I have to apologize that is has been so long since I last posted an update. But, you do have to remember that preparedness for me is a daily journey. I only put things on this blog that are either requested of me or that I feel are of value to those reading this blog. Recently I had a pretty unique experience. It has been on my mind for several weeks and I feel impressed to share my thoughts about the experience.
I have a great aunt who passed away when I was a young girl. Growing up, I remember only having the opportunity to spend a hand full of moments with her, but those moments are etched in my memory plainly. I think of them often and they always bring a smile to my face. Aunt Erris was a funny lady. Eccentric, silly, and obsessively in love with Burt Reynolds! LOL Anyhow I have vivid recollections of her bouncing me on her knee and singing a silly song that too this day I still sing to my children on occasion. I remember her big eyes under her large round spectacles and how they would light up excessively whenever I told her a story or recited some thing that I had recently memorized. I LOVED Aunt Erris and felt genuine love from her whenever I was around her. Aunt Erris was not active in the church but had been baptized as a young girl.
Over the years after I grew up and got married I would feel my Aunt Erris prompting me to get her temple work done. This sounds silly and I am so sad about it now but I would get to busy and the feeling would go away for a year or so and then it would come back again. Again, I would think about it and then I would remember that she still had children living. I had been told that it is appropriate to ask immediate family before doing the work, as sad as this sounds, I was too intimidated to ask. Eventually, after I felled to act on the feelings they left me, and left me for several years. Just recently however, the feelings have returned with an intensity that would not go away. The old feelings of the fear of having to ask her children rose in my mind, but this time I got distinct communication from Aunt Erris. In her high pitched, scratchy, voice, I could hear her in my mind so clearly telling me: "Amy, would you quit worrying about my children. I am telling you that I want you to take care of this for me! I want it, that is all the permission you need."
Within the next couple of days I went to my genealogy library and asked for help finding a family member and getting them ready to have their temple work done. (I had never done anything like this before.) They helped me find Aunt Erris and I was surprised to see that her temple work had already been done. I said out loud, but mostly to myself, "That is so weird. She has been bugging me so much." A lady sitting next to me leaned over and said to me, "Did you say that a she has been bugging you?" I briefly told her of my experience. She taught me a valuable piece of information that was given to her several years ago by an avid genealogy lover. When you have a woman bugging you, check on her children. As soon as she said that I recalled that several days ago I had had the distinct thought that I needed to check on her son Doug who had died several years before her. He was mentally retarded and so had never had a wife and family. He had been baptized for himself before his death but had never gone to the temple. So we proceeded to estimate his year of birth and look at him and also one other son that had died only a few years ago. Mike's work had already been done. Doug, however, had never had his work completed! We were able to fill out the information needed and get him Temple Ready. We will be taking his work to the temple soon!
Now you are no doubt asking, so why is she putting this on a preparedness blog? Well, many months ago a friend of mine lost her only son. An incredible giant of a young man. He was active in the church, very successful in a sport which made him nationally known, had a strong testimony and was a great example of strong character and virtue. Since his death I have pondered many times, why? I have asked Heavenly Father and sought answers in prayer. I have been impressed with thoughts that made sense but it wasn't until I went to visit this friend and she sent me home with a book to read that I was confidant of the answer. The book is called The Messenger. It is about a man who spent time in heaven while in an induced coma. I was reading this wonderful book when out of the blue in one paragraph, in one little sentence, he repeated exactly what I had been feeling the answer to my prayer was. I took that as a confirmation of my feelings. The answer to this prayer is the whole reason for this post, and it is this: Heavenly Father is calling some of his strong spirits home because times are coming that in order to make it through them the families of these spirits are going to need their help from the other side.
I feel very strongly that there are some really strong spirits anxiously waiting to help us that may not have their temple work done. I felt that way about Doug. Is it possible that there is something about temple work that has to be done in order for our family to be able to HELP us! I feel that there is! I am writing this post to give you something to think about. Maybe we should do a little digging into our family history and make sure that some of those 'strong spirits' have what they need in order to help us be prepared!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
What food do I put in my 72-Hour Kit?
What food should I put in my 72-hour kit?
I have been pondering that question for quite some time now. I know that our packs can weigh down pretty quickly by the time we load the food and the fuel to cook it with. Not to mention it seems like it doesn't pack the nutrition it needs. After reading and praying and trying to decide what would be required, I began by taking out all the cooking fuel, the MRE's, hard tack candy, (worthless for energy as it picks you up really quickly and almost as quickly drops you flat on your face) and chewing gum. I replaced these things with items that maybe weren't the most entertaining, but certainly more energizing and way more nutritious! Not to mention way, way, or should I say weigh, lighter!
First off was the organic wheat berries and water for sprouting, as I explained in my post about sprouts.
Second I put in some 100% dehydrated fruit leathers. Not the ones that have all the chemicals, sugar, MSG, and high fructose corn syrup-NOT THOSE! I repeat, 100% FRUIT leathers. You can buy them for a very reasonable price at COSTCO. You get a bunch of them for around $10. You can also find them at the health food stores for sale individually. However, you will pay more for them there. The advantages of these fruit leathers are simply this: they are light, take up very little room, they taste good and satisfy the sweet tooth, and they are real energy. They have not been heated to a high degree so they will still have some live enzymes in them that will help carry your body through what will be, if your using your 72-hour kit, stressful times.
