The canneries are also referred to as Home Storage Centers. I have to say up front, I have heard that different canneries may differ in policy regarding non-Mormons using their facilities, but I had the most wonderful experience in Reno with the good people of their cannery. God bless them for welcoming me with open arms.

Let me explain briefly the “summer vacation” comment. My husband and I were planning to build a home on some property nearby, had sold our big city home and moved to the Reno area. Then we found out the neighbor was a major liability and for other reasons as well thought perhaps we had not chosen so well for a retreat in the mountains. After spending the summer trying to make an impossible situation work, we decided to move on and put the property up for sale. I have always believed in the “Invisible Hand” as George Washington called it, (thanks, Glenn Beck) and our temporary misery had a purpose: to move us on to where we have a better retreat and to give us the time and resources to build our food stores. My connection with the Mormons was a beautiful light this summer when everything else felt so rotten and disappointing.