Storing Water for Your Family
By C.S. Bezas

Last week we offered a Family Home Evening lesson to help your children understand emergency preparedness and why it's so important. Here also is an additional FHE lesson on swiftly putting together a 72-hour kit; the approach is zany and fun for the kids.

But what about more gritty matters? What if your children were separated from you during a traumatic event? Would they know they need drinking water within three to five days or they might die? This week's FHE lesson will empower your kids and help them to make a difference in storing life-giving water for your family.

(If your family is already prepared in this category, why not friendship your neighbors and invite them to your FHE? The more your neighbors are prepared, the better for them — and for you. This way your family stands protected, rather than worrying about raging mobs in the neighborhood during dire times!)

Time for some FHE Fun!

FHE Fun

Opening Song: #93 Prayer of Thanksgiving

Opening Prayer: By invitation.

Devotional: Perhaps this week you could ask family members to share of a time the Holy Ghost helped them during difficulty. Allow for spontaneous sharing of testimony, a favorite scripture, etc. Although the devotional time is a few short minutes, the thoughts shared can be powerful and can bring the Spirit in a sweet tone for the rest of FHE.

Lesson:

Items needed:   

• whiteboard & markers (if available, otherwise paper & pen)
• pack of chewing gum or package of gold stars

To begin the lesson, read Elder L. Tom Perry's words from the following quote. Ask for a volunteer to explain what Elder Perry's concern is for the members of the Church:

Acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life ... As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a year's supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness" ("If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear," Ensign, Nov 1995, 36).

• Allow the volunteer to put in their own words Elder Perry's big concern.
• Ask the family to brainstorm what needs to be stored to keep a family alive if the grocery stores stopped receiving food. Ask for another volunteer to be "scribe" and to write the family's ideas on the board (or piece of paper).
• Without notice or explanation, ask the family what their plans are for this coming Saturday. Then write one word on the board: water (or if already there, circle it). Explain that without water, everyone in the family will be dead by Saturday, unable to carry out those plans. Simply explain, "Our bodies need drinkable water to survive. In five days’ time without water, we die."
• Explain you will now have a scavenger hunt for as many items as possible to store water. Explain the children have five minutes to find those items. For every item found, the child receives one stick of gum or a gold star. On your marks, get set, go!

Once the five minutes is up, have everyone gather in the kitchen to either demonstrate their found items or at least list possible water storage units. Explain that sometimes cities lose their ability to provide water. But even if that happened, it won't be a problem for the family, because your family is going to be ready.

Fill up a pitcher of water and give each person one glass to drink. Ask how long that one pitcher of water would last for the whole family? Have a quick math-scramble to see how many pitchers of water each person would need stored to keep them alive for five days (at eight glasses of water/day)? Amplify that amount by the number of individuals in the family. Does the family have enough water stored right now stored to keep them alive until Saturday? What about beyond Saturday? If not, ask what each one can do to change that.

Applaud their answers. Remind them that sometimes preparing for emergencies requires sacrifice: sacrifice of time actually storing the water and sacrifice of money sometimes to buy water storage containers. But sacrifice brings blessings, peace, and safety! Elder Perry continues:

Activity:

Set a goal as a family that by Saturday, you will have ____ gallons of water actually stored for your family. Ensure that every person knows where the water is stored and how to access it (i.e. 55-gallon barrels require special siphons to get to the water. Make sure the kids know how to use those if you have this kind of water storage container.) Here is a link to appropriate water storage containers.

Let the kids know that next week's FHE lesson will be a crazy Einstein "lab" on purifying water from streams or other places if they still needed more water. But until then, applaud their aid in helping the family store water both tonight and during the coming week.

Closing Song: #237 Do What Is Right

Closing Prayer: By invitation.

Refreshments: Frozen popsicles. Remind the kids that the popsicles are made of water. While slurping on the delicious treats, brainstorm as a family as many items as possible that use water for food or for drink.

Summary

May your family enjoy this time together, even as you prepare for unpleasant contingencies. We pray emergencies never come, but if they do, your family will be prepared as you follow through. Nothing can bring peace more to the heart of a parent than knowing their children are skilled in taking care of emergencies — even if the parent is not home.

We can live a few weeks without food; we can only live a number of day without water. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "The Lord will not translate one's good hopes and desires and intentions into works. Each of us must do that for himself" (The Miracle of Forgiveness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969, p 8).

For additional information on the importance of storing water, visit the Provident Living website. And here is the link to read Elder L. Tom Perry's talk, "If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear," in its entirety.

C.S. Bezas' book has been described as perfect for youth leaders and parents of teens. Powerful Tips for Powerful Teachers: Helping Youth Find Their Spiritual Wings is available in LDS bookstores and by clicking here.