Principles And Programs

Principles and Programs Bishop Glenn L. Pace Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric • • • •

Next > < Previous Print E-mail

Glenn L. Pace, “Principles and Programs,” Ensign, May 1986, 23

Five years ago I was asked to be the managing director of the Welfare Services Department of the Church. Within a few days I received a phone call from President Marion G. Romney. He said, “Brother Pace, do you know anything about welfare?” Under the circumstances, this was a sobering question, and I responded, “President, I’m sure I have much to learn.” He asked me to set aside 3:00 p.m. each Friday for a meeting with him in which we could discuss welfare principles. When I arrived at his office on the first Friday, President Romney’s secretary went into his office and announced, “Glenn Pace is here, President.” He replied, “Oh yes, I’d like to see him, if he doesn’t stay too long.” On my second visit, with “if he doesn’t stay too long” still ringing in my ears, I covered two items and then started shuffling my feet and papers, subtly signaling I was ready to leave. President Romney leaned across his desk with that twinkle in his eye and with a chuckle in his voice said, “Brother Pace, am I getting the impression you think you have something better to do?”

How I cherish those precious sessions spent with a man who has dedicated fifty years of service to the kingdom, especially in the area of welfare. He helped me to know President Harold B. Lee, President J. Reuben Clark, and other great leaders who emphasized the principles of welfare. I was counseled to measure all recommendations by the stated purpose of the welfare program as given by President Heber J. Grant in 1936. President Romney would quote it from memory: “Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3.) Many times President Romney emphasized that the notion of the welfare program beginning in 1936 was a myth. He quoted President Lee, who said: “There wasn’t any beginning to the welfare program. There isn’t any ending of the welfare program, we are always in the middle of it. No endings, no beginnings, only middles.” (Harold B. Lee, “Listen and Obey,” Welfare Agricultural Meeting, 3 Apr. 1971.) He quoted scriptures relating to the commandment to seek after the poor—scriptures given to the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, and Jackson County, Missouri, at a time when almost all members were poor. He pointed out what was done relative to keeping these commands in Nauvoo in the 1840s and in the West in the late 1800s and in the early 1900s. He quoted Book of Mormon passages and used the New Testament to emphasize how much of the Savior’s time was spent helping the poor and needy. He made the process sound so simple. “Brother Pace, don’t make things so complicated! All we have been trying to do is make our people self-reliant, because the more self-reliant one is the more able to serve he becomes, and the more he serves, the greater his sanctification.” Over the years, there have been numerous approaches taken with the common goal of helping people become self-reliant. The welfare plan unveiled to inspired leaders in 1936 has become famous and is held up as an enviable example by leaders of other religions as well as government officials in high places. As great as the various programs of the Church are, they carry with them a potential danger. If we are not careful, it is possible to get so wrapped up in the plan that we forget the principles. We can fall into the trap of mistaking traditions for principles and confusing programs with their objectives. One Saturday morning I was on my way to fulfill an assignment on a welfare farm. We were to clean the weeds out of an irrigation ditch. My route took me past the home of an elderly widow in my ward, who was weeding her front yard. The temperature was already in the mid-eighties and she looked like she was near to having sunstroke. For a fleeting moment I thought I should stop and lend a helping hand, but my conscience allowed me to drive on by because, after all, I had an assignment on the welfare farm. I wonder what would have happened if I had followed the spontaneous prompting of the Spirit and unleashed the genuine

compassion I was feeling. I wonder what would have happened to her; I wonder what would have happened to me. But I couldn’t do that because I hadn’t been assigned. We need more spontaneous acts of compassionate service. In 1983 some major modifications were made to the welfare program being followed in the United States and Canada. In making the announcement, President [Gordon B.] Hinckley said, “Permit me to say at the outset that that which you will hear has been considered in depth in all of its implications by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve. … “We reaffirm the basic principles of the welfare program. There will be no departure from those foundation principles. We feel the need to emphasize with greater clarity the obligation for members of the Church to become more independent and selfreliant, to increase personal and family responsibility, to cultivate spiritual growth and to be more fully involved in Christian service.” (Regional Representatives’ Seminar, 1 Apr. 1983.) Since these changes have been announced, some have asked if the Church is abandoning or deemphasizing welfare. This question is common only to those who are having trouble distinguishing the difference between a principle and a program. At the conclusion of a General Welfare Services Executive Committee meeting, where I felt I had waxed eloquent in discussing farms, trucks, silos, and canneries, President Romney invited me into his office for an unscheduled meeting. He asked one question, “Brother Pace, why is it we never discuss principles and doctrine anymore?” I have not been the same since I heard that penetrating inquiry. From that time until my release as the managing director of Welfare Services three years later, I vowed to be more diligent in evaluating programs to see if they were still accomplishing their objective relative to principles. Still true is President Lee’s statement: “Nobody changes the principles and doctrines of the Church except the Lord by revelation. But methods change as the inspired direction comes to those who preside at a given time. … You may be sure that your brethren who preside are praying most earnestly, and we do not move until we have the assurance, so far as lies within our power, that what we do has the seal of divine approval.” (Ensign, Jan. 1971, p. 10.) As I travel into various countries, I am often asked, “When are we going to get the welfare program in this country?” I respond by asking if they have a Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. I also ask if they have bishops or branch presidents, and if there are people with needs and people who can help. When they answer yes, I explain they already have all the ingredients necessary to activate a welfare program in their country. During a trip to South America a few years ago, I spoke with a stake president whose stake had experienced over 50 percent unemployment during the previous three years. I knew the stake had received less than $200 from the Area office during that period. I

asked him how the members had been able to survive without a large infusion of outside help. His answer was the families had helped each other—not just father, mother, sons, and daughters, but uncles, aunts, and cousins. When a cousin got a job, the money earned went to benefit everyone. In addition, ward members looked after each other and shared what they had, however so meager. With tears in his eyes he explained how close his stake members were to each other and to the Lord. Their spirituality had increased manyfold. Did they have the welfare program? Yes—and in its purest form. I fear we have learned too much over the years about programs at the expense of insufficient understanding of principles. If we had learned more principles, priesthood leaders all over the world would be solving local problems with local resources without waiting for something to come from Church headquarters. Members would be helping each other without waiting for an assignment. Programs blindly followed bring us to a discipline of doing good, but principles properly understood and practiced bring us to a disposition to do good. I visited Ethiopia last year with Elder Ballard. We came home with vivid pictures of degradation and poverty etched indelibly in our minds. However, I am haunted more often with memories of the conditions under which some of our own members are living in other areas of the world. If every member could travel and observe these conditions, our fast-offering donations would increase substantially. Moroni was prophesying of our day when he said: “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. … “For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.” (Morm. 8:35, 37.) I have great faith in the generosity and compassion of the membership of this church. Never has it been demonstrated more clearly than during the special fasts held in January and November of last year. Over ten million dollars were raised for people we don’t even know. Our members respond when they are aware of a need. Brothers and sisters, that need has not passed. There is much to be done among our own members. Poverty is a relative term. It means something much different in one country than in another. There is no common solution or program for every situation. However, principles are universal. We cannot bring everyone to the same economic level. To do so would violate principles and foster dependence rather than independence. People living in each country have the primary responsibility for solving their own problems. They must sacrifice for each other because, as the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” (Lectures on Faith 6:7.) Members of the Church everywhere should ask themselves not “What can the Church do for me?” but “What can I do for myself, for the Church, and for my neighbors?”

The solutions to poverty are extremely complex, and the balance between too much aid and not enough is very elusive. Our compassion can lead to failure if we give aid without creating independence and self-reliance in the recipient. However, there is a state of human misery below which no Latter-day Saint should descend as long as others are living in abundance. Can some of us be content living affluent life-styles while others cannot afford the chlorine to purify their water? Can we ignore the most basic temporal needs of our brothers and sisters and profess belief in President Joseph F. Smith’s statement that “a religion that has not the power to save people temporally … cannot be depended upon to save them spiritually”? (quoted in Albert E. Bowen, The Church Welfare Plan, Sunday School Gospel Doctrine course, 1946, p. 36.) In 1936 we had a depression in the United States. Based on principles, a program was designed to fit the circumstances. Today we are an international church, and in many countries, the Saints face problems far more serious than those. Using welfare principles, solutions can be found to the challenges of today and tomorrow. May the Lord bless President Marion G. Romney and those with whom he labored for bringing to us an understanding of welfare principles. May we be as successful in meeting the challenges of our generation as our predecessors were in meeting theirs, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

A Provident Plan— A Precious Promise President Thomas S. Monson Second Counselor in the First Presidency • • • •

