God Has Always Had a Plan for His Children

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often inadvertently called the Mormon Church), I believe that we are spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father. Wanting us to become like Him, God prepared a wonderful plan. We would go to an earth, obtain a mortal, physical body, and choose whether or not to accept the Gospel with Jesus Christ as Savior and obey all of God’s laws and commandments. God organized this world for us, and placed Adam and Eve, our first parents, in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, they became subject to earthly physical laws and were then able to have children.

The most important aspect of God’s plan included the salvation of His children. Jesus Christ agreed to be our Savior, ransoming mankind with mercy through His great Atonement, where He incomprehensibly suffered for the sin, grief, and sorrow of mankind and then broke the bands of death enabling everyone to be resurrected.

Jesus promised that at the end of the world, He would come again. Prior to His return, wickedness would rapidly increase, and the world would endure severe calamities. Jesus also warned of people and situations that might persuade mankind to disbelieve in Him, the true Messiah. The Savior prophesied the destruction that would occur, and offered ways to withstand the devastating events.

Surviving the Last Days

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ have encouraged Latter-day Saints (or Mormons) to follow the Savior’s counsel to be prepared for the upheavals of the last days.

“Stand in the holy place”
“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:15, 42, 44).

One way that as a Mormon, I follow this counsel is to prepare spiritually and temporally. I strengthen my relationship with God daily through scripture study and prayer. I attend the temple regularly. I keep my covenants, as much as possible, to obey God’s commandments and live a life that welcomes the Holy Ghost’s influence, enabling me to stand in the holy place. When faith is strong, fear dissipates.

Preparing physically is important, too. The Church counsels members to store food, water, clothing, emergency supplies, fuel (where possible), and cash on hand. At first the task seemed a little overwhelming, but as my husband and I worked on things a little at a time, we found that our preparations progressed more quickly than we expected. We still have a ways to go to be absolutely prepared, but we are making progress.

Church leader Vaughn J. Featherstone reminded Latter-day Saints

The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm commitment … 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 … We will prove through our actions
our willingness to follow our beloved prophet and the Brethren, which will bring
security to us and our families.

Church leader Julie B. Beck encouraged self-reliance, too.

We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being” (Julie B. Beck, The Welfare Responsibilities of the Relief Society President,” Basic Principle of Welfare and Self-Reliance (2009), 4-5).

Current Calamities

Several recent news events remind me of the Savior’s counsel to watch and be ready in all aspects of life.

California’s drought:

More than half of the country’s fruit, nuts, and vegetables come from California. Did you know that 90% or more of all the almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, kiwi, persimmons, pistachios, prunes, raisins, strawberries, and walnuts consumed in the United States are grown in California, as well as 100% of the olives and 21% of the milk and cream? Not only just nuts and berries, but also most other fruit and vegetable varieties are grown by the truckload in California. You may think you don’t eat some of these, but do you use their byproducts such as olive oil? Many are used as ingredients in other foods we consume, such as ketchup and cereals. Higher prices on these crops will result in higher prices on any product using California-grown crops for ingredients.

Honeybee decline and zombification:

“In the last few years, a third of the bee population has been lost in Europe.”

“Farmers rely on bees to pollinate agriculture fields and produce honey, but there hasn’t been any sign of a widespread infestation, even though it remains unclear just how many bees across the continent have been infested, he said.”

Winter storms:

Image by Michelle Nobles, from the Weather Channel story

Michelle Nobles, a mom stuck on an interstate in Atlanta for 21 hours with her 4 year old son, described how panic set in, and how grateful she was for the little comforts she had in the car.

“I don’t know how some people did it out there, not being able to use the restroom,” she said, noting especially “people who needed medication, and diabetics.

“I kept thinking, you look at TV and you see this, you see things like this happen to other people,” she said. “I told my husband, it’s our turn to be those people. At least we have a good car, we have heat, and we did have snacks.

“We did have each other at least,” she added. “It was a relief, just to have your family.”

Continued Unemployment:

Some argue that unemployment benefits are a disincentive to people finding employment. But the sheer number of our unemployed neighbors and family members speaks volumes about the fallibility of such a claim. According to The Washington Post, the long-term unemployment rate has not been as high as it is now since World War II. A jaw-dropping 4 million Americans have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer. The problems we face are systemic and structural, and the vast majority of the unemployed are crippled not by a lack of interest or drive, but of opportunity and access. That’s why long-term solutions for economic growth are needed.

My preparations might be used during a time of national disaster or during a personal disaster. If my preparations are swept away by flood or tornado, etc., I rely on the Lord’s promise that “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:30). I know He keeps His promises.

