If ye are
prepared ye shall not fear!
A
Nampa 6th Ward combine 3rd hour by Tammy Williams and
Bryton Rankin – Emergency preparedness and Dry Pack Specialists. Given on
10/21/12
·
Signs of caution
o
I am sure you all noticed some signs in the hall
as you walked in. There was a CAUTION Now Is the Time to Prepare. A, ONE WAY
sign “the lord giveth no commandments; save he shall prepare a way” 1 Nephi
3:7. A Curved arrow sign, “walk in his paths, which are straight;
for behold the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the
face of the earth.” Alma 7:9. And finally at the door to the gym was a STOP
sign reading, “ Be steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God.”
Alma 1:25
o
When we read road signs we begin to prepare for
whats ahead. We slow down and become more cautious. We are more aware of our
surroundings. We may see a slow to a different speed sign, so we do. Then a
sign saying to be aware a flagman is ahead. So we slow even more and begin to
prepare to stop. When we see the flagmen we yield to whatever sign he is
displaying and cautiously proceed threw the road ahead. We know that if we obey
the signs we will pass safely threw the road hazard. But if we ignore the signs
we risk hitting an individual, harm to ourselves and our vehicles. Ignoring
signs on the road is both hazardous and irresponsible. Just like we have
numerous road signs that direct us when on the roads, the Lord has given us an
abundance of signs about what we need to do to prepare for the coming of the
Savior. Scriptural warnings have been given for thousands of years. The prophets have been warning us, counseling
us, and commanding us to prepare both spiritually and temporally.
o
Dallin H Oaks, April 2004 conference
1.
“The scriptures are rich in references to the
second coming, an event eagerly awaited by the righteous and dreaded or denied
by the wicked. The faithful of all ages have pondered the sequences and meaning
of the may events prophesies to precede and follow this hinge point in history.
“Four matters are indisputable to
Latter-day Saints: 1} the Savior will return to the earth in power and great
glory to reign personally during the millennium of righteousness and peace. 2}
at the time of his coming there will be a destruction of the wicked and a
resurrection of the righteous. 3} No one knows the time of his coming, but 4}
the faithful are taught to study the signs of it and be prepared for it.”
2.
“Biblical and modern prophecies give many signs
of the second coming. These include:
·
The fullness of the gospel restored and preached
in all the world for a witness to all nations
·
False Christ’s and false prophets, deceiving
many
·
Wars and rumors of wars, with nations rising
against nation
·
Earthquakes in diverse places
·
Famine and pestilence
·
An overflowing of scourge, a desolate sickness
covering the land
·
Iniquity abounding
·
The whole earth in commotion
·
Men’s hearts failing them.”
·
Parable of the 10 virgins
o
In the 25th chapter of Matthew, we
are told a parable of the 10 virgins.
o
10 righteous women were extended an invitation
to a wedding. The bride-groom did not come for a long time and the oil in their
lamps ran out while they were waiting for him to come. Only 5 women were
prepared with extra oil for their lamps while the other 5 had to go and get
more. The Bride-groom came while the 5 unprepared women were away. He allowed
entrance for the 5 prepared women into the wedding. When the unprepared, but
righteous, 5 women returned they found the door locked. The door had been
closed and the Lord denied them entrance saying “I know you not. Watch
therefore” the Savior concluded “for ye know neither the day nor the hour
wherein the son of man cometh”
o
This chilling representation obviously
represented members of Christ’s church. All were invited to the wedding feast
and all knew what was required to be admitted when the bridegroom came. But
only half were ready when he came.
o
We gave half the room fresh bread. The whole
room had napkins, but only half the room had little plates as well. That was the side that was given bread. We used this as an “object lesson” if you
will. Just like the 10 Virgins, 50% of
this room was not prepare to receive bread. You were half the way there with
your napkins but had no plates. I am
sure that the side of the room that received bread, if they had know, would
have loved to share but were unaware that only they would receive bread. And those who received none would really like
to have some. On the morning of the
first resurrection we are told only 50% of the members of the church will be
prepared to meet the Savior. We cannot
share our spiritual preparedness; our testimony's. We cannot at that last minute do what must
happen over a lifetime to insure that we know our Savior and have lived worthy
to be called up in the morning of the first resurrection. Like the 5 unprepared virgins some will be
left out. Those who are taken in will
want desperately to bring the other 50%, but will not be able to. We are responsible for our own spiritual
readiness, and in addition our temporal readiness.
o
“We can so live that we can call upon the Lord
for his protection and guidance. This is a 1st priority. We cannot
expect his help if we are unwilling to keep him commandments.” Gordon B.
