Creating Motivation to Prepare

For discussion related to emergency preparedness, survival, self-sufficiency, food and water storage, guns, heat, light, building, gardening, etc.
Post Reply
lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by lundbaek »

Among my LDS family members, friends and associates I note that generally those who are most enthusiastic about preparedness and best prepared are those who seem to have the best understanding of conditions in the world that could force us to fall back on our storage/preparedness items. Granted, obedience should be our main reason for preparedness. But after 56 years of hearing and reading statements, some sounding quite urgent, from Church authorities about prepared, I think it would get pretty old to me were it not for the awareness I have of conditions in the world that could force us to fall back on our storage/preparedness items. I thought of this as we, in our Gospel Doctrine Sunday school classes, were not addressing those Book of Mormon scriptures that warn us of the secret combination that is striving for wealth and control of government.

The awareness I have of conditions in the world that could force us to fall back on our storage/preparedness items is something I find very difficult to share with others. But I guess that's another, separate problem.

Fiannan
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 12983

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by Fiannan »

Encourage your friends to start watching "The Walking Dead." My wife has become a firm believer in preparedness since she began viewing.

JohnnyL
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 9830

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by JohnnyL »

Fiannan wrote:Encourage your friends to start watching "The Walking Dead." My wife has become a firm believer in preparedness since she began viewing.
Lol. I hate that series for so many reasons... But if that's what it takes... :)

User avatar
FTC
captain of 100
Posts: 369

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by FTC »

So many preppers have the standard tent city fantasy floating around their end of world glory "visions". Reference National Lampoon's Vacation video cover

Image

I have a friend who is a doctor. He went on a two week service mission with his hospital to South Africa, and did work in an actual, real-life tent city. When he got back, he assured me that you do NOT want to live in a tent city. Ever. For any reason. There is no glory, end-of-world or otherwise, to be found living in a tent city.
The point being, most people have no idea what a life without luxury is. And end-of-world preppers have no grasp what they're wishing? hoping? for.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by Silver »

People don't like to concentrate for very long on scary stuff (forgetting "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear"). Prepping is generally seen as a way to get ready for scary times and so it's avoided.

People also suffer from recency/normalcy biases. Everything was fine yesterday, therefore today will also be fine.

The thing that bothers me is how some castigate preppers, accusing them of possessing a "gospel hobby." No matter that the prepper in question works in the temple, hometeaches regularly, reads the BoM every day and pays a full tithing.

brianj
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4066
Location: Vineyard, Utah

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by brianj »

FTC wrote:So many preppers have the standard tent city fantasy floating around their end of world glory "visions". Reference National Lampoon's Vacation video cover
Umm... do you realize that the image you referenced is a spoof of the promotional images for the first Star Wars movie, not an apocalyptic vision?
I have a friend who is a doctor. He went on a two week service mission with his hospital to South Africa, and did work in an actual, real-life tent city. When he got back, he assured me that you do NOT want to live in a tent city. Ever. For any reason. There is no glory, end-of-world or otherwise, to be found living in a tent city.
The point being, most people have no idea what a life without luxury is. And end-of-world preppers have no grasp what they're wishing? hoping? for.
Living in a tent city would be a much better option than trying to continue living in your home when social infrastructure has collapsed and people are searching house to house for valuables, food, drugs, and women.

Some of you who don't want to accept the likelihood that the Book of Mormon makes so many references to leaving home and gathering someplace safe is there to help prepare us for the time when we have to do the same thing. I get that. What I don't get, what I doubt I can comprehend, is why some of you seem to believe that those of us who expect to one day be called to gather someplace safe where, we can be protected from the worst of the coming tribulations, have delusions of modern day glamping as opposed to living an existence that would be miserable without the gospel and companionship of the Holy Ghost.

lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by lundbaek »

I'd like to invite some of you to describe possible future conditions/circumstances that would necessitate Church members being called to relocate themselves and their families to a tent city or an existing Church-owned camp. Here in the Greater-Phoenix AZ area there are thousands of LDS people, enough to warrant 3 temples. I cannot envision more than a small % of the members in this area being called to go live in a tent city or some other similar situation. A tent city or the like could easily turn into a Massada-like situation. What I can envision is:

1.) members being "called" to give their preparedness food to their ward or stake buildings for preparation of meals for any number of hungry people who will come seeking food,

2.) members feeding not only their own families but any number of neighbors as well,

3.) some members refusing to share and having their houses torched and burned down around them by a mob.

In 1974 my wife was with me on a business trip to Northern Ireland. A dock strike revealed that most food and gasoline came into Northern Ireland thru the port of Belfast. 3 days into the strike and we noted that there was nothing is the markets we visited that I'd put in my stomach. I noted that the people felt confident that the strike would be lifted before things got desperate, and it was, after about 5 days, as I recall. But I don't think the deprivations we may be confronted with will be lifted for possibly months or even years. I suggest reading WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT by Jack Monnett.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by Silver »

Lundbaek,
Re: your #
1. Faithful members of the church and others who are prepared will give food away according to this comment on lds.org.