Next > < Previous Print E-mail

Thomas S. Monson, “A Provident Plan—A Precious Promise,” Ensign, May 1986, 62

Today, April 6, 1986, is a day of history. One hundred fifty-six years ago The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. Numbers were few. Circumstances were modest. But the future beckoned. In Solemn Assembly this afternoon, President Ezra Taft Benson will be sustained by our hearts and souls, as well as by our uplifted hands, as the thirteenth President of the Church. Prayers of thanksgiving will be offered, words of wisdom provided, and songs of praise sung. Strains of “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet” and “How Firm a Foundation” will emanate from this Tabernacle and reverberate throughout the lands of the earth. It was fifty years ago this very day that the prophets of God outlined the general principles which became the “firm foundation” of the Church welfare plan. In a specially called and momentous meeting presided over by President Heber J. Grant and his counselors—J. Reuben Clark, Jr., and David O. McKay—watershed statements were presented and heaven-inspired counsel provided which have endured the passage of time, which have been rendered valid by the verdict of history, and which bear the seal of God’s approval. On that occasion, President David O. McKay declared, “This organization is established by divine revelation, and there is nothing else in all the world that can so effectively take care of its members.” (In Henry D. Taylor, “The Church Welfare Plan,” 1984, p. 26.) President J. Reuben Clark set the tone for the launching of this inspired effort by counseling: “[The Lord] has given us the spirituality. He has given us the actual command. … The eyes of the world are upon us. … May the Lord bless you, give us courage, give us wisdom, give us vision to carry out this great work.” (Taylor, p. 27.) Fifty years have come and gone. Economic cycles have run their course. Societal changes have been numerous. The Church has expanded beyond the valleys of the mountains to the uttermost reaches of the earth. Membership is measured in millions. The word of God, provided on that historic day, is as an island of constancy in a sea of change. Let us, for a moment, review the moorings, the underpinnings, even the foundation of the welfare program. Said the First Presidency in that year of announcement: “Our primary purpose was to set up, insofar as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and

independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3.) The holy scriptures leave no doubt concerning the responsibility to care for the poor, the needy, the downtrodden. The organization has been perfected, the duties defined, and the guidelines given. I am profoundly grateful to my Heavenly Father for the privilege which has been mine to be tenderly taught and constantly counseled by the prophets of the program. As a publisher and printer, I had the opportunity to assist President J. Reuben Clark in the preparation of his manuscript which became the monumental book Our Lord of the Gospels. What a blessing was mine to learn daily at the feet of such a master teacher and principle architect of the welfare program. Knowing that I was a newly appointed bishop presiding over a difficult ward, he emphasized the need for me to know my people, to understand their circumstances, and to minister to their needs. One day he recounted the example of the Savior as recorded in the Gospel of Luke: “And it came to pass … that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him. … “When he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. … “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. “And he came and touched the bier. … And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.” (Luke 7:11–15.) When President Clark closed the Bible, I noticed that he was weeping. In a quiet voice, he said, “Tom, be kind to the widow and look after the poor.” On one occasion, President Harold B. Lee, who was a stake president in the area where I was born and reared and later presided as a bishop, spoke movingly to the Aaronic Priesthood concerning how the priesthood might prepare for its role in caring for the poor. He stood at the pulpit, took the Book of Mormon in hand, and opened it to the seventeenth chapter of Alma. He then read to us concerning the sons of Mosiah: “Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

“But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.” (Alma 17:2–3.) We had been given our pattern, provided by an inspired teacher. Reverently, he closed the covers of this sacred scripture. Like President Clark, he too had tears in his eyes. Just a few days ago I visited with President Marion G. Romney, known throughout the Church for his ardent advocacy and knowledge of the welfare program. We spoke of the beautiful passage from Isaiah concerning the true fast: “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” (Isa. 58:7.) As did President Clark, as did President Lee, President Romney wept as he spoke. Appearing as a golden thread woven through the tapestry of the welfare program is the truth taught by the Apostle Paul: “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Cor. 3:6.) President Ezra Taft Benson frequently counsels us: “Remember, Brethren, in this work it is the Spirit that counts.” What has the Lord said about the spirit of this work? In a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph at Kirtland, Ohio, in June of 1831, He declared: “Remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.” (D&C 52:40.) In that marvelous message delivered by King Benjamin, as recorded in the Book of Mormon, we read: “For the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally.” (Mosiah 4:26.) When we depart from the Lord’s way in caring for the poor, chaos comes. Said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Political Analysis, as reported this year in a Dallas, Texas, newspaper: “The USA’s welfare system is a disaster. It is creating poverty, not destroying it. It subsidizes divorce, unwed teenage pregnancy, the abandonment of elderly parents by their children, and the wholesale dissolution of the family. The reason? We pay people to be poor. Private charities have always been better at providing relief where it is truly needed.” In 1982 it was my privilege to serve as a member of President Ronald Reagan’s Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives. Meeting in the White House with prominent leaders assembled from throughout the nation, President Reagan paid tribute to the

welfare program of the Church. He observed: “Elder Monson is here representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If, during the period of the Great Depression, every church had come forth with a welfare program founded on correct principles as his church did, we would not be in the difficulty in which we find ourselves today.” President Reagan praised self-sufficiency; lauded our storehouse, production, and distribution system; and emphasized family members assisting one another. He urged that in our need we turn not to government but rather to ourselves. On another occasion in the White House, I was asked to present to a gathering of America’s religious leaders an example of our welfare program in action. I could have chosen many illustrations, but selected as typical our response to the Teton Dam disaster in Idaho. The result was dramatic. As the First Presidency stated fifty years ago, “The eyes of the world are upon us.” While this is a most important consideration, let us particularly remember that the eyes of God are similarly focused. What might He observe? Are we generous in the payment of our fast offerings? That we should be so was taught by President Spencer W. Kimball, who urged that “instead of the amount saved by our two or more meals of fasting, perhaps much, much more—ten times more [be given] when we are in a position to do it.” (Ensign, Nov. 1977, p. 79.) Are we prepared for the emergencies of our lives? Are our skills perfected? Do we live providently? Do we have on hand our reserve supply? Are we obedient to the commandments of God? Are we responsive to the teachings of prophets? Are we prepared to give of our substance to the poor, the needy? Are we square with the Lord? As we look back through fifty years and reflect on the development of the welfare program, as we look forward to the years ahead, let us remember the place of the priesthood, the role of the Relief Society, and the involvement of the individual. Help from heaven will be ours. On a cold winter’s night in 1951, there was a knock at my door. A German brother from Ogden, Utah, announced himself and said, “Are you Bishop Monson?” I answered in the affirmative. He began to weep and said, “My brother, his wife, and family are coming here from Germany. They are going to live in your ward. Will you come with us to see the apartment we have rented for them?” On the way to the apartment, he told me he had not seen his brother for many years. Through the holocaust of World War II, his brother had been faithful to the Church, once serving as a branch president before the war took him to the Russian front. I observed the apartment. It was cold and dreary. The paint was peeling, the wallpaper soiled, the cupboards empty. A forty-watt bulb, suspended from the living room ceiling, revealed a linoleum floor covering with a large hole in the center. I was heartsick. I thought, “What a dismal welcome for a family which has endured so much.”

My thoughts were interrupted by the brother’s statement, “It isn’t much, but it’s better than they have in Germany.” With that, the key to the apartment was left with me, along with the information that the family would arrive in Salt Lake City in three weeks—just two days before Christmas. Sleep was slow in coming to me that night. The next morning was Sunday. In our ward welfare committee meeting, one of my counselors said, “Bishop, you look worried. Is something wrong?” I recounted to those present my experience of the night before, revealing the details of the uninviting apartment. There were a few moments of silence. Then Brother Eardley, the group leader of the high priests, said, “Bishop, did you say that apartment was inadequately lighted and that the kitchen appliances were in need of replacement?” I answered in the affirmative. He continued, “I am an electrical contractor. Would you permit the high priests of this ward to rewire that apartment? I would also like to invite my suppliers to contribute a new stove and a new refrigerator. Do I have your permission?” I answered with a glad “Certainly.” Then Brother Balmforth, the seventies president, responded, “Bishop, as you know, I’m in the carpet business. I would like to invite my suppliers to contribute some carpet, and the seventies can easily lay it and eliminate that worn linoleum.” Then Brother Bowden, the president of the elders quorum, spoke up. He was a painting contractor. He said, “I’ll furnish the paint. May the elders paint and wallpaper that apartment?” Sister Miller, the Relief Society president, was next to speak. “We in the Relief Society cannot stand the thought of empty cupboards. May we fill them?” The three weeks which followed are ever to be remembered. It seemed that the entire ward joined in the project. The days passed, and at the appointed time, the family arrived from Germany. Again at my door stood the brother from Ogden. With an emotion-filled voice, he introduced to me his brother, his brother’s wife, and their family. Then he asked, “Could we go visit the apartment?” As we walked up the staircase leading to the apartment, he repeated, “It isn’t much, but it’s more than they have had in Germany.” Little did he know what a transformation had taken place and that many who had participated were inside waiting for our arrival. The door opened to reveal a newness of life. We were greeted by the aroma of freshly painted woodwork and newly papered walls. Gone was the forty-watt bulb, along with the worn linoleum it had illuminated. We stepped on carpet deep and beautiful. A walk to the kitchen presented to our view a new stove and new refrigerator. The cupboard doors were still open; however, they now revealed every shelf filled with food. As usual, the Relief Society had done its work. In the living room, we began to sing Christmas hymns. We sang “Silent night! Holy night! All is calm, all is bright.” (Hymns, 1985, no. 204.) We sang in English; they

