Suggested Articles to Read
The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality - David A. BednarStand Independent Above All Other Creatures - Bruce R. McConkie
If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear - L. Tom Perry
Preparation For the Second Coming - Dallin H. Oaks
Suggested Books to Read
Prophecy & Modern Times by W. Cleon SkousenThe Cleansing of America by W. Cleon Skousen
Visions of Glory by John Pontius
Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley
All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience by Neal A. Maxwell
Other Suggested Reading/Listening
Joseph Smith Foundation AudioDr. Benjamin Carson - Prayer Breakfast
Quotes from General Authorities
Credit to Peace of Preparedness for compiling these quotes
"The revelation to store food may be as essential to
our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days
of Noah." Ezra Taft Benson, "Prepare Ye," Ensign, Jan 1974, 69.
"Too often we bask in 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. The Lord has warned and forewarned us against
a day of great tribulation and given us counsel, through His Servants, on how
we can be prepared for these difficult times.
Have you (we) heeded His counsel?" Ezra Taft Benson, Jun. 1980.
"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." Teachings of Ezra Taft
Benson, pg. 265.
"Acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that
will sustain life. ... 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." L. Tom Perry, "If Ye Are Prepared Ye
Shall Not Fear," Ensign, Nov. 1995.
"Now you ask where do I get the money for these things.
I agree I need them, but I'm having a hard time making ends meet. Here is how
you do it: Use one or more of the following suggestions: Food Storage
Christmas: Use 25-50% of money for food storage, New Clothes: Don't buy instead
make it last a few more months, use that money for food storage, Vacation/
Holiday: no vacation or holiday until food storage is complete, Recreation: Cut
by 50% use money for food storage, find fun, free things to make lasting
memories, Snowmobiles/campers/boats: sell or trade to get a year's supply,
Change Diet: eat cheaper foods and use extra money for food storage.
"The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm
commitment, for every LDS family to have a year's supply of food reserves ...
All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the
commitment. Miracles will take place:
the way will be opened and we will have our storage areas filled.
"I believe it is time, and perhaps with some urgency,
to review the counsel we have received dealing with our personal and family
preparedness. ... With events in the world today, it must be considered with
all seriousness. We are not in a situation that requires panic buying but the
instability in the world today makes it imperative that we heed this counsel
and prepare for the future." L. Tom Perry, Nov. 1995.
"Signs of the Second Coming are all around us and seem
to be increasing in frequency and intensity. ... While we are powerless to
alter the fact of the Second Coming and unable to know its exact time, we can
accelerate our own preparation and try to influence the preparation of those
around us. We need to make both temporal
and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second
Coming." Preparation for the Second Coming, Dallin H. Oaks (2004).
"The greatest events that have been spoken of by all
the Holy Prophets will come along so naturally as the consequences of certain
causes, that unless our eyes are enlightened by the Spirit of God, and the
spirit of revelation rests upon us, we will fail to see that these are the
events predicted by the Holy Prophets." George Q. Cannon, Nov. 2, 1879, JD
21:266-67.
"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." George Albert Smith, Deseret News, Mar. 4, 1868, 26
"God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in
the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. He has saved for the final
inning some of his strongest children who will help bear off the Kingdom
triumphantly. And that is where you come
in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God." Ezra Taft Benson
"[The pioneers] were taught by their leaders to
produce, as far as possible, all that they consumed, and to be frugal and not
wasteful of their substance. This is still excellent counsel. Joseph Fielding
Smith, "The Pioneer Spirit," Improvement Era, July 1970, 3.
"We want you to be ready with our personal storehouse
filled with at least a year's supply.
You don't argue why it cannot be done, you just plan to organize and get
it done." Spencer W. Kimball, Aug. 1976.
"We hear, 'Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed
waves in their economic lives if they had their year's supply of food ... and
were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse:
they have at least a year's supply of debt and are food-free'" Thomas S.
Monson
"The best place to have some food set aside is within
our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare
program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the
welfare granary. ... We can begin with a one week's food supply and gradually
build it to a month, and then to three months.
