Church Welfare and Self-Reliance Launches Temporal Preparedness Guide

Central to the teachings in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to live a life exemplified by Jesus Christ. One of the ways for members to live a Christlike life is to serve God and His children.

Service is an essential principle taught in the Church, and for Latter-day Saints to become better able to help others in need is to make themselves spiritually and temporally self-reliant.

Latter-day Saints believe that by accepting and abiding by the principles of self-reliance in their lives, they increase their faith in Jesus Christ, become more obedient to God’s commandments, have increased individual accountability, and amplify their desire to serve and work unitedly for the common good.

Area Temporal Preparedness Guide

For decades, Church leaders have taught members to be more self-reliant. President Russell M. Nelson, Global leader of the Church, said, “For decades, the Lord’s prophets have urged us to store food, water, and financial reserves for a time of need. . . . I urge you to take steps to be temporally prepared.”

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To heed the call of the prophet, the Church has released a Temporal Preparedness Guidelines to help members in their efforts to become more prepared in times of natural disasters, calamities, and many other crises.

The guide will help members learn how to create step-by-step plans to allow them to face challenges with mental, physical, financial, and emotional resiliency. The guidelines will allow families to sit down and counsel together to discuss the following:

• Emergency Planning

This process will include preparing homes for potential emergencies, cooking solutions, creating emergency kits, preparing families for specific disasters like floods or fire, communicating and gathering plans in case family members become separated.

• Home Storage and Production

This process includes guidelines for short- and long-term food storage as well as food production and preservation for times when food and water supplies are low or almost non-existent.

• Financial Preparedness

In addition to saving, paying tithes and offerings, avoiding debt, and using a budget, this process will help families make wise financial choices such as investing in different types of insurances as needed, such as health, life, and many others.

• Emotional Preparedness

The Church understands that striving to follow the examples of Jesus Christ includes facing hardships, difficulties, and challenges. Being emotionally resilient is essential in helping members adapt to challenges with courage and faith. This process includes skills and practices that will help members become prepared emotionally to face challenges as well as to help others.

The Philippines is one of the countries that are frequently visited by natural calamities. Hence, the release of the Temporal Preparedness Guide will benefit both members of the Church and those of other faiths. The Church believes that through these guidelines, families, and individuals will become more prepared and less fearful when challenges occur.