PREPARING IN THE LORD'S OWN WAY

WHERE DO WE TURN FOR ANSWERS?

This isn’t just a story!

It’s the truth!

Did you hear . . . President Monson said . . .?

MATTHEW 25:1-4

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

HOW MANY WERE SLEEPING?

WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BE LIKE?

WHAT IS OUR SOURCE FOR INSTRUCTION?

• Scriptures

• Words of Latter-day Prophets

• Personal confirmation and revelation

PROPHET’S KNOW

President Wilford Woodruff:

The room was filled with light. A messenger came to me. We had a long conversation. He laid before me as if in a panorama, the signs of the last days, and told me what was coming to pass.

I saw the sun turned to darkness, the moon to blood, the stars fall from heaven. I saw the resurrection day. I saw armies of men in the first resurrection, clothed with the robes of the Holy Priesthood. I saw the second resurrection. I saw a great many signs that were presented before me, by this personage; . . . Now, I have had all these testimonies, and they are true. . . . I know what awaits this nation. I know what awaits the Latter-day Saints. Many things have been shown to me by vision and by revelation. (Wilford Woodruff, “Administration of Angels,” (3 March 1889); in Stuy, Collected Discourses 1:216–218.)

WHAT DID PRESIDENT WOODRUFF FORETELL WOULD HAPPEN?

WILFORD WOODRUFF

When I contemplate the condition of our nation, and see that wickedness and abominations are increasing, so much so that the whole heavens groan and weep over the abominations of this nation and the nations of the earth, I ask myself the question, can the American nation escape? The answer comes, No; its destruction, as well as the destruction of the world, is sure; just as sure as the Lord cut off and destroyed the two great and prosperous nations that once inhabited this . . . because of their wickedness, so will he them destroy, and sooner or later they will reap the fruits of their own wicked acts, and be numbered among the past.

. . . All the words of the Lord will be fulfilled upon the nations, which are written in this book. The American nation will be broken in pieces like a potter’s vessel, and will be cast down to hell, if it does not repent, and this, because of murders, whoredoms, wickedness, and all manner of abominations, for the Lord has spoken it. (Wilford Woodruff, Matthias F. Cowley, WilfordWoodruff, p. 500.)

JOSEPH SMITH

While discussing the petition to Congress, I prophesied, by virtue of the holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that, if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they shall be broken up as a government, and God shall damn them, and there shall be nothing left of them — not even a grease spot. (Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, Vol. 22, p. 455)

BRIGHAM YOUNG

The whole government is gone; it is as weak as water. I heard Joseph Smith say nearly thirty years ago, “They shall have mobbings to their hearts’ content, if they do not redress the wrongs of the Latter-day Saints.” Mobs will not decrease but will increase until the whole government becomes a mob, and eventually it will be State against State, city against city, neighborhood against neighborhood. (Brigham Young, Deseret News, Vol. 9, p. 2, May 1, 1861. (Gerald N. Lund, The Coming of

the Lord [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1971], 68.)

JOHN TAYLOR

We had a great war upon this continent some years ago; but there will yet be wars pass through these United States, and through other nations, until it will be mournful to hear the report of the bloodshed, the sorrow and trouble that will be caused thereby, as also by pestilence, famine and earthquake, and the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds, and storms and tempests, etc., etc. (John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 24, pg. 200. )

And when the nation with which we are associated is shaken to its centre and crumbles to pieces…it will continue to fall and to crumble, until it is no more, and by and bye there will be an end of it. Not so with the kingdom of God; it will stand, and continue to exist and spread and go forth. (John Taylor, JD 11:26, 1864)

EZRA TAFT BENSON

The prophets in our day have continually warned us of these internal threats-that our greatest threat from Socialistic Communism lies within our country. . . . As the First Presidency pointed out in a statement signed in 1936, if we continue to uphold Communism by not making it treasonable, our land shall be destroyed, for the Lord has said that whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations to get power and gain until they shall spread over the nation–behold, they shall be destroyed. The Lord has declared that before the second coming of Christ, it will be necessary to destroy the secret works of darkness in order to preserve the land of Zion- the Americas. (Ezra Taft Benson, General Conference Address, October 7, 1961. )

PROCLAMATION TO THE FAMILY

. . . we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamitiesforetold by ancient and modern prophets.

