PREPAREDNESS QUOTES - LESSONS FROM THE TETON DAM DISASTER

What a busy week!  Got the barn roof on and finally dried in for the winter.  Just have to find someone to do the tin and pour the concrete for the floor before the heavy snow flies.  Having fallen off a roof, that was one of my least-favorite jobs.  Gravity is a cruel master!

These quotes just in from a reader:

Scandinavian Area Conference
Copenhagen, Denmark - August 1976

Now you probably have read of the terrible disaster in Idaho since our last conference.  Brother Packer and I visited the scene of the disaster.  A big dam burst and flooded many communities.  The water that reached as high as twenty or thirty feet deep swished through the homes and farms and the Church buildings and wreaked great damage.  Thousands of head of cattle and other animals were destroyed.  We were grateful that the warning came in the daytime when all people could be warned.  I think only seven people lost their lives, but the destruction was terrible.  We just mention that so you will be prepared in this area.  There are famines and dry periods.  There are earthquakes and cyclones and diverse problems that arise in the various parts of the country.  The thing that pleased us was that our people were partly ready.  Even though their own personal supplies were washed away, yet we had a surplus in our storehouses.  And almost as soon as the word went out, our trucks were moving to Idaho filled with tons of relief commodities.  Ricks College [now BYU-Idaho] which was just above the water line, was used for homes and for the feeding of the people.  Beds were made all through the college, and tens of thousands of people were taken care of.  I suppose hundreds of thousands of meals were supplied.

When we visited the President of the United States recently, I told him, "We are prepared."  The Lord said, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." [D&C 38:30].  Our Relief Society organizations and our bishoprics and our stake presidents all knew what to do.  And the work went forward immediately while the nation was trying to get together and plan and organize. 

We want you to be ready with your personal storehouses filled with at least a year's supply.  You don't argue why it cannot be done, you just plan to organize and get it done.


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BOYD K PACKER (Assistant to the Twelve, 1961.  Apostle, 1970)
Scandinavian Area Conference
Copenhagen, Denmark - August 1976

I would like to mention in more detail the flood in Idaho.  President Kimball has mentioned our visit.  There were seventeen miles of water backed up behind it.  All of that water was released on the valleys below.  It was a quiet Saturday morning, a beautiful sunny day.  There were 7,800 people living in the immediate path of the flood, and another 25,000 or 30,000 further down the valley.  Almost all of them are Latter-day Saints...

Wilford Ward, which was at the mouth of the canyon, was washed away - all of it - all of the houses, all of the barns, all of the gardens, everything - a whole ward gone.  The chapel was gone.  A mile or two downstream, Sugar City was washed away.  The stake center and a few houses stood, but they were subject to terrible destruction.  In all, 790 homes were completely destroyed.  Most of them disappeared without a trace, except for the cement foundations.  Eight hundred others were severely damaged, along with churches and schools and houses of business...  President Kimball has mentioned what happened to the people. Only six died by drowning - six of about 35,000.  How could there be such a terrible destruction with such little loss of life?  They couldn't go up on the roof and be saved, because the houses were washed away.  Most of them had several miles to go to high ground.  Now, why did they live?  Because they were warned!  They didn't have very long, but they were warned; and every man that was warned warned his neighbor...

But it was a miracle of tremendous proportion because as Latter-day Saints, we learn to heed the warnings.  When there is a terrible destruction, we will warn our neighbors.  There is page after page of miracles.  Of how a father heard of the warning, but his children were scattered over the farm.  He was in town, and his wife had no car.  But they were saved.  Miracles of how the aged and the infirm and the children were rescued.  One expert said that there should have been about 5,300 people killed.  But there were six, because they were warned and they heeded the warning...

