WHAT WILL IT TAKE?

I recently had an interesting conversation with a friend.  This friend has been passionate about preparedness for a very long time.  I think she has had the calling of ward provident living specialist longer than I have been married!  I asked her if she found something that seemed to help those in her ward want to be more prepared and seek out her help.  She told me in all the years that she has been trying to help with preparedness, only two events stood out where people really took action and wanted to be prepared--1999, with the expected Y2K computer glitches, and 2012, the end of the Mayan calendar.

I have pondered this much.  When the world sees a threat and broadcasts it widely people tend to listen and they take steps to be prepared.  Yet, we have living prophets who have told us over and over to be prepared and they have told us exactly how to do it!  Are we listening?  This preparedness includes so much--food storage, home production, financial security, education, emergency preparedness, employment, and physical heath can be an overwhelming list, but we have been promised that blessings come as we follow the prophets!

The more I think about preparedness, one word keeps coming to my mind:  Freedom.  The Lord has always wanted his people to be free!  As we focus our efforts to be self-reliant, we will also become more free--now and in the future.

President Kimball gave a powerful talk in the April 1976 Conference entitled Family Preparedness.  In it he quotes two scriptures:  “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”(Luke 6:46.).  and “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21).  He goes on to liken these scriptures to preparedness--specifically food storage.   He states, "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."  This council has not changed.  

My dear ward members, I plead with you to heed the Lord's--and the prophets' council--to please be prepared.  Get your food storage, grow some of your own food, pay off debt, continue learning new skills, be healthy, and be ready for a disaster!  

It is my calling to help you achieve this, but it takes all of us.  My goal is to help you every step of the way because the Lord has promised us, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30).

--RaeLyn Stoddard
   Relief Society Provident Living Supervisor