Hinkely. October 2005. If ye are prepared ye shall not fear
o
We cannot expect our Heavenly Father to lower
his standard to make up the difference for those who are not prepared. He has
prepared a way, he has given aide, if we are unwilling to obey the warning
signs he has given us then we will be left without. We have been instructed and warned for so
long. And now the admonishment to prepare is rarely spoken from the pulpit
during General Conference anymore. We have been instructed, we know what to do,
it is now time to OBEY!!!
o
·
The world will be in commotion
o
Dallin H oaks, April conference 2004
1.
“In another revelation the Lord declares that
some of these signs are His voice calling His people to repentance
2.
In D&C 43:23-25 we read
·
“Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear
the words of that God who made you. How oft have I called upon you by the mouth
of my servants and by the
ministering of angels, and by mine
own voice, and by the voice of
thundering, and by the voice of
lightnings and by the voice of
tempests, and by the voice of
earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind… and
would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!”
o
We are given MANY warning signs through
scriptures and through our prophets. We are told that during the second coming the
world will be in chaos!
o
In D&C 88: 88 it says
1.
“And all things shall be in commotion; and
surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear
shall come upon all people.”
o
But even with all of this warning of
destruction, we are still issues a promise of comfort. The Lord tells us in
D&C 38:30
1.
“But if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.”
o
The Lord has promised us that if we prepare for
the second coming, that we will not live in fear.
·
Begin Preparations today
o
“What if the day of his coming were tomorrow? If
we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow – through our premature death of
His unexpected coming – what would we do today? What confessions would we make?
What practices would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What
forgiveness would we extend/ what testimonies would we bear? If we would do
those things then, why not now? Why not seek peace while peace can be obtained?
If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to
replenish them. We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the
events prophesied at the time of the second coming. And the preparation most
likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult – the
spiritual. A 72-hour kit of temporal supplies may prove valuable for the
earthly challenges, but, as the foolish virgins learned in their sorrow, a
24-hour kit of spiritual preparedness is of greater and more enduring value.”
·
How do we prepare spiritually?
o
How do we spiritually prepare?????? Well you
came today! You attend your meetings, you partake of the sacrament. We serve in our callings, we teach our
children. We read and study the scriptures daily. We pray in earnest to the Lord often. Always
having a prayer in our hearts. We live all the doctrine we are taught each
week. Family Home Evening. We embrace
and embody the gospel. We study and pray so that we KNOW our Savior.
o
“Stand ye
in holy places and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come: for behold, it
cometh quickly” D&C 87:8
o
Bishop J. Reuben Clark. October 1980 conference
“My dear brothers and sisters, the greatest test for any generation is
how to respond to the voice of the prophets. Our prophets have admonished us
to—
1.
Increase our personal righteousness – Spiritual
preparedness
2.
Live within our means and get out of debt
3.
Produce, can and store enough food, clothing and
where possible, fuel for one year
This straightforward counsel has
not been followed by all of you. Some have believed and complied; others have
waited until they could be sure the storm clouds were gathering; and still
others have rejected the counsel.”
·
When I {Bryton} started preparing a food
storage, I was overwhelmed at where to start. There are so many different way
to prepare a food storage and so many different opinions on how you should do
it. I find such comfort in this counsel that gives us 3 steps, or places to
start, as we prepare our food storage.
·
When should we start preparing?
o
Do NOT be the one who waits until the rain
clouds are gathering to build an ark. We don’t want to be the 5 righteous
virgins who were unprepared! We must start preparing NOW our spiritual selves
to stand up against trails and hardships.
o
Alma 34:32
§
“This life is the time to prepare to meet God.”
o
We cannot stress enough the urgency the Lord is
expressing. When we {Tammy and Bryton} were called to be our wards Emergency
Preparedness and Dry pack Specialists, we were issued beautiful blessings. In
these blessings we were promised that we would receive revelation for the
things we must teach our ward. We both have felt like we are to extend an
invitation to prepare NOW, both spiritually and temporally, for hardships
ahead. Whether it be a loss of job, loss of a family member, helping out a
neighbor, or the signs that have been prophesied of.
o
Harold B. Lee. Welfare meeting, October 1966
conference
§
“The only safety and security there is in the
Church is in listening to the words that come from the prophets of the Lord, as
if from the mouth of the Lord himself. And
they have spoken; they have told us to prepare, and it is not for us to
argue whether we should or whether we should not. We have the prophets today
telling us what our responsibility is here and now. God help us not to turn a
deaf ear, but go out while the harvest is yet possible and build a foundation
such that when the rains descend, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and
beat on the house, our house will have stone walls.”