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SPENCER W. KIMBALL
Amsterdam Area Conference, August 1976

Elder Packer spoke to us in Copenhagen about a warning.  The recent flood in Idaho, caused by the breaking of a great dam, overflowed many LDS communities.  But the dam broke on a Saturday morning, so it gave an opportunity to get the warning out.  Men rushed to their telephones and called all the people they could think of.  The people rushed from their homes, leaving everything, and went to Ricks College, where they were housed and fed for many days because their homes and supplies were destroyed.  But because they were warned early, most of the people were saved.  Only six people were destroyed, and they were generally people who did not heed the warning.  For instance, one older couple said they weren't going to move out of their home.  They had a car that they could have gotten out with; but when the floods subsided, they were found drowned in their car.  After it was too late and the flood was upon them, they tried to get out; but they were drowned.  That is true of numerous youth and others if they will not listen to the warnings.  And that is why we are here - to bring the warnings.  And that is why we are here - to bring the warning message to all people.

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BOYD K PACKER
Amsterdam Area Conference, August 1976

It was a beautiful, calm, Saturday morning, all the farmers were getting their crops in and working on their farms.  There came a break in the dam, up in the mountains, seventeen miles of water backed up behind it.  And finally it collapsed.  The first community at the mouth of the canyon was Wilford.  There were 7,800 people living just below the mountains, and down the valley a ways 25,000 or 30,000 more, almost all of them Latter-day Saints.  Wilford Ward washed away - all of it, and all of the houses.  The chapel stood, with just the walls and the sagging roof.  But there was not a home, or a barn, or a garden, or anything left of Wilford Ward.

A mile or two downstream, Sugar City was washed away.  The stake center and a few houses stood, but they were terribly damaged.  In all, 790 homes disappeared, most of them without a trace.  Some cement foundations were all you could find.  Eight hundred other homes were badly damaged, as were schools and churches.  Fourteen of our chapels were damaged or destroyed.  But then you know about floods here, from your history, and sometimes you may be anxious about them...

Now what about the people?  As President Kimball told you, there were six lives lost by drowning.  The experts say there should have been 5,300 deaths.  But there were six:  one fisherman just below the dam; two heard the warning but wouldn't leave until it was too late; three went back to get something.  

What about the other thousands?  They were all saved.  Why?  Because they heeded the warning.  They had almost no time when the warning first went out, but Latter-day Saints are trained to heed the warnings.  We are a people who are trained to be obedient.  We sustain our leaders.  We uphold them and we obey them and we heed the warnings.

...You know, it is a great experience to listen to the miracles that took place in Idaho.  One fourteen-year-old boy was in Rexburg when he heard the warning.  He knew his little sister was home on the farm, sick in bed.  When it was all over with, they were both up at the college, safe.

One of the teachers at the college was in his office that morning, and someone tapped at the door and said, "Turn on your radio.  There is something happening."  He thought of his wife out on the farm and his boys out irrigating, and he had the only car.  There was no possible time for him to get there.  How were they saved?  They were warned by their neighbors.  They were rescued by their neighbors.  He prayed them out of the flood.  Did you know you could do that?

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SPENCER W. KIMBALL

October 1976 Regional Representatives Seminar Address

"Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program.'

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SPENCER W. KIMBALL

October 1976 General Conference 

Our pride is great in the people who have listened and who have planted gardens and orchards and trees in the past months. From all directions we hear of gardens which have made an outstanding contribution. A couple in Alabama wrote, “We had vegetables all during the year. We feel it saved us quite a bit of money.”

One authority estimates there will be about 35 million home vegetable gardens this year, up from about 32.5 million last year, and he says that probably 41 percent of all American households will do some home canning this year, as against 37 percent a year ago. Many of the numerous gardens are found in hanging baskets, in containers on stairways, on trellises, and in window boxes.

In Oklahoma a state university makes 240 plots available to married students. In Long Island some 400 plots have been turned over to residents. In Pennsylvania some 200,000 plots were under cultivation.

One authority says, “I have my own garden and have found it’s my sanity away from work.”

We would add to the garden-orchard project the clearing of yards and homes. We have mentioned it before. Still there are numerous homes with broken-down fences and barns, outbuildings that could probably be torn down or rebuilt, ditch banks that could be cleared. We congratulate all who have listened and followed counsel.

From Frankfurt, Germany, this comes:

“We are two families in the Frankfurt Mission, and we tell you about our garden.

