We are a month away from Christmas. A good stocking stuffer would be a 1 L water bottle to go along with a preparedness theme. Some people advocate a metal water bottle so that you can boil the water to kill any bugs. This makes good sense. On the other hand some advocate for plastic water bottles as they are lighter. Either was is OK with me as it is YOUR choice. I carry a military canteen with a metal canteen cup for boiling water, cooking, eating and drinking from. I also carry 2 plastic water bottles.

As long as you can disinfect the water and carry enough to take care of your needs, it is up to you.

The following is from a talk at church the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. It does tie into mental and physical health and well being. Years ago I recall being told that attitude was EVERYTHING and I in turn told people that I was supervising the same thing. A positive attitude and hard work had more baring on success than any other quality.
Here is hoping that you and yours have a safe and happy Thanksgiving week. RBO

Gratitude

When I was given this assignment my response was something like ‘oh, this is going to be a hard one’. The response was basically that this should be easy as there was SOOooo… much written about it. – yes there sure is BUT the hard part would be condensing it down to ONLY 10 minutes because we have many things to be grateful for. ;]
This is not the direction I had planned to go at first.

I am grateful for every one of you here today and I hope and pray that you too are grateful most importantly for the people in your lives too.

Define gratitude

*** Gratitude means thankfulness, counting your blessings, noticing simple pleasures, and acknowledging everything that you receive. It means learning to live your life as if everything were a miracle, and being aware on a continuous basis of how much you’ve been given. Gratitude shifts your focus from what your life lacks to the abundance that is already present. In addition, behavioral and psychological research has shown the surprising life improvements that can stem from the practice of gratitude. Giving thanks makes people happier and more resilient, it strengthens relationships, it improves health, and it reduces stress. **

Health issues related to being grateful. As most of you know, JJ and I are both nurses. We both did critical care. Studies show that people with a grateful attitude tend to heal -both physically and mentally – better and faster than the average.
In double blind studies [this is where neither the patient nor the care giver knows if the medication, treatment or therapy is real V a placebo = sugar pill] people in ICU who are prayed for spend less time in intensive care.

Generally all of us are grateful for the happy stuff in our lives – the job promotions, the planned pregnancy and the miracle of birth — even if it is via an unplanned C-section– of which JJ and I have been involved in several TNTC ;]
BUT
The things which tend to build our testimonies the most are things that try us the most; similar to how a tree grows a stronger root system from the wind blowing on it with some gusts of much stronger winds even tempests.

Hard as it may seem, we are better off working on an attitude of gratitude EVEN when we are tried.

*** D & C 122:7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

And

Luke 9:24 whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

*** keep this in mind.

Some fairly recent examples both far and near come to mind;

The recent shootings at the college in Oregon where the shooter asked his victims if they were Christian. The ones who said no or just did not answer he shot in the leg. The ones who said that they were in deed Christian he killed. The first Christian he killed was most likely NOT as scared as the kids after that who STILL stood tall and proclaimed their faith.

November 13th [last week FRIDAY the 13th] we all know about the attacks on Paris France where terrorists killed 130 people in one of the several places they struck.

More recently and very close to home, most of us have heard about Brother Xxxxxxx in Yyyyyy . 31 years old who died in a car accident a week ago. It IS comforting to KNOW that heavenly father called him to other duties.

I was watching a news feed where this young man in the Middle East was going to be hung as a Christian because he would not convert to Islam. With the rope around his neck and smiling he proclaimed the Gospel to the end.
In closing I am grateful for our Bishopric and other leaders in our Ward, Stake and on up. I am grateful for JJ, our daughter & grandkids as well as each and every one of you and the other fine examples in my life.
In the name of Jesus Christ AMEN
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