Places of Safety

For this post I thought I would shift gears a little and focus on the most important part of preparedness, Spiritual Preparedness.

We have all been taught that as part of the last days there is to be a gathering of the saints to places of safety, or places of refuge. It is shown repeatedly in history that before Jesus destroys the wicked he removes his people. A few examples would be at the times of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah or when Lehi was told to flee Jerusalem. My mind is even brought to think of Noah and his family gathering to the ark. Of these places of safety Harold B. Lee has said: “Thus, clearly, the Lord has placed the responsibility for directing the work of gathering in the hands of the leaders of the Church to whom he will reveal his will where and when such gatherings would take place in the future. It would be well before the frightening events concerning the fulfillment of all God’s promises and predictions are upon us, that the Saints in every land prepare themselves and look forward to the instruction that shall come to them from the First Presidency of this Church as to where they shall be gathered and not be disturbed in their feelings until such instruction in given to them as it is revealed by the Lord to the proper authority.”

I have spent hours and hours pondering on this concept and wondering if it could ever come to that in my life time. I ask myself; will I be ready to go if that time does come? I mentioned earlier in my blog that I have felt a change in the tone of the leadership of my church. As I have heard a few of their talks and thought about this concept of gathering to places of refuge I can’t help but wonder if they aren’t preparing us for this time. If not this, then something that could be quite difficult to do. It has caused me to really ponder my testimony of the Prophet. Is it strong enough? Is your testimony of the prophet strong enough? If they asked us to pack up our belonging and leave tomorrow, would we have the faith to go? This is a hypothetical question. I’m not making any predictions. I use this example only because I know it has inspired me to deeply examine my testimony of our living prophet.

It seems we should all have an unshakeable testimony of our prophet and it is obviously very important since the smallest child in our church is taught the familiar saying “Follow the Prophet”. We have had it pretty easy. What has our prophet asked us to do? Read the Book of Mormon before a certain deadline, attend the temple, make sure we get out and vote. We did those things, right? More recently though he asked us to do what we could to support and pray for the passing of Proposition 8. Sadly, and shockingly, we saw a few members fail to follow this commandment. If we fail on something so simple and so in line with an age old gospel principle how can we expect to have faith to follow the prophet when he is instructed to give us hard commandments?

I encourage you to examine your testimony, read the scriptures and find out what they say about the prophets, search the church web site and learn what has been said about following the prophets there.

I would like to share a little of what I have learned that has helped me build my testimony of our true and living prophet of God. In pondering whether or not I would follow the prophet and leave my home the question that kept coming to mind was; “How can I know that he (the prophet) hasn’t gone astray?” I asked Heavenly Father that question and then I turned to the scriptures and two of them brought me the reassurance I needed: Deu. 18: 20 and D&C 64:39-40, not to mention one of the most popular statements taken out of scriptures from Declaration 1 wherein President Woodruff states: “The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.”

In the last several month I have received more witnesses of the importance of following the Prophet. One of the most comforting talks on this subject to me was published in the June 2008 Ensign by our new 1st counselor, President Eyering. In his talk entitled Safety in Counsel he said “The Savior holds responsible those to whom He delegates priesthood keys. With those keys comes the power to give counsel that will show us the way to safety. Those with keys are responsible to warn even when their counsel might not be followed. In our own time we have been warned with counsel on where to find safety from sin and from sorrow. One of the keys to recognizing those warnings is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third. The Apostle Paul wrote, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1). One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time.”
I found it comforting that part of the Prophet’s mission is to “show us the way to safety” this, added to my testimony that the Lord will not allow a prophet to lead us astray, brought me comfort. Once again in another part of the talk he says: “God offers us counsel not just for our own safety but for the safety of His other children, whom we should love. There are few comforts so sweet as to know that we have been an instrument in the hands of God in leading someone else to safety. That blessing generally requires the faith to follow counsel when it is hard to do.”
This statement let me know that eventually the prophet will be required to ask us to follow things that will be hard to do and that it will take faith on my part, but I have to find the faith to do it, not just for me, Elder Eyering teaches, but “for the safety of His other children, whom we should love.” I see these others as being my children and I do love them more than life itself.

