“We seldom perform to the level of our knowledge. This brings me to the subject of resolutions—resolutions to conform our lives more closely to what we already know about the gospel. While many of us take seriously our New Year’s resolutions, some of us may not have made any because of our prior problems in keeping them. We must not overlook the power that making good resolutions can have in helping make our lives happier and more successful—regardless of our past performance” (Elder Joe J. Christensen, “Resolutions,” Ensign, Dec 1994, 62).

I love that, don’t you? “We must not overlook the power that making good resolutions can have in helping make our lives happier and more successful—regardless of our past performance.” Wow. What a powerful thought.

Isn’t it just like the adversary Satan [see footnote] would want — to have us give up in discouragement? What a potent tool to keep good folks from striving to do more! Discouragement works to keep many from attaining self-improvement.

The whole point of a Christlike life is to make ourselves more whole, more complete, more like Him. We don’t have to do it overnight. Life is a process, and so is growth. As you contemplate possible goals or resolutions for this new year, remember that a flower doesn’t bud overnight from a slender stalk.

Here are several suggestions for New Year’s resolutions or areas for growth during 2008 – at least for the category of “Preparedness” that this blog discusses:

1. Completing your family’s 72-hour kits
2. Finding/reading excellent preparedness books
3. Aiding your community to become more prepared (i.e. establish a CERT group)
4. Educational preparedness (take a class to build your work knowledge or resume)
5. Learn a living-off-the-land skill (i.e. growing medicinal herbs, foraging for food, chopping wood)
6. Increase your physical preparedness (i.e. eat healthier foods, exercise)
7. Incorporate new food storage recipes (set a goal for a certain amount by the end of the year)
8. Increase your spiritual preparedness (i.e. read your scriptures a certain amount during the new year)
9. Add medical supplies to your year’s supply by the end of the next year
10. Add pet supplies to your year’s supply
11. Add toiletry supplies to your year’s supply
12. Complete either your three months or one year’s food supply.

These are simple suggestions. You might have better ones. Don’t plan on accomplishing them all; just pick one. Decide on a goal that is simple, straightforward, and easily achievable, so that by the end of next year you will have done it! You will have actually accomplished one of your New Year’s resolutions! And in a life-saving category. The important thing is that you do it.

Your family will count you most blessed for it.

(1.) “Satan lives. We must realize that he lives just as certainly as God lives and as we live. Those who teach that there is no devil are either ignorant of the facts or are deceivers” (ElRay L. Christiansen, “Power Over Satan,” Ensign, Nov. 1974, 22).

This article was originally published in December 2007. Minor changes have been made.

Cindy B

Imagine my shock a week ago when our city issued an emergency boil water alert. To my chagrin, I did not have water stored, for all my other preparations! Of course, a convenience store was nearby, but that thought apparently was in the minds of many city folk. My friends next door found only three jugs left when they went to buy water. They promptly snatched those up.

As grateful as I was for the boil water alert (who wants to brush your teeth with fecal-contaminated water?!), it soon becomes a bit tedious to boil water… and boil water… and boil water. And that was then the thought occurred to me: what if the electricity were out? There would be no power to boil water. What then? What would my small children do without water to drink? for us to cook with?

Hopefully you are better prepared than I was. After all, a person can only live for about three days without drinking water. And water is, of course, “free.” (Okay, we do have to pay our water bills… But you know what I mean!)

So here’s my emergency preparedness tip for the day: store water! Don’t be like me and find yourself caught without it when that unexpected emergency occurs. In fact, a good way to help your family be prepared for the unexpected is to remember the famous psychologist Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

In other words, begin your emergency preparations from this perspective: what do you most urgently need first? Then next? And next?

You absolutely need water, shelter, clothing, and food. There are other essentials also (i.e., love), but these are some good places to start. The government now recommends two weeks of supplies as opposed to 72 hours, as was swiftly learned when Hurricane Katrina devastated miles upon miles of territory, not just one city. People in multiple states were without life-saving necessities, not just those in the televised cities. It takes time for government agencies to respond.

