Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- THANKS KAREN M!
Front or top load machine-
4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
(about .03 cents per load)
Powdered Laundry Detergent- Top load machine
(this is the same amount of ingredients as the recipe above but only makes enough for 40 loads - it is easier to store but not as cost effective as the liquid)
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)
(about .10 cents per load)
Saturday, May 30, 2009
'Hard times' can forge faith
Pictures can be seen at the Church's web site, follow the link in the title of this article
Church News
'Hard times' can forge faith
By Jason Swensen
Church News staff writer
Published: Saturday, May 30, 2009
Stanley Steadman remembers a day decades ago when he knelt in family prayer with his parents and brothers. Such entreaties doubled as daily lifesavers for the Steadmans, who — likes tens of thousands of other families — were enduring the frigid days of the Great Depression.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Daniel and Enid Faust of Taylorsville, Utah, were children during the Great Depression. Despite the economic hardships of the time, members such as the Fausts found spiritual support through faith, prayer and looking out for one another. Such support can be found amid today's economic struggles.
Jeffrey D. Allred
Elder Glen L. Rudd stands outside the Welfare Square silo in Salt Lake City. Elder Rudd is a lifelong witness of the blessings found in the Church's welfare program.
Midway through that prayer, a plaster light fixture broke loose from the living room ceiling, fell to the ground and shattered. Shaken by the unnerving crash, Stanley's brother looked up from his prayer and asked his parents if he should continue.
Yes, they said. Keep praying.
That event seems an apt symbol of the faithful members of that time. Despite the terrible economic crash that occurred as suddenly as that falling light fixture, devout LDS families kept focused on God and endured, day-to-day.
Deseret News Archives
President George Albert Smith, right, Elder Marion G. Romney, left, Elder Harold B. Lee, back left, and Stewart B. Eccles inspect bishops' storehouse in 1946.
For more than a year, a severe global 21st century economic recession has left many shaken and troubled. Comparisons to the U.S. Great Depression that began in 1929 and stretched through an entire decade have become common fodder for news stories. So as financial analysts eye the volatile markets and uncertain job outlooks, Church members once again look for divine comfort and spiritual supplication.
For most, the Great Depression is an unsettling chapter from the history books. But for a small percentage of "veteran" members such as Brother Steadman, those tough times exist in easily conjured memories. Many say the spiritual support that sustained members during the Depression remains available to rank-and-file members today. The lessons they learned then can help others today.
Elder Glen L. Rudd, an emeritus Seventy, knows the story of the Church and the Great Depression perhaps as well as anyone alive. As a young man, he watched desperate workers in his father's poultry business sit down to a lunchpail meal of potato peels. As a priesthood and Church welfare leader, he remembers a time in the Salt Lake Valley in the early 1930s when more than half of the wage earners in the Church were unemployed, including many local priesthood leaders.
"Unemployment destroys a man," Elder Rudd told the Church News. "It tears your guts out if you can't buy food for your own family."
During the Great Depression, the Church inoculated unemployed members from the "curse of idleness" by developing a welfare system anchored in priesthood solutions. Working under the direction of general Church leadership, stake presidents and bishops dispatched unemployed men to work in nearby fields to harvest crops. The produce from those harvests was then shipped to local Church storehouses and canneries to be distributed to hungry members. By staying busy and eschewing idleness, unemployed workers re-discovered their dignity, he said. They felt ownership in providing for their families.
Deseret News Archives
Welfare workers enlisted horse-drawn wagons and plenty of muscle to harvest sugar beets.
The curse of idleness exists today — and members who find themselves without a job may be especially vulnerable. Elder Rudd said men and women overcame the burdens of the Great Depression and remained spiritually strong by staying busy, following the counsel of their priesthood leaders and by never, never giving up.
"All great [men and women] have the ability to keep fighting, to keep plugging away," said Elder Rudd, who will soon mark his 91st birthday and is, yes, still working.
Daniel and Enid Faust are self-described "Depression Babies" who said today's members can realize the caring spirit that defined LDS families and units during the Great Depression.
"Hard times will prove us as a faith," said Brother Faust, who was raised in a Depression-era family that included his late brother, President James E. Faust of the First Presidency.
Deseret News Archives
A team of priesthood holders cuts wood at a work project in the Salt Lake Granite Stake wood yard in 1931.
The Fausts said diligent members remained focused on the dependable force of family and the gospel during the Depression years of frightening instability. Neighbors and fellow ward members looked out for one another. Folks often didn't have the money to be out and about, so they passed their time at home with family. It sounds restrictive, but many were offered a moment of Zion as they found strength through a unified gospel community.
"People were happy," Brother Faust said. "We didn't have much for Christmas, but you had your family. We had family home evening and made music together. One person would play the piano and another would play the violin."
