Orson Pratt Quote

I might dwell still longer on the judgments to come upon this American nation, according to modern revelation. In 1832 the Lord foretold to the Prophet Joseph Smith that there should be a great war between the Northern and Southern States. This revelation is published in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, a standard work of the Church, and also in many languages, many years before the war commenced. At that early period we were told that the Southern States would rise against the Northern States, and the Northern against the Southern States in war, terminating in the deaths and misery of many souls. We were told also that this war would begin with the rebellion of South Carolina.

When I was a boy, a little over 20 years of age, I had the privilege of taking a copy of that revelation, and I carried it around with me, often times reading it to the congregations that I preached to. Its subject matter formed a text from which I many times preached, as well as a topic of conversation with strangers, whose acquaintance I would happen to make in traveling from place to place.

How do you think such information was received by the people to whom it was imparted? They would not believe it; they had no idea of its being a revelation from God to them; they considered it one of the impositions that the "Mormons" had gotten up to delude the people. To tell them that this great government would be divided and go to war with each other, was something entirely foreign to their minds; it was something to which they paid heedless regard, oft times treating it with ridicule and laughter. I preached in the New England States, and in various portions of the Union, and such was the way these things were received. The shedding of blood was then one of the remotest feelings of the American people; yet it came to pass precisely as predicted, and we all know the results of that dreadful war. That war, we must remember, was only one solitary judgment, compared with what will come, and that, too, in the near future. It has been revealed that the time will come in the history of our nation, that one State will rise against another, one city against another, even every man's hand shall be against his neighbor, until the whole Republic will be in general commotion and warfare. How and when this will take place, the Lord, in his wisdom, has not told us; but it is sufficient for us to say, that he has told us of the facts that such and such will be the case.

For aught we know, the fulfillment of this prophecy may grow out of politics. If the people are very nearly equally divided in politics, this feeling may run so high, in years to come, as to be the direct cause of war. And if this should be the case, it would very naturally spread to every neighborhood in the Union. One class of political opponents would rise up against the other class in the same city and country, and thus would arise a war of mobocracy.

Great Message

Excerpt from an Article in Meridian Magazine

....It's not your imagination, grocery prices are up, up, up. Experts expect this trend to continue for at least the next five years. ....

The consumer price index for food increased 0.7 percent in August and is now 7.5 percent above last August. ... (continue reading stats)

We have known the Lord's stand on preparedness since long before the restoration. Paul wrote to Timothy, “ If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."
- 1 Timothy 5:8.

Every modern day prophet since Brigham Young has warned us that we need to be storing food and preparing for a time of scarcity. I have thought of the Latter-day Saints during the "great depression" and wondered if to some degree they, like so many of us, ignored the prophet's counsel.

Referring to the plague of crickets which nearly destroyed the crops of the early saints, Brigham Young advised:

“View the actions of the Latter-day Saints on this matter, and their neglect of the counsel given; and suppose the Lord would allow these insects to destroy our crops this season and the next, what would be the result? I can see death, misery and want on the faces of this people.

“ But some may say, ‘ I have faith the Lord will turn them away. ' What ground have we to hope this? Have I any good reason to say to my Father in heaven, ‘ Fight my battles, ' when He has given me the sword to wield, the arm and the brain that I can fight for myself? Can I ask Him to fight my battles and sit quietly down waiting for Him to do so? I cannot. I can pray the people to hearken to wisdom, to listen to counsel; but to ask God to do for me that which I can do for myself is preposterous to my mind. ”

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, quoted in Victor L. Brown, “Prepare Every Needful Thing,” Ensign, November 1980.

More recently we have been warned:

“ Should evil times come, many might wish they had filled all their fruit bottles and cultivated a garden in their backyards and planted a few fruit trees and berry bushes and provided for their own commodity needs. The Lord planned that we would be independent of every creature, but we note even many farmers buy their milk from dairies and home owners buy their garden vegetables from the store. And should the trucks fail to fill the shelves of the stores, many would go hungry.”

Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Report, Oct. 1974, 6; or Ensign, Nov. 1974.

There is still time to fill our fruit bottles. For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere you need to start now to plan and plant. For those of us approaching winter we need to hurry and seek out opportunities to glean or share with those who have canned all they need from their gardens and are now ready to give food away. Don't be afraid to knock on the door of a neighbor whose fruit is falling on the ground. They might love some help getting the fruit or veggies picked and be more than willing to let you keep part or all of it. No time or resources for canning - then create a plan and begin buying.

President Hinckley warned us immediately following the attack of September 11th that hard times were coming. He knew our economy was going to take a dive, and now it has. Did we listen? Some did.

"Occasions of this kind pull us up sharply to a realization that life is fragile, peace is fragile, civilization itself is fragile. The economy is particularly vulnerable. We have been counseled again and again concerning self-reliance, concerning debt, concerning thrift. So many of our people are heavily in debt for things that are not entirely necessary. When I was a young man, my father counseled me to build a modest home, sufficient for the needs of my family, and make it beautiful and attractive and pleasant and secure. He counseled me to pay off the mortgage as quickly as I could so that, come what may, there would be a roof over the heads of my wife and children. I was reared on that kind of doctrine. I urge you as members of this Church to get free of debt where possible and to have a little laid aside against a rainy day. We cannot provide against every contingency. But we can provide against many contingencies. Let the present situation remind us that this we should do. As we have been continuously counseled for more than 60 years, let us have some food set aside that would sustain us for a time in case of need. But let us not panic nor go to extremes. Let us be prudent in every respect. And, above all, my brothers and sisters, let us move forward with faith in the Living God and His Beloved Son."

Gordon B. Hinckley , “The Times in Which We Live,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 72.

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