Start today. Put some water aside. Whether you are recycling jugs for storage, buying bottles of water, or tablets to purify water from a local stream. Take care of it today. Now. Before your city experiences a sudden emergency like mine did a week ago. You’ll sure be glad you did!

To learn more about emergency preparedness, go to the Church’s website Provident Living for free tips. You’ll find tons of great ideas, including words from the Lord’s living prophets on how to help your family in many troubling situations.

This article was originally published in March 2008. Minor changes have been made. To view more LDS Blogs tips on emergency preparedness, click here.

Cindy B

So what is the Word of Wisdom? Here is the Church’s definition:

“The Word of Wisdom is a law of health revealed by the Lord for the physical and spiritual benefit of His children. On February 27, 1833, as recorded in section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the revealed which foods are good for us to eat and which substances are not good for the human body. He also promised health, protection, knowledge, and wisdom to those who obey the Word of Wisdom.” (“Word of Wisdom,” LDS.org)

Here is the actual verbiage of Doctrine and Covenants 89, wherein the Lord revealed this inspired counsel through the prophet Joseph Smith. In it, we learn about the harm caused by alcoholic drinks, tobacco, tea, and coffee (known as “hot drinks” during that time).

But the broader application of the Word of Wisdom is to teach mankind to use wisdom in what they take into their bodies. For example, eating dirt is not mentioned in this prophetic counsel, yet it’s fairly obvious that this would not be wise. The point is, throughout D&C 89 the Lord is teaching a broad pattern of wisdom — do not take things into your body which are harmful (and some examples are given) and do take things into your body which are healing and helpful.

What is so fascinating to me is that during the early 1800s when this prophetic counsel was given, scientists did not have the knowledge nor the discoveries that modern-day scientists have uncovered. Though there has long been a debate on the healthfulness of alcohol, one study last year showed that there is “no safe level of alcohol.” One researcher said, “The health risks associated with alcohol are massive . . . Our findings are consistent with other recent research, which found clear and convincing correlations between drinking and premature death, cancer, and cardiovascular problems.”

Wow! Joseph Smith did not know this back in 1833, but the Lord sure did. And He advised Joseph Smith in this revelation against the drinking of alcohol.

Conspiring men’s thoughts weren’t publicly known back then, but during the 20th century, certain corporations were exposed as to knowing their products were harmful and addictive — yet until exposed, they denied these facts. Joseph Smith did not personally have this knowledge back then, but the Lord did. And He told Joseph Smith of it (see D&C 89:4).

D&C 89, otherwise known as the “Word of Wisdom,” is well worth reviewing. If you have your health, you are able to have and do so many other things!

Why not print out and apply the teachings in D&C 89? Your family will be greatly benefitted — I know it from experience.

This article was originally published in December 2007. Changes have been made for timeliness and consistency.

Cindy B

I was reading today in 2 Kings and the lessons there are so instructive, especially for parents who cry at night because of a child’s (or children’s) choices.

The book of 2 Kings in the Old Testament contains a sobering history about two segments of the ancient Jews: the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. Very few of the kings for either kingdom were righteous, nor were the inhabitants. The citizens followed their kings’ choices and sought after pagan rituals, some even participating in infant and human sacrifice.

The Lord (obviously) found these practices revolting. As a result, He used prophets to warn the Israelites and those of the kingdom of Judah to mend their ways. But both groups apparently liked living a lascivious lifestyle, for they continually sought after it.

The Lord waited centuries, patiently giving them chance after chance. Finally, though, He allowed a frightening Assyrian army to sweep in, destroying the one kingdom (the Israelite one) and scatter it; the other kingdom He preserved, due to a rare and righteous king (King Hezekiah for the kingdom of Judah). In fact, those in Judah were spared for quite some time — as long as righteous choices were made.

Unfortunately, Hezekiah died and his son began to rule in wickedness, again setting up pagan places of ceremony and initiating sacrifice again. But wait two generations and the story does become brighter: 8-year-old Josiah becomes king. And for me, Josiah holds instructive keys on how to rule a kingdom (or a household, for that matter).