Brother Steadman said his Taylorsville, Utah, community endured tough times by finding joy in simple, spiritual endeavors. "The Church was the key that held it together. It provided spiritual and temporal activities."
The Steadmans were also a musical family. So the brothers were often called upon to perform at ward reunions and parties. Sometimes someone would pass around a hat to reward the boys for their efforts. Brother Steadman's cut was once 40 cents. "That was real money," he said with a smile.
Still, those community activities provided rich respite from the frigid circumstances found outside the warmth of the Taylorsville Ward chapel.
Elder Rudd said the need to care for one another continues today. Some economists may not be labeling the current financial crisis a "depression" — but the sting is felt just the same when an individual is out of work or facing money woes.
"If there are 10 people in a ward out of work, that is just as real as 1,000 out of work people in a community," he added.
Ultimately, Brother Faust said, Church members survived the Great Depression by involving the Lord in their lives. It's a tactic that still works.
"If you have a testimony and you believe in God, you will find out He will help you."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
Church News
'Hard times' can forge faith
By Jason Swensen
Church News staff writer
Published: Saturday, May 30, 2009
Stanley Steadman remembers a day decades ago when he knelt in family prayer with his parents and brothers. Such entreaties doubled as daily lifesavers for the Steadmans, who — likes tens of thousands of other families — were enduring the frigid days of the Great Depression.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Daniel and Enid Faust of Taylorsville, Utah, were children during the Great Depression. Despite the economic hardships of the time, members such as the Fausts found spiritual support through faith, prayer and looking out for one another. Such support can be found amid today's economic struggles.
Jeffrey D. Allred
Elder Glen L. Rudd stands outside the Welfare Square silo in Salt Lake City. Elder Rudd is a lifelong witness of the blessings found in the Church's welfare program.
Midway through that prayer, a plaster light fixture broke loose from the living room ceiling, fell to the ground and shattered. Shaken by the unnerving crash, Stanley's brother looked up from his prayer and asked his parents if he should continue.
Yes, they said. Keep praying.
That event seems an apt symbol of the faithful members of that time. Despite the terrible economic crash that occurred as suddenly as that falling light fixture, devout LDS families kept focused on God and endured, day-to-day.
Deseret News Archives
President George Albert Smith, right, Elder Marion G. Romney, left, Elder Harold B. Lee, back left, and Stewart B. Eccles inspect bishops' storehouse in 1946.
For more than a year, a severe global 21st century economic recession has left many shaken and troubled. Comparisons to the U.S. Great Depression that began in 1929 and stretched through an entire decade have become common fodder for news stories. So as financial analysts eye the volatile markets and uncertain job outlooks, Church members once again look for divine comfort and spiritual supplication.
For most, the Great Depression is an unsettling chapter from the history books. But for a small percentage of "veteran" members such as Brother Steadman, those tough times exist in easily conjured memories. Many say the spiritual support that sustained members during the Depression remains available to rank-and-file members today. The lessons they learned then can help others today.
Elder Glen L. Rudd, an emeritus Seventy, knows the story of the Church and the Great Depression perhaps as well as anyone alive. As a young man, he watched desperate workers in his father's poultry business sit down to a lunchpail meal of potato peels. As a priesthood and Church welfare leader, he remembers a time in the Salt Lake Valley in the early 1930s when more than half of the wage earners in the Church were unemployed, including many local priesthood leaders.
"Unemployment destroys a man," Elder Rudd told the Church News. "It tears your guts out if you can't buy food for your own family."
During the Great Depression, the Church inoculated unemployed members from the "curse of idleness" by developing a welfare system anchored in priesthood solutions. Working under the direction of general Church leadership, stake presidents and bishops dispatched unemployed men to work in nearby fields to harvest crops. The produce from those harvests was then shipped to local Church storehouses and canneries to be distributed to hungry members. By staying busy and eschewing idleness, unemployed workers re-discovered their dignity, he said. They felt ownership in providing for their families.
Deseret News Archives
Welfare workers enlisted horse-drawn wagons and plenty of muscle to harvest sugar beets.
The curse of idleness exists today — and members who find themselves without a job may be especially vulnerable. Elder Rudd said men and women overcame the burdens of the Great Depression and remained spiritually strong by staying busy, following the counsel of their priesthood leaders and by never, never giving up.
"All great [men and women] have the ability to keep fighting, to keep plugging away," said Elder Rudd, who will soon mark his 91st birthday and is, yes, still working.
Daniel and Enid Faust are self-described "Depression Babies" who said today's members can realize the caring spirit that defined LDS families and units during the Great Depression.
"Hard times will prove us as a faith," said Brother Faust, who was raised in a Depression-era family that included his late brother, President James E. Faust of the First Presidency.
Deseret News Archives
A team of priesthood holders cuts wood at a work project in the Salt Lake Granite Stake wood yard in 1931.