sang in German. At the conclusion, the father, realizing that all of this was his, took me by the hand to express his thanks. His emotion was too great. He buried his head in my shoulder and repeated the words, “Mein Bruder, mein Bruder, mein Bruder.” It was time to leave. As we walked down the stairs and out into the night air, snow was falling. Not a word was spoken. Finally, a young girl asked, “Bishop, I feel better than I have ever felt before. Can you tell me why?” I responded with the words of the Master: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:40.) Suddenly there came to mind the words from “O Little Town of Bethlehem”: How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is giv’n! So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of his heav’n. No ear may hear his coming; But in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive him, still The dear Christ enters in. (Hymns, 1985, no. 208.) Silently, wondrously, His gift had been given. Lives were blessed, needs were met, hearts were touched, and souls were saved. A provident plan had been followed. A precious promise had been fulfilled. I testify that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that we are led by a prophet, that sacrifice does indeed bring forth the blessings of heaven. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

First Presidency Message The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance By President Marion G. Romney First Counselor in the First Presidency • • •

Next > Print E-mail

Marion G. Romney, “The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance,” Tambuli, Oct 1984, 1 This edited version of a talk President Romney delivered at the October 1982 general conference is reprinted by request.

I love the simple gospel truths as taught by the holy prophets, and I never tire of speaking about them. Since the beginning of time man has been counseled to earn his own way, thereby becoming self-reliant. It is easy to understand the reason why the Lord places so much emphasis on this principle when we come to understand that it is tied very closely to freedom itself. On this subject, Elder Albert E. Bowen said, “The Lord must want and intend that His people shall be free of constraint whether enforceable or only arising out of the bindings of conscience. … That is why the Church is not satisfied with any system which leaves able people permanently dependent, and insists, on the contrary, that the true function and office of giving, is to help people [get] into a position where they can help themselves and thus be free.” (The Church Welfare Plan, Gospel Doctrine manual, 1946, p. 77.) Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those who are in need. However, many of these programs are designed with the shortsighted objective of “helping people,” as opposed to “helping people help themselves.” Our efforts must always be directed toward making able-bodied people self-reliant. I clipped the following article from the Reader’s Digest some time ago. It reads: “In our friendly neighbor city of St. Augustine [Florida] great flocks of sea gulls are starving amid plenty. Fishing is still good, but the gulls don’t know how to fish. For generations they have depended on the shrimp fleet to toss them scraps from the nets. Now the fleet has moved. … “The shrimpers had created a Welfare State for the … sea gulls. The big birds never bothered to learn how to fish for themselves and they never taught their children to fish. Instead they led their little ones to the shrimp nets. “Now the sea gulls, the fine free birds that almost symbolize liberty itself, are starving to death because they gave in to the ‘something for nothing’ lure! They sacrificed their independence for a hand-out. “A lot of people are like that, too. They see nothing wrong in picking delectable scraps from the tax nets of the U.S. Government’s ‘shrimp fleet.’ But what will happen when the Government runs out of goods? What about our children of generations to come? “Let’s not be gullible gulls. We … must preserve our talents of self-sufficiency, our genius for creating things for ourselves, our sense of thrift and our true love of independence.” (“Fable of the Gullible Gull,” Reader’s Digest, Oct. 1950, p. 32.) The practice of coveting and receiving unearned benefits has now become so fixed in our society that even men of wealth, possessing the means to produce more wealth, are expecting the government to guarantee them a profit. Elections often turn on what the candidates promise to do for voters from government funds. This practice, if universally accepted and implemented in any society, will make slaves of its citizens.

We cannot afford to become wards of the government, even if we have a legal right to do so. It requires too great a sacrifice of self-respect and in political, temporal, and spiritual independence. In some countries it is extremely difficult to separate earned from unearned benefits. However, the principle is the same in all countries: We should strive to become selfreliant and not depend on others for our existence. Governments are not the only guilty parties. We fear many parents are making “gullible gulls” out of their children with their permissiveness and their doling out of family resources. In fact, the actions of parents in this area can be more devastating than any government program. Bishops and other priesthood leaders can be guilty of making “gullible gulls” out of their ward members. Some members become financially or emotionally dependent on their bishops. A dole is a dole whatever its source. All of our Church and family actions should be directed toward making our children and members self-reliant. We can’t always control government programs, but we can control our own homes and congregations. If we will teach these principles and live them, we can do much to counter the negative effects which may exist in government programs in any country. We know there are some who for no reason of their own cannot become self-reliant. President Henry D. Moyle had these people in mind when he said: “This great principle does not deny to the needy nor to the poor the assistance they should have. The wholly incapacitated, the aged, the sickly are cared for with all tenderness, but every able-bodied person is enjoined to do his utmost for himself to avoid dependence, if his own efforts can make such a course possible; to look upon adversity as temporary; to combine his faith in his own ability with honest toil. … “We believe [that] seldom [do circumstances arise in which] men of rigorous faith, genuine courage, and unfaltering determination, with the love of independence burning in their hearts, and pride in their own accomplishments, cannot surmount the obstacles that lie in their paths.” (General Conference, April 1948.) Now, I wish speak of a very important truth: self-reliance is not the end, but a means to an end. It is very possible for a person to be completely independent and lack every other desirable attribute. One may become wealthy and never have to ask anyone for anything, but unless there is some spiritual goal attached to this independence, it can canker his soul. The Church’s welfare program is spiritual. In 1936, when the program was introduced, President David O. McKay made this astute observation: “The development of our spiritual nature should concern us most. Spirituality is the highest acquisition of the soul, the divine in man; ‘the supreme, crowning gift that makes him king of all created things.’ It is the consciousness of victory over self and of communion with the infinite. It is spirituality alone which really gives one the best in life.

“It is something to supply clothing to the [poorly] clad, to furnish ample food to those whose table is thinly spread, to give activity to those who are fighting desperately the despair that comes from enforced idleness, but after all is said and done, the greatest blessings that will accrue from the Church [welfare program] are spiritual. Outwardly, every act seems to be directed toward the physical: remaking of dresses and suits of clothes, canning fruits and vegetables, storing foodstuffs, choosing fertile fields for settlement—all seem strictly temporal, but permeating all these acts, inspiring and sanctifying them, is the element of spirituality.” (General Conference, October 1936.) Doctrine and Covenants 29:34–35 [D&C 29:34–35] tells us there is no such thing as a temporal commandment, that all commandments are spiritual. It also tells us that man is to be “an agent unto himself.” Man cannot be an agent unto himself if he is not selfreliant. Herein we see that independence and self-reliance are critical keys to our spiritual growth. Whenever we get into a situation which threatens our self-reliance, we will find our freedom threatened as well. If we increase our dependence, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act. Thus far, we should have learned that self-reliance is a prerequisite to the complete freedom to act. We have also learned, however, that there is nothing spiritual in selfreliance unless we make the right choices with that freedom. What, then, should we do once we have become self-reliant in order to grow spiritually? The key to making self-reliance spiritual is in using the freedom to comply with God’s commandments. The scriptures are very clear in their command that it is the duty of those who have, to give to those who are in need. Jacob, speaking to the people of Nephi, said: “Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. “But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. “And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.” (Jacob 2:17–19.) In our own dispensation, when the Church was only ten months old, the Lord said: “If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments. “And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support.” (D&C 42:29–30.) The same month, the Lord referred to this subject again. Evidently the members had been a little remiss. They had not moved fast enough.

“Behold, I say unto you, that ye must visit the poor and the needy and administer to their relief.” (D&C 44:6.) It has always seemed somewhat puzzling to me that we must constantly have the Lord command us to do those things which are for our own good. The Lord has said, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matt. 10:39.) We lose our life by serving and lifting others. By so doing we experience the only true and lasting happiness. Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made. Oh, for the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts. In that day there will be no need for a commandment, because we will have experienced for ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish service. Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked upon as the prerequisite to service, when we also know service is what godhood is all about? Without selfreliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak. There is an interdependence between those who have and those who have not. The process of giving exalts the poor and humbles the rich. In the process, both are sanctified. The poor, released from the bondage and limitations of poverty, are enabled as free men to rise to their full potential, both temporally and spiritually. The rich, by imparting of their surplus, participate in the eternal principle of giving. Once a person has been made whole, or self-reliant, he reaches out to aid others, and the cycle repeats itself. We are all self-reliant in some areas and dependent in others. Therefore, each of us should strive to help others in areas where we have strengths. At the same time, pride should not prevent us from graciously accepting the helping hand of another when we have a real need. To do so denies another person the opportunity to participate in a sanctifying experience. One of the three areas emphasized in the mission of the Church is to perfect the Saints, and this is the purpose of the welfare program. This is not a doomsday program, but a program for our lives here and now, because now is the time for us to perfect our lives. May we continue to hold fast to these truths.