MOSIAH 29:27

. . . if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.

FEAR CAN TRAUMATIZE-CAN WE HIDE?

HOW SHOULD WE REACT?

NO WORRIES! ALL IS WELL!

WILL THOSE WHO KNOW HOW TO WORK WITH THEIR OWN HANDS BE BLESSED IN THE TIMES THAT ARE COMING?

PRESIDENT BENSONMen should seek honorable employment and do their work well in order to provide for their own. Those who can perform useful skills with their hands will be in increasing demand. Handymen, farmers, builders, tailors, gardeners, and mechanics can and will provide a real blessing to their families and their fellowmen. (President Ezra Taft Benson)

It will be increasingly valuable to have vocational skills-to be able to use our hands. The most essential temporal skills and knowledge are to be able to provide food, clothing, and shelter. Increasingly, the Lord, through His servants, is trying to get us closer to the soil by raising our own produce. ("In His Steps," in 1979 Devotional Speeches of the Year)

PRESIDENT BENSON

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. Man's material wealth basically springs from the land and other natural resources. Combined with his human energy and multiplied by his tools, this wealth is assured and expanded through freedom and righteousness. Those families will be fortunatewho, in the last days, have an adequate supply of each of these particulars. (Prepare Ye, October 1973)

PRESIDENT JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH

[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. (“The Pioneer Spirit,” Improvement Era, July 1970, 3).

SPENCER W. KIMBALL

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.” (General Conference, April 1974)

PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF

The day will come, when, as we have been told, we shall all see the necessity of making our own shoes and clothing and raising our own food, . . . Search the Scriptures for they testify of these things. (Millenial Star Vo. 41 Vol. LVL)

PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF

. . . God has inspired me to keep a journal and write the history of this Church, and I warn the future historiansto give credence to my history; for my testimony is true, and the truth of its record will be manifest in the world to come.

All the words of the Lord will be fulfilled upon the nations, which are written in this book. (Wilford Woodruff, Wilford Woodruff, His Life and Labors, comp. Matthias F. Cowley, 500)

PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG

We want men to labor in every mechanical pursuit that they can; for I believe that the time will come when we shall have to depend upon our own resources;

and I pray the Lord to so hedge up the way and shut down the gate, that we may be compelled to depend upon our own manufacturing for the comforts of life. (Brigham Young, "Apostasy the Result of Ignorance, Etc.", Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, pp. 63-67, June 6, 1858.)

WILL ECONOMIES COLLAPSE IN THE LAST DAYS?

PRESIDENT BENSON

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.)

PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY

Peace is fragile, civilization itself is fragile. The economy is particularly vulnerable. We have been counseled again and again concerning self-reliance, concerning debt, concerning thrift. . . . 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. (The Times in Which We Live, October 2001)

PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY

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. . . .

Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influencefor good in this world, every one of us. (The Times in Which We Live, October 2001)

PRESIDENT HINCKLEY

Set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wife and children and peace in your hearts. That’s all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable. (To the Boys and to the Men, October 1998)

WHAT WILL MONEY BE WORTH DURING THE HARD TIMES FORETOLD BY ANCIENT & MODERN PROPHETS?

BRIGHAM YOUNG

The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat. (Brigham Young, "Use and Abuse of Blessings", Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp. 248-256, June 5, 1853.)

PRESIDENT BENSON

Let us not be dissuaded from preparing because of a seeming prosperity today, or a so-called peace. I have seen the ravages of inflation. I shall never forget Germany in the early 1920s. In December 1923 in Cologne, Germany, I paid six billion marks for breakfast. That was just 15 cents in American money. Today, the real inflation concern is in America and several other nations. (Prepare Ye, October 1973)

PRESIDENT BENSON

Vivid in my memory are the people who got on trains each morning with all kinds of bric-a-brac in their arms to go out to the countryside to trade their possessions for food. At evening time, the train station was filled with people with arms full of vegetables and fruits, and a menagerie of squealing pigs and chickens. You never heard such a commotion.