·
Tammy Williams Testimony;
o
Today our children gave us a beautiful program.
I always love the programs, the Spirit is so near and I just love watching all
their little faces as they sing. Their
program today was all about obeying the commandments. Living lives that are in
keeping with the teachings of our Father in Heaven. We heard them sing about
Noah building an Ark even when others laughed at him and said he was foolish.
Yet he obeyed. We heard them sing of Nephi who left Jerusalem the land of their
inheritance to sail to the promised land, in a boat he had never before seen,
and with no tools. But he obeyed and he listened to the Lord, he moved forward
with Faith, They sang.... I WILL GO, I WILL DO, THE THINGS THE LORD COMMANDS, I
KNOW THE LORD PROVIDES A WAY, HE WANTS ME TO OBEY.
o
We begin teaching our children at very young
ages about obedience. They understand better then us even I think how to obey
with a singleness of purpose and with an uncomplicated willingness. We should
be more like them. We must be more like
them!!
o
When we just begin to do what the Lord has
commanded, he begins to provide a way for it to be accomplished. He always has.
We aren't being asked to Trek across the country as the pioneers did, we
aren't' asked to build an ark, no building a boat without seeing any plans, no
slaying Laban! We are being asked to give some of our financial means, and some
of our time, in order to provide for our families and be self reliant. Our obedience is being tested in different
ways. Some more difficult then others. We must decide NOW to follow the path
the Lord has provided, and that includes obedience to ALL his commandments.
Including the not so glamorous one to get a three month, and then a year supply
of food and other necessary items for your home.
o
When I {Tammy} began preparing for this lesson.
I wanted desperately to have the Lord help me say all the right things. I
wanted to be able to pass along the fire and urgency I feel about obey the
commandment to prepare to you. It was an overwhelming task. To teach with the
spirit about obeying all the laws, commandments, suggestions, and to teach to
prepare in ALL things. I mean really that is every point in the gospel. No way
to cover it all!! I was so overwhelmed. You need to know that we have been
praying and talking and fasting for this lesson. Our desire for it to be exactly whatever each
person needs was such a heavy responsibility, at least for me. While on the
drive back from the temple where things hadn't gone completely as planned, but
was exactly what I needed. I was speaking with Brother Ross. I asked him what I
should say, what direction should I go with things? He listened to me ramble
for a few moments then simply asked, “Tammy why are you so passionate about
food storage? Why do you do all this???” well what followed was my passionate,
rambling, testimony of how I feel about the commandment to be prepared in all
things. When I was done. Brother Ross with a little chuckle said, “ I hear
three things here Tammy, Faith, Sacrifice, and Love. I was surprised that he
could sum up all that I had said so easily. It made my mind clear too, and I
began to understand how I was to teach this lesson. All I can do is pray for the spirit and bear
humble testimony of my conversion to this commandment. Because each of us must have our own
conversion to the truthfulness of this council. So what follows is my three
reasons for obeying with exactness the commandment to prepare.
o
Faith... that I believe
the prophets, and the lords commandments and that all his prophesies will be
fulfilled. And because of that Faith I will obey. My obedience is the way I can
show my Father in Heaven that I am truly converted to his gospel. I know that
all that has been taught and all that has been promised by the prophets and in
the scriptures will come to past. I have faith in ALL of the teachings of this
gospel.
o
Sacrifice... I am willing
to give up the extras of today for the future I don't necessarily see. Knowing
that my sacrifices are nothing compared to the Saviors. And I know that
sacrifice itself is in our future. If we
are truly to endure to the end and see the great day of the second coming we
will have to be faithful and endure tremendous sacrifice. I know that
sacrificing today is teaching my children how to as well. There is no sacrifice
that I won't give to care for my children and to provide for their future.
