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LDS General Conference

H. Burke Peterson

Brothers and sisters, this morning President Kimball has outlined for us standards of performance as they relate to the subject of personal and family preparedness. The filmstrip has refreshed our memories and hopefully inspired us to set goals and make preparations in areas of need.

Each of the principles discussed in the filmstrip is basic and should have direct application in the lives of every person and family member in the Church. Individual needs will vary as does the circumstance of each of us. Personal situations change as years go by. We should constantly appraise our needs and update our direction and emphasis. Our eternal progression, in large measure, is determined by our ability to evaluate and strengthen each area of weakness. What is the need of one may not necessarily be satisfied in the same way for another. For a moment, I would like to give a few examples of what I mean.

As some of you may know, Sister Peterson and I have five daughters. Over the years, in an effort to increase our spiritual maturity, we have read the scriptures on a daily basis in our home. Fifteen years ago, when all of our children were at home, we would get together at 6:15 in the morning and study. Today, with one thirteen-year-old daughter at home, our scripture study continues, but the pattern has changed. In addition to reading together on family night and on Sunday evenings, we are now using an exciting new daily scripture reading program. On the side of the refrigerator is taped a chart with numbers from 1 to 30, each number representing consecutive days of reading the scriptures. Each family member is responsible for reading a chapter a day and recording his progress on the chart. It is visible to all. If one day is missed, then it is necessary for the one who missed to begin again in the counting of consecutive reading days. Each is motivated by the fact that if we are successful as a family for a period of thirty days, there will be a special surprise in store for all. None of us wants to be the one to deny the others the prize. This approach is particularly motivating for a thirteen-year-old.

In the area of home production and storage, we still have the year’s supply room in the basement with the sign designating it as the “Peterson Family Store.” However, our garden and year’s supply program is not the same as it was fifteen years ago. Our family store reflects the needs of two adults, one child, and many visitors instead of the needs of two adults and five children, as it did in years past.

Our physical health involvement has changed. In the past, when our children were younger and together, they were mutually involved in many physically stimulating exercises. It now becomes important for an older mother and father to become more a part of getting a thirteen-year-old involved in sports. For instance, in times past where daughters may have challenged each other, now a tennis match might be between the father on one side and mother and daughter on the other side. My jogging commitment has been a daily habit for fifteen years and is still a part of life. However, each morning it becomes more difficult.

We find, as family conditions change and maturity develops, there is still a constant need for expressions of “I love you.” There is still the need for regular father-mother-daughter interviews. There is still the need for dad and a thirteen-year-old to spend some time every summer at the amusement park. Husband-and-wife communication must still be nurtured. Needs like these will exist forever and must be satisfied.

My message, then, is this: We cannot progress without attending to our own personal and family preparedness on a regular basis. Preparedness is not something that is static; it is ever changing. I know of no situation in life where it is not necessary. May we all become involved in it for the blessing of our families. There is precious little time to waste in preparing for the eternities. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

With many disasters and severe weather incidents, 2011 was an active year for Mormons’ church service around the world.

Mormons’ church service – Mormon helping handsThe earthquake and devastating tsunami in Japan was the worst disaster of the year, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent immediate aid and still continues to help. The LDS Church provided more than 250 tons of supplies, food, water, blankets, bedding, hygiene items, clothing and fuel. Church-sponsored volunteers numbering over 20,000 have donated 175,000 hours of service in Japan. Church Humanitarian Services has worked with and continues to donate equipment and supplies to 20 of 54 fishing co-ops wiped out by the disaster. Latter-day Saints within Japan mobilized to help their stricken neighbors. Fifty-two Mormon meetinghouses were also damaged and have since been repaired.

Other disasters struck different parts of the world, which experienced flooding, landslides, earthquakes, tornadoes and a hurricane (Irene). They occurred in Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Brazil and the Philippines, as well as the Midwest and southern United States. Latter-day Saints in each of these areas also donated their time and efforts. “Mormon Helping Hands” is the name of groups of Mormons gathered to help in relief efforts on the ground. They can mobilize locally or travel, sometimes at their own expense.

In Germany, 9,000 Latter-day Saints and their neighbors worked side-by-side to donate 34,000 hours in support of children battling cancer. (Read about other Mormon Helping Hands projects.)

2011 was the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Perpetual Education Fund, funded by donations from Latter-day Saints. This fund helps with schooling expenses for returned-missionaries from impoverished countries. The money is loaned to them, so they can afford advanced education. The loan is paid back as they join the work force, and then loaned to the next worthy young person. Thousands have achieved better employment through this program since its inception.

Additional Resources
Basic Mormon Beliefs — Official LDS Church Website

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In this episode of LDS Emergency Resources, we talk about how to properly prepare and maintain a 72-hour kit. There are many elements of a 72-hour kits that often hard to understand. We attempt to help you better develop your emergency preparedness plan by helping you get a 72-hour kit.

