have looked things over, please email me at jharry33@gmail.com. This is my Preparedness email and helps me sort through things more quickly. Please provide feedback, positive or negative, I love to listen and learn.
OK - I said no doom! This is because we have a Savior in Jesus Christ who has already pulled us from doom. Remember though – He never said it would be easy, just that it would be worth it.
Preparedness Blurb #19
I know I recently sent out a new Preparedness Blurb but…..WOW! That was a crazy storm we recently endured. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to share some experiences. Many of us are probably still cleaning up from the damage to trees and structures and things blown around.
So, what, if anything, did we learn from this experience? Our family had a few things that we found we needed to bolster in spite of our “thinking” we are prepared for most things.
The power outage was a great test of various things we take for granted. We have a natural gas stove and oven, and Janet was making brownies for Sunday dinner when the power went out. Did you know that we still need electricity with some of the newer gas stoves to operate them? It made sense to me that the clock and timer would go off so I knew there would be some effects. I didn’t know that the oven gas would shut off. Maybe the old school ovens are better.
Our lighting was just adequate but some of our home’s areas were very dark. This is something we have already addressed and should be even better next time. (Yes, there WILL be a next time)
I have 3 different grills, charcoal, pellet and gas – in the wind, a charcoal grill seemed inherently dangerous if I could even get the charcoal started properly due to the wind blowing so hard. Our pellet grill needs electricity to operate, and I do have a small backup solar generator to run it but did not want to use that with so much rain falling. Ah Ha – the Weber gas grill to the rescue. Not so fast! Every time I would open the grill to turn the chicken breasts, the strength of the wind would literally blow out the flames of the grill. I never saw that coming! If I had not been personally weathering the stormy conditions outside next to the grill, this could have been a significant problem because the propane continued to flow without the flame. Fortunately, I was able to figure out how best to keep it going and dinner was saved, sort of.
I know there are some who are still concerned about the brownies – who wouldn’t be? Fortunately, they survived until the power was restored and tasted great.
The point of all of this is that we need to continually prepare. We should conduct periodic self- tests to see what and where we need to do better when situations arise.
Our storm was only a fraction of what some our brothers and sisters in the South parts of the state endured, so we need to prayerfully consider them and how best to be better prepared ourselves.
One more thing I feel impressed to share is when I was fighting with the wind and the rain that was beating down upon us, I just kept thing of one of my favorite hymns – Master, The Tempest is Raging. While I do not have the faith necessary to calm the storms, I do have the faith to know that our Savior does.
Preparedness Blurb #20
I know I am not always caught up or even aware of some of the latest trends or “new” words some young people might use, but did you know that Feb 27th was “Pokemon Day”? I’m still not sure I even know who or what Pokemon is even after painfully watching a Pokemon movie with my son! Ironically, it turned out to be one of those cute movies that you can manage to get through, especially with some popcorn, soda, and occasionally nodding off.
When it comes to preparedness, it seems that most people, including members of The Church, are treating preparedness like I feel about a Pokemon movie – they would rather just kick back and nod off.
Many of the health organizations now say it is not if the next pandemic will occur, but when. In our family plans we should prioritize a list of what we feel is the most likely scenario we could face and write them down. This is the start of your plan.
Next - ask “what will we do if this scenario ever happens”. I am not suggesting we spend sleepless nights worrying, but those who are better prepared will always sleep better.
In their book, my friends wrote “Do not allow fear to motivate your actions. Preparing and making steady progress is critically important, but take time to enjoy the present while preparing for the future”.
I know some who read this are trying to figure out how to get started and others who just need to see where they can improve – No worries! If you need some guidance, here is a website that will help. It is jjprep.org – it is full of ideas on how to become better prepared. It contains information from The Church, Red Cross and Ready.gov among several others. We also have our 4th Sunday Zoom meeting from 3:30-4:00. Information about this meeting can be found in the Stake calendar online. Also, each ward should have an Emergency Preparedness specialist. If not, we have a great community of people in our Stake that can help with ideas, plus, you can always email me directly if you need some help.