"Food Storage
"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to ‘prepare every needful thing’ (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we may care for ourselves and our neighbors, and support bishops as they care for others.""

2. If we want to stay alive, we will. I cannot imagine my children rolling around with full bellies and the neighbors watching their own kids starve to death.

3. In a complete societal collapse, there will be only two kinds of houses in major urban centers. A. Those that have been broken into. B. Those that haven't been broken into yet.

brianj
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4066
Location: Vineyard, Utah

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by brianj »

lundbaek wrote:I'd like to invite some of you to describe possible future conditions/circumstances that would necessitate Church members being called to relocate themselves and their families to a tent city or an existing Church-owned camp. Here in the Greater-Phoenix AZ area there are thousands of LDS people, enough to warrant 3 temples. I cannot envision more than a small % of the members in this area being called to go live in a tent city or some other similar situation. A tent city or the like could easily turn into a Massada-like situation. What I can envision is:

1.) members being "called" to give their preparedness food to their ward or stake buildings for preparation of meals for any number of hungry people who will come seeking food,

2.) members feeding not only their own families but any number of neighbors as well,

3.) some members refusing to share and having their houses torched and burned down around them by a mob.

In 1974 my wife was with me on a business trip to Northern Ireland. A dock strike revealed that most food and gasoline came into Northern Ireland thru the port of Belfast. 3 days into the strike and we noted that there was nothing is the markets we visited that I'd put in my stomach. I noted that the people felt confident that the strike would be lifted before things got desperate, and it was, after about 5 days, as I recall. But I don't think the deprivations we may be confronted with will be lifted for possibly months or even years. I suggest reading WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT by Jack Monnett.
I get the impression you aren't very familiar with desperate people, of how filthy human nature can be.
If you try feeding your neighbors there is bound to be someone who quickly figures out that if they accept our charity we can all get along for a couple weeks then starve, or they can take your food by force and feed their family for a long time.
If we try pooling all of our food storage at church buildings those buildings will be targeted. It won't just be people, but organized gangs who know that food is the new currency trying to get control of those supplies.

Regarding future circumstances that would lead to a gathering, let me provide two scenarios.
In 2 Nephi and 3 Nephi the faithful had to gather to places of safety because of threats from those who are choosing to side with the devil and make war with the other side. In 2 Nephi a pre-Gaddianton conspiracy was probably being organized to kill Nephi, Jacob, Sam, and the others who were standing for truth and righteousness, and in 3 Nephi the name Gaddianton had been embraced by the conspirators. Within the book of Ether we are told that those conspiracies are within our government, and we can clearly see those conspiracies using social engineering techniques to turn public opinion away from righteous principles. We are already labeled as hateful bigots for our beliefs and we have seen people fired or sued out of business over defense of true principles. Perhaps the time will come when the conspirators have so much power that they are ready to crush remaining dissent and we will have to gather for protection against their efforts against us.

More likely, in my opinion, is that an invitation to gather will come from our leaders because society has become so wicked that Heavenly Father needs to begin a cleansing of society. We will be invited to gather and a short time later society will collapse. We will be in places where we are protected from acts of wicked individuals and maybe plagues, but we will suffer because of the conditions of life wherever we are. If this is the case then something Julie Rowe said seems very likely to me. She wrote that many of us will gather a couple of weeks before this collapse, but after a week or two of nothing happening some people will choose to return to the comforts of home rather than continue living in the unpleasant conditions of a community of people in tents. (See what I did there? I described a concept without using a phrase some people are strongly opposed to because that phrase doesn't exist in scripture!) Those who have the faith to continue in the unpleasant circumstances of the community of people living in fabric domiciles will not think of living in that situation as a trial, but a blessing, when they learn what is happening in the nation.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by Silver »

"community of fabric domiciles" ... Love it!