The last food item that I put in my kits are little tiny things called Chia seeds that I bought from my food co-op. No, I didn't put them in there thinking it would be a fun activity for the kids to try and grow a Chia Head! I put them in there because of the amazing things I've read about them. Click here to read this article. It is a great, short explanation of the history and the benefits of Chia Seed. It is also recorded that the Indians running from the Colorado River to California to trade commodities would bring only Chia seeds for their nourishment. Knowing this story it was interesting to me to find out that Chia seeds are a muscle and tissue builder and an energizer, which improves endurance.
They have extensive hydration properties. They can absorb up to 12 times their weight, improving and prolonging hydration in anyone who eats them. The nutrition does not stop there. They have fifteen times more magnesium than broccoli, six times more calcium than milk (and it is good calcium that your body can assimilate), three times more iron that spinach!! It has been proven to be the richest whole food source of Omega 3's and fiber FOUND ON THE EARTH!
I was very intrigued to find out about some of the healing properties it has and so I consider it part of my 72-hour first aid kit also. But that, and the other items I consider vital for a 72-hour first aid kit are another post!
I have been pondering that question for quite some time now. I know that our packs can weigh down pretty quickly by the time we load the food and the fuel to cook it with. Not to mention it seems like it doesn't pack the nutrition it needs. After reading and praying and trying to decide what would be required, I began by taking out all the cooking fuel, the MRE's, hard tack candy, (worthless for energy as it picks you up really quickly and almost as quickly drops you flat on your face) and chewing gum. I replaced these things with items that maybe weren't the most entertaining, but certainly more energizing and way more nutritious! Not to mention way, way, or should I say weigh, lighter!
First off was the organic wheat berries and water for sprouting, as I explained in my post about sprouts.
Second I put in some 100% dehydrated fruit leathers. Not the ones that have all the chemicals, sugar, MSG, and high fructose corn syrup-NOT THOSE! I repeat, 100% FRUIT leathers. You can buy them for a very reasonable price at COSTCO. You get a bunch of them for around $10. You can also find them at the health food stores for sale individually. However, you will pay more for them there. The advantages of these fruit leathers are simply this: they are light, take up very little room, they taste good and satisfy the sweet tooth, and they are real energy. They have not been heated to a high degree so they will still have some live enzymes in them that will help carry your body through what will be, if your using your 72-hour kit, stressful times.
The last food item that I put in my kits are little tiny things called Chia seeds that I bought from my food co-op. No, I didn't put them in there thinking it would be a fun activity for the kids to try and grow a Chia Head! I put them in there because of the amazing things I've read about them. Click here to read this article. It is a great, short explanation of the history and the benefits of Chia Seed. It is also recorded that the Indians running from the Colorado River to California to trade commodities would bring only Chia seeds for their nourishment. Knowing this story it was interesting to me to find out that Chia seeds are a muscle and tissue builder and an energizer, which improves endurance.
They have extensive hydration properties. They can absorb up to 12 times their weight, improving and prolonging hydration in anyone who eats them. The nutrition does not stop there. They have fifteen times more magnesium than broccoli, six times more calcium than milk (and it is good calcium that your body can assimilate), three times more iron that spinach!! It has been proven to be the richest whole food source of Omega 3's and fiber FOUND ON THE EARTH!
I was very intrigued to find out about some of the healing properties it has and so I consider it part of my 72-hour first aid kit also. But that, and the other items I consider vital for a 72-hour first aid kit are another post!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sprouts! Sprouts! Sprouts!
Recently our family has learned to love sprouts. My two year old will stand at the fridge and beg for "sprouts, sprouts, sprouts" until someone gets them out of the fridge and gives him some. He eats them by the handfuls. We all do. Some of our favorites are Lentil sprouts. This is good, because they are also some of the easiest to sprout! There has been so much research on the nutritional and health benefits of sprouting that you could spend hours upon hours reading about it on the web. Sprouts are the most nutritious food you can find. They are packed full of enzymes.
Enzymes?
We hear a lot about these little guys but what are they really? And why do we need them? Enzymes play a big part in the digestion of food, assist in the elimination of Carbon Dioxide in the lungs, attack wastes and build up of excessive food, and neutralize poisons that may enter our body. All of this keeps the immune system strong and prepared for any invasion that may occur. Also enzymes are most important to our cells, they bring the energy needed to our cells. If not for enzymes no cellular activity could occur. Heavenly Father knew we needed enzymes for survival. He gave each of us a reserve of them when we were born. These enzymes are called endogenous enzymes. They are stored in our stomach, gall bladder, and bones. But.....they are only a reserve. We can, and most of us have, depleted our bodies of this reserve. The reason why is because most of us do not eat enough of the things that contain enzymes: fresh, raw fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts, and seeds. (These should make up about 50% of our diet in order to keep our enzyme reserve full.) Every time we eat something that does not contain it's own enzymes our mind sends a signal that tells our digestive system that, in order to digest this meal, it is going to need to use some enzyme reserves because there is not enough enzymes present to assist in the digestion.
