Prepare Every Needful Thing - Brigham Young University

[Pages:28]Prepare Every Needful Thing If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear

We are living in the perilous times of the last days as prophesied by many prophets that saw our day. Safety in these difficult yet exciting times comes through following the prophet. We feel that there are important things that we can all do to be better prepared for our glorious future. We have received great counsel from our modern day prophets and apostles to guide us in our preparation. If we prepare we will be of good cheer and be able to help lift others. In this material you will find practical ideas for physical and spiritual preparedness, inspiring quotes from Church leaders, recipes for using food storage, as well as inspiring personal accounts and testimony. May we all be prepared to meet the Bridegroom as the five faithful virgins in the parable of the ten virgins.

Prepare Every Needful Thing If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear Table of Contents A Parable of Two Princesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4 Prepare Every Needful Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 7 Prepare to Meet the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 15 Family Home Storage Center Products . . . . . . . . . . . . page 16 72 Hour Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 17 Linda's Whole Wheat Bread Recipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 18 All Is Safely Gathered In Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 19 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 21 Quotes from Prophet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 22

2

The Parable of Two Princesses

Once there was a king that had two beautiful daughters. He loved them very much. He wanted to give them a special gift. He called them both to him and told them that he had a gift for them, but in order to obtain this wonderful gift they had to complete several tasks that he would give to them. They would have to leave his kingdom going their separate ways in order to complete their tasks. Part of the requirements was that they had to go in disguise so no one would know they were actually princesses. They would have an allotted time to complete their tasks, although the amount of time was known only to the king. When the time was finished he would send the Crown Prince, their elder brother, to bring them home. He told them that they could call him any time and that he would anxiously await their return. They were both very excited because they knew that the gift would be of great worth.

Princess Faithanna started out on her journey to the west and Princess Fearella went to the east, wishing each other well and a speedy return.

As Princess Faithanna traveled she came to a kingdom called the Kingdom of Prepared. It was a beautiful place with lovely well-kept cottages and beautiful fields of golden grain. It seemed that every cottage had a lovely vegetable garden. She saw orchards with fruit trees of every kind. The people all seemed so happy. She decided this was a good place for her to work on her assigned tasks. She found a comfortable room in a boarding house that was reasonably priced. Father had given her a small amount of money for her journey.

She began looking for work and found a job as an assistant in the nearby library. This was the ideal job. It would give her a chance to meet many of the people in the kingdom and learn about them and what was important in their lives.

In the library she found many wonderful books that taught her many useful skills. She also found a very special book that taught many important things about life and how to be happy and safe. She realized that many of the people around her loved this special book.

She met many people and made lots of friends. She began to see that the people had many good qualities in common. She made a list of the things that seemed to be important to them in their lives.

3

Meanwhile, Princess Fearella traveled until she came to the Kingdom of Unprepared. It was a lovely place with big expensive houses with perfectly manicured lawns and beautiful flower gardens, many with swimming pools and tennis courts. There were huge shopping malls where you could buy anything if you had enough money. She saw many expensively dressed people rushing here and there. They all seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. She smiled at some as she passed, but no one seemed to smile back. She thought, "they are just busy and too deep in thought to notice me." Princess Fearella decided she would stay in this place to do her assigned tasks.

She had difficulty finding a place to stay that was in her budget. She finally decided on an apartment. It was quite a bit more that she could afford with the money Father had given her, but it was so lovely and had the best of everything just like at home. She knew it was extravagant but she would get a job and she would be able to pay for it. Besides she had a whole month before she had to make the next payment.

Princess Fearella was able to find a job at a very classy clothing store in the nearby shopping mall. She thought this would be a great place to get to know the people and learn what was important to them. She met many people and made friends and began to see things that were important in their lives. She made a list of the qualities that many of the people seemed to share.

Princess Faithanna's List

Princess Fearella's List

Frugality

Diligence Prayerfulness Modesty Patience Obedience Serving Prioritizing Hard Working Self-reliant

Indulgence

Procrastination Pride Vanity Instant Gratification Slothfulness Self-centered Too Busy Leisure Loving Dependant

As Princess Faithanna studied the list she had made, she understood why the people were so happy. She knew that she wanted to develop all of these wonderful qualities and worked hard to become a part of the people in the Kingdom of Prepared.

4

Princess Faithanna called her Father often to tell him what she was learning and to ask his advice. The King could tell she was happy.

As Princess Fearella studied the list she had made, she realized that it might be good for her to find another place to complete her tasks and she would, tomorrow.

Princess Fearella called home only occasionally because she was so busy as she explained to her Father. The King was concerned about his daughter but she always said, "don't worry Father, all is well in the Kingdom of Unprepared; all is prosperous."

