Alma 49:27–50:1

… Moroni had kept the commandments of God in preparing for the safety of his people … And now it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations … to defend his people…. ¹

D&C 6:34, 36

Fear not little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. . .Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. ¹

First Presidency

We continue to encourage members to store sufficient food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel for at least one year. We have not laid down an exact formula for what should be stored. However, we suggest that members concentrate on essential foods that sustain life, such as grains, legumes, cooking oil, powdered milk, salt, sugar or honey, and water. Most families can achieve and maintain this basic level of preparedness. The decision to do more than this rests with the individual. We encourage you to follow this counsel with the assurance that a people prepared through obedience to the commandments of God need not fear. ¹

Church members can begin their home storage by storing the basic foods that would be required to keep them alive if they did not have anything else to eat. Depending on where members live, those basics might include water, wheat or other grains, legumes, salt, honey or sugar, powdered milk, and cooking oil.” … “When members have stored enough of these essentials to meet the needs of their family for one year, they may decide to add other items that they are accustomed to using day to day.” … “Families who do not have the resources to acquire a year’s supply can begin their storage by obtaining supplies to last for a few months. Members should be prudent and not panic or go to extremes in this effort.” ²

Ezra Taft Benson

As to the foodstuffs which should be stored, the Church has left that decision primarily to the individual members. Some excellent suggestions are available from the Church Welfare Committee. “All grain is good for the food of man” (D&C 89:16), the Lord states, but He particularly singles out wheat. Dry, whole, hard grains, when stored properly, can last indefinitely, and their nutritional value can be enhanced through sprouting, if desired. ³

Wood, coal, gas, oil, kerosene, and even candles are among those items which could be reserved as fuel for warmth, cooking, and light or power. Some may be used for all of these purposes and certain ones would have to be stored and handled cautiously. It would also be well to have on hand some basic medical supplies to last for at least a year. ⁴

From the standpoint of food production, storage, handling, and the Lord’s counsel, wheat should have high priority. Water, of course, is essential. Other basics could include honey or sugar, legumes, milk products or substitutes, and salt or its equivalent. ⁵

Our bishops storehouses are not intended to stock enough commodities to care for all the members of the Church. Storehouses are only established to care for the poor and the needy. For this reason, members of the Church have been instructed to personally store a year’s supply of food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel. By following this counsel, most members will be prepared and able to care for themselves and their family members, and be able to share with others as may be needed. ⁶

Supporting Statements

James E. Faust

Every father and mother are the family’s store keepers. They should store whatever their family would like to have in case of an emergency…(and) God will sustain us through our trials. ⁷

Spencer W. Kimball

I believe that the Ten Virgins represent the people of the Church of Jesus Christ. . . They (five foolish) had the saving, exalting gospel, but it had not been made the center of their lives. They knew the way but gave only a small measure of loyalty and devotion.

The foolish asked the others to share their oil, but spiritual preparedness cannot be shared in an instant. . . . This was not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. . . . In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. ¹

Ezra Taft Benson

It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent. ²

“There is more salvation and security in wheat,” said Orson Hyde years ago, “than in all the political schemes of the world” (Journal of Discourses, 2:207). The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah. ³

Gordon B. Hinckley

We feel the need to emphasize with greater clarity the obligation for members of the Church to become more independent and self reliant. ⁴

Thomas S. Monson

Preparation is not a matter of perhaps or maybe. It is a mandate. The old phrase “Ignorance is bliss” is forever gone. Preparation precedes performance. ⁵

Many areas of the world have experienced difficult economic times. Businesses have failed, jobs have been lost, and investments have been jeopardized. We must make certain that those for whom we share responsibility do not go hungry or unclothed or unsheltered. When the priesthood of this Church works together as one in meeting these vexing conditions, near miracles take place.

We urge all Latter-day Saints to be prudent in their planning, to be conservative in their living, and to avoid excessive or unnecessary debt. ⁶

Noah heeded God’s command to build an ark…that they might be saved from the flood waters. Yet there was no evidence of rain and flood. His actions were considered irrational. The sun was shining and life moved forward as usual. But time ran out. The floods came, the disobedient were drowned. When God speaks and we obey, we will always be right. ⁷

Scriptures

1 Timothy 5:8

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. ⁸

D&C 88:119

Organize yourselves; prepare very needful thing… ⁹

D&C 136:27

Thou shalt be diligent in preserving what thou hast, that thou mayest be a wise steward… ¹⁰