Josiah did not care about being popular. He cared about what was right. He did not care about deeply established tradition. He cared about God’s laws. As a result, he cast down all pagan places of worship. He did that “which was right in the sight of the Lord,…” (2 Kings 22:2). He also began to clean up the old temple site of the Lord’s. He began to rebuild its walls. He oversaw it being cleaned out. As a result, he came across an ancient book. A book of scripture. THE book of the law as given to Moses. And he read it.

What he found there so troubled him that he called all the people to gather “concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:13).

Discontinuing Bad Traditions

There are several simple principles Josiah teaches us. First, he did not care about tradition when it was a bad tradition. This translates for us today. As parents, we follow in Josiah’s wisdom when we say to our children, “Just because others are doing it does not imply it is wise … or safe.” These kinds of responses provide important principles our children need to hear when they say, “But MOOOOOMMMMMMM, Sally is doing it!” Again, Josiah did not care about tradition when it was a bad “tradition.”

Reconstruct & Strengthen our Spiritual Structures

Second, Josiah took great care to reconstruct the temple of God. Sometimes in our parenting, we may have let some of the “walls” of our spiritual places get run down (i.e. scripture study time, family prayer, personal prayer). But no problem! When we follow Josiah’s example, we simply get busy repairing the breaches and strengthening the walls to these important spiritual structures in our daily lives.

Recognize Blessings

Third, because Josiah took the time to reconstruct the things of God, he received additional blessings and strength. For him, that strength came in finding a long forgotten book, something he could rely on to correct and chasten the people as necessary.

For us as parents, as we increase our connection to the things of God, it will simplify our parenting. We can simply reference the Lord’s ways while teaching our children (of course, this implies we are living those ways ourselves). Thus we can say to an upset child, “Honey, I know you’re angry. But because I love Heavenly Father and trust His wisdom, we really do need to do things this way [referencing whatever the standard is].”

Indeed, because Josiah took time to reconstruct the things of God (i.e. the temple in his day, while for us it might be the standards of God-like living), he received additional strength to face the day (i.e. for him it came in the literal form of finding a book of scripture, but for us it might come in the actual presence of the Spirit to strengthen us as we parent).

Set the Scriptures as Your Standard

Fourth, Josiah used the scriptures as THE standard of behavioral clarification and judgment. We can do this too. And how wonderfully clarifying this is. It simplifies our job as parents. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shared with my kids, “Guys, this is something the Lord has clearly spoken against. I cannot allow this in my home.” Again, Josiah set a great pattern here. He read the scriptures, or the “book of the law,” to his people. As parents we need to set aside time for family scripture study so that law may begin to pervade the hearts of all family members.

Sometimes family life is messy. The way is not easy cleaning up that mess. But learning about the ancient men (and women) in the scriptures can sure be a God-send to those of us facing our own challenges today. I’m so grateful for Josiah and how he was willing to face down dangerous traditions, to reconstruct the places of spirituality, to accept additional blessings, and to use the scriptures as a standard. As we do the same, coupling all actions with prayer, the Lord will help inspire us to help our children by correcting their ways in loving truth and eternal standards.

To learn of additional ways to strengthen your family through Jesus Christ and His ways, visit the “Jesus Christ, The Son of God” website.

This post was originally published in 2008. Minor changes have been made.

Cindy B

Just what does “mercy” mean? If we go to most dictionaries, they will tell us traditional definitions of “mercy.” The explanation would go something like this:

“Mercy means to give kindness when it is not deserved.”

And that definition is indeed an accurate one. But I feel that mercy – at least when we speak of the goodness of God – is so much broader.

Just as a judge has the power to stop a pending punishment or to actually pardon someone for an earthly crime, so too does God have the power to pardon us for greater offenses than even earthly tribunals might consider.

But He only does this because His Son was willing to come and pay for our sins. Jesus Christ was whipped, scourged because we have sinned. He bled and suffered deeper than eternity can tell, in the Garden of Gethsemane, because of our indiscretions. He was nailed to a cross because He loved us enough. He loved us enough to cross the threshold of death and then return, so that we might do the same.

So does a simple definition of “mercy” suffice for me? It can’t come close.