Elder Eyering then taught me another important concept that I need to have faith in as well, when he said: “Keys are delegated down a line that passes from the prophet through those responsible for ever-smaller groups of members, closer and closer to families and to individuals. That is one of the ways by which the Lord makes a stake a place of safety.” I need to have as much faith in my local stake leaders when they are acting in behalf of the Lord as my Prophet. Elder Eyering teaches this but the scriptures also say that bishops will be exposed if the have went astray.
The next few paragraphs were again just reassuring us that if we want to be safe we will follow the prophet when he speaks, knowing that he WILL lead us to places of safety.
“Our Heavenly Father loves us. He sent His Only Begotten Son to be our Savior. He knew that in mortality we would be in grave danger, the worst of it from the temptations of a terrible adversary. That is one of the reasons the Savior has provided priesthood keys, so that those with ears to hear and faith to obey could go to places of safety.
There seems to be no end to the Savior’s desire to lead us to safety, and there is constancy in the way He shows us the path. He calls by more than one means so that it will reach those willing to accept it. Those means always include sending the message by the mouths of His prophets whenever people have qualified to have the prophets of God among them. Those authorized servants are always charged with warning the people, telling them the way to safety.
Looking for the path to safety in the counsel of prophets makes sense to those with strong faith. When a prophet speaks, those with little faith may think that they hear only a wise man giving good advice. Then if his counsel seems comfortable and reasonable, squaring with what they want to do, they take it. If it does not, they either consider it faulty advice or they see their circumstances as justifying their being an exception to the counsel. Those without faith may think that they hear only men seeking to exert influence for some selfish motive."
Now whether these “places of safety” will be a physical place or just spiritual steps along our journey in life, I don’t know. I do know this. I like safety and so I add my prayer to that of Elder Eyering’s:
“We are blessed to live in a time when the priesthood keys are on the earth. We are blessed to know where to look and how to listen for the voice that will fulfill the promise of the Lord that He will gather us to safety. I pray that we will have humble hearts, that we will listen, that we will pray, and that we will wait for the deliverance of the Lord that is sure to come as we are faithful.”
I encourage you to read this talk here for yourself. It is amazing! Elder Eyering teaches several other concepts and shares touching stories. I think at this point I will bring this really long post to an end but I am going to leave you with a few links to other recent talks that have helped me solidify my testimony of the prophet as well.

Give Heed unto the Prophet's Words By, Elder Quintin L. Cook
The True and Living Church By, President Eyering

More About Anti-Plague

As mentioned earlier I am going to post some information about the Anti-Plague formula that I spoke of in my pandemic post. Anti-Plague is a formula that Dr. Christopher was inspired to tell people in Arizona to use for the plagues. Its main ingredient is Garlic and Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. Most of us have heard the story of the four thieves. I’ve heard two versions one says that they, as a punishment for their crimes, were to take care of the bodies of the dead who had succumbed to the plague in the late 1700’s. The other says that they stole belongings from off the dead during the plague. Either way the thieves lived through the plague and later explained how they survived. They used a combination of aromatic vinegar and garlic which they applied liberally to themselves.

Garlic has numerous healing properties. From common skin problems to tuberculosis and asthma. In researching garlic I have learned many remedies for treating the human body effectively and without side-effects. Well okay harmful side effects. Everyone knows that garlic is pretty smelly, but I also learned how to lessen the effects of the odor just by adding parsley to the preparation.

I also learned that you can grow garlic almost anywhere and harvest it in all season except winter! I was excited about that! It might be that we should consider planting this wonderful healing modality in our yards as a means of becoming more self-sufficient.

Recently I was inspired by a friend of mine to order the ingredients and make Anti-Plague myself. First off I didn’t realize that the kind I had been buying pre-made was missing one of the main herbs from the recipe. Secondly, it is considerably less expensive. (It costs around $32 + shipping to order a pint of the pre-made stuff versus around $65-$75 to make a whole gallon yourself.) However the draw back to this is that what you save in money you use in time. However, I still think that you end up with a much higher quality product. For one, it has all the ingredients from Dr. Christopher’s original formula and secondly it does not have to go through any extra processing in order to appease the FDA. (Processing always always is a trade off. You kill any possible germs, that is correct, but you also kill ALOT of the healing properties and ALL enzymes in a product.) If you are making the Anti-Plague yourself you can be confidant in knowing that the environment in which it is prepared is clean and safe. Thus you don’t need to process it, ensuring a more nourishing, healing product.