D&C 78:7

For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you. ¹¹

D&C 1:12

Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh. ¹²

Supporting Statements

George A. Smith

How on the face of the earth could a man enjoy his religion when he had been told by the Lord how to prepare for a day of famine, when, instead of doing so, he had fooled away that which would have sustained him and his family. ¹³

Orson Hyde

Remember the counsel that is given, ‘…Store up all your grain, and take care of it!’…And I tell you it is almost as necessary to have bread to sustain the body as it is to have food for the spirit; for the one is as necessary as the other to enable us to carry on the work of God upon the earth. ¹⁴

Dallin H. Oaks

We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming. And the preparation most likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult–the spiritual. A 72-hour kit of temporal supplies may prove valuable for earthly challenges, but, as the foolish virgins learned to their sorrow, a 24-hour kit of spiritual preparation is of greater and more enduring value.

We are living in the prophesied time ‘when peace shall be taken from the earth’ (D&C 1:35,) when ‘all things shall be in commotion’ and ‘men’s hearts shall fail them’ (D&C 88:91.) There are many temporal causes of commotion, including wars and natural disasters, but an even greater cause of current ‘commotion’ is spiritual. ¹⁵

Heber C. Kimball

Will you be slack, brethren, and let the evil come upon us, when we forewarn you of the future events that are coming;… We are telling of what the prophets have said-of what the Lord has said to Joseph. Wake up now, wake up, O Israel, and lay up your grain and your stores. I tell you that there is trouble coming upon the world… ¹⁶

General Welfare Services

The times require that every officer of the Church be uniformly trained in principles of welfare, and that each one in turn train the rank and file until every individual is prepared for the calamities which are to come. I think it not extreme for me to say at this point that when all is written about the events to come, we may have hardly enough time to prepare, even if all our resources, spiritual and temporal, are taxed to the limit. ¹

First Presidency

We continue to encourage members to store sufficient food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel for at least one year. We have not laid down an exact formula for what should be stored. However, we suggest that members concentrate on essential foods that sustain life, such as grains, legumes, cooking oil, powdered milk, salt, sugar or honey, and water. Most families can achieve and maintain this basic level of preparedness. The decision to do more than this rests with the individual. We encourage you to follow this counsel with the assurance that a people prepared through obedience to the commandments of God need not fear. ¹

Church members can begin their home storage by storing the basic foods that would be required to keep them alive if they did not have anything else to eat. Depending on where members live, those basics might include water, wheat or other grains, legumes, salt, honey or sugar, powdered milk, and cooking oil.” … “When members have stored enough of these essentials to meet the needs of their family for one year, they may decide to add other items that they are accustomed to using day to day.” … “Families who do not have the resources to acquire a year’s supply can begin their storage by obtaining supplies to last for a few months. Members should be prudent and not panic or go to extremes in this effort.” ²

Brigham Young

If we are to be saved in an ark, as Noah and his family were, it will be because we build it… My faith does not lead me to think the Lord will provide us with roast pigs, bread already buttered, etc., He will give us the ability to raise the grain, to obtain the fruits of the earth, to make habitations, to procure a few boards to make a box, and when harvest comes, giving us the grain, it is for us to preserve it–to save the wheat until we have one, two, five or seven years’ provisions on hand, until there is enough of the staff of life saved by the people to bread themselves and those who will come here seeking for safety. ³

Ezra Taft Benson

A man should not only be prepared to protect himself physically, but he should also have on hand sufficient supplies to sustain himself and his family in an emergency. For many years the leaders of the Mormon Church have recommended, with instructions, that every family have on hand at least a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, fuel (where possible), and provisions for shelter. This has been most helpful to families suffering temporary reverses. It can and will be useful in many circumstances in the days ahead. We also need to get out of financial bondage, to be debt-free. ⁴

For years we have been counseled to have on hand a year’s supply of food. Yet there are some today who will not start storing until the Church comes out with a detailed monthly home storage program. Now, suppose that never happens. We still cannot say we have not been warned.