I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs." Gordon B. Hinkley,
"To Men of the Priesthood," Ensign, Nov. 2002, 5.
"If you are without bread, how much wisdom can you
boast and of what real utility are your talents, if you cannot procure for
yourselves and save against a day of scarcity those substances designed to
sustain your natural lives?" Brigham Young Deseret News, July 18, 1860,
153.
"A cardinal principal of the gospel is to prepare for
the day of scarcity. ... And, brethren, we lay up in store! Then, "through
[the Lord's] providence, notwithstanding the tribulation ... the church [and
its people will] stand independent." .. and ... we lay up in store! By
doing these things, "the Lord shall have power of his saints, and shall
reign in [our] midst." Keith B. McMullin, "Lay Up in Store,"
Ensign May 2007.
"Brethren, I
wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every
individual Church member and family. None of us knows when a catastrophe might
strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment... I do not predict any impending
disaster ... yet prudence should govern our lives ... We can begin with a one
week food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. I
am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. ... I fear that so many feel that
a long-term supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at
all. Begin in a small way... gradually
build toward a reasonable objective." Gorden B. Hinkley, Priesthood
Session, October 2002.
"In words of revelation the Lord has said,
"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing" (D&C
109:8). Our people for three-quarters of
a century have been counseled and encouraged to make such preparations as will
assure survival should a calamity come.
We can set aside some water, basic food, medicine, and clothing to keep
us warm. We ought to have a little money
laid aside in case of a rainy day." Gordon B. Hinkley
"We feel led to caution the Latter-day Saints against
forming the bad habit of incurring debt and taking upon themselves obligations
which frequently burden them heaver than they can bear, and lead to the loss of
their homes and other possessions. ... Our business should be done, as much as
possible, on the principal of paying for that which we purchase, and our needs
should be brought within the limit of our resources." "Teachings of
Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruf (2004) 232-33.
"We are living in the prophesied time, 'when peace
shall be taken from the earth,' (D&C 1:35) when 'all thing shall be in
commotion,' and 'men's hearts shall fail them' (D&C 88:91) These signs of
the Second Coming are all around us and seem to be increasing in frequency and
intensity.'" Dallin H. Oaks, Conference, April 2004.
"For a desolating scourge shall go forth among the
inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to
time." D&C 5:19.
"'And there shall arise after them seven years of
famine ... And God will shortly bring it to pass.' Now brethren, I want to make
it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of
famine in the future. But, I am suggesting that the time has come to get our
houses in order ... avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly
as you can, and free yourselves from bondage... There is a portent of stormy
weather ahead to which we had better give head. We are carrying a message of
self reliance throughout the Church... I urge you brethren to look to the
condition of our finances..." Gordon B. Hinkley, October Conference 1998.
"We do not know when the calamities and troubles of the
last days will fall upon any of us as individuals or upon bodies of the Saints.
... We can rest assured that if we have done all in our power to prepare for
whatever lies ahead, He will then help us with whatever else we need. ... We do
not say that all of the Saints will be spared and saved from the coming day of
desolation. But we do say there is no promise of safety and no promise of
security except for those who love the Lord and who are seeking to do all that
he commands." Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign May 1979, p. 93.
"I stand before the Church this day and raise the
warning voice. ... It is a voice calling upon the Lord's people to prepare for
the troubles and desolations which are about to be poured out upon the world
without measure. For the moment we live
in a day of peace and prosperity but it shall not ever be thus. Great trials lie ahead. All of the sorrows
and perils of the past are but a foretaste of what is yet to be. And we must
prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually." Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign
May 1979, pp. 92-93.
The Lord has warned and forewarned us against a day of great
tribulation and given us counsel, through His Servants, on how we can be
prepared for these difficult times. Have we heeded His counsel?" (Ezra
Taft Benson, Ensign, November 1980)
"When the economies of nations fail, when famine and
other disasters prevent people from buying food in stores, the Saints must be
prepared to handle these emergencies." (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson,
p. 264.)