After receiving all the ingredients needed to make my Anti-Plague I proceeded to make my own. Well, this was a process! The recipe I had was not very clear and was obviously written for a more mathematically minded person that myself. Also I had to interpret the “Herbalist” lingo. Finally after hours of experimenting and a couple of mistakes that resulted in my starting over, bummer! I accomplished my goal! I have since made three gallons of Anti-Plague and currently have ½ gallon on my shelves to show for it! LOL This is perfectly fine with me. I felt impressed to give some to my parents, and two of my brothers. I feel much better knowing people I love and care about have ½ gallon of this stuff on their shelves to help protect themselves and their families in times of sickness and, just in case, plague. The other brother? Well his wife is doing awesome in this preparedness thing and actually took it upon herself to order the stuff and learned to make it with me! Yea Jeneil! (I am so proud of her, can you tell?)
I have posted my revised and, I hope, easier (as easy as Anti-Plague can get that is!) version of the recipe in the post below this one or you can click on the label that says Health Preparedness on the left hand column. Just so you know, I don’t just make this and put it on my shelf. However, that is better than not having it. We use it ALL the time. If my children start coughing or having a runny nose, if they start complaining of a sore throat, achy body, ear aches, almost anything, we start them on the Anti-Plague. Karl reaches for it any time he feels a sinus infection coming on and, since he is very prone to lung issues such as pneumonia, he also reaches for it at any sign of this. Often times it only takes one or two doses other times in more serious sicknesses or if you let the sickness go to long before beginning treatment you have to be more aggressive with it. You cannot take too much. There is nothing is this formula that will cause harm to you. You may get diarrhea. This needs to be watched because you want to avoid dehydration but it also could be a sign that your body is expelling the toxins that were making you sick in the first place.

In normal sickness between one and four tablespoons a day is a general dosage. You will be able to tell if you are getting enough or not by the way you feel. You can, and I recommend, that you take one tablespoon a day. This builds your immune system which makes it so that you will be more likely to withstand the plagues. In times of plague the descriptions I have read say you should take a tablespoon an hour. It is usually recommended to do half dosage with young children under ten. Warning: This stuff does not taste good! The vinegar and garlic, as you can imagine, does not smell appealing or taste that way, but none the less it does work and so you have to decide whether or not it is worth getting your children to take it but as for our house, they take it! I have found that the easiest way is to put it in an amber glass jar, a small one with a dropper and then just drop the syrup towards the back of their mouth. My seven year old will just take it, no complaining, no juice, just swallows it and goes on her way. Incidentally so does my baby, he is almost two. My older children whine and moan and complain, then they get a glass of juice, swallow the Anti-Plague, drink their juice to wash it down, and go on their way. They do get used to it if you start them early enough. But, I will willingly admit that I’m not used to it and I’m the worst in my family. In fact you should ask them one day about my Anti-Plague taking procedure! LOL

Anti-Plague Recipe

Anti-Plague Formula

Ingredients to make a gallon:

34 ozs. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
22 ozs. Glycerin
22 ozs. Raw, unfiltered, honey
3 lbs. Fresh Garlic
8 Ozs. Cut comfrey root concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut wormwood concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut lobelia leaf concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut marshmallow root concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut oak bark concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut black walnut bark concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut mullein leaf concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut skullcap leaf concentrate
4 Ozs. Cut hydrangea root concentrate
5 Qrts Distilled Water

First peel the 3 pounds of fresh garlic. Place in a blender and blend in three parts. One third garlic to approximately 11 ounces of raw apple cider vinegar. Do not blend all the way to a liquid, pulse until all cloves are just blended. Place all of the garlic juice in quart jars (usually about 2 and a 1/2 to 3 quarts) and let it sit in a dark place for three days. You will use the full 34 ounces of vinegar in making the garlic juice. If at the very end of the process you are lacking a full gallon, don’t be afraid to add extra raw apple cider vinegar to make the formula equal to its full gallon. After three days you need to extract the juice from your vinegar by squeezing out the liquid. I use my wheat grass juicer and run the garlic mixture through it, this doesn’t chop or grate, it simply squeezes. You don’t need a wheat grass juicer, use your imagination.

