Saturday August 25, '12. We had the privilege of attending the Emergency Preparedness Fair in Arkansas. This is a huge occasion that has been held for several years in the Stake building of Church of Jesus Christ in Bentonville, Arkansas. There were many booths inside the building plus the parking lot was full of more. We manned the booth that represented LDS Family Services. This is the first time anyone has addressed the issue of social and emotional challenges that happen in an emergency and how to handle them.
Here is a picture
of the invitation:
There were over 5,000 people who attended this event. We got there about 8am which gave us time to set our booth up. It was done in time for the doors to open at 9 am. The very first couple that walked up to our booth said, "We want your book."........
I was wondering what book we had about emergency, so I responded with, "a book?
He replied, "Ya, you know, that book that you have."
I said, "Are you talking about the Book of Mormon?"
He excitedly replied, " yes, that is the one"
Sadly, I had to reply that we didn't have one because we were not allowed to do any proselyting at the fair but I told him that the missionaries were around and if he saw any to ask them.
I got his name, address and phone number to get one for him if he didn't find the missionaries.
Later when the missionaries came by they said he found them and they got a book from their car for him, but they forgot to get his number, so I had that for them. Yahoo!!! what a great way to start a day!!
I intend to follow up later with the missionaries to see how the gentleman and his wife are doing.
Below is a picture of the booth we had
Below is the graph that was on the table in the picture. It shows the range of emotions before, during and after an emergency/disaster.
Some people that came thru saw the picture in the Ensign of the destruction of the tornado in Joplin, Missouri last year and stopped to tell about helping with the cleanup. It was extremely meaningful for them to be able to help One man said he would have loved to come back because he got such a rewarding feeling to be able to help. Here is a link to Emily's story as a first responder to disasters. She was there in Joplin within 6 hours of when it hit. It is an incredible story
I have to share a picture of the land that we travel thru. Even though they have been in a drought for about
l 1/2 years, it is mostly flat with rolling hills that are green with beautiful trees. It amazes me that that the sides of the road are quite wide and always mowed. It is beautiful and it super amazes me that when i walk out side I feel like I am in a hot sauna. When we arrived here it was around 113 degrees. today it is l03, but the moisture in the air is keeping my skin soft and clear. The moisture doesn't get below 30% and somedays is 85% after a rain.
1 comment:
What a beautiful area you guys are in!
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