"And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus
Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall
present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our
nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake will sweep the wicked of this
generation from off the face of the land, to open and prepare the way for the
return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country." (Joseph
Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2nd. ed.
Rev., 1:315-16.)
"How long you will have good crops, and the famine kept
off, I do not know; when the fig tree leaves,, know then that summer is nigh at
hand." (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:391.)
"Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat,
drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us. ... And
others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will
say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well–and thus the devil
cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. ...
Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" (2 Ne. 28:7, 21, 24)
"The Lord is not going to disappoint either Babylon or
Zion, with regard to famine, pestilence, earthquake or storms. . . . Lay up
your wheat and other provisions against a day of need, for the day will come
when they will be wanted, and no mistake about it. We shall want bread, and the
Gentiles will want bread, and if we are wise we shall have something to feed
them and ourselves when famine comes.” Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses,
18:121.
"The time will come that gold will hold no comparison
in value to a bushel of wheat." (President Brigham Young, Discourses of
Brigham Young, p.298.)
". . .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." (Discourses of Brigham Young, pp.291-293)
"I am suggesting that the time has come to get our
houses in order...avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as
you can, and free yourselves from bondage... There is a portent of stormy
weather ahead to which we had better give heed" (Gordon B. Hinckley,
October Conference 1998.
"Peace is fragile, civilization itself is fragile. The
economy is particularly vulnerable..."I do not know what the future holds.
I do not wish to sound negative, but I wish to remind you of the warnings of
scripture and the teachings of the prophets which we have had constantly before
us. I cannot forget the great lesson of Pharaoh's dream of the fat and lean kine
and of the full and withered stalks of corn. I cannot dismiss from my mind the
grim warnings of the Lord as set forth in the 24th chapter of Matthew. I am
familiar, as are you, with the declarations of modern revelation that the time
will come when the earth will be cleansed and there will be indescribable
distress, with weeping and mourning and lamentation. . . . Now, I do not wish
to be an alarmist. I do not wish to be a prophet of doom. I am optimistic. I do
not believe the time is here when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us. I
earnestly pray that it may not. "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... (Gordon B.
Hinckley,October Conference 2001.)
“I bear my humble witness to you that the great God of
heaven will open doors and means in a way we never would have supposed, to help
all those who truly want a years supply…All we have to do is to decide, commit
to it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place…” Vaughn J.
Featherstone, Ensign, May 1976, pg. 116.
“We should ask ourselves; What are the Brethren saying? The
living prophets can open the visions of eternity; they give counsel on how to
overcome the world. We cannot know that counsel if we do not listen. We cannot
receive the blessings we are promised if we do not follow the counsel given”
James E. Faust, Reach Up For the Light, pg. 17
"But what about the American nation. That war that
destroyed the lives of some fifteen or sixteen hundred thousand people [Civil
War] was nothing compared to that which will eventually devastate that country.
The time is not very far distant in the future when the Lord God will lay his
hand heavily upon that nation....What! This great and powerful nation of ours
to be divided one part against the other and many hundreds of thousands of
souls to be destroyed by civil wars! ....The time will come when there will be
no safety in carrying on the peaceable pursuits of farming or agriculture. But
these will be neglected and the people will think themselves well off if they
can flee from city to city, from town to town and escape with their
lives." Orson Pratt J. D. 12:344
“If a war of this description should take place, who could
carry on his business in safety? Who would feel safe to put his crops in the
ground or to carry on any enterprise? There would be fleeing from one State to
another and general confusion would exist throughout the whole Republic. Such
eventually IS TO BE the condition of this whole nation if the people do not
repent of their wickedness....” Orson Pratt, J.D. 18:341
“And the time will come when we shall find ourselves
restricted and when it will be very important indeed for us to patronize home
productions and cease sending our millions abroad for importations for the gate
will be shut down and circumstances will be such that we cannot bring things
from abroad; and hence the necessity of the exhortation that we have received
from time to time to engage WITH ALL OUR HEARTS in the various branches of
industry necessary to make us self-sustaining and to carry them out with all
the tact and wisdom which God has given to us that we may become free and
independent in all theses matters, free before the heavens and free from all
the nations of the earth and their productions so far as being dependent upon
them is concerned." Orson Pratt, Deseret Evening News Vol.8, No. 265, Oct.
