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Spiritual Goal: Designate one night a week as No-TV, Game/Reading Night-President Gordon B. Hinckley challenged us to create balance in life by attending to four obligations: "one's vocation, one's family, the Church, and to one's self." Speaking of the topic one's self, he advised, "I decry the great waste of time that people put into watching inane television...I believe their lives would be enriched if, instead of sitting on the sofa and watching a game that will be forgotten tomorrow, they would read and think and ponder...You need time to meditate and ponder, to think, to wonder at the great plan of happiness that the Lord has outlined for His children. You need time to read. You need to read the scriptures. You need to read good literature. You need to partake of the great culture, which is available to all of us." Hinckley, Gordon B., Resolve to Keep Balance in Your Lives, address delivered at Logan, Utah, 21 October 1997, Church News, 1 November 1997
Physical Goal: Day hike (or drive if infirm)/picnic weekly this until cold weather hits. "She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms." Proverbs 31:17
Financial Goal: Commit to daily, healthy, family meals. "...save money by attaining the best health of which [you] are capable. Relief Society should provide training to promote physical well-being as the least expensive medical treatment. It doesn’t even cost you the price of aspirin. The illness you avoid costs nothing. Good health habits save money. To promote good health, women need to plan nutritious meals. Most of us could have smaller portions of food and still be healthy, but all of us should eat regular, well-balanced meals each day. Relief Society instruction should be designed to help sisters understand and practice the fundamentals of good nutrition [according to the Word of Wisdom]. We should learn to prepare economical food that will be both nourishing and appealing." Barbara Smith, April 1981
Provident Living Goal: Continue succession planting and canning. Learn to dehydrate excess fruits and veggies. “The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program.” Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, November 2002
Storage Goal: 100 quarts fruits/veggies per person, OR 30 lbs. dehydrated fruits and 40 lbs. vegetables per person, Feminine supplies, camping toilet, School supplies + extras for the home. “For the moment we live in a day of peace and prosperity, but it shall not ever be thus. Great trial lie ahead… and we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually…” Bruce R. McConkie
Emergency Kit Goal: 5 packets instant soup, dehydrated refried beans and instant rice per person in 5 separate quart sized, heavy duty, zip lock bags, 5 salsa packets, 5 plastic spoons (add hot water to the bag and it becomes the serving dish)
Pantry Box Goal: 1 pot and 1 sauce pan, wooden spoon, 1 bowl per person, 1 spoon per person
Increasing Self-Sufficiency: Using open-pollinated, heirloom seeds, the gardener can save seeds from year to year, a a rewarding and cost saving practice. However, hybrids are sterile or do not reproduce true to the parent plant, making hybrid seed saving a poor idea. Saving seeds from diseased plants is also folly. Successful seed saving comes from vigorous, flavorful, disease-free plants. Consider size, harvest time and other characteristics. In areas with short growing seasons, choose seeds from the plant whose fruits are the first to appear. Don't pick any fruit from this plant, but tie a piece of red yarn to its stem and cover with bird netting.
After bean, pea, onion, carrot, lettuce and other greens, corn, and herb seeds mature (pod dries out and gets brown/tan), collect the seed. Sometimes the drying process must be completed by spreading pods on a screen in a single layer in a well-ventilated dry location. Tomatoes, melons, squash, and cucumber seeds are saved by scooping the seeds out of the fruit and putting them in a small amount of warm water in a jar. After sitting for two to four days, the seeds ferment, killing viruses and separating seed from pulp. Viable seeds sink to the bottom of the jar, allowing the pulp and undeveloped seed float to the top. Compost the pulp, water, bad seed and mold. Allow good seed to dry.
Store dried seeds in labeled envelopes in glass jars. After freezing for two days, store in the refrigerator. Although seeds may be stored for up to three years, try to plant a garden with your seeds yearly. Save out a few in case of crop failure.
