When we’re living paycheck to paycheck, we can feel like life could fall apart at the next inconvenience. Gain some peace of mind with these emergency preparedness tips.
These days, it seems like there’s a new disaster everywhere we look. Checking the news, scrolling through social media, talking to friends—even just walking out into unseasonable weather can remind us that not all is well in the world. That’s not even counting the personal (and often financial) instability that comes with being a young adult.
That said, there are things we can do to find some peace of mind. In Elder L. Tom Perry’s general conference address “If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear,” he says that “to maintain some semblance of stability in our lives, it is essential that we plan for our future.… The need for preparation is abundantly clear. The great blessing of being prepared gives us freedom from fear.”
So what does being prepared look like? Elder Perry discusses the concept of “emergency preparedness,” which means we have the supplies we need to survive a physical disaster, whether it’s personal or widespread. Knowing where to start can be hard, but the Emergency Preparedness gospel topics essay provides a good list of basic necessities. Here are a few items from that list:
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- Clean drinking water. Store one gallon per person per day for at least three days.
- Important documents. Try putting everything in a binder and keeping that binder with other supplies.
- Food storage. Keep a three-month supply of usual groceries and a long-term supply of basic food items. Build this supply little by little, buying a few extra cans during trips to the store. Also, check out this guide from the company Mountain House for some good tips on what to store.
- Medication and first-aid supplies. Don’t get caught without these!
- Ways to communicate with family following a disaster. Read this article from AccuWeather for help creating an emergency communication plan.
The nice thing is, we don’t have to wait to get started—we can begin this week by picking one thing from the list to work on. Even though we’re young adults without extensive financial resources, we can still follow prophetic counsel to prepare—and get all the peace of mind we’re promised in the process.
Learn more about how we can prepare ourselves for any eventuality in Elder L. Tom Perry’s address “If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear.”
Source: ChurchofJesusChrist.org
—Kira Christensen, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY SARAH CHAI
Find more insights
Check out the full list of emergency preparedness tips in the Emergency Preparedness gospel topics essay.
Read more prophetic counsel on emergency preparedness in Elder David A. Bednar’s address “We Will Prove Them Herewith.”