Most people may be better prepared than they think they are – just perhaps need a plan. Everything in an initial 72 hr. kit (or longer) may already be in your home. Pokemon is a searching game. Rather than looking for Pokemon, let’s look for things we may need in an emergency. Make a list of what you think you will need and what you already have.
That list is the start of your Plan - Above all - Remember, remember - we have our Savior who must be a part of EVERY plan we make. Prayerfully consider His will for you and your family so that you may receive the inspiration necessary to navigate any challenge you may face.
Preparedness Blurb #21
Recently, the clocks moved forward by an hour and hopefully we were able to become acclimated to the new times. It seems that the first day when it gets here an hour early always seems to show us that we are not prepared for it even though we knew it was coming and when! We mutter throughout that first day or two and try to get our internal clocks re-synced with the clock on the wall.
What happens when all of a sudden, we have to acclimate to a serious situation? This is where preparedness takes over (hopefully). In our February (4th Sunday) Zoom podcast we talked about being prepared in a moment’s notice. We even watched a video produced by Channel 3 News about a couple of families in our Stake. One who was prepared and one, not so much. It was fun and enlightening to see this video, but it will not be fun in real life. Even if we feel we are already prepared, we still find ourselves stressed during a crisis. Proper preparation will help alleviate at least some of that stress.
So – how do we do this? Some friends of ours in Utah put their family through some major self-tests. They have been known to shut off the power to their house for an extended period of time or another time they went several weeks without going to the grocery store, just to understand where their weaknesses are.
I am not suggesting this is necessary for everyone to do, but a simple self-evaluation of where your preparedness efforts are, will surely bring either peace or concern. If your result is concern, there are numerous resources and people willing to help guide you.
One such resource mentioned in the previous Preparedness Blurb is the website jjprep.org. In the last Blurb, a reference was made to Pokémon, which is a searching game. This website and the many references contained in it will hopefully cut out a lot of searching for preparedness answers.
For those who have spent a great deal of time in their own preparedness efforts, this will provide an opportunity to both learn and teach. If you have information that is valuable to others, there is a feedback link to provide information that could possibly be included in that website. Another possibility is to teach others directly. Help others understand the reason to be prepared and show them how to go about it so they can be more self-reliant. Remember, we are a community of brothers and sisters whether it is our ward, neighbors, or people we work with.
Time – whether it changes by an hour or several hours does not matter. What matters is how we make use of this time and how we prepare for time as it marches on.
Preparedness Blurb #22
Recently, Janet and I were interviewed by a couple that are widely known on YouTube. That interview went live recently, and it was pretty cool watching it. We knew it would go live someday, but we just happened to find it while looking for some other gardening concept, Church video or other general interest item to learn.
We often find ourselves learning about a lot of different things. I once used it to teach me how to fix my Pop’s dryer, step by step and more recently, how to grow our own sweet potato plants. Amazing! The first time I ever heard of this thing called YouTube was in a special meeting help by our Bishop many years ago in a different Stake. He shared with us that there were several disturbing things regarding some local youth found on YouTube. His were strong words of caution and education. Based upon that, it took years for me to even open YouTube, until I one day learned that many General Conference talks could be found there. Wow, a goldmine of information.
Thinking back to that Bishop’s warnings, he was correct. It is necessary to be very careful what sort of content any of us see or hear on social media. After the Camp Fire which ravaged the small town of Paradise, social media became somewhat of a lifeline for those trying to find loved ones and understand their specific conditions. Social media worked far better than the idea of posting names and phone numbers on a piece of paper somewhere in hopes that someone would see it.
So how could something we know has disturbing and inappropriate content also provide good information and be so helpful? It is because it is a microcosm of the world we live in. Good and evil always battling for space in the hearts and minds of people. This is one reason we must rely upon personal revelation. When it comes to preparedness and being prepared, having The Holy Ghost and revelation from our Father in Heaven is far more important than any physical of temporal preparedness we can achieve. That said, we must be diligent in our efforts to be prepared and to be self-reliant. The Lord, through our prophets, have always been very clear on this message.
