Mormons store more food than usual

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Potential problems caused by the Y2K computer bug are not the reason Mormons store food and other supplies, but the threat has caused many to complete their efforts sooner rather than later.

Many members, including some of those at a national conference this week, have anxiously waited to learn how the long-standing preparedness program should deal with the Y2K computer problem.

Y2K concerns are real, but that has not changed the basic advice given by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since pioneer times. LDS Church members are often called Mormons as a nickname because they study the “Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ,” along with the traditional Bible.

“Church teachings regarding personal and family preparedness do not stem from any specific event, including Y2K concerns,” is the pronouncement given by the LDS Church in a prepared statement.

“Predictions of disaster, famine, flood, and earthquake have come and gone and will continue to do so, but the common sense admonitions of Church leaders to prepare for times of adversity and to be self-reliant remain unchanged. The words of Brigham Young, ‘Learn to sustain yourselves, lay up grain and flour, and save it for a day of scarcity,’ are as applicable today as they were more than 130 years ago.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley addresses the members of the LDS Church.

The estimated 11 million members of the worldwide church just spent the past weekend attending the 169th Semi-Annual General Conference at which they received counsel and direction from church leaders. Members of the LDS Church believe there is a prophet guiding them, just like in the Old Testament days. Today that prophet is Gordon B. Hinckley, who is president of the church.

Every LDS prophet since Brigham Young has counseled members to store food and supplies in the event of difficulties. No prophecy has ever been issued that the storage was for a specific event. Such stores have been put to use during times of disasters that impact entire communities, or in the event of personal disasters that affect just one family.

At the same conference meeting one year ago, Hinckley made a statement which caused many church members to make a stronger effort to complete their goals for preparedness.

“I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying,” Hinckley said last year. “I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.”

“If you have paid your debts,” Hinckley concluded, “if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts.”

The warning had a major impact on many of the members. About 6,000 were assembled inside the famous Tabernacle on Temple Square to listen to the conference addresses. It was estimated that at least 10,000 more were listening outside the Tabernacle on the grounds and gardens of Temple Square.

Tom and Patsy Lamb from St. George, Utah, said the warning a year ago did not change what they were doing, but gave them added incentive to complete their preparations.

“Yeah, that’s about the time we really started to think about the end of this year as kind of a deadline to get our things together. We’ve stored more food. We’ve gotten more water stored. A little bit more fuel stored,” said Mr. Lamb.

His wife added that they have also improved their finances, even though there is more they would like to accomplish. They recommended that everyone, regardless of religious affiliation store a year’s supply of everything needed to get by.

I think we’re taking the same approach as always. We haven’t panicked because of the Y2K. We’re confident that as long as we’re prepared we’ll be OK. Being a young family, we’ve tried harder to get our stuff together recently but not because of Y2K,” said Sheila Gardiner while sitting with her husband and children on the grass near the Tabernacle.

“We know it’s the last days, so being prepared is just what we should be doing,” said Scott Gardiner who brought his family from Sacramento, Calif., to the conference. Most church members watch the proceedings by satellite in their local church buildings near their homes.

“I don’t think that we’ve done anything differently because of those issues, but I think we have been a little more diligent in our food storage and in taking care of our financial houses than maybe we have in the past. I don’t think it’s necessarily because of Y2K or any of that, but Hinckley’s message and counsel was pretty strong,” explained Dennis Nichols from Vancouver, Wash.

The LDS Church Tabernacle only holds 6,000, so many members gather on the grounds of Temple Square to hear church leaders address them.

He said that during the past year he has been asked many times about how and what to store by people who are not LDS. He said he believes the interest in preparedness has grown because of the Y2K issue.

Reynold and Darnetta George are retired members of the LDS Church from Idaho Falls, Idaho. They said they have accomplished all the preparedness goals, including being out of debt. They are concerned about their eight children, some of whom have been unable to do much to be prepared for troubled times.

“Nothing’s changed. We’ve been storing food. As the children came along the needs changed. We’ve done that for 22 years,” said Elaine Merrill from Montpelier, Idaho. She did say that she has noticed an increase in food storage activity by her neighbors.

“If we have problems we can’t go dig a hole. I’m planning on giving each of our kids a sanitary bucket for Christmas,” said Sandy Clark of Spokane, Wash. She believes that many people who store food overlook the need for water and human waste disposal in the event of a Y2K or other disaster.

LDS families do not just store food for themselves. They are taught that if disaster strikes they should share what they have with those who are not so well prepared.

“Our neighbors around us are important to us,” explained Skip Clark.

The LDS Church is made up of wards, the name for a local neighborhood church, and stakes which cover the area made up by four or more wards. Local activities and worship services take place in ward and stake meeting houses.

During this past year, many wards and stakes have conducted preparedness fairs to teach members of their communities about food storage and preparedness concerns.

The LDS Church provides a welfare program for members in need. If a family is unable to provide fully for their own needs, the church can provide temporary help. Members receiving help are expected to work for what they receive.

Often the work involves helping in a church-owned cannery or storehouse where food is prepared and stored for those in need. Members volunteer their time in service to the church by helping at the canneries and storehouses. There are 105 storehouses and 93 canneries.

LDS Church canneries are operated primarily by volunteers. The foods they can are distributed through the Church welfare system and given to those in need. The canneries also serve as a resource for those who want to can food for home storage.

Following the Hinckley’s counsel a year ago, members quickly filled all available time slots at the canneries. By June all canneries were scheduled with volunteers for the year.

“What an exciting and wonderful thing it is to step across the threshold of the centuries. This will be our experience before long. Even more exciting is our opportunity to bridge the millennium that is drawing to a close and greet a new thousand years. I am overwhelmed with a grand and solemn sense of history as I contemplate this period,” Hinckley told the members at the conference this past weekend.

“It is only two millennia since the Savior walked the earth. It is a wonderful acknowledgment of His place in history, that the calendar now in use throughout most of the world places His place in history, that the calendar now in use throughout most of the world places His birth as the meridian of time. All that went before is reckoned back from that date. All that has happened since is measured forward from that date.

“Every time anyone uses a date, he knowingly or unknowingly acknowledges the coming to earth of the Son of God. His birth, as it has been popularly determined, marks the center point of the ages, the meridian of time recognized throughout the earth. As we use these dates we pay no attention to it. But if we pause to think, we must recognize that He is the one sublime figure in all the history of the world on which our measurement of time is based,” he stated.

He concluded the discussion of the relevance of the Year 2000 by talking about the coming of Jesus Christ and the importance to the present time.

“The centuries have passed. The latter-day work of the Almighty, that of which the ancients spoke, that of which the prophets and apostles prophesied, is come. It is here. For some reason unknown to us, but in the wisdom of God, we have been privileged to come to earth in this glorious age,” said Hinckley.

He told members they should be better people, telling them to be more Christ-like, more forgiving, more helpful and considerate.

“At some stage in all of this onward rolling, Jesus Christ will appear to reign in splendor upon the earth. No one knows when that will be. Not even the angels in heaven will know of the time of His return,” Hinckley stated.