o
Love,,, this one is the
greatest. My greatest calling on this earth is to be a Mother. My greatest
responsibility is to care for and raise my children. I will not have a future
that includes them starving to death because I didn't follow the commandment to
prepare when I was supposed to. I will obey because I love my children and want
to take care of them in the times of knowing, and the times that I don't know
about. I need to know that I have done all in my power to care for and protect
my babies. I love my Father in Heaven and do not want to let him down. The Lord
has intrusted to me a few of his beloved children, I will not meet him one day
and not be able to say that I didn't do all within my power to care for, teach,
feed, and love his children! So out of
LOVE I will SACRIFICE, and follow in FAITH the commandment to prepare every
needful thing. Including a year supply of food.
·
Temporal preparedness
o
Now to lighten things up a bit, we have a list
of the top 8 reasons why you should NOT prepare a food storage
1.
I paid my tithing for 20 years, the church
should be able to give me a little food
a.
All of the bishops storehouses, church orchards
and silos that the church owns and all access to food that the church has would
feed only 4% of the members of the church. Not 4% of the population of the
world but the church members only
2.
Im moving in with my parents/children
a.
There are too many variables that would prevent
you from gathering together
b.
There is risk of epidemics and pandemics.
Isolation may be required in your own homes.
3.
I have a year supply of food and the bullets to
go with it
a.
Why would I spend the money on food storage just
to have a guy with a gun come and take it all?
b.
Our question for you is… Are you more afraid of
the guy with the gun or becoming the guy with the gun?
c.
If you are watching your children and family starve,
you would lie, steal, fight and you WOULD become the guy with the gun to feed
them. There is nothing you would not do to save your family!
4.
The boats and 4 wheelers are taking up all my
storage space
a.
Its all about priorities!!
5.
3 Letters.. Y2K.
a.
In other words… ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN
b.
Every prophecy that has been given will be
fulfilled. We just don’t know when
6.
If anything does happen, the government will be
there within hours to save us
a.
Don’t count on it J
7.
I can’t afford scrapbooking and food storage
a.
We live in the richest society in the history of
the world
b.
Its about priorities!
c.
Everyone here has a cell phone, but not everyone
has a food storage. You spend more on a cell phone then you would on food
storage. You can have a year supply for a dollar a day.
d.
We also placed a basket on a table at the door
with a sign that read, Please deposit
all electronic devices below! This includes Cell phones. We keept them safe! And we will return them
once we are done. But we wanted you to see how many of you are spending upwards
of 30-100 dollars a month on a luxury item. We are pretty sure that each person
has a little wiggle room in their budget if they try. We are not suggesting
that you give up your cell phones; We most definitely will not be!! But we just
wanted you to see that we all claim we do not have room in our budgets, yet we
find room for a luxury electronic device. If the time ever came that you needed
to live off of your food storage, you would be so glad you sacrificed today!
8.
Im waiting for the cannery to sell Papa Johns
dehydrated Pizza
a.
Food storage has a stigma to be nasty and bland!
b.
It doesn’t have to be wheat and rice and beans.
c.
Put food you love into food storage!!
d.
There is some pretty awesome food storage items
out there today that are pretty close to papa johns pizza!
·
Bryton Rankin’s Testimony;
·
When my husband was investigating the church, we
were given a folder with information about food storage from our relief
society. I kind of laughed about it because it is such a Mormon thing to have a
food storage. But I kept coming back to that folder and I figured I would give
it a try. Ever since I have felt so much assistance in preparing my food
storage. I have never once felt like it was a chore, but instead felt like I
had angels at my back helping to nudge me along. I have received many blessing
from having a food storage and have LOVED learning how to use it. We now use it
for almost every meal in my house. We love to cook with it and we love to be
able to rotate through it. I have such a testimony of the importance of heading
the prompting of the spirit and listening ot the counsel from our prophets
pertaining to food storage. I get excited about ordering new items each month
and my family is eating healthier! We have saved so much time and money by
using our food storage in our everyday life!
We are so grateful for the chance to share our passion with
our ward! We hope you will all attend our November 9th activity! We
will be talking more about how to save money and use your food storage every
day! We will be having some games and friendly competition! We hope you all can
gain a testimony as well of the importance of preparing your family spiritually
and temporally.