Let’s Talk about It After reading President Romney’s article, families may wish to discuss the following principles in an upcoming family council.

Principles for Perfecting our lives through Self-reliance and Service to Others

BARRIERS to Self-reliance Are—

GATEWAYS to Self-reliance Are—

• Idleness

• Industry and work

• Spending freely

• Thrift, saving, budgeting

• Breaking the commandments

• Obeying the Word of Wisdom, keeping the commandments, paying an honest tithe

• Indifference to home storage

• One year’s supply of food, clothing, and (where possible) fuel

• No home food production

• Producing food at home

• Debt and interest payments

• Avoiding debt (when possible) and developing financial stability

• Apathy about job skills

• Improving job skills

• Negative attitudes

• Attaining physical, emotional, and social health

BARRIERS to Service to Others GATEWAYS to Service to Are— Others Are—

• Thinking only of self and your • Thinking of others immediate family

• Being afraid to share

• Sharing what you have as you can

• Keeping possessions to yourself

• Giving a generous fast offering

• “Over-helping” people who could help themselves, causing an attitude of dependence

• Helping people to help themselves (building selfreliance in others)

• Keeping to yourself and your own family

• Giving of your time, talents, and means to family, church, community

• Feeling you have no time to serve, no talents to share

• Participation in individual and group service projects

“I Was an Hungred, and Ye Gave Me Meat” President Gordon B. Hinckley • • • •

Next > < Previous Print E-mail

Gordon B. Hinckley, “‘I Was an Hungred, and Ye Gave Me Meat’,” Liahona, May 2004, 58–61 Wherever want has been created by whatever cause, representatives of the Church have been there. … I have been a firsthand witness to the effectiveness of our humanitarian efforts.

In 1936, 68 years ago, one of the secretaries to the Quorum of the Twelve told me what a member of the Twelve had told her. She said that in the coming general conference there would be announced a program which would come to be recognized as even more noteworthy than the coming of our people to these valleys as pioneers. Now, parenthetically, you should not tell your secretary what you should keep confidential, and she should not tell anyone else when she is given confidential information. But that was what happened back then. It never happens today. Oh, no! I should add that my able secretaries are never guilty of such a breach of confidentiality. As you who are acquainted with the history know, there was announced at that time the Church security plan, the name of which was subsequently changed to the Church welfare program. I wondered back in those days how anything the Church did could eclipse in anyone’s judgment the historic gathering of our people to these western valleys of the United States. That was a movement of such epic proportions that I felt nothing could ever be so noteworthy. But I have discovered something of interest in the last short while. We receive many prominent visitors in the office of the First Presidency. They include heads of state and ambassadors of nations. A few weeks ago, we entertained the mayor of one of the great cities of the world. We have, likewise, recently entertained the vice president and the ambassador of Ecuador, the ambassador from Lithuania, the ambassador from Belarus, and others. In our conversations not one of these visitors mentioned the great pioneer journey of our forebears. But each of them, independently, spoke in high praise of our welfare program and our humanitarian efforts. And so as I speak in this great priesthood meeting, I wish to say a few words concerning our efforts in behalf of those in need, be they members of the Church or otherwise, in various parts of the world. When the modern welfare program was put in motion, it was designed to take care of the needs of our own people. In the years that have followed, thousands upon thousands have been served. Bishops and Relief Society presidents have had available

to them food and clothing and other supplies for those in need. Numberless members of the Church have worked in volunteer capacities in producing that which was required. We now operate 113 storehouses, 63 farms, 105 canneries and home storage centers, 18 food processing and distribution plants, as well as many other facilities. Not only have the needs of Church members been met, but aid has been extended to countless others. Right here in this Salt Lake City community, many of the hungry are fed daily by non-LDS agencies utilizing LDS welfare supplies. Here, in this city, and in a number of other places, we operate beautiful stores where there is no cash register, where no money changes hands, where food, clothing, and other necessities are provided to those in distress. I believe that no better milk, no better meat, and no better flour is found on any grocery shelf than that which is distributed from the bishops’ storehouses. The principles on which these establishments operate are essentially what they were at the beginning. Those in need are expected to do all they can to provide for themselves. Then families are expected to assist in taking care of their less-fortunate members. And then the resources of the Church are made available. We believe in and take very seriously the words of our Lord: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: “Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me” (Matt. 25:34–36). This is the Lord’s way of caring for those in need which, He declared, “ye have … always with you” (see Matt. 26:11). Those who are able voluntarily work to provide for those who are not able. Last year there were 563,000 days of donated labor in welfare facilities. That is the equivalent of a man working eight hours a day for 1,542 years. A recent issue of the Church News carried the story of a group of farmers in a small Idaho community. May I read briefly from that account? “It is 6 a.m. in late October, and frost already hangs in the air over the sugar beet fields of Rupert, Idaho. “The long arms of the ‘beeters’ stretch out over twelve rows, slicing the tops off sugar beets. Behind them, the harvesters thrust their steel fingers into the soil and scoop up the beets, pulling them up toward a belt and into a waiting truck.

“… This is the Rupert Idaho Welfare Farm, and those who are working here today are volunteers. … At times more than 60 machines [are] working in harmony together— … all owned by local farmers.” The work goes on throughout the day. “[At] 7 p.m. … the sun has set, leaving the land dark and cold once again. The farmers head home, exhausted and happy. “They have finished well another day. “They have harvested the Lord’s sugar beets” (Neil K. Newell, “A Harvest in Idaho,” Church News, 20 Mar. 2004, 16). Such remarkable volunteer service goes on constantly to assure supplies for the storehouses of the Lord. Since the early beginnings, the program has moved beyond caring for the needy to the encouragement of preparedness on the part of families of the Church. No one knows when catastrophe might strike—or sickness, or unemployment, or a disabling accident. Last year the program helped families store 18 million pounds of basic foods against a possible time of need. Hopefully, that time will never come. But the good, wholesome, basic food so stored brings peace of mind and also the satisfaction of obedience to counsel. Now there has been added another element. It began some years ago when drought in Africa brought hunger and death to uncounted numbers. Members of the Church were invited to contribute to a great humanitarian effort to meet the needs of those terribly impoverished people. Your contributions were numerous and generous. The work has continued because there are other serious needs in many places. The outreach of this aid has become a miracle. Millions of pounds of food, medical supplies, blankets, tents, clothing, and other materials have staved off famine and desolation in various parts of the world. Wells have been dug, crops have been planted, lives have been saved. Let me give you an example. Neil Darlington is a chemical engineer who worked for a large industrial company in Ghana. Eventually, he retired. He and his wife were then called as a missionary couple. They were sent to Ghana. Brother Darlington says, “In areas of famine, disease, and social unrest, we were there as representatives of the Church, extending a helping hand to the destitute, the hungry, the distressed.” In small villages they drilled new wells and repaired old ones. Those of us who have fresh, clean water in abundance can scarcely appreciate the circumstances of those who are without.

Can you picture this couple, devoted Latter-day Saint missionaries? They drill into the dry earth. Their drill reaches the water table below, and the miracle liquid comes to the surface and spills over the dry and thirsty soil. There is rejoicing. There are tears. There is now water to drink, water with which to wash, water to grow crops. There is nothing more treasured in a dry land than water. How absolutely beautiful is water pouring from a new well. On one occasion, when the tribal chiefs and the elders of the village gathered to thank them, Brother Darlington asked the chief if he and Sister Darlington could sing a song for them. They looked into the eyes of the dark-skinned men and women before them and sang “I Am a Child of God” as an expression of their common brotherhood. This one couple, through their efforts, have provided water for an estimated 190,000 people in remote villages and refugee camps. Contemplate, if you will, the miracle of this accomplishment. And now, literally thousands of their kind, married couples, couples who otherwise might simply have lived out their lives in largely idle pursuits, have served, and are serving, in scores of ways and in scores of places. They have worked and continue to work in the impoverished areas of America. They have worked, and still do so, in India and Indonesia, in Thailand and Cambodia, in Russia and the Baltic nations. And so the work expands. Joining with others, the Church has recently provided wheelchairs for some 42,000 disabled persons. Think of what this means to people who literally have had to crawl to get about. With the aid of selfless doctors and nurses, neonatal resuscitation training was provided to nearly 19,000 professionals in the year 2003 alone. The lives of thousands of babies will be spared as a consequence. Last year some 2,700 individuals were treated for eye problems, and 300 local practitioners were trained in sight-saving procedures. The blind have literally been made to see. Where devastating floods have come, where earthquakes have created disaster, where hunger has stalked the land, wherever want has been created by whatever cause, representatives of the Church have been there. Some 98 million dollars in cash and inkind assistance have been distributed in the past year, bringing such aid to a total of 643 million dollars in just 18 years. I have been a firsthand witness to the effectiveness of our humanitarian efforts. In traveling the world, I have seen the recipients of your generosity. In 1998 I visited the areas of Central America, which had been ravaged by Hurricane Mitch. Here the distribution of food and clothing was quickly organized, and the cleaning and rebuilding of devastated homes and shattered lives was a miracle to behold. There is not time to go on recounting the reach of these great and significant programs. In extending help we have not asked whether those affected belong to the Church. For we know that each of earth’s children is a child of God worthy of help in time of need. We have done what we have done largely with the left hand not