During this time of seasonal and spiritual renewal with Spring, Easter, and Conference, it is a great time to plan out our path of self-reliance. Doing this, we can act when needed rather than be acted upon. The Lord will always be there for us. We also need to be there for Him by ensuring we can first take care of our families and personal needs and at the same time reach out to His children, our brothers, and sisters. As we minister and help shoulder their burdens, we will build our “community”. As we build our community, we will find the additional strength we need to endure because there is strength in numbers.
Preparedness Blurb #23
Act, not acted upon. What a marvelous statement that rings true in the hearts and minds of all those who hear The Lord’s voice. In April 2021, David A. Bednar referenced this in a talk titled, “The Spirit of Revelation”. The basis of this idea of acting rather being acted upon, is found in 2 Nephi 2:26 in The Book of Mormon. In that scripture, it mentions The Messiah coming in the fulness of time and how because we have been redeemed from the fall by Him, and that we are free, we can know good from evil or right from wrong and to act for ourselves and not to be acted upon.
So, why would I mention this concept in a Blurb about preparedness? Afterall, isn’t preparedness just about storing up food and water to survive calamities? Hardly! Proper preparedness for the currents and storms that approach us in the future, are a result of knowing what is right and what is not. We are entitled to know what we need to do to protect ourselves and our families through personal revelation.
When my sweetheart and I joined The Church in Montana, we were in the US Air Force. At that time, we had an Elders Quorum president whose last name was Nixon. Yes, he was President Nixon. We all chuckled about that, especially when he would answer the phone and say, “President Nixon!” Oh, but what a terrific man he was. He gathered the saints of our ward together to purchase wheat, rice, beans, and other staples for our food storage. He had a 50-foot trailer show up at his house to deliver it all. It was amazing. We prayed about how much we should spend on our own food storage at that time. I felt that $100 was what we should spend. We certainly weren’t rich, and this seemed adequate. Through inspiration, I felt that we should spend $400 on the upcoming food purchase. 4 times what I thought! At that time, it became clear that our preparation efforts were 4 times more important than either of us thought.
I mention this solely to clarify how important it is to receive personal revelation on behalf of ourselves and those we love. The Lord has declared us free to receive His inspiration. Perhaps now is the time for each of us to use that freedom and seek His inspiration to know how to show our love for others within our sphere of influence. These are the members of our personal community. They may be family, friends, neighbors or anyone we can lift up. The time is now to strengthen our personal community. A good friend of mine often recited the statement, “a rising tide raises all ships”. We can act and be that tide rather than wait for the tides to act upon us.
Preparedness Blurb #24
It’s been a while since sending out the last Preparedness Blurb. Since I always rely on inspiration for these, during this time, I kept asking myself, “am I not feeling the Holy Ghost?” “Why have I not been impressed to send something out?” The answer became clear. It was due to the nature of our Stake Conference. There was so much that everyone could learn and opportunities to feel the Spirit that all our focus should be there. Besides, timing is everything.
The time is right, now, for a couple of ideas to share. First – Memorial Day. This is a time when we should ALL be familiar with its true meaning. Gratitude to those who sacrificed so much for each of us. Hopefully we can extend that gratitude by helping others.
Next - Each week I receive an email from the US Dept. of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, FSIS, identifying different foods considered unsafe and recalled. It is astonishing just how much food is affected. In 2023, over 4 MILLION pounds of food was recalled. We all hear announcements from time to time about various recalls. In our efforts to become more self-reliant, the time is perfect to consider growing some of our own food in the safety of our own home or community garden. There are several ways to go about this. We can’t grow everything we need but there are ways to supplement our food supply with good wholesome home-grown foods. I have a page dedicated to this very idea. My website is constructed solely for individuals to get ideas and learn more about Preparedness. The link to that website is jjprep.org – there is no cost for anyone else and no financial benefit for me, only a hope that others will find ways to become better prepared. There are many others who have shared ideas and I often include those ideas as much as possible.
