Bishop's Challenge: Days 3-8

The "Bishop's Challenge" has been a wonderful experience for our family. We have learned many things. Theresia writes:


We have learned that when you "can't" go to the store, more people are suddenly concerned about what we are going to eat. We have plenty of supplies, yet had a hard time some days coming up with menu ideas because our mouths wanted something and we couldn't make it our eat it (fresh fruit!!- can't wait for Monday). We realized that if this was long term, we would need to have a family meeting to 'plan' what would be eaten for meals/snacks for a week or so at a time. This would help ensure someone didn't eat something that was reserved for a later meal.



Jeff observed that: The week went pretty smoothly and I did learn somethings about myself and our preparedness.

• The milk lasted longer than I thought it would. At the beginning of the challenge we had about a gallon and a quarter. By Friday night we still had 3/4 of a gallon. Part of that was because we cut down on milk usage (mainly just drinking), another part was that we 'extended' what we had by 'cutting' it with powdered milk, and, Theresia tells me, the kids decided to eat their breakfast cereal dry and not use the 'cut' milk. Personally, I thought the 'cut' worked just fine with my Cocoa Krispies; I didn't even notice a difference!


• We didn't have many leftovers in our refrigerator. This was actually getting to be a problem the last few months. The refrigerator was filling us with left overs, and we would still make or buy new 'stuff'. This past week however, we were using more of what was in the refrigerator - I suppose, making better use of what we have - and what few leftovers we created this week, we had plenty of room for in the refrigerator.


• I was glad that we were as prepared as we were. We were actually gone to Utah the week before the 'Bishop's Challenge.' We returned home Friday night, Theresia did a little grocery shopping on Saturday, and then we received the challenge on Sunday. Since we try to make a habit of keeping a fair amount of the staples on hand (milk, potatoes, etc. besides the regular, flour, sugar, etc.) We were able to make it through the week without 'suffering.'

In summary, as a family, we thought we did well. The experience made us more aware of what more we can do to prepare for an emergency and how well we might handle it.