knowing what the right hand is doing. We seek no commendation or thank-yous. It is compensation enough that when we help one of the least of these our Father’s children, we have done it unto Him and His Beloved Son (see Matt. 25:40). We shall go on in this work. There will always be a need. Hunger and want and catastrophes will ever be with us. And there will always be those whose hearts have been touched by the light of the gospel who will be willing to serve and work and lift the needy of the earth. As a correlated effort we have established the Perpetual Education Fund. It has come about through your generous contributions. It is now operating in 23 countries. Loans are extended to worthy young men and women for education. Otherwise, they would be trapped in the stagnated poverty their parents and forebears have known for generations. Some 10,000 and more are now being assisted, and experience to this date indicates that with such training they are now earning three to four times what was previously possible. The Spirit of the Lord guides this work. This welfare activity is secular activity, expressing itself in terms of rice and beans, of blankets and tents, of clothing and medicine, of employment and education for better employment. But this so-called secular work is but an outward expression of an inward spirit—the Spirit of the Lord of whom it was said, He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). May heaven prosper this great program, and may heaven’s blessing rest upon all who serve therein, I humbly pray, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

God Loves and Helps All of His Children Bishop Keith B. McMullin Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric • • • •

Next > < Previous Print E-mail

Keith B. McMullin, “God Loves and Helps All of His Children,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 75–78 We need Heavenly Father’s help. Important sources of this help come through man’s service to his fellowman, through prayer, and through focus on Christ.

One of the overarching truths of the Restoration is that God lives and dwells in His heavens, that He is an exalted man with “a body of flesh and bones,”1 and that He is yesterday, today, and forever the same unchangeable God,2 the fountain of all virtue and truth. Adam and Eve were the first of His mortal children upon this earth. Of their advent, He said: “And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them.”3 This truth elevates the human family. Men and women are wondrous creations endowed with divine attributes. At the time of Creation, God placed in Adam and Eve the supernal capacity to bear children in their likeness. We are all, therefore, in His image. We do, however, contend with serious mortal frailties and hazards. Sickness, aging, and death are inescapable. Hardships and heartaches are part of life’s journey. Personal dispositions, appetites, and passions clamor for gratification. For all these reasons and more, we need Heavenly Father’s help. An important source of this help comes through man’s service to his fellowman.4 The commandment is to “love thy neighbour as thyself.”5 Because we are all brothers and sisters, we are all “neighbors,” though separated at times by distance, culture, religion, or race. Said the Prophet Joseph, “A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.”6 The Lord sets the example, “for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; … and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God.”7 To provide for others in the Lord’s way, we strive to care for ourselves and sacrifice to help those in need. The poor labor for what they receive and seek the betterment of others as well.8 This pattern has been with us from the beginning.9

The Church welfare plan embodies this divine pattern, and faithful Church members follow it. Their offerings provide succor to the widow, care to the orphan, and refuge to the suffering. A few years ago a high-ranking official from China visited Salt Lake City, toured Church sites, and spoke at Brigham Young University. Learning about the Church welfare program, he said, “If we all loved each other like this, the world would be a more peaceful place.” Fasting and giving the value of the meals not eaten to help the poor captured his attention. At the conclusion of his visit to Welfare Square, he handed the manager a small red envelope—a “red pocket.” In China a “red pocket” is given as a gesture of love, blessing, and a wish for good fortune. “It does not contain much,” the visitor said, “but it represents the money I have saved from missing breakfast the last two mornings. I would like to give my fast offering to the Welfare program of the Church.”10 The Church welfare plan is God-inspired. Its tenets are fundamental to the salvation of man.11 It is an ensign for service, a witness to the world that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. It is heaven’s help in practical ways. President Thomas S. Monson has said: “Welfare principles … do not change. They will not change. They are revealed truths.”12 Another essential way to receive God’s help is through prayer. We are commanded to pray to God, our Father, in the name of Jesus Christ. The admonition is, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened.”13 Heavenly Father answers all sincere prayers. As the Lord’s prophet, President Monson counsels: “At times there appears to be no light at the tunnel’s end—no dawn to break the night’s darkness. … We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone. If you find yourself in such a situation, I plead with you to turn to our Heavenly Father in faith. He will lift you and guide you. He will not always take your afflictions from you, but He will comfort and lead you with love through whatever storm you face.”14 In the face of some needs, we turn to a form of prayer available only under the hands of those authorized to minister for God. Jesus Christ went forth “healing the sick, raising the dead”15 and lifting up desperate souls. With the Restoration of the gospel came priesthood power and authority to continue this aspect of God’s work.16 When one is sick or deeply troubled, “call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.”17 Faithful elders are commissioned to do what the Lord would do if He were present.18 If records had been kept of prayers answered, the world could not contain the many volumes. From Elder Glen L. Rudd, an emeritus General Authority and beloved associate, comes this treasured testimonial:

“I received a phone call informing me that a family member, a 12-year-old girl named Janice, was in the hospital with critical injuries. Her mother wanted her to receive a priesthood blessing. “Elder Cowley and I went to the hospital. There we learned details of the accident. Janice had been hit by a city bus. The double rear wheels had passed over her head and body. “Elder Cowley and I entered the room where Janice lay. She had a broken pelvis, a badly injured shoulder, multiple broken bones, and severe head injuries that were beyond repair. Nonetheless, it was our feeling that we should administer to her and bless her. I anointed her with oil, and Elder Cowley sealed the anointing. In a strong and resolute manner he blessed her to become well and whole and to live a normal life. He blessed her that she would recover with no lasting effects from her many injuries. It was a great blessing and a truly magnificent moment.” Elder Rudd goes on to say: “Janice didn’t move a muscle for more than a month. We never lost faith. A blessing had been pronounced that she would get well and have no lasting impairments.” Elder Rudd concluded: “Many years have now passed since that hospital visit. I spoke with Janice recently. She is now 70 years of age, the mother of 3 children, the grandmother of 11 grandchildren. To this day, she has not suffered a single negative effect from her accident.”19 Hers is but one of many such healings. But none stands as a greater witness of how Heavenly Father helps His children through prayer than the one that took place in a hospital room, with 12-year-old Janice and two humble servants of God, some 58 years ago. The ultimate help from Heavenly Father comes to us through His Son, “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”20 It is with great reverence and awe that I bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so, I am reminded how careful we must be in the use of His name. While His influence, teachings, and deliverance endear Him to us, we would do well not to speak of Him as though He were the friend next door. He is the Firstborn of our Father’s spirit children. He did all that was ordained for Him to do—hence all things give Him reverence and bear witness of Him.21 He told the ancient prophets what to write and reveals His will to His prophets today—and He fulfills their every word.22 Begotten of God, He was born of the virgin Mary, conquered death, atoned for the sins of the world, and brought salvation to both the living and dead. As our resurrected Lord, He ate fish and honeycomb with the Apostles and invited

multitudes on both hemispheres to feel the wounds in His hands, feet, and side that all might know He is the God of Israel—He is the living Christ. To all He declares: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”23 He is our Lawgiver and Judge, the Redeemer of the world. At His Second Coming, “the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”24 Of this I bear witness in the most sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Law of the Fast Elder L. Tom Perry Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles • • • •

Next > < Previous Print E-mail

L. Tom Perry, “The Law of the Fast,” Ensign, May 1986, 31

The great lessons of the scriptures teach us over and over again how foolish it is for mankind to desert the ways of the Lord and rely on the arm of flesh. One of the certainties of life is that mankind, individually and collectively, will cycle through their mortal experience with periods of good and difficult times. How many of our family histories contain paragraphs similar to this?