Each herb concentrate must be made individually. After the concentrate is prepared then and only then, it may be mixed with the other concentrates. To make the concentrates you need to start by soaking them. Use 4 ounces of the herb and soak it in two cups distilled water. With the exception of the Comfrey, you will use 8 ounces of this herb, and so will need four cups distilled water. The root concentrates will need to soak over night. I also soak my black walnut bark overnight. The rest of the herbs need to be soaked for four hours. After soaking place the herb in a stainless steel sauce pan or double broiler, cover and simmer on very low heat for a half an hour. Strain the liquid and place into a clean sauce pan. This time place the herb back on the stove to simmer again at very low heat but this time uncovered. Simmer it down to where there is only four ounces of the herb left. This is your concentrate. Repeat until all nine herbs have been through the same process.

Once all the concentrates have been made and your garlic juice has been prepared then you mix your herb concentrates, your garlic juice, your honey, and your glycerin and stir until everything is dissolved and mixed well together. Place the anti-plague in glass jars and store in a cool, dark place. If you have fridge space, your Anti-Plague will store longer. Also if you can get amber glass jars (dark glass) it is also better for your Anti-Plague because the light can break down the formula after a while.

After your formula is put away and safely stored notice the feeling of intense satisfaction that comes from knowing you are one step closer to being prepared for the plagues.

The Pandemic

It has come to my attention, while visiting with some of my friends and family that not everyone is aware of the pandemic that is a growing concern. I have been reading on the church website all of the information they have placed there to help us PREPARE for a pandemic. I have been to classes and watched videos of people who are VERY preparedness minded and each of them have stated that “it is not a matter of if, but when the pandemic occurs.” One of them has even stated that the center for disease control expected the outbreak a year ago.

Many people seem to think that all of this is a sarcastic presumption. “How can anyone predict when an outbreak is going to occur?” I felt like this was a legitimate question and so I began to search for WHY this big push for pandemic preparedness. The best information I came across that explains it in terms that the lay man can understand is a video I watched from BYU-Idaho. I urge all of you to click on the link and watch it. We are watched it for FHE last night. My children have heard us talking about the pandemic and have seen us preparing for it, but I think this helped them more fully understand what a pandemic is and why it is important to follow the suggestions of preparation that are on the church website.

Here are the links:
Click here for the video from BYU-Idaho You will have to scroll down to where
it says pandemic video, click here.
Click here for the information on the LDS Church web site. There are two links here, read
the information on both.

Now that we know what the pandemic is and that the threat is real. Judging from history and, not to mention, prophecies of the last days, what are you going to do to prepare for this so that you shall not fear?

What have I done? Well first off I printed all of the information off of the church website that is applicable to my family. There is MUCH good information on the site. Then I read all of the information. Then I reread it to my husband. Then after praying about it and pondering about it we made a list of things we needed to do for our family to be prepared. On that list was N95 masks, waterproof coveralls and aprons, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (this will be explained later), spray bottles, safety glasses, Anti-Plague (also explained further on), and plastic gloves. On that list is a note to teach our children about the pandemic and, as the church suggests on their site, about how to deal with the pandemic incase the adults are incapacitated with the disease. I also plan on placing the information that tells us how to clothe and unclothe and sanitize in our preparedness binder. (I will do a future post further explaining our preparedness binder at a later date.)

Now just a reminder, all of this is just to deal with the pandemic IF we happen to catch the pandemic. In a few minutes I will discuss all the things we plan to do and prepare for to keep it from entering our home.

First I’m going to explain why we have distilled vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. In the church information it tells us that we need Clorox to sanitize everything. If you know me you know that I am always concerned about what it best for our health. In watching a video on preparedness from a lady by the name of Rebecca Lee, I learned that by mixing a solution of 50% vinegar and water and placing it in a spray bottle and in another spray bottle mixing 50% hydrogen peroxide and water and by using one and then the other you will having a sanitizing agent that works as well, if not better, than Clorox but without all the possible health hazards that go along with it. Thus, the adding of those two items instead of Clorox to our pandemic preparedness list.