I have one suggestion to make that can help in the preservation of our enzyme reserve. Start each meal with a large fresh salad full of dark leafy greens, any salad veggies, sprouts (our favorite), and most importantly a healthy dressing! This will at least give your body some exogenous enzymes (enzymes stored in fresh, raw, fruits and veggies) with which to use to digest your meal, at least saving on it's own enzymes to be used for other important functions previously mentioned.
Why Sprout?
Once a grain, seed, or nut is soaked and begins to sprout it is no longer a grain. It changes to a vegetable! Sprouts are the most nutritious of fresh foods. So logically they are packed FULL of enzymes. Sprouts are predigested which means that the starches and the proteins are already broken down into amino acids which are easily absorbed resulting in quick, long-lasting energy. This is helpful and is backed by a long history of proof. It is said that the Roman Soldiers knew and took advantage of sprouting. They would soak grains in one leather pouch hanging at their side and sprout the grains in the other. They would snack on the sprouted grains all day as they marched and marched and marched, never stopping to eat a meal. Yet they were known for their strength and fierce fighting. Did you know that you can live a very long time on 1/2 cup of sprouted organic wheat a day? It's true.
How do you sprout?
Well, as with anything, there are the simple instructions and then there are many variables in the process. However, sprouting is really quite simple. I am still learning and I am not an expert but I will share with you my knowledge or trial and error. I will refer to the seed, nut, grain, or legume, as a seed just to simplify my instructions. Sprouting basically consists of three parts. First, soaking. You will soak your seeds overnight any where from 6-12 hours depending on the type. Second, you will drain your seeds and rinse them, making sure they are drained well, no sitting water. Third, you will let them sit for several days being sure to rinse and drain well each morning and evening until they are grown to the desired length. The general rule of thumb is that the seed contains the most nutrients when the tail of the sprout is no longer than the seed itself. However, they are very nutritious for you at any stage.
The amount of days that they have to spend sprouting varies. Lentils are easy and are done in about 24 hours or sometimes less. Bean sprouts take a lot longer around 5 days. Just remember to keep rinsing and draining WELL each morning and night until they are to the point you want them to be at.
Lentils we eat just as you start to see the tail budding, YUMMY!
Bean sprouts we like to wait until they are about two inches long because we like to put these on our Chinese stir-frys.
Our salad and sandwich mixes we let get quite long because we like the long texture on our salads and sandwiches.
This is a picture of our Broccoli sprouts.
I don't have any wheat sprouts going right now to show you a picture, but these we eat about the time that the tail gets the size of the grain.
Please, please learn to sprout! It is very easy, inexpensive, and it is a great preparedness trick. In fact I got out our 72 hour kits and revamped them a little the other day. I put in a pint jar filled with filtered water wrapped in a hand towel, a piece of cheesecloth (for draining and sprouting), and a sandwich bag with organic wheat and simple instructions for sprouting written on the sandwich bag. There you have it, your 72 hours worth of food! Actually I put enough wheat in the sandwich bag to last much longer than that but you would have to locate more water. Because we have a water filter I was planning on this not being a problem for us. Now of course I have other tricks up my sleeve for 72 hour kit food, but that is another post!
Some tips:
*I have various types of sprouting trays and I have found that I like my plain old quart canning jars with sprouting lids best. They seem to be the most successful for me. I talked to the ladies at Gingers Cafe (a raw foods restaurant in Springville) and they said that they use glass jars with the most success as well. These are also the cheapest! YEA!!!
*I have found that when it comes to storing your sprouts they last longest in these glass jars as well. I have tried sandwich bags, with no success and tupperware with almost no success. LOL They just don't last as long. I think it is because there is no air circulation. You will want to put a regular lid on your glass jar, punch holes in it for air to circulate, and your sprouts will last upwards to a week and a half without wilting or spoiling (going slimy)!
*I am finding that as a general rule of thumb you sprout bigger items like lentils, mung beans, and wheat, overnight for around 10-12 hours and smaller seeds like alfalfa, radish, and salad type sprouts for the lesser time of 6-8 hours. Broccoli is in the middle and needs to soak for around 8-10 hours.
*As you read you will find some people saying sprouts need to be in a dark place and some will say they need light. Some will also say they need dark until they start to leaf (if you are doing longer sprouts) and then they need light. I have found that they do better if I don't worry about this and just keep them on my counter out of direct sunlight so they don't get too hot.
*I have found that a good rule of thumb for the amounts you should put in a jar are this: For bigger seeds use about 1/3 cup per quart jar. For smaller seeds use 2 tablespoons per quart jar. You need to fill the jar 3/4 to all the way filled with water. Some people say you should use warm, purified/filtered water. I always use filtered water because I have a filter but I have never warmed it. It comes out of the tap a bit cold and I use it because I'm all about easy and it seems to work. You are welcome to experiment with WARM water do not use hot! Let me know if it seems to be worth your time!
