Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
For LDS families, preparedness and self-reliance are a way of life.
Church encourages stocking up supplies
Last week, as many Southern Nevadans flocked to big box stores and supermarkets to strip the shelves of bottled water, toilet paper and other supplies they figured they’d need to outlast any coronavirus-related interruption to their lives, the Steed family sat down to dinner.
Their macaroni and cheese meal — a favorite of the couple’s four children —
The more we can become temporally and spiritually self-reliant, the better we are able to take care of our families and others. Food storage is one aspect of that.’
Steven Scow, a counselor to the president of the church’s Anthem Hills Stake
was a tribute not only to fine cooking and tasty ingredients but also to Cory and Holly Steed’s organizational skills: Its ingredients came from their store of emergency supplies.
The Steeds are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and follow its recommendations to maintain a supply of food, water and other provisions for use in an emergency, an interruption of family income, or even something such as a coronavirus outbreak that might keep them quarantined at home.
The church long has encouraged self-reliance among its members, said Steven Scow, a counselor to the president of the church’s Anthem Hills Stake. And while stocking up on food and emergency provisions is the most visible aspect of that, Scow said it also includes such things as pursuing an education, caring for health and keeping finances in good order.
“The more we can become temporally and spiritually self-reliant, the better we are able to take care of our families and others,” Scow said. “Food storage is one aspect of that.”
Charles Clawson, counselor to the president of the Desert Foothills Stake, said church members “are asked to live prudently, live within our means and prepare for unexpected events.”
“The thing that’s most important is, when you’re self-reliant in the middle of a crisis there’s less anxiety and far more ability to successfully navigate through that event physically, emotionally and spiritually, and that when you’re able to provide for yourself, the more naturally you’re able to turn your attention to those in need.”
“We have been counseled for many years to prepare for emergencies,” said Cory Steed, an optometrist. “This is not something brand new. I grew up with it.”
Instead of stocking up on bottled water, the Steeds store water in 15-gallon drums in their garage. “Fifty-gallon barrels are unmanageable,” Cory said. “Also, water (weighs) about nine pounds per gallon. Good luck moving that.”
‘It’s just how we live’
Cory and Holly Steed have been married for almost 19 years and have four children ages 9 to 15. Evidence of their self-reliance can be seen in a utility room a few steps from the kitchen that contains white food-grade buckets filled with dried pasta, rice and other staples, as well as food-filled jars, boxes and cans that neatly line shelves.
Holly Steed, a music educator at Somerset Academy’s Sky Pointe campus, explained that the room serves as a sort of main pantry. When something is needed, it is transferred to the kitchen pantry or used outright. Bulk goods — beans, pasta, rice, other grains and foods amenable
PREPAREDNESS
to long storage — are transferred as needed from the large containers they’re stored in to smaller, kitchen pantry-friendly containers.
Noticeable by their absence are freeze-dried meals, meals ready-toeat (MREs) and other foods often advertised for use in emergencies. That, she explained, is because the family stores primarily food they buy and use anyway. So, keeping things fresh is just a matter of rotating stock.
“And not just functional (foods),” Cory Steed added. “We store chocolate brownie mix, just Betty Crocker off the shelf. That has a couple of years shelf life.”
“We store what we use and use what we store,” Holly Steed said. “It’s very logical.”
By now, keeping their supply up to date isn’t even a habit, according to her husband. “We don’t think about it,” he said. “It’s just how we live.”
Alex Isom, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, recalls that he and his wife, Heather, initially worked off of a checklist to create a supply of emergency provisions. The list called for families to “buy these items this week and these items the next week, and if you do this on a monthly basis … you’ll have three months of food storage saved up. So it was pretty simple.”
The process is “pretty unremarkable,” he added. “It wasn’t a big deal to go to the store and buy a few extra items.
“The important thing is to know where the items are, because things expire and you’ve got to rotate them. So it’s just being cognizant of it.”
Meanwhile, instead of stocking up on bottled water, the Steeds store water in 15-gallon drums in their garage. “Fifty-gallon barrels are unmanageable,” Cory Steed said. “Also, water (weighs) about nine pounds per gallon. Good luck moving that.”
The water comes from their well and is replaced regularly. They also have a water filter and chemical treatment options available.
“We don’t have a generator yet, but we do have solar,” he said. If heating or cooling becomes an issue, “we have a casita out back, so it’s a lot easier to heat and cool that than the home.”
While food and provisions are immediate concerns, the family’s emergency preparedness plans also include maintaining a go-bag containing 72 hours’ worth of food, supplies and clothing for each family member and updating the bags twice each year.
‘Easier to sleep at night’
Being self-reliant can bring comfort in any sort of crisis, said Stephen Horsley, president of the church’s Desert Foothills Stake. Even if coronavirus were to vanish, “you never really know when the next crisis is coming, whether it’s loss of a job or loss of health insurance or a disaster. Coronavirus is just one thing that could happen in your life that people deal with.”
But, he said, “it’s easier to sleep at night knowing that you’ve tried to prepare for those.”
Preparing for an emergency doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. “The first thing is not to panic,” Cory Steed said. “Panic just adds to stress and doesn’t solve any issues. If you go into the (stores’) melees and try to compete for limited resources, you’re just going to find yourself frustrated and probably spend more money and make foolish decisions.”
Instead, create emergency stores gradually by buying an extra package or two of shelf-stable goods that you’d use anyway whenever you shop. Also, take advantage of sales.
“We look for case lot sales. You can get really great deals,” he said.
The Steeds use a utility room in their northwest Las Vegas home as their emergency pantry. But Holly Steed has known church members who utilize space under beds and cubbyholes around the home to store their emergency supplies.
Take comfort that “you’re probably better off than you think,” Cory Steed said. “Take this as a lesson in starting to prepare for tomorrow and start thinking about, ‘I wish I would have had the following things …’ But don’t panic.”
Then be prepared to experience the benefits of planning ahead. Emergency planning is a routine part of life for the Steeds, but they’re hardly obsessed doom-and-gloomers. Just the opposite.
“Being prepared gives you peace of mind,” he said.
Identical twin brothers from Las Vegas were sentenced to decades in prison last week after they pleaded guilty to child sex charges, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Justin Anthony Fisher and Joshua Ray Fisher, both 35, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children; coercion and enticement; conspiracy to sexually exploit children; and distribution, possession and receipt of child pornography. Justin Fisher also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to tamper with a victim.
According to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office, Justin Fisher exploited a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl from 2015 to 2016.
He had sexual conversations with the 14-year-old on an instant messaging application called Kik, lying about his age and telling her to send him nude photos of herself. He had sex with the 14-year-old victim in August 2016 and took pornographic photos, the statement said.
The statement said Justin Fisher also admitted having sex with a 15-year-old victim and taking “pornographic bondage photos of her.” He shared the photos of both victims with his brother and others on the internet.
Joshua Fisher admitted to exploiting a 14-year-old girl starting when she was 11, according to the statement. He took screenshots of her in sexual poses during live video chats, then shared the photos with his brother.
After their arrest, the brothers tried to have their family destroy evidence, but “a concerned citizen’s call allowed law enforcement to retrieve additional electronic devices, which revealed at least 50 additional unidentified victims,” the statement read.
Justin Fisher was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and Joshua Fisher was sentenced to 25, both with lifetime supervision after their release.
Noticeable by their absence are freeze-dried meals, meals ready-to-eat (MREs) and other foods often advertised for use in emergencies. That, Holly explained, is because the family stores primarily food they buy and use anyway. So, keeping things fresh is just a matter of rotating stock.