Professional Documents
Culture Documents
me, and they who have sought me early shall find rest to their souls. D&C 54:10
2001
2005
“Let us never lose sight of the dream of Pharaoh . . .which was interpreted by
Joseph to indicate years of plenty and years of scarcity.”
time, we would find ourselves in the fourth prime farm land all over the world. With
of the lean years. It is interesting to note high prices for fertilizer and seed and
what was happening in Egypt during that current low prices for their farm produce,
time. In Genesis 47:15 it says, “And when dwindling crop insurance availability, as
money failed in the land of Egypt, and in well as tightening credit by banks, many
the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came farmers may be struggling to come up with
unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread for the money to put in their crops come spring.
why should we die in thy presence? for the
money faileth.” As their money failed they Even though we had an abundant harvest
then gave the government their remaining last year in the US, over the past few years
assets including their valuables, homes and the world has eaten more food than it has
lands in exchange for food and shelter. produced. The world food reserve became
Around the end of the fourth year the peo- very low and the United States’ food reserve
ple were gathered into cities and became was completely gone for a time. According
slaves to the government. to the USDA global food projections for 2008
there was only a 2.6 percent margin be-
tween production and consumption of food
We can see that financially we are in lean last year. This means that the world food
years and most agree that it will take years supply is very vulnerable going forward.
to come out of this recession…but could we Also, in 2008 the last of the US government
experience an actual famine of food? I can- owned grain was sold. The United States
not say, although famines are prophesied Government no longer has a supply of food
for the last days and indeed they are in case of emergency.
currently happening all over the world, i.e.
recently there have been record breaking Fortunately, that doesn’t matter to us in the
droughts in California, Texas, Argentina church because the church has grains
and Australia, flooding in Indonesia, China, enough and to spare…at least that is what
the Midwest and Myanmar, fires all over most of us are banking on. That is not what
the Western United States, locusts in our leaders say, however. From President
Kazakhstan, Australia and India, grain Faust we hear: "Every father and mother
fungus in Africa and the Gulf Countries, are the family's storekeepers. They should
declining bees and increasing rats all over store whatever their own family would like
the world, bird flu, pig flu, cow diseases, to have in the case of an emergency…[and]
volcanic ash that has made some rich God will sustain us through our trials."
areas of the world sterile, salmonella and
other disease out- A friend in Northern
breaks in our pro- Utah told me that
duce and other prob- he was recently
lems which effect “Every father and mother are called as the ward
our food supply such the family’s storekeepers. They employment special-
as food transporta- ist in his ward.
tion, increased should store whatever their own When he was called
prices for animal family would like to have in the there were two
feed, fertilizers and chronically unem-
seed, etc. China, the case of an emergency . . .[and] ployed men in his
Gulf countries and God will sustain us through our ward, two weeks
other wealthy coun- later there were 11
tries are buying up
trials.”
families without
Pres. James E. Faust
work. When I went visiting teaching a production projects, canneries, bishops’
month or two ago a brother shared that he storehouses, Deseret Industries, and other
had just been let go that day, his neighbor visible activities, our people are mistakenly
said that his small construction company led to believe these things replace the need
was letting go 11 workers the next day. for them to provide for themselves. This
They also talked about the dwindling state simply is not so…It is the opinion of many
of their 401K funds and how it would no that more difficult times lie ahead. We are
longer sustain them for long. deeply concerned about the welfare of our
people and recognize the potential priva-
Can the church feed us all? During the tion and suffering that will exist if each
1980 recession Bishop Victor L. Brown person and family does not accept the word
told us, “Within the last twelve months, of the Lord when he says, “Prepare every
needful thing” (D&C 88:119) and “It must
needs be done in mine own way” (D&C
104:16).” It is silly to believe that the
church can provide for all of us…in order to
feed the population of Utah survival ra-
tions for a year it could take close to a bil-
lion pounds of grains/beans.
Elder Eyring spoke in 2005 and said, “The Each time he asked after that, each failure
giant earthquake, and the tsunamis it to respond would have lessened sensitivity
sent crashing into the coasts around the to the Spirit. And so each time his request
Indian Ocean, is just the beginning and a would have seemed more foolish, until the
part of what is to come, terrible as it rain came. And then it was too late.”
was…and all things shall be in commo-
tion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail How foolish do people who have stored a
them; for fear shall come upon all people. three-month supply of food and a longer-
(D&C 88: 88-91) As the challenges around term supply for their families and others
us increase, we must commit to do more seem to you? Pres. Benson said “The revela-
to qualify for the companionship of the tion to produce and store food may be as es-
Holy Ghost.” sential to our temporal welfare today as
boarding the ark was to the people in the
Said Elder Boyd K. Packer in 2005, "If days of Noah.”
9/11 was a wake-up call, then the earth-
quake and tsunami in Southeast Asia, Every prophet (until President Monson) over
was a kick out of bed. We need to pay the last 70 years has talked about having
attention to the signs of the times."
the Church members get a bare minimum This major change in what we should store
of at least one year’s supply of basic food occurred last year when a new pamphlet
items. It is interesting that this has re- entitled, “All Is Safely Gathered In” was
cently changed…the church now has put distributed. This pamphlet was first talked
particular emphasis on gaining a three- about by the Presiding Bishopric, then was
month supply of foods your family normally handed out in February 2007 to the bishop’s
eats. This is interesting to me because to distribute to all the families in their
twelve weeks is generally the accepted wards, and later was included in the August
amount of time experts say most families 2007 Ensign. It would seem that they
wanted all of us to read it.