*If you see white cotton like, stuff that reminds you of mold growing on your sprouts, don't freak out! LOL I only say this because I did. In fact I threw a few batches of sprouts away before I finally set down and read to find out what I was doing wrong. I learned that this happens with some seeds just as they are beginning to sprout. Give them a day or so and you will see the "cotton" disappear.
I hope you all have a Happy New Year!
Friday, December 19, 2008
What now? (Part 3)
During the lecture we attended, Roger literally spent hours discussing Socialism. Something he said hit home to me because I have had the same thing said to me on more than one occasion. I want to share it. He was talking to his daughter and he found out that she was going to vote for Obama. He said he was so stunned he was speechless for a few moments. He got his composure and asked her why. She told him she was voting for Obama because he was going to pay for her car, or her house, something like that, and that he was going to make it so that everyone had health care. He explained to us that these were all socialistic plans, that they weren’t good things. He said to her it’s Socialism. Her reply was so what if it is socialism what’s so wrong about that? Ummm, Houston we have a PROBLEM, a serious one!
I feel like people are buying into Obama’s campaign of “Hope” because they are misinformed. They see him as being so compassionate and caring. His whole web site is about providing something to the poor for nothing and implementing this government program and that welfare benefit. He also has a lot of information in there about benefitting the minority groups. All of this sounds so..... Heavenly. No poor, no minorities, everyone healthy and cared for. Sounds a lot like Zion right? That is what I have heard people jokingly say but the sad thing is I think most of the people in the United States believe it. Don’t believe it, it’s just another ploy that Satan uses to lull us away from the truth. People fail to see Obama for what he is. He is a socialist. Socialists seek power. Marx, Stahlin, Mao, and Hitler were great examples in history of Socialist leaders. We could learn much from studying the outcome of their leadership.
I was able to find an AMAZING article in the Jan. 1979 Ensign titled “To Prepare a People.” This article talks quite in depth about the law of consecration. As I mentioned before you can see some similarities in the law of consecration and the “claims”, if you will, of socialism: no poor, no sick, no illiterate. The Ensign article goes into detail about five principles that the Lord’s United Order is based upon. Among these is the fact that the individual who enters into this United Order does so voluntarily. The church will then give them back what is needed for their family; their needs and their just wants. This is determined by the bishop and the individual. The rest is then put in a storehouse to be divided among those who are in need. In this way there is no poor among us. However, there are distinct differences between the Lord’s United Order and Obama’s Socialistic plan (or ultimately The United World Order). I only single Obama out because he is our President Elect and his plans will be the one’s we need to be aware of. I don’t mean to sound like I think everyone one else is innocent of this socialistic nature, in fact quite the contrary. I feel like we have ALL been being taught socialistic tendencies for a VERY LONG time now without our even realizing it!
The Ensign article goes on to say and I quote: “The Lord’s economic system differs in significant ways from other methods of relieving poverty. These other methods include philanthropy-an outright gift to the poor by an agency or benefactor; government-sponsored programs-attempts to redistribute the wealth among citizens by taxing the more affluent to provide for the less affluent; and communalism-the pooling of private property and money to community ownership so that each member holds equal ownership in community goods.”
Brother Nelson then goes on to explain the differences by stressing that the Lord’s United Order is wholly voluntary. It is not a supplemental assistance program it IS the economic system. Each person owns there own property, it is not owned by the whole community, but by an individual who has the title. And, to quote the last two differences: “5. The united order is not socialism. The “equality” spoken of in the united order is based on (1) family size, (2) family circumstances, (3) family wants (these are to be “just”), and (4) family needs. As Pres. J. Reuben Clark observed, “Obviously, this is not a case of ‘dead level’ equality.” 6. The united order will only be implemented by revelation to the prophet of the Church, not by legislation or some political program.” (My emphasis added!)
My conclusion is this, yes obviously there are similarities between the Lord’s law and the New World Order being cunningly pushed today, Satan knows what he is doing. But the Lord has given us ways in which we can know His kingdom. We have an article in the Ensign teaching us how we can know the difference. I encourage you to click on this link and go read the article. It lists many scriptures and other references for you to read and learn more. I also encourage you to read The Red Scarf Girl if you want to learn more about the evils of Socialism. It is an easy read but it is great for creating awareness. It is written by a woman, who was raised in Communist China when Mao was ruler.
What does this have to do with preparedness you ask? Well I am of the opinion that our Constitution was given to our founding fathers from God, our Heavenly Father. If we needed to have the freedoms it grants us, not just to restore the gospel, but also to preach and teach it, we are going to need to continue to have those freedoms to continue to live it and preach it and teach it. Are we and our children prepared to defend it? Do we have the knowledge and the testimony, of the Constitution that we need to have? Do we have the faith and the courage that those who wrote our Constitution had? Are we as the Nephites in the Book of Mormon who loved their freedom so much that they would lay down their lives to protect it and their families? If not then we aren’t yet prepared!
