Self Reliance

We have noticed that since we moved to Southern California there is a lot of emphasis on self-reliance and preparedness within the wards. Maybe it’s because we live in earthquake country, but everyone is vulnerable to something even if it’s just a power outage, so this applies to everyone. Our last ward just finished a challenge to live off of their food storage for a week and avoid going to the gas station etc. to better understand what their family’s needs would be in an emergency situation. I haven’t heard about how it went yet, but would love to know. Our current ward has encouraged members to get a ham radio license so there would be a way to communicate if phone lines are jammed or down.

The following statements are from today’s lesson in Relief Society and really show how important the Lord feels self-reliance is:

The responsibility for each person’s social, emotional, spiritual, physical, or economic well-being rests first upon himself, second upon his family, and third upon the Church if he is a faithful member thereof.

No true Latter-day Saint, while physically or emotionally able, will voluntarily shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else. So long as he can, under the inspiration of the Lord and with his own labors, he will supply himself and his family with the spiritual and temporal necessities of life… the highest achievement of spirituality comes as we conquer the flesh. We build character as we encourage people to care for their own needs. -Spencer W. Kimball

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. -1 Timothy 5:8

It was mentioned today that the Church has a new strategy for home storage. It used to be that we were instructed to store a year’s supply of food and people would stack buckets of wheat and other things they never really used in their daily diets. The new instruction is to store a three months supply of foods you normally eat (non-perishable of course) and build from there. I have to mention that my mom has been saying this for years in the classes she’s taught and articles she’s written! But it’s not only about food and water. The first presidency has said:

“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.”

So, let’s all get our families in order so we can spend our energy helping others during an emergency without worry of ourselves.

Update: In response to Banna’s question and because I originally wrote this at midnight and was too tired to add links, I’m now including some links to helpful articles:

Making Space for Food Storage
By Carolyn Nicolaysen

The Self-Reliant Shopper
By Carolyn Nicolaysen

 Family Home Storage from Provident Living

Family Finances from Provident Living