Great Quotes

“Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months…For longer- term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a lot longer that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans.” (All is Safely Gathered In, Feb. 2007).


From President Gordon B. Hinckley, we hear: “The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes. …
“We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. … I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no
effort at all.
“Begin in a small way, …and gradually build toward a reasonable objective.”
And although the Church has an expansive storage of food as a part of its welfare program, President Hinckley noted, “The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the [Church’s] welfare granary”
(Gordon B. Hinckley, “To Men of the Priesthood, “ Ensign, Nov. 2002, 56).


President Thomas S. Monson said, “Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year’s supply of food…and were debt free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse; they have a year’s supply of debt and are food free”
(Thomas S. Monson, “That Noble Gift – Love at Home, “Church News, May 12, 2001, 7).


President Ezra Taft Benson said,
“The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah…For the righteous, the gospel provides a warning before a calamity, a program for the crises, a refuge for each disaster. The Lord has…warned us of famines, but the righteous will have listened to prophets and stored at least a year’s supply of survival food”
(Ezra Taft Benson, God, Family Country: Our Three Great Loyalties [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1974], 267, 269).

As Nephi said, “I know that the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7).


President Kimball remarked, “The Lord will not translate one’s good hopes and desires and intentions into works. Each of us must do that for himself”
(Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness [Salt Lake City: Book craft, 1969}, 8).


Elder Featherstone proclaimed, “The Lord will make it possible, if we make a firm commitment, for every Latter-day Saint family to have a year supply of food reserves…All we have to do is to decide, commit to do it, and then keep the commitment. Miracles will take place; the way will be opened”
(“Food Storage”, 116).

President J. Reuben Clark stated, “When we really get into hard times, where food is scarce or there is none at all, and so with clothing and shelter, money may be no good for there may be nothing to buy, and you cannot eat money, you cannot get enough of it together to burn to keep war, and you cannot wear it”
(Church News, Nov. 21, 1953, 4)

Vaughn J. Featherstone said, “Now what about those who would plunder and break in and take that which we have stored for our families’ needs? Don’t give this one more idle thought. There is a God in heaven whom we have obeyed. Do you suppose he would abandon those who have kept his commandments? He said, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear”
(Vaughn J. Featherstone, “Food Storage,” Ensign, May 1976, 116).

"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” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.
"We encourage members world-wide 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."
—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, Feb. 2007, 1

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Brethren, I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family.”
“None of us knows when a catastrophe might strike. Sickness, injury, unemployment may affect any of us.”
“We have a great welfare program with facilities for such things as grain storage in various areas. It is important that we do this. But the best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary.”
“I do not predict any impending disaster. I hope that there will not be one. But prudence should govern our lives. Everyone who owns a home recognizes the need for fire insurance. We hope and pray that there will never be a fire. Nevertheless, we pay for insurance to cover such a catastrophe, should it occur.”
“We ought to do the same with reference to family welfare.”
“We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs. As all of you recognize, this counsel is not new. But I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all.”
“Begin in a small way, my brethren, and gradually build toward a reasonable objective. Save a little money regularly, and you will be surprised how it accumulates.”
“Get out of debt and rid yourself of the terrible bondage that debt brings.”
“We hear much about second mortgages. Now I am told there are third mortgages.”
“Discipline yourselves in matters of spending, in matters of borrowing, in practices that lead to bankruptcy and the agony that comes therewith.”
Gordon B. Hinckley , “To Men of the Priesthood,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 56

“Let every head of household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and where possible fuel also for at least a year ahead.”
Elder J. Reuben Clark


“There is a wise old saying, ‘Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without’. Thrift is a practice of not wasting anything. Some people are able to get by because of absence of expense. They have their shoes resoled, they patch, they mend, they sew, and they save money. They avoid installment buying, and make purchases only after saving enough to pay cash, thus avoiding interest charges. Frugality means to practice careful economy.”
Elder James E. Faust


“We will see the day when we live on what we produce.”
President Marion G. Romney


‘Ye Latter-day Saints, learn to sustain yourselves, produce everything you need to eat, drink, or wear…”
President Brigham Young


“For the moment we live in a day of peace and prosperity, but it shall not ever be thus. Great trials lie ahead…and we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually.”
Elder Bruce R. McConkie


“There is no person who knows the real purpose for which this welfare program is being instituted but hardly before sufficient preparation has been made the real purpose will be revealed and when that time comes it will challenge every resource of the church to meet it.”
President Harold B. Lee


“Perhaps if we think not in terms of a year’s supply of what we ordinarily would use, and think more in terms of what it would take to keep us alive in case we didn’t have anything else to eat, that last would be very easy to put in storage for a year…just enough to keep us alive if we didn’t have anything else to eat.”
Elder Harold B. Lee


“The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat.”
President Brigham Young


“No man is truly free who is in financial bondage. ‘Think what you do when you run debt,’ said Benjamin Franklin, ‘you give another man power over your liberty’.”
President Ezra Taft Benson