First Experience at the Cannery!

It's difficult to see, but at the end of the aisle is a picture of Christ! I love that!

I went and worked my first shift at the church cannery today. WOW... I had a feeling I’d enjoy myself, I just never knew how much! I highly encourage anyone to sign up when your ward or stake is assigned. When I arrived, I had a few butterflies in my belly. Isn’t that silly? I just didn’t know what to expect and wondered if I would do everything okay. I found out that someone else was there from my ward and it was her first time too! We ended up working together for the shift and if I do say so myself, we made a great team! I have to say, there was definitely a spiritual feeling as we worked together to can a very large order of food. My testimony of food storage and preparedness was strengthened quite a bit today. This program is definitely divinely inspired! We canned pinto beans, black beans, sugar, rice, flour, carrots, potato flakes, apple slices, oats, milk, hot cocoa mix, fruit drink mix, refried beans, wheat, macaroni, and spaghetti! It took us about 3-1/2 hours to do it all but admittedly, the time FLEW. I was shocked to see how much time had gone by after we were done. We had such a good time! Other than the sister from my ward, I didn’t know anyone else there, but it was fun talking to other people and getting to know others in our stake. I will definitely be going back!

I learned some interesting truths today:

Labels are important. One sister spoke of a time when she gave her son a can of beef stew to try out. He later reported to her that when he opened it, he was surprised to find raspberry jam instead! Oops!

If you can fruit drink mix, don’t be alarmed when you later blow your nose and find orange boogies. Just sayin’...

The apple slices are, as my husband put it, the elixir of life! Everyone in my family loves them... including the dog! It was my first time trying them. Mike wants me to go back and get a case. I think I will!

You still need to sort your beans. Try as we might, we could not get rid of all the rocks!

To end on a serious note... if you have a chance to go, DO IT! For so long, I couldn’t go because I either had small children at home or else it was on a night I had to work. I’m glad I’m able to make it work now! I definitely have a testimony of this program and all of the good that comes from it for people worldwide!