I feel like people are buying into Obama’s campaign of “Hope” because they are misinformed. They see him as being so compassionate and caring. His whole web site is about providing something to the poor for nothing and implementing this government program and that welfare benefit. He also has a lot of information in there about benefitting the minority groups. All of this sounds so..... Heavenly. No poor, no minorities, everyone healthy and cared for. Sounds a lot like Zion right? That is what I have heard people jokingly say but the sad thing is I think most of the people in the United States believe it. Don’t believe it, it’s just another ploy that Satan uses to lull us away from the truth. People fail to see Obama for what he is. He is a socialist. Socialists seek power. Marx, Stahlin, Mao, and Hitler were great examples in history of Socialist leaders. We could learn much from studying the outcome of their leadership.
I was able to find an AMAZING article in the Jan. 1979 Ensign titled “To Prepare a People.” This article talks quite in depth about the law of consecration. As I mentioned before you can see some similarities in the law of consecration and the “claims”, if you will, of socialism: no poor, no sick, no illiterate. The Ensign article goes into detail about five principles that the Lord’s United Order is based upon. Among these is the fact that the individual who enters into this United Order does so voluntarily. The church will then give them back what is needed for their family; their needs and their just wants. This is determined by the bishop and the individual. The rest is then put in a storehouse to be divided among those who are in need. In this way there is no poor among us. However, there are distinct differences between the Lord’s United Order and Obama’s Socialistic plan (or ultimately The United World Order). I only single Obama out because he is our President Elect and his plans will be the one’s we need to be aware of. I don’t mean to sound like I think everyone one else is innocent of this socialistic nature, in fact quite the contrary. I feel like we have ALL been being taught socialistic tendencies for a VERY LONG time now without our even realizing it!
The Ensign article goes on to say and I quote: “The Lord’s economic system differs in significant ways from other methods of relieving poverty. These other methods include philanthropy-an outright gift to the poor by an agency or benefactor; government-sponsored programs-attempts to redistribute the wealth among citizens by taxing the more affluent to provide for the less affluent; and communalism-the pooling of private property and money to community ownership so that each member holds equal ownership in community goods.”
Brother Nelson then goes on to explain the differences by stressing that the Lord’s United Order is wholly voluntary. It is not a supplemental assistance program it IS the economic system. Each person owns there own property, it is not owned by the whole community, but by an individual who has the title. And, to quote the last two differences: “5. The united order is not socialism. The “equality” spoken of in the united order is based on (1) family size, (2) family circumstances, (3) family wants (these are to be “just”), and (4) family needs. As Pres. J. Reuben Clark observed, “Obviously, this is not a case of ‘dead level’ equality.” 6. The united order will only be implemented by revelation to the prophet of the Church, not by legislation or some political program.” (My emphasis added!)
My conclusion is this, yes obviously there are similarities between the Lord’s law and the New World Order being cunningly pushed today, Satan knows what he is doing. But the Lord has given us ways in which we can know His kingdom. We have an article in the Ensign teaching us how we can know the difference. I encourage you to click on this link and go read the article. It lists many scriptures and other references for you to read and learn more. I also encourage you to read The Red Scarf Girl if you want to learn more about the evils of Socialism. It is an easy read but it is great for creating awareness. It is written by a woman, who was raised in Communist China when Mao was ruler.
What does this have to do with preparedness you ask? Well I am of the opinion that our Constitution was given to our founding fathers from God, our Heavenly Father. If we needed to have the freedoms it grants us, not just to restore the gospel, but also to preach and teach it, we are going to need to continue to have those freedoms to continue to live it and preach it and teach it. Are we and our children prepared to defend it? Do we have the knowledge and the testimony, of the Constitution that we need to have? Do we have the faith and the courage that those who wrote our Constitution had? Are we as the Nephites in the Book of Mormon who loved their freedom so much that they would lay down their lives to protect it and their families? If not then we aren’t yet prepared!
Friday, December 12, 2008
What rung are we really on? (Part 2)
As mentioned in my last post I’m going to give you the names of the types of governments that each of these previously explained rungs represent and then a bit of history.
Rung 1- As I mentioned is likened to Zion
Rung 2- Is a Republic
Rung 3- Is a Democracy
Rung 4- The very beginnings of Socialism
Rung 5- Deep in the trenches of Socialism
Rung 6- Tyranny begins
Rung 7- Elite Tyranny or Feudalism
Rung 8- Absolute Tyranny or Fascism You’ve also heard it called Stalinism or Marxism (hero worship)
According to my survey you who voted for rungs 5 or 6 are right on with what Roger had found was the general consensus of the people who had attended his lectures up to the one Karl and I attended.
Rung 5 states that more and more land becomes federally owned with more and more regulations placed upon it. In the Constitution, Provision 105, from Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 17 it says that Congress has complete jurisdiction over land it purchases in the state upon consent of the state legislature, but that these lands must be used for the: “erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings”
Quoting Cleon Skousen from his amazing book called The Making of America, “At the present time, vast areas within the boundaries of these states are permanently designated as part of the federal domain for national forests, national parks, national monuments, coal and oil reserves, lands leased for profit to ranchers or farmers, and huge tracts of land with valuable resources completely locked up as “wilderness areas.” It is interesting to me that the Constitution does not specify this type of purpose as being a reason for the federal government to own land. Also very interesting is the fact that this bending of the Constitution started with the admittance of Ohio into the union clear back in 1803 and got worse when the western states were acquired from Mexico. Just for your information 66% of Utah is owned by the federal government! 87% of Nevada wow! In 1959 Alaska was only allowed to occupy 4% of their state! At the time the Making of America was published the federal government owned 35% of our land, land they shouldn’t even be allowed to own because they aren’t using it for the specified reasons.
