“The Importance of Preparation,” Liahona, August 2021
Blessings of Self-Reliance
The Importance of Preparation
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded Latter-day Saints how blessed they are to be led by prophets and apostles who have taught the importance of preparation and self-reliance.
Illustration by David Green
“How are we to deal with both the somber prophecies and the glorious pronouncements about our day?” President Russell M. Nelson asked members of the Church. “The Lord told us how with simple, but stunning, reassurance: ‘If ye are prepared ye shall not fear’ [Doctrine and Covenants 38:30].
“What a promise!” he declared. “It is one that can literally change the way we see our future.”
Temporal, spiritual, and emotional preparation, added President Nelson, “is our key to embracing this dispensation and our future with faith.”1
Consistent Counsel
Challenging experiences can teach valuable lessons, observed Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He said one of those lessons is to heed repeated admonitions from prophets, seers, and revelators.
“Some Church members opine that emergency plans and supplies, food storage, and 72-hour kits must not be important anymore because the Brethren have not spoken recently and extensively about these and related topics in general conference,” he taught. “But repeated admonitions to prepare have been proclaimed by leaders of the Church for decades. The consistency of prophetic counsel over time creates a powerful concert of clarity and a warning volume far louder than solo performances can ever produce.”2
Church leaders recognize, however, the limitations and restrictions some Church members may face as they try to follow prophetic counsel to prepare. Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, offered encouragement:
“Being temporally prepared and self-reliant means ‘believing that through the grace, or enabling power, of Jesus Christ and our own effort, we are able to obtain all the spiritual and temporal necessities of life we require for ourselves and our families’ [Personal Finances for Self-Reliance (2017), 4].
“Additional aspects of a spiritual foundation for temporal preparedness include acting ‘in wisdom and order’ [Mosiah 4:27], which implies a gradual buildup of food storage and savings over time, as well as embracing ‘small and simple’ means [Alma 37:6], which is a demonstration of faith that the Lord will magnify our small but consistent efforts.”3
Spiritual and Emotional Preparation
President Nelson has said that the novel coronavirus reinforces prophetic counsel to have food, water, and financial reserves. “But I am even more concerned,” he added, “about your spiritual and emotional preparation.”4
President Nelson said spiritual preparation requires that we create places of security where we can seek revelation. “A place of security is anywhere you can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost and be guided by Him,” he said.5 Such places include the temple and our homes, wards, and stakes.
Elder Bednar added, “Our efforts to prepare for the proving experiences of mortality should follow the example of the Savior, who incrementally ‘increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man’ [Luke 2:52]—a blended balance of intellectual, physical, spiritual, and social readiness.”6
As we examine our preparation, we can ask ourselves: “What have we learned during these recent months of lifestyle adjustments and restrictions? What do we need to improve in our lives spiritually, physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually? Now is the time to prepare and prove ourselves willing and able to do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us.”7