Princess Fearella spent much of her money buying the beautiful, expensive clothing sold in the store where she worked. She also loved spending her spare time with her friends at the spa being pampered. She even had some plastic surgery and other beauty enhancing procedures. They were expensive but so worth it.

As the allotted time was drawing to an end, the king sent one of his servants to his daughters to tell them the Crown Prince would soon be coming.

Princess Faithanna was excited. She felt such love for her father and elder brother. She could hardly wait to see them again.

Princess Fearellla had a feeling of fear come over her at the servant's message. She wasn't ready yet. But then she realized that she still had time. "Soon" could be a long ways off. Tomorrow she really intended to leave this kingdom and make some changes.

Tomorrow came and Princess Faithanna saw the Crown Prince afar off and joyfully ran to meet him. He embraced her and put her royal robes upon her shoulders and her crown upon her head. What joy and love was felt that day.

Princess Fearella saw the Crown Prince afar off and was seized by an awful fear. She wasn't ready. She thought she had more time. She had intended to leave the Kingdom of Unprepared, but now it was too late. With sorrow she realized that she had become just like the people of the Kingdom of Unprepared. In shame she hid from the presence of her Elder Brother.

"If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear", (D&C 38:30).

By Linda Davis

5

Prepare Every Needful Thing

"Prepare every needful thing" (D&C 88:119), is important counsel for our day and time. President Hinckley, in the November 2005 Ensign and Liahona, spoke on the subject of, "If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear." After quoting many scriptures on the calamities prophesied for these last days he said, "What we have experienced in the past was all foretold, and the end is not yet. Just as there have been calamities in the past, we expect more in the future. What do we do?

Some have said it was not raining when Noah built the ark. But he built it, and the rains came.

The Lord has said, `If ye are prepared ye shall not fear' (D&C 38:30)... We can so live that we can call upon the Lord for His protection and guidance. This is a first priority. We cannot expect His help if we are unwilling to keep His commandments...We can heed warnings...We have built grain storage and storehouses and stocked them with necessities of life in the event of a disaster. But the best storehouse is the family storeroom. In other revelation the Lord has said, `Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing' (D&C 41:1-36).

Our people for three-quarters of a century have been counseled and encouraged to make such preparation as will assure survival should a calamity come.

We can set aside some water, basic food, medicine, and clothing to keep us warm. We ought to have a little money laid aside in case of a rainy day.

Let us never lose sight of the dream of Pharaoh concerning the fat cattle and the lean...years of plenty and years of scarcity (see Gen.41:1-36).

I have faith...that the Lord will bless us, and watch over us, and assist us if we walk in obedience to His light, His gospel, and His commandments."

So, are we prepared and what things can we do right now to be better prepared? We must remember not to run faster than we have strength or means, but not use that as a reason to not do what we can.

I have heard people say that being spiritually prepared is more important than being physically prepared. The Lord has told us that all things are spiritual to Him (see D&C 29:34-35). Any time we are given instructions from the Prophet, if we are to be spiritually prepared we must be obedient to his council. In this way physical or temporal preparation is also a test of our spiritual preparation through our willingness to be obedient to all

6

things whatsoever we are commanded to do. The Lord has said, "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants it is the same" (see D&C 1:38).

I love the Lord's use of symbolism to teach us and help us to remember important things. Many symbols He uses have more than one meaning. As we prepare some of these symbols can be helpful to us.

The Bread of Life for the Body and Spirit

Look at bread for instance. In our preparation we need to include daily feasting with the Bread of Life, who is Christ, by feasting upon His word through consistent study and pondering on the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. We also find that bread or grains that can make bread are the staff of life that we should eat daily as we live the Word of Wisdom, an important part of being physically strong. Keeping the Word of Wisdom has important promises needed in these the last days. A prayerful study of it will be of great benefit to you both physically and spiritually. Okay, now if we want to be able to feast on the staff of life we better make sure that we have a good supply of whole grains, such as wheat, rice, barley, oats, etc., stored.

7

Oil For Our Lamps And More

Another important symbol is oil. We are counseled to have oil in our lamps plus extra. The parable of the ten virgins is very important to our day (see Matthew 25:1-13, D&C 45:56-59. Having oil in our lamps represents having the Holy Ghost as our guide. We can gain this important oil as we seek daily to follow the Lord's example of obedience, service and sacrifice. Oil is also a very important part of our daily needs in maintaining health. For our food storage, oil gives us calories and fats that help our bodies function properly as well as added flavor and texture to our food. And of course no preparation is complete without consecrated oil for the healing of the sick.

Salt of the Earth

Let's talk about salt. We are to be the salt of the earth. What does that mean? Salt in ancient times was used as money. Salt is of great worth as we are also of great worth to our Heavenly Father. Salt is used to preserve food, to keep it from spoiling. As we keep the

8

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download