“It was not very easy to find a piece of land in a large city like Frankfurt—it is a tiny garden—and when we rented it, it looked like a wilderness, with a broken fence, a broken cottage, and wild grass all over. It did not discourage us.

“First we made a new fence, repaired the cottage, and digged the whole garden. In the springtime we planted vegetables and the neighbours told us that it would not grow. There is a little stream where we can go on our bikes hanged with cans, and this way we carry our water. We prayed to the Lord that he would bless our garden. The Lord did answer our prayers. Every kind of vegetable came. It is so wonderful to see the plants grow. We take turns now to go to our garden and water our plants. We are happy to have a garden.”...

We express our affection and sympathy to all those who have suffered in great calamities in the past months. The flood caused by the breaking of the Teton Dam brought misery and loss and suffering to numerous of our good people. With its high wall of water, the flood took nearly everything before it. We are grateful that Ricks College facilities were just above the flood line and served to make a home away from home for many who had lost their homes and to furnish hundreds of thousands of meals during their dilemma. We are very proud indeed of the organization, the faithful work, the hospitality, and the self-sacrifice of numerous helpers in this great tragedy.

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/11/a-report-and-a-challenge?lang=eng

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VICTOR L BROWN   October 1976 General Conference

Home production and storage is a very necessary element of personal and family preparedness; however, it is not the only element, nor is it necessarily the most significant element. Some people have reacted to the theme of preparedness as if it were a doomsday matter. In reality, all six elements of personal and family preparedness are to be emphasized so that the Latter-day Saints may be better prepared to meet the ordinary, day-to-day requirements of successful living.

Our emphasis on this subject is not grounds for crisis thinking or panic. Quite the contrary, personal and family preparedness should be a way of provident living, an orderly approach to using the resources, gifts, and talents the Lord shares with us. So the first step is to teach our people to be self-reliant and independent through proper preparation for daily life.

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/11/welfare-services-essentials-the-bishops-storehouse?lang=eng

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BARBARA B. SMITH    October 1976 General Conference

My dear brothers and sisters, last July six stake Relief Society presidents visited me in my office; they were all from Idaho stakes affected by the Teton flood.

They spoke of the labor and love given by thousands of priesthood volunteers and also of the service of countless Relief Society women who washed, scrubbed, cleaned, prepared food, cared for children, and performed other essential services for victims of that terrible disaster.

As those sisters spoke, several images came to my mind. I was reminded of one of the beautiful sculptures of the Relief Society’s Nauvoo monument—a woman with hands outstretched in an attitude of compassion, typifying the woman described in Proverbs:

“She stretcheth out her hand to the poor: yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.” (Prov. 31:20.)

I recalled my own visit to the flood area, where I saw a cultural hall with tables with good clothing, clearly sized and marked; another room with neatly stacked food—cans of wheat, dehydrated milk, bottled fruit, nonfood items, all donated by individuals acting in spontaneous compassion and generosity. I remembered the spirit of love and unity, as members in nearby areas not affected by the flood opened their homes and shared their food and other supplies with flood victims.

I thought at the time what a blessing it was that those who had been obedient to the counsel of the Brethren had sufficient personal supplies to share with the flood victims. Through this hard experience, lessons in preparedness and provident living were learned for the entire Church.

Let us consider now what we as Relief Society leaders need to do in the next six months to help all of us accomplish the storage goals established by the General Authorities.

First, help sisters assess their own progress in this assignment. Have their families met the goal? Are they moving toward the halfway mark? Perhaps some have just started, while others may not know where to begin.