“Economically, our family had its ups and downs. Like many Americans, we did well during the 1920s. My father started making lots of money in real estate, in addition to his other businesses. For a few years we were actually wealthy. But then came the Depression. “No one who’s lived through it can ever forget. My father lost all his money, and we almost lost our house. I remember asking my sister, who was a couple of years older, whether we’d have to move out and how we’d find somewhere else to live. I was only six or seven at the time, but the anxiety I felt about the future is still vivid in my mind. Bad times are indelible—they stay with you forever.” (Lee Iacocca and William Novak, Iacocca: An Autobiography, New York: Bantam Books, 1984, p. 7.) But as surely as we can rely on change being a part of life, there is also the absolute assurance that we are children of an eternal Father in Heaven. As the supreme example of a kind and loving father, He has charted a well-defined course for His children to follow, the destination of which is the blessing of returning to His presence. He has marked the path with true principles, which will stand the test of time. In this session of general conference this afternoon, we have been reviewing welfare principles as they have been revealed to us for our application over the last fifty years. There is one additional principle basic to this whole welfare plan which I would like to discuss with you this afternoon. It is the law of the fast. I always marvel as I study the principles the Lord has designed for us to follow how simple they are in concept, how easy they are to administer, and how compliance always brings forth additional blessings. The law of the fast is basic in the Church. Isaiah declared: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? “… Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry?” (Isa. 58:6–7.) Like many other biblical practices, it was restored by the Lord in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The law of the fast has three great purposes. First, it provides assistance to the needy through the contribution of fast offerings, consisting of the value of meals from which we abstain. Second, a fast is beneficial to us physically. Third, it is to increase humility and spirituality on the part of each individual. An important reason for fasting is to contribute the amount saved from the meals not eaten to care for the poor and the needy. One of the strongest admonitions the Lord has given to His children on earth is that we have the responsibility and obligation of caring for those in need. It was King Benjamin who said in his great address, “And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man

according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.” (Mosiah 4:26.) Do we need to be reminded that included in our baptismal covenant is our pledge to bear one another’s burdens that they may be light, to mourn with those that mourn, and to comfort those that stand in need of comfort? (See Mosiah 18:8–9.) The longer I live, the more impressed I am with the Lord’s system of caring for the poor and needy. Surely no man would think of such a simple yet profound way of satisfying human needs—to grow spiritually and temporally through periodic fasting and then donating the amount saved from refraining from partaking of those meals to the bishop to be used to administer to the needs of the poor, the ill, the downtrodden, who need help and support to make their way through life. It was President [J. Reuben] Clark who said: “The fundamental principle of all Church relief work is that it must be carried on by fast offerings and other voluntary donations and contributions. This is the order established by the Lord. Tithing is not primarily designed for that purpose and must not be used except in the last extremity.” (J. Reuben Clark, Jr., quoted in Marion G. Romney, “Our Primary Purpose,” address delivered in Welfare Agricultural Meeting, 3 Apr. 1971, p. 1.) Through religious history we have found how the Lord blesses people when they reach out and care for the poor and the needy. Of the days of Hezekiah we read this in the scriptures: “And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, … they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. “And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. “Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.” (2 Chr. 31:6, 8–9.) The answer was, “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.” (2 Chr. 31:10.) We have said a lot today about President Romney and what he has declared about the welfare program. Could I add another statement: “I am thoroughly in harmony with what the Bishop said about our need to contribute liberally to the fast-offerings fund and to every other fund that the Church officially calls upon us to contribute to. I am a firm believer that you cannot give to the Church and to the building up of the kingdom of God and be any poorer financially. I remember a long time ago, over 50 years, when Brother [Melvin J.] Ballard laid his hands on my head and set me apart to go on a mission. He said in that prayer of

blessing that a person could not give a crust to the Lord without receiving a loaf in return. That’s been my experience. If the members of the Church would double their fast-offering contributions, the spirituality in the Church would double. We need to keep that in mind and be liberal in our contributions.” (Welfare Agricultural Meeting, 3 Apr. 1971, p. 1.) With all these promises of the Lord over the expanse of man’s sojourn on earth, how shocking it is to find that sometimes it is necessary to use tithing funds of the Church to make up for deficits in our fast-offering contributions. Oh, where is our faith? Oh, how we deprive ourselves of the blessings of the Lord by not being generous in our fast-offering contributions. Let us have the faith to bind the Lord to bless this people because we are following His order to care for the poor and the needy among us by being generous in our fastoffering contributions. Fasting is also beneficial to us physically. Some time ago I read an article in Science News written by Charles L. Goodrich, which stated that the advantages of modern eating habits extend far beyond the cosmetic. Numerous animal studies have demonstrated that caloric restriction early in life leads to an increased life span and reduces the risk of certain diseases. There is also evidence of health-promoting effects of periodic fasting. Some experiments have shown that periodic fasting not only promotes a longer life, but encourages a more vigorous activity later in life. (See Science News, 1 Dec. 1979, p. 375.) Fasting is also one of the finest ways of developing our own discipline and selfcontrol. Plato said, “The first and the best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.” (Laws, Book I, section 626E.) Fasting helps to teach us self-mastery. It helps us to gain the discipline we need to have control over ourselves. Again we can conclude that if we are wise in following the Lord’s law of the fast, we too will receive benefits, physically. Finally, let us examine the humility and spiritual strength derived from fasting. The Savior certainly recognized the need for this principle, for after His baptism we find the scriptures recording: “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, “Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.” (Luke 4:1–2.)

And the devil used all his cunning ways to tempt the Savior to abandon His mission. To this the Savior responded: “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.” (Luke 4:8, 13–14.) Fasting had blessed Him with the power of the Spirit. There is also the account in the Book of Mormon of Alma as he traveled southward on his way to Manti. He was astonished to meet his friends, the sons of Mosiah, journeying toward the land of Zarahemla. It was a joyous meeting as they exchanged accounts of their missionary journeys. Alma was delighted to see how the sons of Mosiah had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth. The scripture records: “But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God. “And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him.” (Alma 17:3–4.) These are only two examples of the many we can find in the scriptures where fasting and prayer for a purpose bring forth a special spiritual power. This same blessing is available to each of us if we will only take advantage of it. I would like to add my testimony this afternoon to the others who have given witness to the blessings of those who have given to and received from this great, inspired welfare services program over the last fifty years. My father was the bishop of our ward at the time of its announcement to the Church in April general conference of 1936. The world was struggling in the Great Depression. So many of the fathers of our ward were unemployed. In those days a dime for admission to a school activity would prevent many of my friends from attending because their parents could not afford even that small amount for their children’s enjoyment. Because of my father’s calling as a bishop, I was able to gain an appreciation of the welfare program from its very beginning as I watched him administer to the needs of the poor in his ward with great love and tenderness. How often I raced home from school anticipating a planned activity. As I would round the corner of our home, there I would see sacks of flour, sugar, and other commodities. My heart would fall, as I knew it would be another evening out with Father as he delivered these commodities to those in need. The planned activity would have to be cancelled for that evening. When he arrived home, I was always enlisted to help him put the commodities in the car and travel with him to make the deliveries. Sometimes I would grumble under my

breath for having been so put upon, but then I would have the remarkable experience of watching the light come back into the eyes of a depressed family as food was brought into their home. I always returned home from those experiences with an exhilarated feeling of watching the Church in action as it was caring for its poor and its needy through fast offerings and good, kind priesthood leaders. May the Lord continue to bless us with the faith to follow the inspired leadership He has provided for us here on earth that we may fulfill our obligations and responsibilities and be blessed by His hand, both spiritually and temporally, as we follow His plan, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Our Brothers’ Keepers By President Thomas S. Monson First Counselor in the First Presidency • • • •

Next > < Previous Print E-mail

Thomas S. Monson, “Our Brothers’ Keepers,” Ensign, Jun 1998, 33 Adapted from an address given in Salt Lake City to Rotary International on 20 November 1997 From New York City to North Korea, the Church quietly reaches out in welfare efforts that aid millions of the suffering and needy. I am very honored to join with you on this occasion. You Rotarians have a phenomenal dedication to your club and its altruistic bylaws, because you have adesire to help those in need. Harry Emerson Fosdick, a great Protestant minister, said, “Men will work hard for money. They will work harder for other men. But men will work hardest of all when they are dedicated to a cause. Until willingness overflows obligation, men fight as conscripts rather than following the flag as patriots. Duty is never worthily performed until it is performed by one who would gladly do more if only he could.” 1 One ever conscious of duty was my beloved associate—and a dedicated Rotarian— Richard L. Evans. He traveled the world for Rotary when he was international president of Rotary International. I was in Toronto, Canada, once and had to help him rewrite a ticket. I had never seen such a long and complicated ticket. After I became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he and I sat near each other in meetings. I noticed often, after he came back from all-night flights, how tired he was. He had the responsibility to write and deliver the Spoken Word messages during the

Tabernacle Choir broadcasts each Sunday; he was busy with ecclesiastical duties, with Rotary, and with being a husband, a father, and a grandfather—and yet he was ever found doing his duty. Tonight Sterling Spafford, your district governor, has asked that I say a word or two about humanitarian aid and about welfare in the LDS Church. We take most seriously the admonition from the Lord found in the New Testament in Matthew, chapter 25, and I know you do too: “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: “Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. … “… Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” 2 Each time we watch the news on television or pick up a newspaper, we learn of terrible human suffering as a result of tornadoes, floods, fires, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes, conflicts of war. I ask the question: Do we have a responsibility to do something about such suffering? Long years ago a similar question was posed and preserved in holy writ, even the Holy Bible, and I quote from the book of Genesis: “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. “And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” 3 The answer to that vital question is: Yes, we are our brothers’ keepers. The funding of the operation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide is based on tithing, where members contribute 10 percent of their increase, as set forth by the Old Testament prophet Malachi. In addition to tithing, we have in the Church what we call fast offering. The members of the Church fast once a month and contribute the equivalent of the meals not eaten—and anything in addition we would like—as a fast offering to help the poor and the needy. To provide an idea of the extent of the conventional welfare help given by the Church, may I share with you a brief list of some of the Church-operated welfare enterprises: • 100 storehouses. • 80 canneries. • 97 employment centers worldwide.