These people were, of course, willing to barter practically anything for that commodity which sustains life—food. (Prepare for the Days of Tribulation, October 1980)

PRESIDENT J. REUBEN CLARK

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 warm, and you cannot wear it. (quoted by President Benson in Prepare Ye, October 1973)

SUMMARY

• Useful skills with our hands

• Produce what we consume

• Raise our own food

• Make our own clothes and shoes

• Shelter

WHAT ABOUT DESOLATING SICKNESSES AND PLAGUES?

JST MATTHEW 29

Behold I speak for mine elect’s sake; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

SCRIPTURE

D&C 84:97- And plagues shall go forth, and they shall not be taken from the earth until I have completed my work, which shall be cut short in righteousness—

D&C 87:6 - And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations;

D&C 97:26 - I will visit her according to all her works, with sore affliction, with pestilence, with plague, with sword, with vengeance, with devouring fire.

ELDER BRUCE R. MCCONKIE

Plagues and pestilence and pain will punish the people to a degree never before known. Men will be cursed physically and spiritually; the flesh of many will fall from their bones and their eyes from their sockets.

Earthquakes will destroy many cities and bring death to their municipals; fire and hail will destroy the crops of the earth; rivers and seas and deserts and mountains will be contaminated; the waters of the world will be polluted; famines and poisons and dead bodies will be commonplace.

No tongue can tell the desolations and sorrows that are yet to be, all of which will be climaxed by the burning of the vineyard, at which time every corruptible thing will be consumed. (Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], 633)

PRESIDENT BENSON

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.)

MOSES & THE 10 PLAGUES

First Passover/Exodus

Water turned to blood (Exodus 7:20-21)

Frogs (Exodus 8:6)

Lice (Exodus 8:17)

Flies (vs. 21, 24)

Sick cattle (9:3-6)

Boils (9:9)

Hail (9:18) & fire

Locusts (10:5)

Darkness (10:21)

Firstborn (11)

EARTHQUAKES

PRESIDENT HINCKLEY

We can heed warnings. We have been told that many warnings had been given concerning the vulnerability of New Orleans. We are told by seismologists that the Salt Lake Valley is a potential earthquake zone. This is the primary reason that we are extensively renovating the Tabernacle on Temple Square. This historic and remarkable building must be made to withstand the shaking of the earth.

We have built grain storage and storehouses and stocked them with the necessities of life in the event of a disaster. But the best storehouse is the family storeroom. (If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear, October 2005)

SHOULD WE WAIT FOR A PROGRAM BY THE CHURCH TO BEGIN PREPARING?

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. (Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1965, pp. 121-125)

PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF

You will then call to mind this visitation of President Young and his company. You will say: That was in the days when Presidents Benson and Maughan presided over us; that was before New York was destroyed by an earthquake. It was before Boston was swept into the sea, by the sea heaving itself beyond its bounds; it was before Albany was destroyed by fire; yea at that time you will remember the scenes of this day. Treasure them up and forget them not. President Young followed and said: ‘What Brother Woodruff has said is revelation and will be fulfilled’. (Deseret News, Vol. 33, page 678)

PRESIDENT BENSON

The Lord has said that "the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven. . ." (Mal. 4:1), but he assures us that "he that is tithed shall not be burned. . ." (D&C 64:23). He has warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to prophets and stored at least a year's supply of survival food. (God, Family, Country: Our Three Great Loyalties [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974], 267)

7 YEARS SUPPLY

Heber C. Kimball: “Brethren, go and build your storehouses before your grain is harvested, and lay it up, and let us never cease until we have got a seven year’s supply…we will lay up the grain for seven years.” (JD 4:336-339. June 7, 1857:)

Brigham Young: And if the people do their duty in this matter, they will continue to lay up grain for themselves and for this community throughout this Territory, and for fifty or a hundred times as many more, until they have enough to last them seven years. You can figure at that, and learn how much grain you ought to lay up. (Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, pp. 302-308, April 6, 1857.)

Joseph of Egypt

Book of Mormon

7 YEARS SUPPLY - HEBER C. KIMBALL

Lay up enough for seven years, at a calculation for from five to ten in each family; and then calculate that there will be in your families from five to ten persons to where you now have one, because you are on the increase. . . . When we have stored away our grain we are safe, independent of the world, in case of famine, are we not? Yes, we are; for, in that case, we will have the means for subsistence in our own hands. When the famines begin upon the earth, we shall be very apt to feel them first.

