Visiting Teaching Message:
Preparation is the key to get through disasters, hard times

by Kelly Smurthwaite
Scroll Staff

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles suggests some ways members can prepare for natural disasters, family emergencies or tough times, as well as other signs of the second coming, in a November 1995 issue of the Ensign. He suggests members gain an adequate education, live strictly within their incomes, save money, avoid excessive debt and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life.

The First Presidency also suggests that members have a food storage.

“Some members do not have the money or space for such storage and some are prohibited by law from storing a year’s supply of food. These members should store as much as their circumstances allow,” the First Presidency wrote in a letter in January 2002.

“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. Through careful planning, most Church members can, over time, establish both a financial reserve and a year supply of essentials.”

Former first counselor in the First Presidency, President Marion G. Romney, once talked about the importance of preparedness by relying on the Holy Ghost for guidance.

“Each one of us who is a member of the Church has had hands laid upon his head and had been given, as far as an ordinance can give it, the gift of the Holy Ghost. ... If I receive the Holy Ghost and follow his guidance, I will be among those who are protected and carried through these troubled times. And so will you, and so will every other soul who lives under his direction,” he said.

Former prophet of the Church, President Brigham Young, said in a 1861 Deseret News article, that members should not fear troubled times. He said members should “seek to have the spirit of Christ” and “prepare ourselves for the times that are coming.”

In Doctrine and Covenants 6:34,36 it reads: “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.”