What Do Mormons Believe: Family home production and storage

Members are encouraged to store a basic supply of food, water and finances. This council is outlined in a pamphlet produced by the church titled “All is Safely Gathered In.” From the pamphlet:

“Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.
 

“We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.

“We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.

“We realize that some of you may not have financial resources or space for such storage. Some of you may be prohibited by law from storing large amounts of food. We encourage you to store as much as circumstances allow.

“Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet… Store drinking water for circumstances in which the water supply may be polluted or disrupted… Establish a financial reserve by saving a little money each week and gradually increasing it to a reasonable amount… For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive.” (All is Safely Gathered In, pamphlet, 2007)

“This new [home storage] program is within everyone’s grasp. The first step is to begin. The second is to continue. It doesn’t matter how fast we get there so much as that we begin and continue according to our abilities.” H. David Burton, “Family Home Storage: A New Message,” Ensign, Mar. 2009, 60.

What Do Mormons Believe: Employment

“Work is the foundation upon which self-reliance and temporal well-being rest. Members [of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] should prepare for and carefully select a suitable occupation or self-employment that will provide for their own and their families’ needs. They should become skilled at their work, be diligent and trustworthy, and give honest work for the pay and benefits they receive.” 1

“Our Heavenly Father asks only that we do the best we can—that we work according to our full capacity, however great or small that may be.” 2

What Do Mormons Believe: Health

“Because we are created in the image of God (see Genesis 1:27), our bodies are temples and should be treated with care and respect (see 1 Corinthians 3:16–17).

“The Word of Wisdom, found in Doctrine and Covenants 89, is the Lord’s code of health and was revealed to Joseph Smith in 1833. It teaches that we should eat nutritious foods and avoid harmful substances. Apostles and prophets have since taught that we should shun all substances or practices that abuse our bodies or minds and that could lead to addiction.” 1

“Our physical bodies indeed are temples of God. Consequently, you and I must carefully consider what we take into our temple, what we put on our temple, what we do to our temple, and what we do with our temple.” 2

“Regular exercise can prepare us physically, mentally, and spiritually to function better, whether it’s in our relationships with others or in our all-important relationship with our Heavenly Father.” 3

For more information, see the Physical Health section of providentliving.org.

More from this website:

Health and the Word of Wisdom

Smoking

Does Sin Cause Disease?

What Can’t Mormons Do? Part 1: The Word of Wisdom

What Do Mormons Believe: Education

“The Lord commands us to ‘seek learning, even by study and also by faith’ (D&C 88:118). President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught: ‘We believe in education. This Church encourages education. There is incumbent upon every member of this Church, as a mandate from the Lord, to get all the education you can get. … There is incumbent upon the Latter-day Saints a dictum from the Lord Himself to educate our minds and our hands.‘ 5

“Gaining an education was the goal of Roberto Flete Gonzalez of the Dominican Republic, who enrolled in college shortly after returning from his mission. His father agreed to cover his living expenses so that Roberto could focus on his studies, but a short time later, Roberto’s father died, leaving the family in a dire financial situation.

“Roberto quit school and began working to support himself, his mother, and his sister. He wondered how he’d ever be able to finish school.

“Weeks later President Hinckley announced the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF), ‘a bold initiative’ that would help youth in developing areas ‘rise out of the poverty they and generations before them have known.’ 6 Roberto applied for and was granted a PEF loan, which allowed him to continue his studies. This opportunity not only helped with immediate finances, but it also helped Roberto have the faith to marry and form an eternal family because he knew he would be able to provide for them.

“Roberto finished medical school while serving as a bishop and became the first Church member on the National Board of Dominican Medical Schools. But the best results, he says, have been at home. ‘There have been changes in my family as we are now further removed from the cycle of poverty,’ he says. ‘I am grateful that my son won’t have to live the same way I did because we’ve stepped out of that cycle.'” (“Catching the Vision of Self-Reliance,” Ensign, June 2011)

“For members of the Church, education is not merely a good idea—it’s a commandment.” (“Two Principles for Any Economy”, Ensign, Nov. 2009)

For more information, visit the Education and Literacy section of providentliving.org and visit besmart.com , a website to help Latter-day Saint youth prepare for higher education.

What Do Mormons Believe: Self-Reliance

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the welfare plan of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church Security Plan—which would later be renamed the Church Welfare Plan—was first announced in April 1936 in the Great Depression era by president Heber J Grant. The program helps people through temporally difficult circumstances in order to help them become self-reliant.

“The intent of the Church’s welfare plan … involves promoting self-reliance as a way of life. President Thomas S. Monson has taught that self-reliance—’the ability, commitment, and effort to provide the necessities of life for self and family‘ 1 —is an essential element of our temporal and spiritual well-being.2

Continue reading What Do Mormons Believe: Self-Reliance