For all the times my God has given me evidence of His divine caring, my heart soars. And yet in the same moment, I am overcome with grief that because of me and my mistakes, His Son suffered.

Yet this was the eternal plan. God would create an earth for us so that we, as His children, could be tested. We would prove that we indeed valued the things of God greater than the dusty things of mortality. But walking here, we (and He) could see that we would make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes would be grave ones, ones called sin because of their serious offensive nature before Him.

It was because of this that there was a need for a Savior to compensate for our shortfalls. This is why the Savior Jesus Christ is so often called the Redeemer of the world.

Christ atoned for us so that we could each have the opportunity to return to our Father in Heaven.

Think of the word “redemption” like this: when you receive a coupon in the mail, you have the option of returning it to a store to “redeem” the item offered. But it is all choice-based. The offer of Jesus Christ to us from God Himself is very similar. The intensely priceless “coupon” of eternal life is given freely to us. It is up to us to decide whether we grasp that coupon and effectuate the offer, or whether we throw it away carelessly.

This is why, when I hear the term “mercy,” for me it is so much greater than a simple act of kindness, like so many assume. For me, the word mercy has such depth it is difficult for me to articulate its meaning. The goodness of God is manifest by the gift of His Son; what an amazing extension of God’s goodness that is!

This post was originally published in January of 2008. Minor changes have been made.

Cindy B

No, seriously. I really did. I was fascinated by the power of words. And at one point when I was in junior high, my quiet goal was to read every word in the dictionary I owned.

I’m here to tell you that I didn’t achieve that far-reaching goal. But I did gain a love of the printed word. And guess where that love has benefitted me the most? That’s right — in my scripture study.

I can’t tell you how many times while reading the scriptures that the Spirit of the Lord will prompt me with a quiet impression to look up the meaning of a word. It usually is a word I’ve just barely read.

Originally, when these subtle thoughts came to mind, I’d respond with, “But I already KNOW that meaning!” (Yes, okay, that’s a bit prideful — I’ll admit it — but at least I’m honest!)

But the Spirit of God can work with anyone if they’re willing to hearken. And eventually I became more amenable and willing. And as I followed the subtle promptings of the Spirit of God, an entirely new and richer world of understanding opened to my mind.

For example, one time I was reading in the scriptures about the Lord desiring a peculiar people. Now, in today’s vernacular it’s not real “cool” to be peculiar. So at first blush, being peculiar didn’t seem desirable. I mused on this and an impression came to my mind to look up the term in the dictionary. So I did.

That’s when I learned the other definitions of the word “peculiar.” To be peculiar means to be uncommon, unusual, and distinctive in character. It also means to belong exclusively to a particular person or thing.

I began to catch a much deeper understanding of why the Lord would have a peculiar people. He desires a people that belong to him and that are uncommon and distinctive in character. This is a good thing. I could now see much better and understand much better what the Lord’s prophet was attempting to teach through his record in the scriptures!

All because I used the dictionary to help me in my scripture study! If you’d like to try it, simply click here to begin your study of the scriptures.

Cindy B

President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

So often as we’re parenting our children, we get hung up on things that don’t last very long and probably aren’t very important – i.e. if our son didn’t scrub under his nails or our daughter doesn’t wash her hair often enough. These are important activities, true. Good personal hygiene is a lovely thing!

But sometimes as parents we become frustrated and angry in ways that aren’t needful. If we’re not careful, one day we might lose the opportunity to correct this. Elder Ballard spoke of his experience when he visited displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. Listen to this:

“Their stories and situations are tragic and poignant in many ways, but in all that I heard, what touched me the most was the crying out for family: ‘Where is my mother?’ ‘I can’t find my son.’ ‘I’ve lost a sister.’ These were hungry, frightened people who had lost everything and needed food, medical attention, and help of all kinds, but what they wanted and needed most was their families” (Elder M. Russell Ballard, “What Matters Most Is What Lasts Longest,” Ensign, Nov. 2005, 41)

I read this and thought of the truthfulness of this thought. One can see this born out at airports, in fact. Suddenly everyone seems to love each other – for in saying goodbye, one often realizes what they will soon be missing.