Does anybody on LDSFF shop at the cannery in El Paso, TX?

lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by lundbaek »

In initiating this topic on this forum and among many of my other LDS friends and associates I was really trying to persuade LDS people to review the prophetic statements of ancient and latter-day prophets that should make us aware of conditions that will prevail in our day that we should at least try to prevent. My motivation for this stems from my disappointment that during this year's Gospel Doctrine Sunday School classes the instructors in our ward were not addressing or open to discussion of those Book of Mormon scriptures that warn us of the secret combination that is striving for wealth and control of government and describe how they operated. I feel like we are like sitting ducks just waiting for the latter-day gadiantons "to make war with the saints, and to overcome them" without any encouragement to learn of and oppose their plans and efforts to enslave us. I believe there are things we can still do to at least blunt the LDG's attack to enslave us and minimize our suffering. Or is it too late ? Maybe we are beyond "the point of no return".

brianj
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4066
Location: Vineyard, Utah

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by brianj »

lundbaek wrote:In initiating this topic on this forum and among many of my other LDS friends and associates I was really trying to persuade LDS people to review the prophetic statements of ancient and latter-day prophets that should make us aware of conditions that will prevail in our day that we should at least try to prevent. My motivation for this stems from my disappointment that during this year's Gospel Doctrine Sunday School classes the instructors in our ward were not addressing or open to discussion of those Book of Mormon scriptures that warn us of the secret combination that is striving for wealth and control of government and describe how they operated. I feel like we are like sitting ducks just waiting for the latter-day gadiantons "to make war with the saints, and to overcome them" without any encouragement to learn of and oppose their plans and efforts to enslave us. I believe there are things we can still do to at least blunt the LDG's attack to enslave us and minimize our suffering. Or is it too late ? Maybe we are beyond "the point of no return".
I don't think it's too late, but it would take more effort than the LDS church can do on its own.
Looking at things like how women were first convinced to use the antiperspirant Odorono by James Young, how Edward Bernays persuaded thousands of women that smoking is a good thing, or more recently how people were convinced that nothing is wrong with homosexual "marriage" and everything is wrong with objecting to the corruption of marriage.

To turn this around we need two things. First we need to bring the dark works to light. People need to know what has been happening in secret.
That would be incredibly difficult to do, but even more difficult is the social engineering aspect. So many people have bought in to the idea of being overgrown children who are taken care of by the government that promoting individual responsibility would be extremely difficult. And people are so accustomed to doing what they want without facing the consequences that necessary steps like eliminating no fault divorce will be a huge challenge.

In Book of Mormon times it was rare that a serious effort at preaching brought people to righteousness. It usually took some form of unpleasant affliction. I think that we would need to be afflicted to turn people to around even if we could bring dark works to light.

lundbaek
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 11123
Location: Mesa, Arizona

Re: Creating Motivation to Prepare

Post by lundbaek »

I have been really impressed by the statements of past latter-day prophets, apostles, and other people like J. Edgar Hoover, Dr. W. Cleon Skousen, Congressmen Martin Dies, Larry MacDonald and Ron Paul, lots of investigative journalists and reporters, and even some of the bad guys about the planned destruction of our liberty and the establishment of a single world government. I can remember during the 1960s and 1970s that certain LDS Church authorities and a few other LDSs were instrumental in promoting awareness of this conspiracy. But now, I think that Brianj is correct in stating that now "it would take more effort than the LDS church can do on its own." Jerome Horowitz, author of "The Elders of Israel and the Constitution" and "The United States Has Two Constitutions" wrote me in 2012 "I think the Church is cautious about openly participating in freedom promotion activities partly because of concern about government retribution that might unduly hinder its primary religious mission and partly because so many members have been indoctrinated to favor federal dominance and federal welfare and regulation that there is concern that a strong constitutional position might split the Church."

Brianj wrote above that "First we need to bring the dark works to light. People need to know what has been happening in secret." Truth be known, we LDSs In recent years I have attended and participated a few firesides and similar events that addressed the secret combinations. At best, I think seeds were planted, but I noted little if any follow-up. Interestingly, Shortly after 9-11, an investigative journalist, Christopher Bollyn, who is not a member of the LDS Church, wrote to a member of this forum, BYU Physics Professor Steven Jones:
"As I told you when we met in Provo, the LDS Church has an advantage over other Christian churches in that it has the prophetic warnings of the 'secret combinations' and the Gadianton Robbers taking over the complete control of government. To my mind, that makes the LDS Church the he most relevant Christian church on the planet. It requires its followers to do something about 'Our Awful Situation' brought on by the Gadianton Robbers. Most non-Mormons don't have a clue what is meant by these terms from tBook of Mormon, but they very much need to know what is written and meant by them. As Ether 8:16 says: 'And they [secret combinations] were kept up by the power of the devil to administer these oaths unto the people, to keep them in darkness, to help such as sought power to gain power, and to murder, and to plunder, and to lie, and to commit all manner of whoredoms.....".
Here is a non- LDS investigative reporter telling Professor Jones that Mormons need to do something about our awful situation caused by the Gadianton Robbers. Bollyn wrote also that " Most non-Mormons don't have a clue what is meant by these terms from the Book of Mormon, but they very much need to know what is written and meant by them."

That statement " It requires its followers to do something about 'Our Awful Situation' brought on by the Gadianton Robbers." Yes, that would would be incredibly difficult to do. But there are some out there trying.

Post Reply