7 YEARS SUPPLY - HEBER C. KIMBALL (2)

If judgments must need begin at the house of God, and if the righteous scarcely are saved, how will it be with the wicked? Am I looking for famines? Yes, the most terrible and severe that have ever come upon the nations of the earth. These things are right before us, and some of this people are not thinking anything about them; they do not enter their hearts.

Still there is not an Elder here who has read the revelation which says, Go forth and warn the inhabitants of this land of the sickness, the death, and disasters that are coming upon this nation, but what must be satisfied of the truth of what I am saying. You have done according to the instruction given in that revelation; and now reflect upon the things that I am declaring in your hearing, and lift up your voices unitedly as a people to the God of Heaven that He will be merciful unto us and favor Zion.

7 YEARS SUPPLY - HEBER C. KIMBALL (3)

Be wise, listen to counsel, and obey the voice of the head, and you will prosper and never want for bread; but, as the Lord liveth, you will feel it, if you do not continue in the line of duty. [President Brigham Young: That is true.] Yes, it is as true as it is that God ever spake to this generation. I consider that carefully storing our surplus grain against a time of need is of the greatest importance to this people, in connection with building the Temple. (Heber C. Kimball, "Temple and Endowments, Etc.", Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, pp. 18-23, April 6, 1857.)

GEORGE A. SMITH (1)

I wish to call the attention of the Conference to the text of President Brigham Young in relation to storing our wheat. This is a question of vast importance. A few years ago President Young gave counsel to the people of the Territory–most of whom agreed to it–to lay by seven years provisions. We were to have commenced three years ago, and were to have laid up one year's bread over and above the year's supply. The following year we were to add another year's supply, and so have continued until we had our seven years' supply laid up. . . .

A good many of us claim our descent from Joseph, who was sold into Egypt. He was the instrument of the Almighty in saving the Egyptians, through the interpretation of the King's dream of the seven fat and the seven lean kine, and the seven full and the seven blighted ears of corn. He prescribed the means by which the storehouses of Egypt were filled with corn, and when the seven years of famine came the whole people were actually saved from death through the wisdom of Joseph in laying up bread.

GEORGE A. SMITH (2)

We expect to be saviors on Mount Zion in the last days. We all exercise faith that God may give to our President wisdom and understanding to foresee the evils with which we may be threatened, and to take measures to avert them. Suppose that he comes forward and tells us how to prepare, and we neglect his counsel, then the watchman is clear, and we are liable to the dangers and difficulties resulting from disobedience. If the King of Egypt had not observed the counsels of Joseph almost the whole people would have been destroyed. As it was, those who did not obey Joseph's counsel were under the necessity of selling all their property, and ultimately themselves, for slaves to the king, in order to obtain that bread which they could have laid up during the seven years of plenty, if they had obeyed Joseph's counsel.

GEORGE A. SMITH (3)

Now, brethren, let us not treat this subject lightly. If we have been neglectful in times past, let us remember that we live in a high altitude, in a country subject to frost and to extreme drouth, that we have several times lost our crops, and that we have twice been reduced to famine or half rations through the crickets or grasshoppers. Let us heed the counsel given about storing up provisions, and, instead of freighting our food away to feed strangers, let us go to work and build good substantial granaries, and fill them with breadstuff, until every man and woman has enough on hand to last for seven years.

GEORGE A. SMITH (4)

Terrible destruction awaits the wicked. They will come to us by thousands by-and-by, saying—“Can you not feed us? Can you not do something for us?” It is said by the prophets they shall come bending, and shall say you are the priests of the Lord. What priest could administer greater earthly blessings than food to the hungry, who have fled from a country where the sword, famine, and pestilence were sweeping away their thousands? I look upon the subject of storing grain and other kinds of food as a very religious matter. How could a man who was half starved enjoy his religion? 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. I wish our brethren to lay this matter to heart, and not rest until they have obeyed this particular item of counsel. ” (JD 12:106. November 3, 1867)

BOOK OF MORMON SEVEN YEARS

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, in the which time they did hope to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land;

3 years supply

1 year supply

3 months supply

GORDON B. HINCKLEY

“We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But 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 ever so modestly. 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. As all of you recognize, this counsel is not new. But I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all.

