The Church and its members have been repeatedly counseled by the Lord's prophets to prepare for future emergencies and unseen adversity. Preparations require wise planning, diligence, and provident living. Members are encouraged to store sufficient food, clothing, and, where possible, fuel for at least one year. They have been counseled to avoid debt as they would a plague and to save. Members are encouraged to own their own homes, to advance their education and career potential, to insure against health and other needs, and to otherwise prepare themselves to meet life's challenges while maintaining their self-reliance. Those who prepare have the assurance that they need not fear the future.

"We Latter-day Saints, because of the knowledge we have received in the revelations, are better prepared to meet the perplexities of our time than are any other people. We know more about the difficulties which are coming, and we have the key to their solution" (Marion G. Romney, Ensign, July 1981, 3).