Second, teach storage principles:

1. 1. 
   Basic Food Storage. Included in the year’s supply of basic foods should be life-sustaining foods that store well for a long time: grains (wheat, rice, corn, or other of the cereal grains); dried milk, dried fish or protein vegetables such as beans and peas and other fresh, canned, dried, or pickled fruit or vegetables; sugar or a sugar substitute such as honey; some form of fats; salt; and water. Fresh taro or sweet potato, and live pigs, chickens, or fish might be considered as a supply in some areas of the world where it is difficult to store food. Remember that regular use of whole grains is important in building a digestive tolerance for roughage.
2. 2. 
   Basic Clothing and Fuel Storage.
3. 3. 
   Emergency Storage. You may wish to consider storing, where they could be picked up at a moment’s notice, such items as water, food needing no refrigeration or cooking, medications needed by familymembers, a change of clothing for each family member, a first-aid booklet and first-aid supplies, an ax, shovel, and blanket. These would be used when a family or individual has only a short time to flee a disaster or needs to stay in a sheltered area within the home. It is also wisdom to have the family’s important papers and documents together where they could be picked up at a moment’s notice.
4. 4. 
   Expanded Storage. Families may also wish to expand their basic storage to include foods and other daily essentials that would supply total nutritional needs and allow for variety and personal preferences in diet and living. These would be things normally used every day, for which frequent shopping is done.

I repeat, home storage should consist of a year’s supply of basic food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel. After this goal is reached, emergency and expanded storage is desirable.

In all of our storage, quality products, proper containers and storage facilities, proper storage temperature, and regular rotation are important considerations. Some of the recent disasters in which Church members have been involved show that there is a need for diversification in placesof storage and in types of containers. Perhaps not all storage should be concentrated in one area of the house, not all should be stored in tin or plastic containers, not all in glass containers.

I outlined in the April 1976 welfare services meeting eight suggested topics for Relief Society homemaking mini-classes. I repeat these by way of review:

How to save systematically for emergencies and home storage.

How to, what to, and where to store.

How to store seeds, prepare soil, acquire proper tools for gardening.

How to grow your own vegetables.

How to can and dry foods.

How to teach and help your family eat foods needed for physical health.

How to do basic machine and hand sewing, mending, and clothing remodeling.

How to plan and prepare nutritious, appetizing meals, using the resources available and foods from home storage shelves.

May I also strongly urge stake and district Relief Society leaders to encourage miniclass instruction on how to use the basic food storage items in daily diets. I ask Relief Society leaders to secure and study approved materials on home storage appropriate to local culture, climate, and area; to counsel with local priesthood leaders and make realistic storage plans available to the people in their area. Plans for storage may vary according to the circumstances of individuals or families. But always the guidelines will be helpful that are set forth in the Church Welfare Services Department bulletin, Essentials of Home Storage, available through Church Distribution. Local university and government departments could also be a source of help.

We urge Relief Society leaders to work out ways in which women can help in Church welfare projects. Many could be active participants in the actual work of production projects and canneries. Others might do telephoning and scheduling. Babysitting might be provided to enable young mothers to work on projects or in canneries, or several young mothers could do babysitting for each other. Families might go together to work on a production project, thus strengthening the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood among them. Women should encourage their families and arrange home activities and schedules so that the family will want to participate. A woman’s attitude and response will set the tone for the entire family and for others. Her enthusiasm can be contagious, and filling such assignments provides her with a golden opportunity to teach gospel principles of love and service, of work and self-reliance, of stewardship and consecration.

As each sister participates in welfare, we feel added blessings can come into her life as conceptualized by the Relief Society Nauvoo monument to women, and she will be blessed spiritually. She will give a good pattern for her children to follow. She and her family will be blessed physically and socially. Furthermore, the Relief Society sisters of today will discover, as the founding sisters of Nauvoo realized, that there is a special blessing in working with the priesthood brethren of the Church. In so doing, they will be reliving and strengthening the companion pattern that began with Adam and Eve.

It is my prayer that the preparations of the women of the Church in the area of home production and storage will enable us to be generous with our substance if needed and bring a greater security to individuals and families, so that we might be as the virtuous woman of old who was “not afraid of the snow [of adversity] for her household. …” (Prov. 31:21.) In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/11/she-is-not-afraid-of-the-snow-for-her-household?lang=eng

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EZRA TAFT BENSON  April 1977 General Conference

Economic and social conditions appear most ominous worldwide today. With revelation and prophecy as our guide, I think it is not extreme for me to say that when all is written about our present generation, it may truly be said that we had hardly enough time to prepare. To meet the impending crisis, I venture to say that all our spiritual and temporal resources will be taxed to the very limit. The Lord has declared: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” (D&C 38:30.)