It does not end there, we have heard of legislation proposed to “protect” our National Forests. This legislation limits the number of visitors, adds all kinds of restrictions, and even closes off certain areas. This type of legislation is becoming more and more common place. Isn’t it interesting how something we don’t even think twice about can be so blatantly against the Constitution. More to the point, that it can be something that leads us away from a Republic or a Democracy and into Socialism.
Level five also states that the federal government controls more and more businesses and agencies. A brief look at our country and this is easily seen. Just look at the BIG push for a Federal Health Care System and haven’t we heard from our new President Elect much about his Federal Education System. In the last several months we have witnessed our government taking ownership of a large part of our monetary system in the “Bail Out” plan and to make matters worse they had us as citizens (at least a lot of us) begging for it! They are on the verge of giving the auto industry “loans”, when the auto dealers fail then who owns that industry? Hmmmm, I don’t know about you, but I find this very Alarming!
There can be little doubt in the certainty that we have already ran headlong into Socialism, like it or not. It has been pretty obvious for years now. Roger explains that an observation of history shows us that nations move down this ladder all the time, but seldom move up. When they do move up it is not without a bloody revolution. We can see this in the founding of our own country but he pointed out several other examples. In the interest of time I will not go into details about these, but you can examine this in much of the Bible and Book of Mormon.
I want to relate one more bit of history that Roger taught us before I close this post. My story begins in Germany in 1920 where they had a Republic type government. In 1924 The Nazi party became a new very socialistic party. By 1932 It was the single dominate party (hmmm, sound familiar). How did this happen? Well Hitler got massive amounts of money, almost all of it outside of the country. (You might want to research where Obama got a lot of his campaign money.) Hitler outspent his opponent 100 to 1. He was a VERY GOOD orator. His campaign was based on two things: HOPE and CHANGE (Again, sound familiar?). He promised the people everything. He even went so far as to promise every German girl a husband!
There was a recession in the economy and Germany flooded the market with massive amounts of money. This created a massive inflation, had people begging the government to do something, anything to help them. Because Hitler was such a good orator, had friends in high places or should we say dark places, and promised them what? HOPE and CHANGE, in 1933 he became their leader. This is rung 7 of the ladder, but it wasn’t good enough for Hitler. He still had more up his sleeve. He and his “elite few” created a crises, silenced all the opposition, controlled the media, and then Hitler convinced the “elite few” to turn all of the governmental power over to him. In 1934 they were in Absolute Tyranny or standing on rung 8.
We would do well to learn from this short blip from history. I hope as you read you recognized many of the same things happening in our country right now. Germany went from rung 5 or 6, where we are at right now, to rung 8 in less than 3 years! Now what can we do with this information? Well that is a whole other post! Look for part 3 soon!
Rung 1- As I mentioned is likened to Zion
Rung 2- Is a Republic
Rung 3- Is a Democracy
Rung 4- The very beginnings of Socialism
Rung 5- Deep in the trenches of Socialism
Rung 6- Tyranny begins
Rung 7- Elite Tyranny or Feudalism
Rung 8- Absolute Tyranny or Fascism You’ve also heard it called Stalinism or Marxism (hero worship)
According to my survey you who voted for rungs 5 or 6 are right on with what Roger had found was the general consensus of the people who had attended his lectures up to the one Karl and I attended.
Rung 5 states that more and more land becomes federally owned with more and more regulations placed upon it. In the Constitution, Provision 105, from Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 17 it says that Congress has complete jurisdiction over land it purchases in the state upon consent of the state legislature, but that these lands must be used for the: “erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings”
Quoting Cleon Skousen from his amazing book called The Making of America, “At the present time, vast areas within the boundaries of these states are permanently designated as part of the federal domain for national forests, national parks, national monuments, coal and oil reserves, lands leased for profit to ranchers or farmers, and huge tracts of land with valuable resources completely locked up as “wilderness areas.” It is interesting to me that the Constitution does not specify this type of purpose as being a reason for the federal government to own land. Also very interesting is the fact that this bending of the Constitution started with the admittance of Ohio into the union clear back in 1803 and got worse when the western states were acquired from Mexico. Just for your information 66% of Utah is owned by the federal government! 87% of Nevada wow! In 1959 Alaska was only allowed to occupy 4% of their state! At the time the Making of America was published the federal government owned 35% of our land, land they shouldn’t even be allowed to own because they aren’t using it for the specified reasons.
It does not end there, we have heard of legislation proposed to “protect” our National Forests. This legislation limits the number of visitors, adds all kinds of restrictions, and even closes off certain areas. This type of legislation is becoming more and more common place. Isn’t it interesting how something we don’t even think twice about can be so blatantly against the Constitution. More to the point, that it can be something that leads us away from a Republic or a Democracy and into Socialism.
