October Is Petersen Prepardness Month!

This past Sunday President Williams, our branch president, counseled us on provident living. This is some of the information he shared and my thoughts while listening.

- PRESIDENT WILLIAMS: It has been his experience (this being his third stint as branch President he has lots of it!) that those who pay tithing are rarely in need of assistance.
           MY THOUGHTS: Thank goodness I paid our tithing today!

- PRESIDENT WILLIAMS: Of those who pay a generous fast offering, the need of assistance is almost non-existent. He said, "Not that it has never happened, sometimes even those who are very faithful have their feet swept out from under them, but it is extremely rare that someone who pays an honest tithe and generous fast offering will need church assistance."
           MY THOUGHTS: Tyler and I need to sit down and reevaluate how much we are paying into fast offerings.

- PRESIDENT WILLIAMS: Debt can be a powerful tool or it can enslave you. In the state of Oklahoma it is legal for lending agencies to extend loans at a rate of 400%.
           MY THOUGHTS: 400 PERCENT!! If you borrowed 100 dollars you would be required to pay 400 dollars back. Paying back our student loan is difficult enough and our interest rate is at 6.7%.

- PRESIDENT WILLIAMS: It is impossible to judge which is more important, our spiritual or temporal preparedness.
          MY THOUGHTS: Our soul is made of both our body and spirit. If we are to have a properly prepared soul then we cannot neglect one or the other. One gentleman shared this thought, "A man cannot focus on a lesson being given if his stomach is gnawing on his backbone." At the same time, if we neglect our spiritual well being then we jeopardize our ability to weather the storms of life with the faith, hope, and perspective that the gospel brings. When we are spiritually week we are also more susceptible to the temporal pitfalls of life.

Overall, it was a very good and thought provoking lesson. I left with a renewed determination to examine our family's temporal and spiritual preparedness and I have decided that the Petersen family is making this October our preparedness month. Whether or not we make this a yearly practice is yet to be seen. There are five Mondays in October and I have outlined a topic regarding preparedness to discuss at FHE and then focus on throughout the week. The outline is as follows:

Week of Oct 1 - 72 Hour Kits
Week of Oct 8 - Financial Planning
Week of Oct 15 - Soul Preparedness
Week of Oct 22- Food Storage (Bulk Foods)
Week of Oct 29 - Food Storage (Extras)

We have begun to revamp our 72 hour kits. Pictures, information and ideas are soon to follow!