How and What to Prepare

The title of this blog is inspired by the General Conference talk by President Ezra Taft Benson, "Prepare Ye." If you have the time, I would advise everyone to click on the link and read the entire talk. Many people may ask, "How should I be prepared?" or "What should I prepare?" Here are some of my favorite quotes from President Benson's talk that answers what we should do to prepare.

In response to the question of how to prepare for the earth's calamities, President Benson quotes from the Doctrine and Covenants:

“Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments;
“And also gave commandments to others. …” (D&C 1:17-18.) He has also said: “Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.”(D&C 1:37.) Here then is the key—look to the prophets for the words of God, that will show us how to prepare for the calamities which are to come. (emphasis added)

President Benson quoted President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. when he asked what we, as individuals, should do to prepare for "this oncoming disaster, which God in his wisdom may not turn aside from us"

"First, and above and beyond everything else, let us live righteously. …
Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague; where we are now in debt, let us get out of debt; if not today, then tomorrow.
Let us straitly and strictly live within our incomes, and save a little.
Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead." (Conference Report, April 1937, p. 26.)

So there is the answer - we need to listen to the prophets' counsel, live righteously, avoid debt, live within our incomes and save that income, and have a year's supply of food, clothing, and fuel. Obviously there are many other aspects to being prepared, but these are the main topics that this blog is going to focus on. 

My husband and I are the authors of this blog and we hope this will be an ongoing tool to help others, including ourselves, follow the words of the prophets in taking care of our temporal and spiritual preparedness.