Should the Lord decide at this time to cleanse the Church-and the need for that cleansing seems to be increasing-a famine in this land of one year’s duration could wipe out a large percentage of slothful members, including some ward and stake officers. Yet we cannot say we have not been warned. ⁵

You do not need to go into debt to obtain a year’s supply. Plan to build up your food supply just as you would a savings account. Save a little for storage each paycheck. Can or bottle fruit and vegetables from your gardens and orchards. Learn how to preserve food through drying and possibly freezing. Make your storage a part of your budget. Store seeds and have sufficient tools on hand to do the job. If you are saving and planning for a second car or a television set or some item which merely adds to your comfort or pleasure, you may need to change your priorities. We urge you to do this prayerfully and do it now. I speak with a feeling of great urgency. ⁶

Food production is just one part of the repeated emphasis that you store a provision of food which will last for at least a year wherever it is legally permissible to do so. The Church has not told you what foods should be stored. This decision is left up to individual members. ⁷

Our bishops storehouses are not intended to stock enough commodities to care for all the members of the Church. Storehouses are only established to care for the poor and the needy. For this reason, members of the Church have been instructed to personally store a year’s supply of food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel. By following this counsel, most members will be prepared and able to care for themselves and their family members, and be able to share with others as may be needed. ⁸

We encourage families to have on hand this year’s supply; and we say it over and over and over and repeat over and over the scripture of the Lord where he says, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46.) How empty it is as they put their spirituality, so-called, into action and call him by his important names, but fail to do the things which he says. A man should not only be prepared to protect himself physically, but he should also have on hand sufficient supplies to sustain himself and his family in an emergency. For many years the leaders of the Mormon Church have recommended, with instructions, that every family have on hand at least a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, fuel (where possible), and provisions for shelter. This has been most helpful to families suffering temporary reverses. It can and will be useful in many circumstances in the days ahead. We also need to get out of financial bondage, to be debt-free.” ⁹

For over forty years, in a spirit of love, members of the Church have been counseled to be thrifty and self-reliant; to avoid debt; pay tithes and a generous fast offering; be industrious; and have sufficient food, clothing, and fuel on hand to last at least one year. Today there are compelling reasons to re-emphasize this counsel. ¹⁰

For the righteous, the gospel provides a warning before calamity, a program for the crises, refuge for each disaster…. The Lord has warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to the prophets and stored at least one year’s supply of survival food… ¹¹

Spencer W. Kimball

Maintain a year’s supply. The Lord has urged that his people save for the rainy days, prepare for the difficult times, and put away for emergencies, a year’s supply or more of bare necessities so that when comes the flood, the earthquake, the famine, the hurricane, the storms of life, our families can be sustained through the dark days. How many of us have complied with this? We strive with the Lord, finding many excuses: We do not have room for storage. The food spoils. We do not have the funds to do it. We do not like these common foods. It is not needed — there will always be someone to help in trouble. The government will come to the rescue. And some intend to obey but procrastinate. ¹²

Gordon B. Hinckley

As we have been continuously counseled for more than 60 years, let us have some food set aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need. But let us not panic nor go to extremes. Let us be prudent in every respect. And, above all, my brothers and sisters, let us move forward with faith in the Living God and His Beloved Son. ¹³

Supporting Statements

J. Reuben Clark, Jr.

Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague…Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead…Let every head of household aim to own his own home, free from mortgage. Let us again clothe ourselves with these proved and sterling virtues–honesty, truthfulness, chastity, sobriety, temperance, industry, and thrift; let us discard all covetousness and greed. ¹⁴

Brigham Young

The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat. ¹

Ezra Taft Benson

The Saints have been advised to pay their own way and maintain a cash reserve. Recent history has demonstrated that in difficult days it is reserves with intrinsic value that are of most worth, rather than reserves the value of which may be destroyed through inflation. It is well to remember that continued government deficits cause inflation; inflation is used as an excuse for ineffective price controls; price controls lead to shortages; artificial shortages inevitably are used as an excuse to implement rationing. When will we learn these basic economic principles? ²

Supporting Statements

J. Reuben Clark, Jr.

When we really get into hard times, where food is scarce or there is none at all, and so with clothing and shelter, money may be no good for there may be nothing to buy, and you cannot eat money, you cannot get enough of it together to burn to keep you warm, and you cannot wear it. ³

Brigham Young

A great many have taken this counsel, and they are prepared…. Who is deserving of praise? The persons who take care of themselves, or the ones who always trust in the great mercies of the Lord to take care of them? It is just as consistent to expect that the Lord will supply us with fruit when we do not plant the trees; or that, when we do not plow and sow and are saved the labor of harvesting, we should cry to the Lord to save us from want, as to ask Him to save us from the consequences of our own folly, disobedience and waste…. The Lord has said, ‘Gather and save the produce I put within your reach, and prepare against a day of want.’ ¹

Ezra Taft Benson

Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here. Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord, or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they will somehow be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion. ²

For the righteous, the gospel provides a warning before calamity, a program for the crises, refuge for each disaster…. The Lord has warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to the prophets and stored at least one year’s supply of survival food… ³