“Begin in a small way, my brethren, and gradually build toward a reasonable objective. Save a little money regularly, and you will be surprised how it accumulates.” (Ensign, Nov. 2002, p 57)

WHIRLWINDSHAILSTORMS

FIRE

Read statements: http://www.josephsmithforum.org/research/faqs/preparedness-the-last-days/

WARS

Read statements: http://www.josephsmithforum.org/research/faqs/war-what-have-prophets-taught-concerning-the-final-wars/

Future Persecution

There is a real sifting going on in the Church, and it is going to become more pronounced with the passing of time. It will sift the wheat from the tares, because we face some difficult days, the like of which we have never experienced in our lives. And those days are going to require faith and testimony and family unity, the like of which we have never had.” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 107.)

FUTURE PERSECUTION

The way ahead is dark and dreary and dreadful. There will yet be martyrs; the doors in Carthage shall again enclose the innocent. We have not been promised that the trials and evils of the world will entirely pass us by. (Bruce R. McConkie, The Coming Tests and Trials and Glory, April 1980)

. . . we of this Church will, in order to keep the Church going forward, have more sacrifices to make and more persecutions to endure than we have yet known, heavy as our sacrifices and grievous as our persecutions of the past have been. (J. Reuben Clark Jr., Conference Report, April 1944, pp. 110-116 )

FUTURE PERSECUTION

There is a real sifting going on in the Church, and it is going to become more pronounced with the passing of time. It will sift the wheat from the tares, because we face some difficult days, the like of which we have never experienced in our lives. And those days are going to require faith and testimony and family unity, the like ofwhich we have never had.” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 107.)

I testify that as the forces of evil increase under Lucifer’s leadership and as the forces of good increase under the leadership of Jesus Christ, there will be growing battles between the two until the final confrontation. As the issues become clearer and more obvious, all mankind will eventually be required to align themselves either for the kingdom of God or for the kingdom of the devil. As these conflicts rage, either secretly or openly, the righteous will be tested. (President Ezra T. Benson, I Testify, Ensign, November 1988, pg. 87).

PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR

We have received his guidance and instruction. It is for us now to go on from truth to truth, from intelligence to intelligence, and from wisdom to wisdom. And while nations shall crumble and thrones be cast down, and the God of heaven arise and shake terribly the earth, while the elements melt with fervent heat in fulfillment of ancient as well as modern prophecy; while these things are going on he will whisper, peace to Zion.

But the judgments will begin at the house of God. We have to pass through some of these things, but it will only be a very little compared with the terrible destruction, the misery, and suffering that will overtake the world who are doomed to suffer the wrath of God. It behooves us, as the saints of God, to stand firm and faithful in the observance of his laws, that we may be worthy of his preserving care and blessing. (John Taylor, "Effects of the Preaching of the Gospel, Etc.", Journal of Discourses, vol. 21, pp. 100, April 13, 1879.)

WHAT HAS BEEN SAID CONCERNING A NUCLEAR ATTACK ON THE UNITED STATES?

PRESIDENT HAROLD B. LEE

“We heard him [President J. Reuben Clark Jr.] reply in answer to a question as to why he had put his life saving into his presently owned Grantsville ranch; ‘This is all I have to leave to my family when I die, and if they are not too lazy to work it, they wont’ starve.

I have told them that when the first atomic bomb is dropped here in America that they are to go out there on the ranch and stay until it is over.’ This last seemed not only to be wise counsel, but also a prophecy.” (Published in the Improvement Era, Sept 1961, p. 632)

ELDER BRUCE R. MCCONKIE

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.

It may be, for instance, that nothing except the power of faith and the authority of the priesthood can save individuals and congregations from the atomic holocausts that surely shall be. And so we raise the warning voice and say: Take heed, prepare; watch and be ready. There is no security in any course except the course of obedience and conformity and righteousness.” (Stand Independent above All Other Creatures, April 1979)

JOSEPH SMITH

Six years later, after the saints had been driven from the state of Missouri, the Prophet told the Twelve Apostles:

"I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mothers. I saw armies arrayed against armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother shall be against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother. These things are at our doors. They will follow the Saints of God from city to city. Satan will rage, and the spirit of the devil is now enraged.