• 45 Deseret Industries stores. • 63 LDS Social Services offices. • 106 priesthood-managed production projects. • 1,049 welfare missionaries in 33 countries. It is a wonderful thing to see what is accomplished as a result of this investment and effort. In the 1950s, when I presided over the Sixth-Seventh Ward, which included this very area where we meet tonight, we had 87 widows and 1,080 members. It was a transient area, coupled with old-line families. I have seen hunger and want, and I have watched wonderful people grow old and infirm. I developed very young in life a spirit of compassion for others who might be in need, regardless of age or circumstance. Many are the blessings which result when the law of the fast is observed. Let me illustrate. Fifty-two years ago, when World War II came to a close and Europe lay devastated, hunger stalked the streets, infectious diseases were everywhere to be found, and the people had given up hope. A call came for aid, and President George Albert Smith, then President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, went to see President Harry S Truman to get permission to send aid to the starving people throughout Europe. President Truman listened to President Smith and then said, “I like what you plan to do. How long will it take you to assemble the goods you would like to send and prepare them for shipment?” President Smith responded, “President Truman, the goods are all assembled. One nod from you and the trains will roll, and ships will sail, and those supplies will be on their way.” It happened exactly that way, with Ezra Taft Benson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, delivering the supplies in behalf of the Church. I was in Zwickau, Germany, several years ago, and an elderly gentleman came up to me and said, “President Monson, I want you to tell President Ezra Taft Benson that the food he brought after the war—food sent by the Church—kept me from starving. It gave me hope for the future.” I was deeply touched as I listened to his expressions of gratitude. May I say a word or two concerning humanitarian aid as compared to conventional welfare aid. The term humanitarian aid is a relatively new designation for help extended beyond the basic welfare program. An example of humanitarian aid can be seen in the Church’s response in 1985 to the needs of famine-stricken Ethiopia. As the suffering there became apparent, our members in the United States and Canada were invited to participate in two special fast days. The contributions went to this cause. The proceeds received from these two fast days exceeded $11 million dollars and provided much-needed aid to the people in Ethiopia, Chad, and other sub-Saharan nations. Not one cent was deducted for overhead, for that was also an offering. The

funds were not invested to obtain interest. Rather, they were given freely to meet the need. We have collaborated in these projects with the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (American and International), Catholic Relief Services, CARE, and so on. Hunger knows no ecclesiastical boundary. We can provide hope; we can preserve life. Rotary is part of that great pledge. Examples of the Church working in partnership with other community, state, and private organizations to assist the needy include the following: • Providing food from the Church welfare system and furnishings from the former Hotel Utah to local agencies as diverse as the Salvation Army, Jewish Family Services, Travelers Aid, and the Indian Alcoholism Recovery Center. • Providing $75,000 and volunteers to help with Columbia University’s Family-toFamily “home evening” program in Harlem, New York City. Although in its initial stages, this program reportedly has already produced more positive results than many of the social and economic programs Columbia University previously initiated. • Providing the Cambodian Royal University of Agriculture with the equipment and trained experts needed to establish a food canning and processing program. • Helping the National Council of Negro Women in Zimbabwe support projects to assist people in need of food, clothing, and medical supplies. We are often asked about the extent and nature of Church humanitarian assistance. While we feel that such work should not be trumpeted, the following provides a sense of what is being done. From 1985 to the present, humanitarian efforts have resulted in:

• Number of projects

2,340

• Countries served

137

• Total value of assistance

$162.5 million

• Food distributed

9,800 tons

• Surplus clothing distributed

20,798 tons

• Medical equipment distributed 894 tons

• Educational material distributed

794 tons

• Major disaster assistance efforts

76

Examples

• Mexico fire

1990

• Bangladesh cyclone and flooding

1991

• China earthquake

1991

• Philippines Mount Pinatubo volcano

1991

• Bosnia civil conflict

1992

• Africa drought

1992

• Croatia civil conflict

1992

• Hurricane Andrew

1992

• Midwest U.S. flooding

1993

• Northridge, California, earthquake

1994

• Rwanda relief

1994

• Bosnia-Croatia-Serbia relief

1994–96

• Japan earthquake

1995

• North Korea crop failure

1996–97

In 1996 alone, suffering populations in various nations around the world received through Church humanitarian aid the following: • Sufficient clothing to outfit an estimated 8.7 million people in 58 countries. • Over 1 million pounds of medical and educational equipment and supplies to 70 countries. • English instruction to more than 3,000 people. As famine has deepened in North Korea, where we have no members of our faith, they have had a great need for help to eliminate starvation among children and others. We have been able to provide: • 2,150 tons of corn, powdered milk, flour, and medical supplies. • 400 tons of fertilizer, pesticides, and seeds. • Over 500 seedling apple trees. • Total assistance to date amounting to $3.1 million dollars. There are ships on the ocean waves right now taking more food to the starving in North Korea. I am happy we could help. In 1992 a devastating hurricane named Andrew struck the east coast of Florida, leaving a path of ruin behind it, with homes battered, roofs gone, people hungry. Our members were there to help. Home after home was cleaned and repaired without

charge. It mattered not the faith or color of the person who occupied the home. One Saturday morning after the storm abated, we needed about 100 men to start putting new sheeting on the roofs and to clean up and repair the damaged homes. We sent out the word for 100 volunteers. More than 300 came, some from as far away as New York and Connecticut. Others came from the Carolinas. They drove south and worked in shifts until all the homes that they could possibly enter were repaired and the roofs restored. Far away in the foothills on the western slopes of Mount Kenya, along the fringe of the colossal Rift Valley, pure water is now coming to the thirsty people. A potable water project has changed the lives of more than 1,100 families. When we originally became aware of the need for pure water, we were able to help fund a project in cooperation with TechnoServe, a private voluntary organization. With villagers providing the labor, drinkable water now flows through 25 miles of pipes to waiting homes in a 15-village area. The simple blessing of safe drinking water recalls the words of the Lord, “I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink.” 4 In the early part of this decade we collaborated with Rotary International in its PolioPlus endeavor, the goal being to eliminate that dreaded disease. As a young man in high school, I witnessed firsthand the start of the polio epidemic in Salt Lake City. Every day it seemed that someone at school came down with polio. If you have ever seen an iron lung or a child who has suffered from the devastating infirmities of polio, you understand what blessings have come to countless individuals because your club has had the vision and the faith to accomplish what you have to eliminate polio. A bronze statue was given to the Church by Rotary officers expressing thanks for our substantial contribution in this effort. The Church purchased sufficient polio serum to immunize 300,000 children and also helped place gas and electric refrigerators in rural health outposts to keep vaccines viable until they were administered to the children. As a result of this joint endeavor, Rotary International has ensured that every child in Kenya is protected from this crippling disease. One never goes wrong by helping a child. There are other problems that can be solved when people such as the Rotarians tackle them. I understand that you plan, through your foundation and others who help, to wipe out polio worldwide by the year 2000. I cannot think of a finer goal. As a Church we try to help people to help themselves. We strive to promote humanitarian initiatives that encourage self-reliance. Examples include: • Village banking in Guatemala that significantly improves the nutrition levels and financial stability of families. • Micro-enterprise projects such as one in Armenia that combines knitting skills and business management training initiatives. • Surgical initiatives in the Philippines that correct physical defects such as cleft palates, deformed limbs, and hearing and sight impairments, and not a cent goes to the doctors. It all goes to the child.

