New Church Pamphlets Focus on Preparing “Every Needful Thing”

For years, President Gordon B. Hinckley has encouraged members of the Church to follow the counsel found in D&C 109:8 to “prepare every needful thing.” To help members keep this counsel in mind, two new pamphlets focusing on family home storage and family finances are now being made available to members of the Church.

Under the shared title All Is Safely Gathered In, one pamphlet, subtitled Family Home Storage, reviews basics such as how to acquire a three-month supply of useful food, a supply of drinking water, a financial reserve, and a longer-term supply of basic foods where permitted. The other pamphlet, subtitled Family Finances, offers counsel on paying tithes and offerings, avoiding debt, using a budget, building a reserve, and teaching family members the principles of financial management.

At the heart of the pamphlets is self-reliance, a principle President Hinckley has often stressed.

“Brethren, I wish to urge again the importance of self-reliance on the part of every individual Church member and family,” President Hinckley said in the October 2002 general conference. “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” (“To Men of the Priesthood,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2002, 56).

Although members are encouraged to build up their family home storage and financial reserves, members should do so only where permitted and not go to extremes when doing such, said Kevin Nield, director of Bishops’ Storehouse Services.

Brother Nield hopes that members will heed the counsel given in the pamphlets but acknowledges that initially the focus should be on getting a three-month supply of food instead of attempting to build up storage all at once, because that can be an overwhelming task. “Let’s simplify,” he said. “The principles are pretty easy if we take them gradually over time and take a simple approach.”

The pamphlets have been distributed to priesthood leaders worldwide. They will also be available in the August and September Liahona and Ensign and online at ProvidentLiving.org.

The All Is Safely Gathered In pamphlets help explain the basics of family finances and family home storage.