Important Documents

Last night we had a lesson on what important documents we would need in an emergency as well as ways to store those documents. Brother Skoubye gave us some great information about advanced directives and living wills. We each need to get one! It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but we need to have something so the doctors and our families understand our wishes if we are unable to speak for ourselves. He encouraged us to give this information to our doctors and then sit down with family members and make sure they all understand our wishes. We were also encouraged to have this discussion with our aging parents. Brother Skoubye also suggested we have secure ways to store our passwords and other important documents. He gave several suggestions for different websites that will store your information on the cloud. The best advice he gave is make sure you communicate with a couple of people that you trust so your important documents can be found and accessed. Sister Schramm taught a few ways to store documents. You can scan documents in and then store them on a computer, back up hard drives, a thumb drive, or print them for a binder. Sister Schramm talked a lot about not putting all of your information in one place, but have back ups for your back ups. Have the documents in a safe place in your house that you can get to quickly if you have to leave your home in a hurry. It was also suggested you have a copy in a place other than your house. Give a copy to a trusted family member or put in a safety deposit box. She had a copy of some documents as well as a flash drive for her 72 hour kit. Here is a check list of important documents you should consider having with you or with a trusted family member. Click on the image for a larger view.

2015 Theme

This year we have chosen the theme of Provident Living. We as Latter-day Saints believe in being prepared and self-reliant. We believe in preparing educationally for employment, in preparing financially for a rainy day, and in preparing temporally for natural disasters or other challenges. Most important, we believe in preparing spiritually for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and for living with our Father in Heaven again. This approach to preparedness is called provident living. In D&C 88:119 it says “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. Living providently reflects our true eternal nature: we are “to act for ourselves and not be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:26) The Lord wants us to be responsible and independent. He wants us to live providently because of who we become in the process: responsible, generous, mature, kind. For the more self-reliant we are, the better we can help our families and others. How can we feed the hungry if we ourselves are hungry? How can we impart knowledge if we ourselves lack knowledge? How can we build others’ faith if we ourselves lack faith? H. Burke Peterson said, “We cannot progress without attending to our own personal and family preparedness on a regular basis. Preparedness is not something that is static; it is ever changing. I know of no situation in life where it is not necessary. May we all become involved in it for the blessing of our families. There is precious little time to waste in preparing for the eternities.” There are 6 areas of focus included in Provident Living: Education, Employment, Family Home Production and Storage, Family Finances, Health, and Spiritual Strength. During this next year the Relief Society as well as the stake will be holding several meetings to help us all live more providently. To sign up for reminders about the stake classes go to Bluffdaleready.org and enter your email address. We would like to encourage everyone to decide on some goals you can set as a family. Remember to make them manageable. Try selecting one or two to start with and work up from there. Some goals take more time than others so don’t get discouraged. Just keep moving forward. We are here to help and support you. Together we can do this! May the Lord bless you in your provident living goals. The Bluffdale 9th Ward Relief Society Presidency

Christmas

President Uchtdorf gives the first presidency message in the Ensign for December. Here is a little bit of what he said: "Jesus the Christ, who knew perfectly how to give, set for us the pattern for giving. To those whose hearts are heavy with loneliness and sorrow, He brings compassion and comfort. To those whose bodies and minds are afflicted with illness and suffering, He brings love and healing. To those whose souls are burdened with sin, He offers hope, forgiveness, and redemption. If the Savior were among us today, we would find Him where He always was—ministering to the meek, the downcast, the humble, the distressed, and the poor in spirit. During this Christmas season and always, may we give to Him by loving as He loves. May we remember the humble dignity of His birth, gifts, and life. And may we, through simple acts of kindness, charity, and compassion, fill the world with the light of His love and healing power." We encourage you to read the entire message and share it with the sister you visit teach this month! We want to wish you a Merry Christmas and we pray you feel of the peace only our Savior can bring.