Level five also states that the federal government controls more and more businesses and agencies. A brief look at our country and this is easily seen. Just look at the BIG push for a Federal Health Care System and haven’t we heard from our new President Elect much about his Federal Education System. In the last several months we have witnessed our government taking ownership of a large part of our monetary system in the “Bail Out” plan and to make matters worse they had us as citizens (at least a lot of us) begging for it! They are on the verge of giving the auto industry “loans”, when the auto dealers fail then who owns that industry? Hmmmm, I don’t know about you, but I find this very Alarming!
There can be little doubt in the certainty that we have already ran headlong into Socialism, like it or not. It has been pretty obvious for years now. Roger explains that an observation of history shows us that nations move down this ladder all the time, but seldom move up. When they do move up it is not without a bloody revolution. We can see this in the founding of our own country but he pointed out several other examples. In the interest of time I will not go into details about these, but you can examine this in much of the Bible and Book of Mormon.
I want to relate one more bit of history that Roger taught us before I close this post. My story begins in Germany in 1920 where they had a Republic type government. In 1924 The Nazi party became a new very socialistic party. By 1932 It was the single dominate party (hmmm, sound familiar). How did this happen? Well Hitler got massive amounts of money, almost all of it outside of the country. (You might want to research where Obama got a lot of his campaign money.) Hitler outspent his opponent 100 to 1. He was a VERY GOOD orator. His campaign was based on two things: HOPE and CHANGE (Again, sound familiar?). He promised the people everything. He even went so far as to promise every German girl a husband!
There was a recession in the economy and Germany flooded the market with massive amounts of money. This created a massive inflation, had people begging the government to do something, anything to help them. Because Hitler was such a good orator, had friends in high places or should we say dark places, and promised them what? HOPE and CHANGE, in 1933 he became their leader. This is rung 7 of the ladder, but it wasn’t good enough for Hitler. He still had more up his sleeve. He and his “elite few” created a crises, silenced all the opposition, controlled the media, and then Hitler convinced the “elite few” to turn all of the governmental power over to him. In 1934 they were in Absolute Tyranny or standing on rung 8.
We would do well to learn from this short blip from history. I hope as you read you recognized many of the same things happening in our country right now. Germany went from rung 5 or 6, where we are at right now, to rung 8 in less than 3 years! Now what can we do with this information? Well that is a whole other post! Look for part 3 soon!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Down the "ladder" one rung at a time. (Part 1)
For years now I have been amazed at the indifference, and even more shocking the support, of most people to the goings on of our government. The first time I remember being really concerned was when it became legal to ticket a person if they chose not to wear their seat belt. I did not really understand a whole lot about our Constitution back then but even so I still remember thinking; how do they have the right to give you a ticket because you choose not to protect yourself? It doesn’t hurt anyone else; it doesn’t put anyone but yourself in danger. How can that be legal? That event transpired several years ago and I have to tell you since then I have done a lot of learning and have become very passionate about supporting our Constitution. On this journey, among many other things, I have learned that the seat belt law is just one cherry in a huge pie of legislation passed that has blatantly went against our Constitution. That contract is sooooo vital to our freedom. It is very sad, but the plain truth is, we were never taught why the Constitution is so vital. We may have been taught when it was signed, if we can even remember that, incidentally it was not July 4th 1776! We may have even been told a couple of the names of the signers. However, we mostly hear now how it is an out dated old contract that we have out grown and that it is holding us back. We hear many statements about how it needs to be done away with and a new form of government (aka New World Order) needs to be put in place. This is very concerning to me and should be to all of us.
Karl and I attended a political awareness seminar a few weeks ago by Roger K. Young. Some of you might be familiar with him because of all the preparedness and last days stuff he has done over the years, or you might have read his books. Anyhow his focus was on government, a lot of what he spoke of I already knew, but he had a few visuals that made it easy to comprehend. He started by explaining the events that are going on in the world, for example and just to name a few, the bail out plan that just passed, the election of a new very socialistic president, who does not try to hide it. I am going to quote Roger because he was able to express what I had been feeling very accurately when he said, “What bothers me worse than the things that have been happening is how many good people are embracing it!”
Roger went on the talk about the different types of governments. He likened them to a ladder that has 8 rungs or levels. I am going to briefly explain them. After you have read this post I would like you to answer the survey question on the right side bar of the blog.
1. The top rung on the ladder, the most pure government is where people govern themselves. This is the best and purest form of freedom, but it only works if the people are good. This rung of government could be likened to Zion.
2. The people group together to make a limited government, put in place for the protection of their unalienable rights. They elect representatives for these groups.
3. It then moves from limited government with everyone having equal say to “majority rules.”
4. Down the rung, moving closer to the bottom we have a government that has taken control of itself, in other words most power is given to the government with people having little say. The peoples individual vote doesn’t really impact a whole lot.
5. The government owns large portions of property and production. More and more land becomes federally owned and they start to limit access and put more regulations on it. They become in control of more and more agencies and businesses.
6. The government owns and controls everything. There is still some control of local governments with limited personal rights. We become indentured servants.