So as parents, what can we do to correct hasty, angry, sour moments with our children? Here are a few thoughts.

First, we can love more verbally. I have heard it said that a child hears one positive comment for every seventeen negative comments. Perish the thought! No wonder children as they grow often turn to peers to have their needs met. Indeed, as parents we do NOT need to bend our rules. But we do need to love verbally better and more often. We need to catch our kids doing all the good things they do, and express gratitude over it. Why wait until it’s too late?

Second, we can love more physically. Why not spend fifteen minutes tossing a ball back and forth or spending the last few minutes of the day giggling or reading a story together. I’ve heard it said, “The family that laughs together stays together.” And it is true. Families that have fun together seem to weather the storms of life better.

Finally, we can love the Lord more. This is for both individuals and families. When children see parents serving God and reading their scriptures and praying, the children will learn to do the same. The result will be a family that draws closer because they are based on the things of God.

Why wait for a devastation such as Hurricane Katrina to wake us up to the people living in our own homes and how terrific they are? Why wait till saying goodbye at an airport or a funeral to then say nice things to or about each other? Let’s start today making a difference in the hearts and lives of those we love by loving them more verbally, physically, and spiritually.

To read the rest of Elder Ballard’s talk, click on the highlighted text. To learn additional ways to strengthen your family, feel free to visit the Provident Living website. Families will last for a long time – even an eternity – if we just treat them right!

Cindy B

I remember when my husband got laid off from his work. He’d previously been in a very stable position at a leading software company. Just prior to the pending layoffs, he’d been offered a job in a completely different department.

He verified over and over again with department heads and even with a Senior V.P. that if my husband took the job, he would be immune to the pending layoffs.

Over and over again, my husband received promises that if he took the job, he would be immune to the layoffs. My husband took the job because it was a dream of a job and one that would move him in a better career path (or so we thought).

Now mind you, this also came during a difficult time in our lives. Our second child had just passed away. We already were reeling from the shock of that situation. So having a new and apparently better job was a blessing during an otherwise somber time.

Not five weeks after my husband began his new job, he indeed received notice that he was being laid off. If he’d stayed in his old position he would not have received this news (since layoffs at this company were according to seniority in position). But there we were – with my husband laid off and I was expecting our next child. Sigh. Things were about to get really interesting.

My family and I are now more than a decade from those events. We made it through them. I’m grateful for that. What have I learned from them? Those things can happen more suddenly than we expect. And that if we’re prepared, unpleasantries can be softened.

Now often as I’m out and about town, I’m thinking about preparedness issues. I can’t help it. When I’m in the checkout lane and notice 4 lip balm in a pack, I’m thinking, “Oh, that would be a perfect addition to our emergency evac/72-hr kits!”

And no longer do I purchase just one pack of anything. I always buy double when my budget allows it because I know little by little soon becomes a lot. I’ve foregone replacing my Lane rocker with a big tear in the front so that I can continue to build a storage of goods that would sustain my family should grocery stores no longer become accessible for a while.

And that is why I’m now learning to garden. I’m doing it the easy way – with Earthboxes. They are the most incredible thing. Whereas one tomato plant normally might yield maybe 10-20 pounds of tomatoes, a tomato plant gardened in an Earthbox will yield on average 70 pounds of tomatoes per year! Here is a picture of my planting efforts just today…

I may not be able to grow enough food to live off of, but I can at least begin in small ways to increase my family’s self-sufficient ways. I selected some baby lettuce plants, in addition to other plants, and planted them in my Earthboxes.

I’m so excited for the outcome; I’ll keep you posted on their progress. In the meantime, what great things have you been doing to live after a wise preparedness lifestyle? I’d love to hear from you. We’d love to learn from your successes, even your failures, and what you’ve learned from them.

Cindy B

Imagine you’re in ancient Rome.

Your family is wealthy. You have all that you need for a comfortable living, and more. Your slaves attend to your needs and you are free to study and enjoy life.

You have a place of respect and enjoy elegant society gatherings. And when people see you in the streets they show a certain reverence.

