A Word from our Prophets. . .

By the looks of things going on around us, from earthquakes to world economies collapsing, hopefully there is no longer any need to convince ourselves of the need to be prepared for anything that might happen.  We are fortunate in this church to have prophets who receive revelation for the church.  This month I’m going to remind of some of the things they have told us in years past.  Hopefully we listened to what they said back then, and if not, let’s get busy.  Times, they are a getting’ tougher.  We’ve been told what to do so we’ll be able to weather those times with as little discomfort as possible.  

And now, a word (or two) from our prophets. . .

 

“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...”

- Ezra Taft Benson (General Conference, October 1973)

 

“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.”

- Spencer W. Kimball (General Conference, April 1974)

 

“I stand before the Church this day and raise the warning voice. It is a prophetic voice, for I shall say only what the apostles and the prophets have spoken concerning our day. ...It is a voice calling upon the Lord's people to prepare for the troubles and desolations which are about to be poured upon the world without measure. . . 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 (General Conference April 1979)

 

“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. 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 (General Conference, October 1980)

 

“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.”

- Thomas S. Monson (October 2002 Ensign)

 

"...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." (President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. - Church News, November 21, 1953, p.4.)

"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 - Journal of Discourses, vol. 12, p. 142.)

“The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat.” (Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 250, 1943 ed., p. 298.)

“I have a sense and a feeling as we have watched some of these disasters in the world, that this is a time for us to learn and prepare from these experiences.   The preparation happens in our own homes. There are not enough tents in the world to furnish every person with a tent unless the members of the church have a tent in their own homes...a simple thing like that. And then the storehouse is pressed down, heaped over and running over in our own homes. Some of you have student apartments, how prepared are you? If an earthquake or an economic disaster happened, would you have enough water to drink for 24 hours? Would you be able to get by until help could come to you? Those are the kind of the things we need to be thinking about in our day and time, the Lord expects us to do our little part and then He can bring on the miracles and then we don't need to fear.  I bear you my testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and that these principles will strengthen us individually, and as a family, and as a people, and as a church.  As we listen to prophets of God we will be okay.  We don’t need to worry about being alive in this scary time.  The world has had scary times before and the Lord has always taken care of His people who have been faithful. “   –  Julie B. Beck  (in a recent Self Reliance Training Meeting)

 

"It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent." – Ezra Taft Benson

 

"We want you to be ready with your personal storehouses 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, August 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 yard" (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 171; or Ensign, May 1976, 124).

"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." Pres. Ezra Taft Bensen

"We will see the day when we live on what we produce." Pres. Marion G. Romney

"When people are able but unwilling to take care of themselves we are responsible to employ the dictum of the Lord that the idler shall not eat the bread of the laborer". Elder Boyd K. Packer

 The prophets have spoken.  Let’s be about the business of following their counsel.