Share some ways you have or are preparing in the comments below.

For resources and information on becoming more prepared, check out www.providentliving.org.

Mormon Are Counseled to Prepare

The Mormon pioneers who trekked across the plains were required to adequately prepare their food supply for the exodus west. The trip took several months to complete, and even with church-supplies rations, hunger was a very real concern for those early pioneers. Without the preparation from these early members, certainly none of the companies would have made a successful trip.

Mormons today are still counseled to prepare for emergencies, and The Church of Jesus Christ does what it can to make that preparation as easy as possible. Spread throughout the United States are food storage facilities and farms whose product goes directly to the Church for storage purposes. These storehouses are often used to provide food and living supplies (like dish soap, shampoo, and toilet paper) to those in need.

The Church of Jesus Christ also produces food storage kits that are available at cost to members. The Church, however, isn’t the only producer of these kits. Several companies have sprouted that cater to emergency preparedness. Some offer specialized kits geared toward a certain food type, like grains, freeze-dried veggies, or dry dairy products. Some collections include ingredients for full meals. Most food storage companies offer food that can be shelved for up to 25 years.

The Importance Behind Food Storage

Food storage is more than about preparing for the apocalypse, though that’s the tone many Mormon leaders adopted during the Cold War. The Church of Jesus Christ does not preach doom and gloom, and does encourage its members to live their lives as fully as possible. Life, however, is not free from bumps and detours. Job loss is still a very real pitfall for many breadwinners, and a well-stocked food storage can go miles in stretching a family’s food and finances.

Food storage emphasizes self-reliance, a principle that has long been valued by The Church of Jesus Christ. In addition to encouraging food storage, Mormon leaders have counseled members to work out of financial debt and save funds for emergencies and for the future. Again, these principles are nothing new. Financial gurus all across the nation purport those same ideas in books, podcasts, and classes.

The Ease of Preparedness

With temporal and financial preparedness becoming more mainstream, becoming prepared is easier and easier. If you don’t want to buy a whole food storage kit, you can find countless lists for long- and short-term storage online, as well as lists for 72-hour kits and other emergency kits. Being prepared for emergencies is now a major industry for web content and physical production, and those who wish to equip their homes and families have every resource available to them.

If you are needing to get your home in order with food storage and emergency preparedness, visit The Church of Jesus Christ’s page about provident living.

The Mormons teach people to be self-reliant as much as possible. This means they need to prepare ahead for difficult times. One way to do this is to build a supply of food, cleaners, health care products, clothing, and even cash to rely on should they need it.

Typically, these items are relied on during times of unemployment. As people have learned recently, no one is immune from unemployment, regardless of education, experience, or reputation. Finding a new job can require a substantial amount of time. Those who do not need to shop, or who perhaps shop only for perishables, get through this time with little disruption to their lives and with the comfort of knowing they have sufficient food and supplies.

Mormons are counseled to avoid going into debt to obtain these supplies, since debt for any reason but home ownership and possibly college is discouraged. Instead, they begin slowly. Families are encouraged to give up a luxury, such as a vacation or cable television until the money that would have been used for the luxury has supplied the storage. Others purchase several extra items each week, working to have a one week supply. When they have this, they begin on getting ahead a second week. In the very poorest country, women are taught that when they make their daily rice and beans, they should drop a spoonful of each into a jar. When the jar is filled, it’s sealed and becomes the first item in their food storage. Since rice and beans keep an extremely long time, this provides long-term security in the form of a food the women are accustomed to serving daily.

However small the start, Mormons know that even a little food put away can make a difference. Just knowing it’s there can provide a feeling of security when those around us are frightened. We know that whatever else happens, we won’t go hungry.

The Mormons have created a website that teaches its members how to create a food and commodity supply. It includes charts that show how much of the staples a family will need. This site is very popular even with those who are not LDS.

Provident Living will show you first how to build and store the items you need to sustain life, and then how to add additional items to make survival more pleasant. Mormons you know will also be happy to help you get started on this rewarding process.

Your supply of food does not sit in the basement getting old. Mormons rotate their storage, meaning they “shop” from their food storage. New purchases go to into the storage, to be used oldest items first. One advantage of this system is that it eventually cuts shopping costs. Those who have storage can purchase on sale, in season, and in bulk, thus obtaining the best possible prices for their supplies. When a shortage causes prices to soar temporarily, Mormons can use their storage until the shortage is over, both saving money, and reserving those items for those who did not stock up in advance.

Find out what the mainstream media is saying about the no-longer odd Mormon tradition of food storage. Then sit down and start a plan for your own storage. It’s no longer just a “Mormon thing.”