The Fausts said diligent members remained focused on the dependable force of family and the gospel during the Depression years of frightening instability. Neighbors and fellow ward members looked out for one another. Folks often didn't have the money to be out and about, so they passed their time at home with family. It sounds restrictive, but many were offered a moment of Zion as they found strength through a unified gospel community.
"People were happy," Brother Faust said. "We didn't have much for Christmas, but you had your family. We had family home evening and made music together. One person would play the piano and another would play the violin."
Brother Steadman said his Taylorsville, Utah, community endured tough times by finding joy in simple, spiritual endeavors. "The Church was the key that held it together. It provided spiritual and temporal activities."
The Steadmans were also a musical family. So the brothers were often called upon to perform at ward reunions and parties. Sometimes someone would pass around a hat to reward the boys for their efforts. Brother Steadman's cut was once 40 cents. "That was real money," he said with a smile.
Still, those community activities provided rich respite from the frigid circumstances found outside the warmth of the Taylorsville Ward chapel.
Elder Rudd said the need to care for one another continues today. Some economists may not be labeling the current financial crisis a "depression" — but the sting is felt just the same when an individual is out of work or facing money woes.
"If there are 10 people in a ward out of work, that is just as real as 1,000 out of work people in a community," he added.
Ultimately, Brother Faust said, Church members survived the Great Depression by involving the Lord in their lives. It's a tactic that still works.
"If you have a testimony and you believe in God, you will find out He will help you."
© 2009 Deseret News Publishing Company
Monday, May 25, 2009
Welfare: Self-reliance isn't selfish (2 of 4)
Welfare: Self-reliance isn't selfish
By Michael De Groote
Mormon Times
Published: 2009-05-25 00:22:03
Second in a four-part series on church welfare.
Being self-reliant isn't just about taking care of yourself. According to Dennis R. Lifferth, managing director of welfare services for the LDS Church, it's the first step to helping others.
"The last thing we want to convey is that this is a self-serving principle," Lifferth said. "It's not. It is an outward serving principle. We become self-reliant so we can take care of ourselves, our family and others. That is the purpose and the reason.
"We want people to have the ability and the willingness to set their own course and solve their own problems. And once they are self-reliant, they are more able, better able, to care for others -- those who are in need. And this is all done under the inspiration of the Lord, helping them, guiding them."
Self-reliance is not exclusively Mormon. Lifferth has seen this principle -- helping people help themselves -- at the center of almost every institution and humanitarian organization.
"Most agencies will have two or three objectives," he said. "And the first will be to relieve suffering for those that simply need support to sustain life. But the more lasting purpose is to help people help themselves."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an organization that makes it easier to become self-reliant, according to Lifferth. It includes families, quorums, bishops and other entities that help not just in the short term, but for the long run.
Being self-reliant means that people set their own course and solve their own problems. Once they do this, they can help others get on their feet.
"The first thing we should remember," Lifferth said, "in addition to following the words of the prophet, is to pay our tithing and our offerings with the faith that Heavenly Father will inspire us and bless us in our efforts to care for our families and to care for others."
To truly be a servant to others, Lifferth said we must have some discretionary time and the ability to serve others. This means we have a responsibility to be educated, have our own food storage, put our financial affairs in order and be employed.
Self-reliance consists of many dimensions, according to Lifferth. They include education, health, spiritual strength, finances and home storage.
"But the one that is the most striking is unemployment -- which is facing a lot of wards throughout the world, especially here in the United States," he said. "And so, of all of our needs, we are placing a great focus on this question of employment."
By Michael De Groote
Mormon Times
Published: 2009-05-25 00:22:03
Second in a four-part series on church welfare.
Being self-reliant isn't just about taking care of yourself. According to Dennis R. Lifferth, managing director of welfare services for the LDS Church, it's the first step to helping others.
"The last thing we want to convey is that this is a self-serving principle," Lifferth said. "It's not. It is an outward serving principle. We become self-reliant so we can take care of ourselves, our family and others. That is the purpose and the reason.
"We want people to have the ability and the willingness to set their own course and solve their own problems. And once they are self-reliant, they are more able, better able, to care for others -- those who are in need. And this is all done under the inspiration of the Lord, helping them, guiding them."
Self-reliance is not exclusively Mormon. Lifferth has seen this principle -- helping people help themselves -- at the center of almost every institution and humanitarian organization.
"Most agencies will have two or three objectives," he said. "And the first will be to relieve suffering for those that simply need support to sustain life. But the more lasting purpose is to help people help themselves."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an organization that makes it easier to become self-reliant, according to Lifferth. It includes families, quorums, bishops and other entities that help not just in the short term, but for the long run.
Being self-reliant means that people set their own course and solve their own problems. Once they do this, they can help others get on their feet.