Then one day you hear of a Man who had died about 150 years before you were born. He wasn’t just any man. Those who have taught you tell you that He was the Son of God. He was crucified for the sins of the world. And He overcame death by arising three days after being placed in the tomb.

He came to teach you a better way to live. He came to save you from your sins. He is your Redeemer. And His teachings are beautiful. As you learn of Him your heart burns and you feel a love you have never felt before.

Perpetua was a brave early Christian.

You become so convinced that this Jesus of Nazareth was who He said He was, that you desire baptism to follow in His path. Your parents plead with you. They know well of what awaits you in the Roman Empire during this time. You will become one of the dreaded Christians. As such, you will be fed to the wild beasts in a coliseum, tortured, and driven from polite company.

You listen to their pleadings. But your heart knows the truth. It knows that this Man of whom so many belittle really was who He claimed. There is no other way. It is true.

So you make your decision. You and a small group of friends are baptized. And just as promised, you are taken to prison. This forces a separation from you and your newborn child. You begin to pine in prison, knowing that by the moment, your baby grows weaker from not nursing.

The guard has compassion on you. He allows your friends to bring your baby to you for sustenance. But the day arises, the day that you will be brought with your friends to the coliseum to face the wild beasts in front of hundreds, if not thousands, of jeering Romans.

Her regal presence hushed the crowd.

You grip those close to you and make your journey to that place. Finally, you are offered one last time to turn your back on your new found Christianity. You refuse. In fact, you stand side by side with one of your slaves, who is weak from having given birth two days before the pending martyrdom. Your regal presence hushes the crowd, an unusual occurrence, this quiet in a coliseum.

Your last thoughts as the hungry lion and bear are released are . . . ?

This story is summarized from the actual journal, amazingly preserved, of a young Christian follower named Perpetua. She was an aristocrat whose life could have been one of relative ease. But she died for her new found faith in Jesus Christ. She was valiant in her faith, and valiant to the end.

Learning of this woman has deepened my faith tremendously. I cannot imagine the thoughts coursing through her mind as she held her babe one last time. Or her thoughts as she watched her slave girl birth her own baby two days before death by beasts. This small band of Christians refused to renounce their love of the Lord and thus underwent a painful death.

What of me? What am I doing today to live in such a way that I refuse to bow down to society’s gods? For that is what young Perpetua had refused to do. She sacrificed greatly for her faith.

Christians perished at the mouths of lions in the Colosseum.

Am I willing to do the same? Am I willing to at least pick up my scriptures daily to sup from His word, the same word so many in history have died for?

I’m sorry to say that some days I do better than others. But after having read of Perpetua yesterday, I am determined that no day will pass again– through till the end of my life– without my having worshiped the Lord at least through scripture study. If Perpetua could die for the Lord, I can begin certainly to live for Him!

Indeed, some of the best study aids and resources for understanding the scriptures and applying them are by learning from the valiant around us.

Cindy B

Ham radio

Through the ensuing years, the thought of getting my ham operator license would pop the thought would slip away into nothingness.

For years I would have the same re-occurrence. And for years I’d tell myself that there must be a reason the thought of getting my license kept coming back to me. But I’d tell myself how busy I was and that although there must be a good reason the Lord was so persistent in reminding me, I’d have to find time some other day.

Well, this year I joined a local C.E.R.T. team. C.E.R.T. teams will be a preparedness topic for another day on this blog; I can only say briefly here for this post that C.E.R.T. teams are urgently worth looking into. Do a Google search to find a local C.E.R.T team near you and join them. They will teach you better than practically any other institution how to prepare your family and friends for emergencies.

But it was precisely because I joined my local C.E.R.T. team that I once again felt reminded to obtain my ham radio operator’s license. My new C.E.R.T. team only had two “hams” and very much needed more. Sigh. This meant I needed to actually move forward on a decade’s old prompting.

To write it all now embarrasses me. I wish I could say that I was like Nephi of old, who immediately created a second set of plates when asked (even not knowing their purpose). I wish I could say that immediately after feeling prompted the first time that I sought out my ham radio operator’s license. After all, there isn’t an age limit for “hams”. Even as a fourteen-year-old, I could have obtained one. How good that would have felt . . . being that spontaneously obedient.

