A lesson on preparedness was taught by the Lord in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. It tells about ten virgins awaiting a marriage celebration. Five were wise and prepared. Five were foolish and not prepared. The five wise virgins were welcomed into the marriage feast upon the arrival of the bridegroom. The five foolish virgins were off to the store buying supplies, and upon their return found the door closed. The cry to the Lord to open the door was met with the response, “I know you not.”

We need to bring an increased awarenessand to teach and to give basic training in personal and family preparedness to the family.

It is time to teach the basics and to make it the number one priority of our personal and family preparedness. We must prepare now so that in time of need families will be able to draw upon their own preparedness and not have to seek assistance from their Church.

There is a story of an old man in nineteenth-century New Hampshire who treasured his independence and self-reliance above all else in his life. He accounted it true Christianity that he cared for his own and helped others, and fiercely resisted the notion that he ought to accept help from any other mortal. When his aged wife died, he buried her himself, then dug his own grave and laid in it his open, homemade coffin. “When my time is coming,” he said, “I’ll climb in the box and fold my arms over my chest. Won’t be no bother to no one. They can just nail down the lid and push in the dirt.”

“No self-respecting person will voluntarily shift the responsibility for his own maintenance to another. Furthermore, a man not only has the responsibility to care for himself; he also has the responsibility to care for his family.” 

The home must be the heart of the preparedness program. We must teach that every family should be headed by an executive committee comprised of a husband and wife who will set aside sufficient time to plan for their family needs. If it is a single-parent family or an individual living alone, there is still need to organize time and thought to establish goals for meeting needs.

Every family has different needs. I notice the difference in my own family now that my children are married. Father and mother are now alone. Their needs have changed. A daughter with her own home and family, a son renting in a student housing project with his family, and a newlywed daughter and her husband, still students at a university—each has different needs, and these needs are changing each year.

Personal and family preparedness planning must begin with the father and mother and planning must be tailored to fit the circumstances of the family. Consideration must be given to their unique requirements in career development, financial and resource management, education, physical health and first aid, home production and storage, and social, emotional, and spiritual strength.

Each family organization should include a family council comprised of all members of the family unit. Here the basic responsibilities of the family organization can be taught to the children. They can learn how to make decisions and act upon those decisions. Too many are growing to marriageable age unprepared for this responsibility. Work ethics and self-preparedness can be taught in a most effective way in a family council.  ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,’ “But all play and no work makes Jack a useless boy.”

How grateful I am for a father who had the patience to teach me the art of gardening. How frustrating it must have been in this teaching process to find a neat row of weeds still in the ground and a pile of dead carrots on the ground after I’d completed one of my assignments. Our family was taught not only the art of stacking and rotating cans and bottles on shelves, but also how to grow and replace the fruits and vegetables necessary to fill the empty cans and bottles again.

Teach the principles of welfare—how to love, to give service, to recognize what his stewardship is, to work honestly and diligently for his family and for others, and to consecrate his time and talents to helping others.

Teach and develop the skills in all areas of personal and family preparedness.

The women are usually more effective in teaching. They teach and practice skills of sewing, canning, drying, and other food storage methods. They teach their families nutrition and physical fitness. They emphasize reading and cultural arts skills. Overall there is a permeating spirit of love and giving, and learning the skills of homemaking.

You may have read the story of a husband and father of a large family who was diagnosed as having terminal cancer. After the shock and fear were faced, the husband and wife counseled together and decided that the best thing they could do for their joy and peace of mind was to prepare themselves and their family for what was to come.

They chose to create family memories through shared experiences, to complete family histories, to have a year’s supply of food and other necessities to meet the financial emergencies that would come. A will was prepared and all insurance and legal papers were put in order. The children were taught to care for one another and to take responsibility in the home.

Just weeks before the death of that father and husband, their home was destroyed in a fire. With it went much of the food storage, but there was still the togetherness of a family that had learned to work together, to plan and prepare, and to face a difficulty head on. With his death, there was sorrow—but not grief. The family had developed the skills it takes to remain close and loving. They were prepared.

The father directs all preparedness needs in the home. He works with those who have special needs who are distressed. He coordinates the teaching of his children the laws of the gospel of Jesus Christ and why we fast. He helps those needing special assistance and gets specialists to assist.

Now, it may be that the old man in New Hampshire carried personal and family preparedness too far, with digging his own grave and all. But I would love to see all families moved by that same spirit of self-reliance and preparedness.

“I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” D&C 38: 30

L. Tom Perry
For The Familiy