In 1845, Sir John Franklin and 128 men departed England to navigate an uncharted area of the North West Passage.  The motivation was to discover an open sea route for trade through the Arctic thereby connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.  A northern route would be much shorter than the currently used southern route around the tip of South America.  Besides economics, there was also the drive for discovery, adventure, sailing uncharted territory, and the quest to be first.  Like other expeditions of discovery there was much anticipation and excitement.    The trip did serve as one of discovery, but it was not until decades later that those discoveries were made, and we have been able to gain knowledge from this Arctic expedition. 

“All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin” are lyrics from the popular Christian hymn, “Come, Ye Thankful People Come.”  Throughout history people have prepared during the plentiful harvests of fall for the upcoming winter when food would be scarce and the time to harvest past.  Great comfort could be found in stores of food which would see families through the cold winter.  Lack of stores could result in hunger, illness and even death before a chance for another harvest.

While winter storms are still an important consideration, our society has a system in place where fresh fruits and vegetables, along with a wide variety of foods, are available year round at local markets.  There is little consideration given to preparing for the upcoming winter because of a year round bountiful harvest.  May we suggest this false sense of security may prove disastro

The counsel is clear.  Build a three month supply of everyday foods.  We could give you a thousand reasons why this is wise, but for the purpose of this article just take the prophet’s word for it.  It is imperative you make the sacrifices necessary to accomplish this task. 

A three month supply of everyday foods may look like an elephant right now, but we’ll help you take it down to bite size pieces.  Everyone is different and there are many ways to accomplish getting a three month supply.  You get to decide on a plan that works for you.  We will help get those creative juices flowing.  Let us explore some plans which have worked well for some of our friends:

Jonathan and I were driving home from a local grocery store where we had stocked up on toilet paper during a great sale.  Pleased with the addition to our little ark Jonathan asked, "Just what would we do without toilet paper?"  True to my nature, I just had to research what my options were.  After all, people had lived without the luxury of toilet paper for thousands of years and many still do.