"The first thing we should remember," Lifferth said, "in addition to following the words of the prophet, is to pay our tithing and our offerings with the faith that Heavenly Father will inspire us and bless us in our efforts to care for our families and to care for others."
To truly be a servant to others, Lifferth said we must have some discretionary time and the ability to serve others. This means we have a responsibility to be educated, have our own food storage, put our financial affairs in order and be employed.
Self-reliance consists of many dimensions, according to Lifferth. They include education, health, spiritual strength, finances and home storage.
"But the one that is the most striking is unemployment -- which is facing a lot of wards throughout the world, especially here in the United States," he said. "And so, of all of our needs, we are placing a great focus on this question of employment."
Welfare: helping the bishops (1 of 4)
Welfare: helping the bishops
By Michael De Groote
Mormon Times
Published: 2009-05-18 00:21:46
First in a four-part weekly series on church welfare.
The economic downturn weighed heavily on the minds of members of the General Welfare Committee of the LDS Church at a meeting about a year ago. Dennis R. Lifferth, managing director of Welfare Services for the church, remembered the meeting that included the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, seven presidents of the Seventy, Presiding Bishopric and Relief Society general presidency.
The brethren were particularly concerned about the bishops of the church, said Lifferth in a recent interview. They discussed how bishops have the divine responsibility to care for the poor -- but because they are called and released every few years there is a large turnover. How could the church make sure the Mormon bishops knew the foundation principles of welfare so they could make good decisions?
The welfare department began working on "Providing in the Lord’s Way: A Leader's Guide to Welfare." According to Lifferth, the guide and its summary booklet were meant to summarize the basic principles of welfare in such a clear, straightforward way that there would be no misunderstanding. The hope was that the guide’s principles would be "a real blessing for these bishops as they face the increasing problems that we are facing in the world."
About six months later, work began on a presentation pamphlet and video titled "Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-reliance." The presentation featured several welfare topics using talks by Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve; Sister Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president; Presiding Bishop H. David Burton; and President Thomas S. Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The English versions of the "Leader’s Guide" and the "Basic Principles" presentation were sent out worldwide on Feb. 22. "Basic Principles" was translated into 16 languages, while the "Leader’s Guide" was translated into 28 languages. More translations are planned.
"This is going to go around the world," Lifferth said.
The reach of the video presentation and booklet was about the same as a worldwide leadership training meeting -- except the welfare presentation was mailed instead of broadcast.
The "Leader’s Guide" summary booklet is available online. The "Basic Principles" DVD presentation and the "Leader’s Guide" summary booklet are also available at no cost from Church Distribution, but must be ordered by a Mormon stake, ward, mission or branch.
Lifferth said both the guide and the presentation focus on the most important welfare principle: "That is self-reliance and the principles that guide and help people to become self-reliant."
By Michael De Groote
Mormon Times
Published: 2009-05-18 00:21:46
First in a four-part weekly series on church welfare.
The economic downturn weighed heavily on the minds of members of the General Welfare Committee of the LDS Church at a meeting about a year ago. Dennis R. Lifferth, managing director of Welfare Services for the church, remembered the meeting that included the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, seven presidents of the Seventy, Presiding Bishopric and Relief Society general presidency.
The brethren were particularly concerned about the bishops of the church, said Lifferth in a recent interview. They discussed how bishops have the divine responsibility to care for the poor -- but because they are called and released every few years there is a large turnover. How could the church make sure the Mormon bishops knew the foundation principles of welfare so they could make good decisions?
The welfare department began working on "Providing in the Lord’s Way: A Leader's Guide to Welfare." According to Lifferth, the guide and its summary booklet were meant to summarize the basic principles of welfare in such a clear, straightforward way that there would be no misunderstanding. The hope was that the guide’s principles would be "a real blessing for these bishops as they face the increasing problems that we are facing in the world."
About six months later, work began on a presentation pamphlet and video titled "Basic Principles of Welfare and Self-reliance." The presentation featured several welfare topics using talks by Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve; Sister Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president; Presiding Bishop H. David Burton; and President Thomas S. Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The English versions of the "Leader’s Guide" and the "Basic Principles" presentation were sent out worldwide on Feb. 22. "Basic Principles" was translated into 16 languages, while the "Leader’s Guide" was translated into 28 languages. More translations are planned.
"This is going to go around the world," Lifferth said.
The reach of the video presentation and booklet was about the same as a worldwide leadership training meeting -- except the welfare presentation was mailed instead of broadcast.
The "Leader’s Guide" summary booklet is available online. The "Basic Principles" DVD presentation and the "Leader’s Guide" summary booklet are also available at no cost from Church Distribution, but must be ordered by a Mormon stake, ward, mission or branch.
Lifferth said both the guide and the presentation focus on the most important welfare principle: "That is self-reliance and the principles that guide and help people to become self-reliant."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