Scriptures

D&C 38:30

…if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. ⁴

Supporting Statements

James E. Faust

Every father and mother are the family’s store keepers. They should store whatever their family would like to have in case of an emergency…(and) God will sustain us through our trials. ⁵

Ezra Taft Benson

Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here. Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord, or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they will somehow be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion. ¹

Spencer W. Kimball

No true Latter-Day Saint, while physically or emotionally able will voluntarily shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else. So long as he can, under the inspiration of the Lord and with his own labors, he will supply himself and his family with the spiritual and temporal necessities of life (1 Tim. 5:8) ¹

The little gardens and a few trees are very valuable. I remember when the sisters used to say, `well, but we could buy it at the store a lot cheaper than we could put it up.’ But that isn’t quite the answer, is it, Sister Spafford? Because there will become a time when there isn’t a store.” ²

Ezra Taft Benson

The strength of the Church welfare program lies in every family following the inspired direction of the Church leaders to be self-sustaining through adequate preparation. God intends for His Saints to so prepare themselves “that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world” (D&C 78:14). ³

An almost forgotten means of economic self-reliance is the home production of food. We are too accustomed to going to stores and purchasing what we need. By producing some of our food we reduce, to a great extent, the impact of inflation on our money. More importantly, we learn how to produce our own food and involve all family members in a beneficial project. ⁴

There are blessings in being close to the soil, in raising your own food, even if it is only a garden in your yard and a fruit tree or two. Those families will be fortunate who, in the last days, have an adequate supply of food because of their foresight and ability to produce their own. ⁵

“There is more salvation and security in wheat,” said Orson Hyde years ago, “than in all the political schemes of the world” (Journal of Discourses, 2:207). The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah. ⁶

More than ever before, we need to learn and apply the principles of economic self-reliance. We do not know when a crisis involving sickness or unemployment may affect our own circumstances. We do know that the Lord has decreed global calamities for the future and has warned and forewarned us to be prepared. For this reason the Brethren have repeatedly stressed a “back to basics” program for temporal and spiritual welfare. ⁷

Let us be in a position so we are able to not only feed ourselves through the home production and storage, but others as well. ⁸

Some have rationalized that they have no time or space. May I suggest you do what others have done. Get together with others and seek permission to use a vacant lot for a garden, or rent a plot of ground and grow your gardens. Some elders quorums have done this as a quorum, and all who have participated have reaped the benefits of a vegetable and fruit harvest and the blessings of cooperation and family involvement. Many families have dug up lawn space for gardens. ⁹

Gordon B. Hinckley

We feel the need to emphasize with greater clarity the obligation for members of the Church to become more independent and self reliant. ¹⁰

Scripture

3 Nephi 4:4, 18

Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might subsist for the space of seven years…. ¹¹

…it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their much provision which they had laid up in store. ¹²

Scriptures

Alma 60:21

…do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?… ¹³

Hebrews 11:7

By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet … prepared an ark to the saving of his house… ¹⁴

Proverbs 6:6–8

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. ¹⁵

D&C 38:30

…if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. ¹⁶

Supporting Statements

General Welfare Services Committee

The times require that every officer of the Church be uniformly trained in principles of welfare, and that each one in turn train the rank and file until every individual is prepared for the calamities which are to come. I think it not extreme for me to say at this point that when all is written about the events to come, we may have hardly enough time to prepare, even if all our resources, spiritual and temporal, are taxed to the limit. ¹⁷

L. Tom Perry

Just as it is important to prepare ourselves spiritually, we must also prepare ourselves for our temporal needs….We have been instructed for years to follow at least four requirements in preparing for that which is to come.

First, gain an adequate education. Learn a trade or a profession to enable you to obtain steady employment that will provide remuneration sufficient to care for yourself and your family….

Second, live strictly within your income and save something for a rainy day. Incorporate in your lives the discipline of budgeting that which the Lord has blessed you with. As regularly as you pay your tithing, set aside an amount needed for future family requirements….

Third, avoid excessive debt. Necessary debt should be incurred only after careful, thoughtful prayer and after obtaining the best possible advice. We need the discipline to stay well within our ability to pay….

Fourth, acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life [if local laws permit such storage]. Obtain clothing and build a savings account on a sensible, well-planned basis that can serve well in times of emergency. As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a year’s supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness. ¹⁸

H. Burke Peterson

On the average, about 30 percent of the church has a two-month supply of food. The remainder have little or none…become self-sufficient as possible to prepare against the days to come. ¹⁹