Anti-Plague, what is that, you say? Well, if any of you know me well you also know that I am very into natural healing and I have a very strong testimony of it because I have seen it work on MANY occasions and with many different sicknesses and injuries. One of the men I admire very much in natural healing is Dr. John R. Christopher. If any of you are interested in learning more about this inspired man I suggest his biography by his son David Christopher called, An Herbal Legacy of Courage, or visit http://www.herballegacy.com/. Dr. Christopher was teaching a class somewhere in Arizona, I forget where, when he was asked a question about whether there was an herb that they could take that would help them withstand the plagues prophesied about in the last days. After praying about this question he received inspiration for this formula which he called Anti-Plague and is now referred to as Super Garlic Immune. We use it often in our family. Whenever some one starts coming down with a cold or a sore throat we give it to them at the first sign of sickness. We have been purchasing it already made online from a company called Life Balm. It is about $32 for a pint. It is kind of expensive but you don’t need much. A little goes a long way. You can also make it yourself. I plan on doing a future post all about Anti-Plague so watch for that to come!

Now to address our plan to hopefully prevent our family from getting the flu. I love the idea that the church calls “Social Distancing” and that the BYU video calls “SIRQ”, Self Imposed Reverse Quarantine. So we will defiantly implement that when the pandemic becomes a concern. But in order to do this we have to plan ahead. We need to make sure we have things that are essential to our being able to STAY AT HOME. Things like food, cleaning supplies, medical or herbal supplements you may need to sustain your health, and any personal hygiene items you may need. This requires planning ahead, making a list, and acquiring these items as quickly as we financially can.

If you are interested, here are the links to the sites where I chose to order my masks, coveralls and aprons, and plastic gloves from. I ordered my masks in a large quantity to save more money. I plan to use some for gifts and keep the rest for my family. The coveralls and aprons I know nothing about. I haven’t received them in the mail as of yet. But they were affordable and waterproof. I chose not to order disposable ones because of the expense but you may consider decide to go that route instead, it is certainly an option. I should be receiving them shortly so if you would like my opinion before you order them just email me and let me know. I will email you my opinion of them.

Now before I close I want to stress that all of this is so personal to our family. We prayed that Heavenly Father would guide us in preparing our family, not yours. As a side note to this I did find information on the church site that they suggested we do that I did not find applicable to my little family and we will not be applying it in our home. So please, please, find out what Heavenly Father would have you do. He is the only one that knows what your family needs.

Trying to be the change I wish to see!

Have you ever wondered about Zion?
What is Zion?
Will you be on earth when Zion is established?
More importantly, what has to occur before Zion can be established?

“The redemption of Zion will assuredly come as promised, but not until he has a prepared people who can live by Zion’s laws.” I have been feeling a change lately. A change not just in the world, however that change is VERY obvious, but a change in myself, and in the tone of the leadership of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
I have been learning so much about the Lords Kingdom on earth. It has given me hope and courage, even in these times of uncertainty.

For weeks now I have been feeling impressed that I need to share the things I am learning with others. This blog has been churning in my mind just as long. It has been a huge labor for me, but it has been a labor of love.

Karl and I have, for years, been interested in preparedness and the events of the last days. Our interest and exploration of these subjects has exposed us to many events that could possibly occur before Christ’s coming and has therefore caused us to learn and prepare in areas that had not previously crossed our minds. I’m so thankful for the knowledge and ideas that we have been blessed to learn. I am reminded of the scripture in D&C 38:30 where, in the last part, we are told: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” I am gaining a testimony of the truthfulness of that scripture. This is not to say that we are completely prepared, however we are actively preparing and the more I learn, apply the things I learn, and work towards being prepared, the less I fear the events that have to come in order for Zion to be established on the earth. I am learning to trust my Savior to lead me through my times of trial as I try to follow His commandments and gain a personal relationship with Him.

This blog will be a journal of the things I learn on my journey to preparing my family and myself. I will share thoughts, quotes, talks, links to sites that have been helpful to our preparedness, and insight on objects that I feel help to fill preparedness needs. I plan to set up my blog so that you can access any information I post according to the type of preparedness it falls under. I have identified several different types of preparedness that I feel are essential to being prepared for the events of the last day and becoming a Zion People.

A man I greatly admire once said: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I have always been impressed with this statement and it has always whispered in my heart. I do desire to be a change in the world, however daunting this task may seem. It is my hope that in some small way I can change the world, by preparing my family and by inspiring other families to “be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth.” (D&C 65:5)