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Children line up for a 100-yard dash as part of the Oakton Stake’s food drive. (Laurie Snow Turner)

OAKTON, Va. — More than 2.5 tons of food was collected by members of the Oakton Virginia Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during a food drive and races Nov. 5 for the LINK Against Hunger program that benefits those in need in Herndon, Sterling and Ashburn, Va.

To celebrate the LDS Church’s 75th anniversary of its welfare program, President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor of the First Presidency, asked members around the world to perform a day of service.

Oakton Virginia Stake President Scott Wheatley said the stake members’ goal for the day of service was “to let those around us know we love and follow Jesus Christ in all we do. What better way to convey that message to our community that by serving them? We want our community to know that because we follow Jesus Christ, we serve others.”

The Oakton Virginia Stake includes nine wards organized geographically in the northern Virginia area, including Reston, Herndon, Spring Lakes (a Spanish-speaking congregation), Chantilly, Franklin, Fair Oaks, Vienna, Oakton and Oak Marr.

The event’s theme was “Put a Lid on Hunger” and included a 5K run or walk, a one-mile stroll and 100-yard dashes for children. One of the entry options was donating five cans of food.

More than 500 area Mormons attended the event, which raised about 2.5 tons of food. Another $1,000 worth of food will be donated to LINK from the LDS Church’s Washington, D.C., Bishop’s Storehouse, which is a church facility that provides basic foods and essential household items to needy individuals and families.

“What a machine they had going,” said Lisa Lombardozzi, president of LINK. “We had trucks parked along the curb, people pulled up and unloaded their food into the trucks and headed off to register for the walk/run. We had LDS missionaries helping us put the food into boxes and we kept filling truck after truck.”

President Wheatley said the stake members’ goal was to fill at least five trucks. “We hoped to overwhelm this good charity with our generous donations. We wanted them to see Christians in action as we showed up in droves with arms full of food to help the hungry. I think we achieved that goal,” he said.

“We got more food than we could fit on our shelves,” Lombardozzi said. “I welcomed the crowd and estimated there were a thousand people there! I thought I’d gather up the few canned goods that came in late. By the time the event was over, my little pile grew and grew. We made several trips back to my car to load up. I ended up with an SUV full of food and had to utilize another minivan, in addition to the seven truckloads of food, to cart it all back to the pantry.”

Anthony Foy, a LINK volunteer who helped load the trucks said, “It is humbling that all those people came together, and the sole fundraising focus was LINK. The LDS community certainly did bless our ministry.”

“Wow! What a rewarding day,” said Shon Beury, chairman of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Herndon and a LINK board member. “I’m so glad I was there to witness Christianity in action. How blessed we are!”

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell complimented the LDS Church’s welfare program and issued a day of service proclamation for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He said, “2011 marks the 75th anniversary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Welfare Program, which has improved the lives of countless individuals in our commonwealth, these United States, and throughout the world, and which should be a model to all organizations and faiths as we work together to build a true commonwealth of opportunity.”

President Wheatley said, “To become a ‘model of service’ to other organizations and faiths, we need to become an integral part of our community by sharing what we know and what we have. This event helped us move in that direction.”

Elder Richard Hinckley, left, walks with Alan Marty by bales of clothing at the Humanitarian Center, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

They may seem drastically different: a nonprofit that helps children build lemonade stands, an organization that encourages character building through sports and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But they all have the same underlying goal: to promote economic self-reliance.

The LDS Church Thursday was the last stop on a nationwide tour highlighting best practices in economic self-reliance. During a two day conference sponsored by The Philanthropy Roundtable, representatives from charitable foundations across the country took a tour through Welfare Square, the LDS Humanitarian Center and the Bishop’s Central Storehouse.

“We came to Utah to see Welfare Square because it is one of the nation’s greatest models of cultivating self-reliance, not only for members of the Mormon faith but for people of all backgrounds,” said Shannon Toronto, COO of The Philanthropy Roundtable, a national network of individual donors, corporate giving officers and foundation trustees.

Previous stops on The Philanthropy Roundtable’s economic opportunity tour included Lemonade Day in Houston, which teaches children business skills, and Florida’s Positive Coaching Alliance, a nonprofit that teams up with athletic leagues to teach principles of family and community.

The Philanthropy Roundtable, which is based in Washington D.C., seeks, among other efforts, to improve charitable outcomes by educating donors, Toronto said. Economic Opportunity, as it relates to self reliance, is one of the organization’s major initiatives.

“We learned from our meeting today that the best programs recognize the dignity of the individual and that the highest quality of life is attained when a person becomes self reliant and can help others within her realm of influence,” Toronto said.