Great blessings come to us as individuals and to His Church as we support the Lord’s program for the care of the poor and needy. I have experienced these blessings firsthand in distributing food, clothing, and bedding to the suffering members of the Church in Europe following World War II. I witnessed the starving, the emaciated, and the barefoot. It was a piteous sight. My heart went out in compassion to all our Heavenly Father’s suffering children.

I remember so well the arrival of our first Church welfare supplies in Berlin. I took with me the acting president of the mission, President Richard Ranglack. We walked to the old battered warehouse which, under armed guard, housed the precious welfare goods. At the far end of the warehouse we saw the boxes piled almost to the ceiling.

“Are those boxes of food?” Richard said. “Do you mean to tell me those are boxes full of food?”

“Yes, my brother,” I replied, “food and clothing and bedding—and, I hope, a few medical supplies.”

Richard and I took down one of the boxes. We opened it. It was filled with the commonest of common foods—dried beans. As that good man saw it, he put his hands into it and ran it through his fingers, then broke down and cried like a child with gratitude.

We opened another box, filled with cracked wheat, nothing added or taken away, just as the Lord made it and intended it to be. He touched a pinch of it to his mouth. After a moment he looked at me through his tearful eyes—and mine were wet, too—and he said, while slowly shaking his head, “Brother Benson, it is hard to believe that people who have never seen us could do so much for us.”

That’s the Lord’s system! Voluntary donations motivated by brotherly love and willing sacrifice, and assisting others to help themselves. Such ensures dignity and self-respect.

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/05/ministering-to-needs-through-the-lords-storehouse-system?lang=eng

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SPENCER W KIMBALL  April 1977 General Conference

...The Lord uses the weather sometimes to discipline his people for the violation of his laws. ...

The Lord goes further and says:

“I will … destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.” (Lev. 26:22.)

Can you think how the highways could be made desolate? When fuel and power are limited, when there is none to use, when men will walk instead of ride?

Have you ever thought, my good folks, that the matter of peace is in the hands of the Lord who says:

“And I will bring a sword upon you. …” (Lev. 26:25).

Would that be difficult? Do you read the papers? Are you acquainted with the hatreds in the world? What guarantee have you for permanent peace?

“… and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.” (Lev. 26:25.)

Are there enemies who could and would afflict us? Have you thought of that?

“And I will make your cities waste,” he says, “and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation. …

“Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

“As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest [when it could] in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.” (Lev. 26:31, 34–35.)

Those are difficult and very serious situations, but they are possible...

...We deal with many things which are thought to be not so spiritual; but all things are spiritual with the Lord, and he expects us to listen, and to obey, and to follow the commandments.

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/05/the-lord-expects-his-saints-to-follow-the-commandments?lang=eng

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SPENCER W KIMBALL - October 1977 General Conference

As you know, in the recent past we have placed considerable emphasis on personal and family preparedness. I hope that each member of the Church is responding appropriately to this direction. I also hope that we are understanding and accentuating the positive and not the negative.

I like the way the Relief Society teaches personal and family preparedness as “provident living.” This implies the husbanding of our resources, the wise planning of financial matters, full provision for personal health, and adequate preparation for education and career development, giving appropriate attention to home production and storage as well as the development of emotional resiliency.

I hope that we understand that, while having a garden, for instance, is often useful in reducing food costs and making available delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, it does much more than this. Who can gauge the value of that special chat between daughter and Dad as they weed or water the garden? How do we evaluate the good that comes from the obvious lessons of planting, cultivating, and the eternal law of the harvest? And how do we measure the family togetherness and cooperating that must accompany successful canning? Yes, we are laying up resources in store, but perhaps the greater good is contained in the lessons of life we learn as we live providently and extend to our children their pioneer heritage...

In like manner we could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivating a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward.