7. The people are slaves to the government because it now owns all property and the people work the land for the government. An elite few run the government. People have little personal rights. You begin to see huge class divisions: kings, princes, dukes etc.
8. The last rung of government is where you see one person in charge. There is not even an elite group but one person. An example of this is Hitler.
After I have several votes on my survey I will do another post explaining what the names of these types of governments are and share some stories in relation to these from history. It is very interesting and I think we should all be aware.
Karl and I attended a political awareness seminar a few weeks ago by Roger K. Young. Some of you might be familiar with him because of all the preparedness and last days stuff he has done over the years, or you might have read his books. Anyhow his focus was on government, a lot of what he spoke of I already knew, but he had a few visuals that made it easy to comprehend. He started by explaining the events that are going on in the world, for example and just to name a few, the bail out plan that just passed, the election of a new very socialistic president, who does not try to hide it. I am going to quote Roger because he was able to express what I had been feeling very accurately when he said, “What bothers me worse than the things that have been happening is how many good people are embracing it!”
Roger went on the talk about the different types of governments. He likened them to a ladder that has 8 rungs or levels. I am going to briefly explain them. After you have read this post I would like you to answer the survey question on the right side bar of the blog.
1. The top rung on the ladder, the most pure government is where people govern themselves. This is the best and purest form of freedom, but it only works if the people are good. This rung of government could be likened to Zion.
2. The people group together to make a limited government, put in place for the protection of their unalienable rights. They elect representatives for these groups.
3. It then moves from limited government with everyone having equal say to “majority rules.”
4. Down the rung, moving closer to the bottom we have a government that has taken control of itself, in other words most power is given to the government with people having little say. The peoples individual vote doesn’t really impact a whole lot.
5. The government owns large portions of property and production. More and more land becomes federally owned and they start to limit access and put more regulations on it. They become in control of more and more agencies and businesses.
6. The government owns and controls everything. There is still some control of local governments with limited personal rights. We become indentured servants.
7. The people are slaves to the government because it now owns all property and the people work the land for the government. An elite few run the government. People have little personal rights. You begin to see huge class divisions: kings, princes, dukes etc.
8. The last rung of government is where you see one person in charge. There is not even an elite group but one person. An example of this is Hitler.
After I have several votes on my survey I will do another post explaining what the names of these types of governments are and share some stories in relation to these from history. It is very interesting and I think we should all be aware.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Lemons!
I have had several people want to know what I know about preserving lemons! It is one of those little treasures that make me giddy with excitement! LOL Just like when my sister-in-law found me the crocks I'd been wishing for, but that's another post!
I have a wonderful book called Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning. In it I learned a little trick that is sooo easy it's almost scary. Picture this: You have been living on your food storage for months and months, eating beans and wheat. Just when everyone thinks they can't stand it one more day you pop out some FRESH LEMONS! Yes, for real!
Here is the process:
You must use Organic lemons. Bring them home, rinse them in water. Place them in a glass jar. (mine was gallon sized) Place distilled water over them and let them soak. Drain and refill them once a day for three days with distilled water. On the third day boil your distilled water, let it cool. Take each lemon and quarter it 3/4 of the way through, but not all the way so it is still in tact at the bottom. Place 1 tsp. of salt in each lemon and place them in the jar. When the jar is filled with the lemons pour the cooled water over the lemons, put a lid on the jar, and place the jar in a cool, dark place!
That's it! It's that simple. I have had a jar of lemons in my food storage room for about a month. It still looks beautiful, so I hope that means the process really works. The recipe says that these will last a VERY LONG time. I will let you decide for yourself what that means.
I have thought often that citrus will be few and far between as food gets harder and harder to come by. We can't grow it around here. I was very happy when I found this easy, no hassle trick. I am glad to be able to share it.
Enjoy making you little treat. I hope you smile every time you see your beautiful lemons on the shelf.
I have a wonderful book called Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning. In it I learned a little trick that is sooo easy it's almost scary. Picture this: You have been living on your food storage for months and months, eating beans and wheat. Just when everyone thinks they can't stand it one more day you pop out some FRESH LEMONS! Yes, for real!
Here is the process:
You must use Organic lemons. Bring them home, rinse them in water. Place them in a glass jar. (mine was gallon sized) Place distilled water over them and let them soak. Drain and refill them once a day for three days with distilled water. On the third day boil your distilled water, let it cool. Take each lemon and quarter it 3/4 of the way through, but not all the way so it is still in tact at the bottom. Place 1 tsp. of salt in each lemon and place them in the jar. When the jar is filled with the lemons pour the cooled water over the lemons, put a lid on the jar, and place the jar in a cool, dark place!
That's it! It's that simple. I have had a jar of lemons in my food storage room for about a month. It still looks beautiful, so I hope that means the process really works. The recipe says that these will last a VERY LONG time. I will let you decide for yourself what that means.
I have thought often that citrus will be few and far between as food gets harder and harder to come by. We can't grow it around here. I was very happy when I found this easy, no hassle trick. I am glad to be able to share it.
Enjoy making you little treat. I hope you smile every time you see your beautiful lemons on the shelf.
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