A word from the Stake Relief Society Presidency
In his talk, "Providing in theLord's Way", President Uchtdorf said, "...I believe that in the Lord's plan, our commitment to welfare principles should be at the very root of our faith and devotion to Him". The purposes of Church welfare are to help members become self-reliant, to care for the poor and needy, and to give service. In order for us to better fulfill the second and third parts of this purpose, we must first become self-reliant.
In a talk titled, "Desire", Elder Oaks gave us an important principle that can help us in becoming self-reliant. He said, "DESIRES dictate our priorities, PRIORITIES shape our choices and CHOICES determine our actions. The desires we ACT on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming."
In an article in the June 2011Ensign it states, "A mere desire to become self-reliant is not enough. We must make a conscious, active effort to provide for our own needs and those of our families. It is the desire of the Stake Relief Society to help and support our members in moving from desire to action. To do this, it is helpful to look at our food storage priorities and choices.
Under the heading of Home Storage, the handbook states, "...members should build a three-month supply of food that is part of their normal diet." To me, this means my priorities may not be your priorities. Priorities may include taste and familiarity, health and nutrition, convenience and time, storage, price and affordability and preparation needs and fuel. IDENTIFYING our own priorities shapes our choices. If price and affordability is my number one concern, buying long term, pre-packaged expensive food storage will probably not be my first choice. However, this may be a great choice if convenience and time is the priority.
Taste and familiarity is my first priority. For me, when disaster hits, using my year's supply of wheat will not be a good time for me to start cracking, sprouting and boiling my wheat. I need to already be familiar with all of the food storage options on my shelf. With taste and familiarity as my priority, I have looked at the recipes I use all of the time and have made storage choices based on the ingredients needed for those recipes. My food storage consists of canned, packaged, frozen, refrigerated, dehydrated and freeze dried products. I can't store a 3 month supply of sour cream, but I can store a pantry size or #10 size can of powdered sour cream.
Brothers and Sisters, please take time as a family to identify those foods that make up your "normal diet". Then begin to make food storage choices based on those priorities. Start out small if you are just beginning. Where circumstances allow, we then encourage you to continue to build a longer-term supply of basic foods that will sustain life.
Again, it is our desire, as a Stake Relief Society Presidency, to provide the support needed as each family makes a commitment to obtaining and maintaining a 3 month supply of food. I promise you if you are ready to act upon your desire to be self-reliant, the Lord will bless you in your efforts. He knows the desire and intent of your hearts. He knows your circumstances. If you do all that you can, recognizing that each family's "all" is different, he will accept your efforts and provide when you can't. May we each move from desire to action is my prayer.
Patty W.