We are a community of Saints, and we need to remember to do 3 things. Learn, Act and Share. We were taught these principles years ago regarding our missionary efforts. In this case we need to learn all we can about self-reliance, act upon that knowledge then share that knowledge with others.
Start a garden no matter how big or small. Grow something and watch how wonderful it is when you have your own harvest, even if it is just a few tomatoes! Like everything else we do, the rewards can be huge. It just depends upon our own attitudes and how much effort we are willing to put forth.
Preparedness Blurb #25
I attended a ward recently during a fast and testimony meeting. One of the speakers to share his testimony was a young boy who got up and told a story about prayer. I enjoyed listening to the story of hide and seek and subsequent prayer to make sure one of the people playing the game was ok. What impressed me the most is how this young man is being prepared by his parents to know that he can stop what he is doing and ask his Heavenly Father for guidance. Also, the invocation was given by a young woman who gave a very sincere and wonderful prayer to begin Sacrament meeting, our most important meeting each week. It is encouraging to know that our rising generation is being well taught in many families and will assume leadership of the Church in coming years.
Elder Naumann said while he was here “We often underestimate the power and capability of youth and overestimate their experience.” This is why we need to make sure our youth are taught and led so that they can develop the experience they will need to lead this work into the future. It is our collective responsibility to give them opportunities while helping them learn how to gain experience.
Preparedness is not just about what we have stored away. Yes, food, water, shelter, etc. are all very important to help us through difficult times when there are shortages. The Bible reference to Joseph who was sold into Egypt epitomizes the need to store and plan during good times to help get us through lean times.
Spiritual preparedness likewise is important and perhaps much more important. Spiritual preparedness will help get us through those times when no amount of food, water, money or anything Earthly will sustain us. We have a Savior who gave His life for us. He was prepared to do just that.
Now is the time for us to be prepared for all things, both temporal and spiritual.
Preparedness Blurb #26
It’s about 3:15 AM and after giving a lot of thought over the past several days regarding a topic for this Blurb, it came to me. Why it comes to me at 3:15 AM, I don’t know. It just seems to happen this way. I would rather go back to bed.
The thoughts I had were about service. My service to you, my brothers and sisters. When we minister to our brothers and sisters, it is important for us to get to know them. We need to know their needs, their concerns and how best to serve them.
Since I am here to serve you, that is exactly what this Blurb is about. How can I best serve you and members of the entire Carmichael Stake? What are your specific preparedness concerns? What interests do you have regarding preparedness? Is it how to store food while paying so much more at the grocery store these days? Is it how to shop and find the best deals that will help us do more with less? Maybe you think you have everything you could ever need but still ask yourself, do I really? Or maybe it’s just not knowing where to start. These are the types of questions I need your help with so I can better serve you.
Lastly, maybe you’re not concerned and think Preparedness is a bunch of fear mongering rhetoric. I know some people that we are close to seem to want to stick their heads in the sand because thinking about what “could” happen, is just too scary. You bet it’s scary. Every day, people spend millions of dollars to go see some trashy movie at the theater and get “scared”, probably because they know it’s not real. What is real are prophecies regarding our need to be better prepared for anything that comes along.
The last scenario is, I’m just going to my friend’s house because they are well prepared. This will not work. It is called “Self” reliance for a reason.
Back to my service for you. I have created the website jjprep.org and have tried to include information that may prove valuable to anyone using it. There is no cost, I receive nothing for its use. Its sole purpose is to help serve you. I try to update some of the features and information at least twice a week. Please spend a few minutes and let me know what you may find helpful or may find lacking for your specific needs. This is one way I can know how to best serve you. Please feel free to send me an email of areas you are concerned about. It is best to use my jharry33@gmail.com address because I have dedicated it to this specific cause.
The time is now to consider what we need and then act. Since I am a bit of a Star Wars fan, as The Mandalorian says “This is the way”. I am, however, a much bigger fan of our prophets who have all taught us “the way” and that we must be prepared for a future that while uncertain, is definitely exciting.