I know not how soon these things will take place; but with a view of them, shall I cry peace? No; I will lift up my voice and testify of them. How long you will have good crops, and the famine be kept off, I do not know; when the fig tree leaves, know then that summer is nigh at hand.“ (History of the Church, Vol. 3:391, given on July 2, 1839.)

Will the day come when we need to live off what we produce? Will we need to be self-sustaining?

PRESIDENT SPENCER W. KIMBALL

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 yard. . . .

Study the best methods of providing your own foods. . . .

If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with assigned responsibilities…

Develop your skills in your home preservation and storage. (Family Preparedness, April 1976)

PRESIDENT SPENCER W. KIMBALL

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. (Family Preparedness, April 1976)

PRESIDENT EZRA TAFT BENSON

“There is more salvation and security in wheat,” said Orson Hyde years ago, “than in all the political schemes of the world”

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. (Prepare for the Days of Tribulation, October 1980)

PRESIDENT BENSON

Let us be in a position so we are able to not only feed ourselvesthrough the home production and storage, but others as well. (Prepare for the Days of Tribulation, October 1980)

PRESIDENT BENSON

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. (Prepare Ye, October 1973)

SHOULD LATTER-DAY SAINTS STUDY THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES?

D&C 45:39

And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be lookingforth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.

PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY

The Lord has said, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30). . . .

We can so live that we can call upon the Lord for His protection and guidance. This is a first priority. . . .

We know, of course, that the rain falls on the just as well as the unjust (see Matt. 5:45). . . . I am saying nothing that has not been said for a very long time. Let us never lose sight of the dream of Pharaoh concerning the fat cattle and the lean, the full ears of corn, and the blasted ears; the meaning of which was interpreted by Joseph to indicate years of plenty and years of scarcity (see Gen. 41:1–36). (If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear, October 2005)

IF ZION IS BUILT . . . WE WILL HAVE BUILT IT

We will have to go to work and get the gold out of the mountains to lay down, if we ever walk in streets paved with gold. . . .When we have streets paved with gold, we will have placed it there ourselves. When we enjoy a Zion in its beauty and glory, it will be when we have built it.

If we enjoy the Zion that we now anticipate, it will be after we redeem and prepare it. If we live in the city of the New Jerusalem, it will be because we lay the foundation and build it. If we do not as individuals complete that work, we shall lay the foundation for our children and our children’s children, as Adam has.

If we are to be saved in an ark, as Noah and his family were, it will be because we build it. (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 291)

#1: Pray as a family to be guided

• Learn practical, hands on skills.

• Learn how to PRODUCE and STORE food self-sufficiently

• Read as a family stories of men and women of character who have endured events similar to future events.

• Study and become acquainted with what the prophets have taught

• Teach your children the prophetic vision of the future

THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH

Even this nation [America] will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.

Then shall the Lord say go tell all my servants who are the strength of mine house my young men and middle aged &c come to the Land of my vineyard and fight the battle of the Lord . . . [then] the Foreign saints shall come to fight for the Land of my vineyard for in this thing shall be their safety and they will have no power to choose but will come as a man fleeth from a sudden destruction . . . I know these things by the visions of the Almighty. (Sermon Delivered at Nauvoo, Illinois July 19, 1840)

“Those who are your friends are my friends, and I promise you when I come again, I will lead you forth, so that where I am you shall be with me.”

“’Boys don’t be sad, don’t be cast down, I will come back again.’ After a little hesitation he added, ‘as soon as I can.’” (Autobiography of Wandle Mace)

OTHER WITNESSES?

• Elder Parley P. Pratt

• President Brigham Young

• President Heber C. Kimball

• Joseph Smith

• Scripture

• Wandle Mace

WHAT DID PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY SAY

RELIEF SOCIETY STOOD FOR?

PRESIDENT HINCKLEY

Relief Society stands for self-reliance.

The best food storage is not in welfare grain elevators but in sealed cans and bottles in the homes of our people. What a gratifying thing it is to see cans of wheat and rice and beans under the beds or in the pantries of women who have taken welfare responsibility into their own hands. (In the Arms of His Love, October 2006)