2, 1875
“Noah heeded God’s command to build an ark...that they might
be saved from the floodwaters…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” T.S.Monson Ensign 10-07
“No one knows the time of His coming, but the faithful are
taught to study the signs of it and be prepared for it…We need to make both
temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the
Second Coming” Oct. 2007 VT Message in Ensign, Dallin H. Oaks
"Our primary purpose was to set up, insofar as it might
be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away
with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and
self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church
is to help the people help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling
principle of the lives of our Church membership."(October 1936 General
Conference)
Speaking for the first Presidency, President J. Reuben
Clark, Jr. exhorted the Saints to live within their means: "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."
(President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., April 1937 General Conference)
"For over 100 years we have been admonished to store up
grain. ‘Remember the counsel that is given,’ said Elder Orson Hyde, ‘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.’ (Ezra Taft Benson, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5, p. 17)
And he also said: ‘There is more salvation and security in
wheat, than in all the political schemes of the world...’ (Ezra Taft Benson, JD
2:207).
"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. The revelation to store
food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark
was to the people in the days of Noah." (October Conference, 1973).
"Perhaps if we think not in terms of a year’s supply of
what we ordinarily would use, and think more in terms of what it would take to
keep us alive in case we didn’t have anything else to eat, that last would be
very easy to put in storage for a year...just enough to keep us alive if we
didn’t have anything else to eat. We wouldn’t get fat on it, but would live;
and if you think in terms of that kind of annual storage rather than a whole
year’s supply of everything that you are accustomed to eat which, in most
cases, is utterly impossible for the average family, I think we will come nearer
to what President Clark. advised us way back in 1937." (President Harold
B. Lee: Welfare conference address, October 1, 1966)
"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." Elder George A. Smith (JD 12:142)
"...I should like to address a few remarks to those who
ask, ‘Do I share with my neighbors who have not followed the counsel? And what
about the non-members who do not have a year’s supply? Do we have to share with
them? ‘No, we don’t have to share—we get to share! Let us not be concerned
about silly thoughts of whether we would share or not. Of course we would share!"
Vaughn J. Featherstone (April Conference, 1976)
..."We encourage you to grow all the food that you
feasibly can on your own property. Berry bushes, grapevines, fruit trees—plant
them if your climate is right for their growth. Grow vegetables and eat them
from your own yards. Even those residing in apartments or condominiums can
generally grow a little food in pots and planters. Study the best methods of
providing your own foods. Make your garden neat and attractive as well as
productive. If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with
assigned responsibilities...Develop your skills in your home preservation and
storage. We reaffirm the previous counsel the Church has always given, to
acquire and maintain a year’s supply—a year’s supply of the basic commodities
for us. 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?’ 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. Spencer W. Kimball
(April Conference, 1976)
"...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...(the fulfillment of that prophecy is
yet in the future)". Marion G. Romney (Quoting Brigham Young) (April
Conference, 1976)
"The time will come when we will be obliged to depend
upon our own resources; for the time is not far distant when the curtain will
be dropped between us and the United States. When the time comes, brethren and
sisters, you will wish you had commenced sooner to make your own clothing. I
tell you, God requires us to go into home manufacture; and, prolong it as much
as you like, you have got to do it." Heber C. Kimball, Journal of
Discourses, Vol. 5, p. 10, July 5, 1857.
"A spirit of speculation and extravagance will take
possession of the Saints [in the last days], and the results will be financial
bondage. Persecution comes next and all true Latter-day Saints will be tested
to the limit." Heber C. Kimball, Deseret News, May 23, 1931.