Founded during the Great Depression when unemployment rates reached 50 to 70 percent in many areas, the LDS Church designed Welfare Square to help address both hunger and idleness, said Jim Goodrich, who manages the operation. Welfare Square consists of a storehouse, a bakery, a cannery, a milk processing plant, a thrift store and an employment center. For the most part, the operation is staffed by volunteers.

In the beginning, men put in a day of work on a farm in exchange for food from a small grocery store called the Bishop’s Storehouse, Goodrich said. Today, the work is different: people “pay” for their food by completing a wide range of tasks ranging from canning vegetables to sorting clothes at the church’s thrift store. But the principle isn’t.

“We want to help people help themselves,” said Terry Oakes, managing director of LDS Welfare Services. “We don’t believe in giving handouts. We believe in giving hand ups.”

The LDS Church also centers its international humanitarian aid program around self-reliance, said Sharon Eubank, director of humanitarian services and a member of the General Relief Society General Board. When the church enters a rural community in Guatemala to install a well, for example, villagers are required to contribute to the effort.

“They can’t buy the cement, but they can mix the cement and they can dig the hole,” Eubank said. “Involving them in the process allows them to maintain their dignity.”

Several other charities, including Utah Youth Village, American Indian Services and Project HOME, presented during a luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Utah Youth Village encourages self-reliance by teaching children the communication and social skills they need to succeed in school and work, said Eric Bjorkland, president. American Indian Services only offers partial college scholarships so young adults have the opportunity to contribute to their own education.

“We believe if a student can meet us halfway they are demonstrating a personal commitment to fulfill their own goals,” said Yvonne Curley, a board member at American Indian Services.

After attending the conference, Marcia Argyris, senior program officer for the California-based S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, said she has a “different impression of the Mormon Church.”

“I think this whole idea of asking what a person receiving services can give back is interesting,” she said. “Instead of just accepting something and walking away, they are working for it. I think that’s very important.”

Stan Swim, who attended the conference, said his organization the GFC Foundation in Pleasant Grove favors programs that support self-reliance when doling out money.

“We have a responsibility to care for the poor,” he said. “We are trying to do it in a way that rebuilds people.”

• Don’t confuse self-reliance with pride – June 21, 2011
• Self-reliance at heart of LDS Church and other helping programs – April 8, 2011
• Self-reliance at heart of LDS Church and other helping programs – April 8, 2011
• LDS Church to donate more sewing machines for rural Fiji women – Feb. 24, 2011
• Readers’ forum: Personal responsibility – Dec. 20, 2010

Recently, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor of the First Presidency, reflected on the good which such service-oriented efforts produce.

“I experienced firsthand the blessings of the welfare program of the Church,” said President Uchtdorf during the Church’s October 2011 General Conference. “Even though I was a young child, I still remember the sweet taste of canned peaches with cooked wheat and the special smell of the donated clothing sent to the postwar German Saints by caring Church members from the United States. I will never forget and I will always cherish these acts of love and kindness to those of us who were in great need.”

President Uchtdorf also stated, “This work of providing in the Lord’s way is not simply another item in the catalog of programs of the Church. It cannot be neglected or set aside. It is central to our doctrine; it is the essence of our religion.”

See examples of the Church’s humanitarian aid and welfare programs in action.

TOKYO — A fairly strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 has hit off the shores of Japan’s southern Okinawa Island.

Officials said the quake Tuesday about 135 miles (220 kilometers) away from the island was not expected to cause a tsunami. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Northeastern Japan was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. Japan, which lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” is one of the world’s most seismically active countries.

ERCIS, Turkey– Rescuers have freed a woman hours after they also pulled out her 2-week-old baby girl alive from the rubble of an apartment building.

Television footage on Tuesday showed rescue workers carrying Semiha Karaduman out of the wreckage on a stretcher and moving her to an ambulance. The infant was pulled from the debris earlier.

Officials say the death toll in the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck eastern Turkey on Sunday is now 370. More than 2,000 buildings have collapsed.

Rescuers in two cities in eastern Turkey are struggling to pull out survivors from the wreckage

Rescuers in two cities, Ercis and Van, are still struggling to pull out people trapped trapping people inside mounds of concrete, twisted steel and construction debris. Authorities have warned survivors not to enter damaged buildings and thousands of people spent a second night outdoors in cars or tents in near-freezing conditions, afraid to return to their homes. Some 1,300 people were injured.

Dogan news agency said rescuers had pulled five people out of the rubble alive in the early hours of Tuesday, although many more bodies were discovered.

In the hardest-hit city of Ercis, 9-year-old Oguz Isler was trapped for eight hours beneath the rubble of a relative’s home. He was finally rescued, but on Tuesday he was waiting at the foot of the same pile of debris for news of his parents and of other relatives who remain buried inside.

The boy waited calmly in front of what was left of the five-story apartment block that used to be his aunt’s home. The city of 75,000, close to the Iranian border, lies in one of Turkey’s most earthquake-prone zones.