Let’s do these things because they are right, because they are satisfying, and because we are obedient to the counsels of the Lord. In this spirit we will be prepared for most eventualities, and the Lord will prosper and comfort us. It is true that difficult times will come—for the Lord has foretold them—and, yes, stakes of Zion are “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm.” (D&C 115:6.) But if we live wisely and providently, we will be as safe as in the palm of His hand.

I hope that in our priesthood quorums and Relief Society meetings the concepts of personal and family preparedness are being properly taught and with the kind of positive approach that we all respond to.

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/11/welfare-services-the-gospel-in-action?lang=eng

We are highly pleased with the response to the planting of gardens. It is health-building, both from the raising of crops and the eating of them. It is delightful to see so many gardens all over the land, and reports come in from numerous families and individuals who have obtained much saving and pleasure in the planting of gardens. We hope this will be a permanent experience of our people, that they will raise much of what they use on their table.

In addition to the gardens, we hope our people will straighten up their fences and clean the fence lines and tear down the old unused barns and outbuildings...

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1977/10/the-foundations-of-righteousness?lang=eng

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A Theodore Tuttle (Seventy 1976-1986)

[Law of witnesses in effect here... He requotes many teachings already given:]

 https://www.lds.org/ensign/1978/05/welfare-services-begins-with-you?lang=eng

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SPENCER W. KIMBALL - April 1978 General Conference

Many have done much to beautify their homes and their yards. Many others have followed the counsel to have their own gardens wherever it is possible so that we do not lose contact with the soil and so that we can have the security of being able to provide at least some of our food and necessities.

Grow all the food that you possibly can on your own property, if water is available; berry bushes, grapevines, and fruit trees are most desirable. Plant them if your climate is right for their growth. Grow vegetables and eat those grown in your own yard. Even those residing in apartments or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1978/05/the-true-way-of-life-and-salvation?lang=eng

"...The responsibility for each member’s spiritual, social, emotional, physical, or economic well-being rests first upon himself, second, upon his family, and third, upon the Church. Members of the Church are commanded by the Lord to be self-reliant and independent to the extent of their ability. (See D&C 78:13–14.)

No true Latter-day Saint, while physically or emotionally able, will voluntarily shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else. So long as he can, under the inspiration of the Lord and with his own labors, he will work to the extent of his ability to supply himself and his family with the spiritual and temporal necessities of life. (See Gen. 3:19; 1 Tim. 5:8; and Philip. 2:12.)

As guided by the spirit of the Lord and through applying these principles, each member of the Church should make his own decisions as to what assistance he accepts, be it from governmental or other sources. In this way, independence, self-respect, dignity, and self-reliance will be fostered, and free agency maintained.” (Statement of the Presiding Bishopric, as quoted in Ensign, March 1978, p. 20.)

Underlying this statement is the recurring theme of self-reliance. No amount of philosophizing, excuses, or rationalizing will ever change the fundamental need for self-reliance. This is so because:

“All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, … as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.” (D&C 93:30.) The Lord declares that herein lies “the agency of man” (see D&C 93:31), and with this agency comes the responsibility for self. With this agency we can rise to glory or fall to condemnation. May we individually and collectively be ever self-reliant. This is our heritage and our obligation.

The principle of self-reliance stands behind the Church’s emphasis on personal and family preparedness. 

With the arrival of spring we hope all of you will put in your gardens and prepare to enjoy their produce this summer. We hope you are making this a family affair, with everyone, even the little ones, assigned to something. There is so much to learn and harvest from your garden, far more than just a crop itself. We also hope that you are maintaining your year’s supply of food, clothing, and where possible, some fuel and cash savings. Moreover, we hope that you are conscious of proper diet and health habits, that you may be fit physically and able to respond to the many challenges of life. Would you see to it that in your quorum and Relief Society meetings the principles and practices of personal and family preparedness are taught.

SOURCE: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1978/05/becoming-the-pure-in-heart?lang=eng

The spring of the year reminds us, too, of the need to garden so that we can produce some of our own food as well as flowers to beautify our yards and our neighborhoods. Even if the tomato you eat is a $2.00 tomato, it will bring satisfaction anyway and remind us all of the law of the harvest, which is relentless in life.