But flash forward to 2007. I still hadn’t obtained my license, but now needed to because of my C.E.R.T. team’s needs. So I dutifully downloaded information and began studying. Now mind you, I’m the farthest thing from a high-tech kind of gal. I know zilch about megahertz and all the other electronic information needed to pass the entrance level test for “Technician.” But I’m not dumb. I figured that by studying, I would be doing my best.

Well, again, life got busy. One month passed. Then another month began since I’d given my commitment to my C.E.R.T. team. Of course, all of those other “busy” activities were legitimate: church callings, homeschooling, etc. But that did nothing to erase my commitment I’d made to my C.E.R.T. team (and my sincere desire to follow the prompting given years prior).

The first available testing date had already passed by me since my agreement to help out my C.E.R.T. team. Now the second test had sped its way toward me and was that very evening. Yikes! I couldn’t go another month, it felt, without at least trying. I frantically printed out study materials and started cramming as quickly as I could in the few hours I had remaining till the test.

I crammed and crammed and crammed. Some things I understood; other things were laughable in their technological terms – I didn’t understand anything. But I was going to do my best!

I showed up that evening (dragging my husband along with me – the good sport had said he’d go win the test with me). The test proctors passed out pencils, answer sheets, and the actual test. The first question frightened me. The next question did too. Ouch. These questions were tough! I had no idea as to how to answer them. “Oh, well,” I thought, “I’ll just do my best. If I have to come back next month, so be it, to take it again.”

I struggled through the questions for three of the nearly ten pages of multiple choice questions. On the third page, there right in front of me, was a question requiring the mathematical equation we were supposed to have memorized, to then apply to the test problems. But some previous person had scribbled the equation on the page, with all the final, mathematical results. The person’s handwriting looked assured and even correct.

The choice was clear – I really wanted to pass this test. It would mean I’d completed an obligation the spirit had laid upon me years before.

But then again . . .

I raised my hand. There was only one thing to do. “Excuse me?” One of the proctors looked up. “This test is written on.” I knew in my heart that even if I flunked the test, I was NOT going to cheat.

The man came over. He vigorously scrubbed at the pencil marks, attempting to erase them into oblivion. Then a thought came to him. He began to flip through the rest of the pages. Sure enough, there were more calculations. He closed the test packet, took it with him, and walked toward the front of the room.

In my heart, I knew that if I’d not said anything the possibility existed that I could have passed that test. But in my soul, I knew that I’d done the right thing. There was always next month and by studying harder, I could probably pass the test then. I sighed and sunk a bit in my chair because I really had wanted the test behind me.

The man soon returned with a new test booklet in his hand. He laid it on the table in front of me. I breathed in deeply and began again.

To my astonishment, these questions were so much easier! And that was when I understood – that in being honest, what I’d really done was to trade in a much harder test packet for a simpler set of questions. I blazed through the packet; sure enough, the 35 questions (from a pool of 350+ possible test questions) were simple, straightforward and “coincidentally” only required one math calculation!

The end result? I passed the test – with only four incorrect answers. I’d gotten one of the best scores in the room! The Lord had blessed me in my honesty.

I walked out of that room that evening with warmth in my heart. Now I had not only become a ham radio operator, but I also had become closer to my God because of the honesty I’d chosen. Now that’s a feeling of preparedness. Why? When we’re prepared in honesty, we will much better be able to face all things.

So as you make your emergency preparations today, tomorrow and the next week make sure to include honesty. The Lord will bless you and smooth your way by so doing. If I’d NOT been honest, chances are I would have walked out of that testing site not only having flunked the test for ham radio operators but having flunked the test for daughters of God!

Now, I can say like Nephi that I have gone and done what was required of me. I’ve obtained my ham radio license, as prompted so long ago. I wished I’d been more quickly obedient like Nephi, but at least it is done. Whether I will use the ham radio license physically in this life does not matter; the point is I at least used the radio signal of honesty – a beacon I hope that reached to heaven.

Cindy B