Turkish rescue workers in bright orange jumpsuits and Azerbaijani military rescuers in camouflage uniforms searched through the debris, using excavators, picks and shovels to look for Isler’s mother and father and other relatives still inside.

Dogs sniffed for possible survivors in gaps that opened up as their work progressed.

“They should send more people,” Isler said as he and other family members watched the rescuers. An elder cousin comforted him.

Mehmet Ali Hekimoglu, a medic, said the dogs indicated that there were three or four people inside the building, but it was not known if they were alive.

The boy, his sister and a cousin were trapped in the building’s third-floor stairway as they tried to escape when the quake hit. A steel door fell over him.

“I fell on the ground face down. When I tried to move my head, it hit the door,” he said. “I tried to get out and was able to open a gap with my fists in the wall but could not move my body further. The wall crumbled quickly when I hit it.”

“We started shouting: ‘Help! We’re here,”‘ he said. “They found us a few hours later, they took me out about 8 1/2 hours later. … I was OK but felt very bad, lonely. … I still have a headache, but the doctor said I was fine.”

Isler’s 16-year-old sister, Ela, and 12-year-old cousin, Irem were also saved.

“They took me out last because I was in good shape and the door was protecting me. I was hearing stones falling on it,” said Isler.

The government’s response to the quake appeared to be well-coordinated because of the country’s vast experience in dealing with killer quakes and their aftermaths. Hundreds of rescue teams from throughout Turkey rushed to the area, racing to find survivors, while Turkish Red Crescent dispatched tents, blankets and soup kitchens.

However, there was still no power and running water in Ercis. Firefighter trucks carried tons of water while giant generators were sent in on trucks.

Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.

Istanbul, the country’s largest city with more than 12 million people, lies in northwestern Turkey near a major fault line, and experts say tens of thousands could be killed if a major quake struck there.

Cries of panic and horror filled the air as a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing at least 85 people as buildings pancaked and crumpled into mounds of rubble.

Tens of thousands fled into the streets running, screaming or trying to reach relatives on cell phones as apartment and office buildings cracked or collapsed. As the full extent of the damage became clear, survivors dug in with shovels or even their bare hands, desperately trying to rescue the trapped and the injured.

“My wife and child are inside! My 4-month-old baby is inside!” CNN-Turk television showed one young man sobbing outside a collapsed building in Van, the provincial capital.

(CNSNews.com) – In the White House briefing on June 27, CNSNews.com asked White House Press Secretary Jay Carney for the date that President Barack Obama first learned about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) botched gun-sting operation known as “Fast and Furious.”

“I’ll have to get back to you,” said Carney. “I don’t have an exact date for you.”

CNSNews.com had initially asked Carney the question in a June 20 email, sent a week before the briefing when Carney said he would have to “get back” with an exact date.

Since the June 27 briefing, CNSNews.com has repeatedly followed up with Carney and the White House press office asking for the date that Obama learned about the operation. On June 28 and on July 6, CNSNews.com sent Carney emails to ask if he had checked on the date.

In light of the release of documents that show Attorney General Eric Holder was informed about the operation in memos sent to him by senior Justice Department officials in July 2010–which could contradict testimony he gave to the House Judiciary Committee on May 3 that he had “probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks” — CNSNews.com asked the White House again this morning when the president had first learned of the operation.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

At 9:03 a.m. Wednesday, CNSNews.com sent an e-mail to Carney and the press office with this question: “When did the President first become aware of Operation Fast & Furious? Do you have an exact date? Do you have an approximate time (month-year)?”

At 9:34 a.m., CNSNews.com called the White House to follow-up on the email inquiry. A press aide, who said he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said the CNSNews.com e-mail inquiry had been received and the “appropriate people do have the question and contact information.”

At the June 27 White House briefing, CNSNews.com asked Carney: “Could you tell me what is the exact date that the president learned about the Justice Department ATF operation to allow guns to flow into Mexico?”

Carney apparently had trouble understanding the question, saying, “I mean, I think I’ve answered this question a bunch about–about what he learned?”

CNSNews.com said: “What is the exact date that he learned about it?”

Carney still did not understand. “The exact thing that he learned?”

CNSNews.com again clarified: “Exact date–date.”

Carney finally responded: “I’ll have to get back to you. I don’t have an exact date for you.”

Operation Fast and Furious was an operation run by the Phoenix division of the ATF in which federal law enforcement knowingly allowed people believed to be straw purchasers for Mexican drug cartels to buy guns. The aim of the operation was to trace the guns back to Mexican drug cartels. However, the ATF has lost track of most of the nearly 2,000 guns that were sold during the operation. “Fast and Furious,” which began in September 2009, was halted in December 2010 after two guns sold during the operation were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.