• Vocational skills training in Guatemala and India, such as machine repair and electrical or computer training, that leads to productive employment. The Church cooperates with and assists those of other faiths. Such efforts include: • Assistance for parishioners of burned Protestant churches. • Food, clothing, furnishings, and capital contributions to Catholic Community Services and Catholic Relief Services. I’d like to say that we have sent millions of dollars of supplies through Catholic Charities. It has been a wonderful association, and we keep that current as of today. • Clothing to the Russian Orthodox Church. • Clothing and food to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency of the Seventhday Adventist Church. • Food processing facilities and volunteers to assist the Islamic Society of North America. Sixteen years ago I was called to be a member of President Ronald Reagan’s Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives. He knew much concerning our welfare program. On one occasion when we were meeting together, he said to others in the White House, pointing to me, “In this man’s church, the members frequently donate their time to can tomatoes and put up corn and other produce for the nee for the needy. Wouldn’t it be great if all of us did that?” When we can work together cooperatively to lift the level of life for so many people, we can accomplish anything. When we do so, we eliminate the weakness of one person standing alone and substitute the strength of many serving together. While we may not be able to do everything, we can and must do something. In doing some research for this message, I was happy to note that Rotary International is a great moving force in eliminating illiteracy throughout the world. I thought it might be interesting for you to know that the Relief Society organization of our Church has as a primary goal and objective, among other goals, to eradicate illiteracy. Some time ago I was on an assignment in Monroe, Louisiana. At the conclusion of my meetings, I went to the airport to board the plane to Salt Lake City. While I was waiting, an African-American lady came up to me and gave me a big hug. She said: “President Monson, I want to tell you my story. My family and I were all poor sharecroppers. We had nothing. But then the women of the Relief Society, white women, taught me to read and taught me to write. Today I help teach white women how to read and how to write.” She then expressed her gratitude and love for what the women had done for her. I reflected on the supreme happiness she must have felt when she was able to open her Bible and read for the first time those beautiful words of the Lord: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 5 A legendary figure of the past from government and politics nationally, in addition to being a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was President J. Reuben Clark Jr. He had been undersecretary of state and ambassador to Mexico and had written some of the treaties for the Allied powers. I had the privilege of printing his books for him. For the period of a year I had the unique opportunity of meeting with him every day for an hour or so. During these times I came to appreciate his great wisdom. On one occasion President Clark made this statement: “The real long term objective of the Welfare Plan is the building of character in the members of the Church, givers and receivers, rescuing all that is finest down deep inside of them, and bringing to flower and fruitage the latent richness of the spirit, which after all is the mission and purpose and reason for being of this Church.” 6 God bless all who endeavor to be their brother’s keeper, who give to ameliorate suffering, who strive with all that is good within them to make a better world. Have you noticed that such individuals have a brighter smile? Their footsteps are more certain. They have an aura about them of contentment and satisfaction—even dedication—for one cannot participate in helping others without experiencing a rich blessing himself. Applicable to those who give as you in Rotary give is the adage, “When a bouquet of flowers is given to another, the fragrance of the flowers lingers on the hands of the giver.” I pray we may have the spirit of giving, the spirit of serving, really the Rotary spirit today and always. [photos] Photography by Craig Dimond, except as noted [photos] Some fruits of Church-donated funds, materials, and volunteer effort (clockwise, from right): crutches help a one-legged Cambodian street sweeper hold a job (right and below); welfare missionary teaches English at a Church employment resource center in Ghana; children in a Moscow nursery benefit from educational materials, toys, books; Church helps fund auto mechanics class at privately owned Spencer W. Kimball Technological Institute, San Pedro, Guatemala; sanitation project with donated materials, Ghana; home enterprise in Guatemala. Top left: Scene in Ghana. [photos] Top left: Church funds made possible this local initiative literacy project in India. (Photo by Isaac Ferguson.) Above: Boxes of food containing a two-week supply for a family of four were distributed in Vladivostok, Russia, after flooding. (Photo by Gary Flake.) Left: Personal enterprise—selling snails, for example—aids some families’ survival in Ghana.

[photos] Top: Young girl at literacy class in a Guatemala City chapel. Above: Missionary teaches computer literacy class at YMCA, Madras, India. Right: LDS experts helped set up a model feed mill for chicken farming at Cambodia’s Royal University of Agriculture; Church funds helped establish a cannery for the meat. [photo] Clean, safe water is a blessing for the Ghanaian community where Church funds helped pay for installing a well and pump. [photo] A young hearing-impaired girl is learning to speak at a national institute in India that has been assisted by the Church. [photos] Left: Donated clothing is sorted at a community center on the outskirts of Moscow. Top: A blind student learns chair weaving at a YMCA in Madras, India. The Church has provided support for the program. Above: Cambodians learn food processing.

Providing in the Lord’s Way • • •

Next > < Previous Print

“Chapter 18: Providing in the Lord’s Way,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, 165 How can we be guided and blessed by the principles revealed by the Lord for the temporal welfare of His Saints?

Introduction While serving as a stake president during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Harold B. Lee organized efforts in his stake to relieve the destitute circumstances of many members. He later recalled: “We had been wrestling with this question of welfare. There were few government work programs; the finances of the Church were low. … And here we were with 4,800 of our 7,300 people [in the stake] who were wholly or partially dependent. We had only one place to go, and that was to apply the Lord’s program as set forth in the revelations.” In 1935, President Lee was called into the office of the First Presidency and asked to lead an effort to help those in need throughout the Church, using the experience he had gained in his stake. President Lee said of this experience: “It was from our humble efforts that the First Presidency, knowing that we had had some experience, called me one morning asking if I would come to their office. … They wished me now to head up the welfare movement to turn the tide from government relief, direct relief, and help to put the Church in a position where it could take care of its own needy.

“After that morning I rode in my car (spring was just breaking) up to the head of City Creek Canyon into what was then called Rotary Park; and there, all by myself, I offered one of the most humble prayers of my life. “There I was, just a young man in my thirties. My experience had been limited. I was born in a little country town in Idaho. I had hardly been outside the boundaries of the states of Utah and Idaho. And now to put me in a position where I was to reach out to the entire membership of the Church, worldwide, was one of the most staggering contemplations that I could imagine. How could I do it with my limited understanding? “As I kneeled down, my petition was, ‘What kind of an organization should be set up in order to accomplish what the Presidency has assigned?’ And there came to me on that glorious morning one of the most heavenly realizations of the power of the priesthood of God. It was as though something were saying to me, ‘There is no new organization necessary to take care of the needs of this people. All that is necessary is to put the priesthood of God to work. There is nothing else that you need as a substitute.’ “With that understanding, then, and with the simple application of the power of the priesthood, the welfare program has gone forward now by leaps and bounds, overcoming obstacles that seemed impossible, until now it stands as a monument to the power of the priesthood, the like of which I could only glimpse in those days to which I have made reference.” 1

Teachings of Harold B. Lee What are the foundation principles for the welfare work of the Church? In the 104th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, … we have as clearly defined in a few words the Welfare Program as anything I know. Now listen to what the Lord says: “I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine. And it is my purpose to provide for my saints.” … Did you hear what the Lord said? “It is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine. But it must needs be done in mine own way.” … “And behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints.” Now, get the significance of this one statement: “That the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.” Now, that is the plan. … The Lord goes on to say:

“For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.” [D&C 104:14–18.] … Now, what does he mean by this phrase? His way is, “that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.” … “Exalt,” in the language of the dictionary, and the definition that I am sure the Lord is trying to convey means: “To lift up with pride and joy to success.” That is how we should lift the poor up, “with pride and joy to success,” and how are we to do it? By the rich being made low. Now, do not mistake that word “rich.” That does not always mean a man who has a lot of money. That man may be poor in money, but he may be rich in skill. He may be rich in judgement. He may be rich in good example. He may be rich in splendid optimism, and in a lot of other qualities that are necessary. And when individual Priesthood quorum members unite themselves together, we usually find all those rare qualities necessary to lift up the needy and distressed with pride and joy to success in the accomplishment. There could not be a more perfect working of the Lord’s plan than that. Now, keep in mind this further thought, that the Lord has told us time and again that the objective of all his work is spiritual. Do you remember what he said in the 29th section of the Doctrine and Covenants? “Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created” (Doc. and Cov. D&C 29:34). … Do you let everything you do be with an eye single to the glory of that individual, the ultimate triumph of his spiritual over his physical? The whole purpose of the Lord in life is to so help us and direct us that at the end of our lives we are prepared for a celestial inheritance. Is not that it? Can you give every basket of food you give, can you give every service that you render with that great objective in mind? Is this the way to do it in order to help my brother or my sister to better attain and lay hold upon his celestial inheritance? That is the objective that the Lord sets. 2 The welfare program has a great significance in the Lord’s work. We must take care of [people’s] material needs and give them a taste of the kind of salvation they do not have to die to get before we can lift their thinking to a higher plane. Therein is the purpose of the Lord’s welfare program that He has had in His Church in every dispensation from the very beginning. It did not have its inception in 1936. It began when the Lord commenced to take care of His people on this earth. 3 When a home is shattered because of the needs of food and shelter and clothing and fuel, … the first thing we have to do is to build a sense of security, a sense of material

well-being, before we can begin to lift the family to the plane where we can instill in them faith. That is the beginning, but unless we have the objective of what we do as to the building of faith, the mere giving of material aid fails. Now, we must understand that, if we just try to build faith without first filling their stomachs and seeing that they are properly clothed and properly housed and properly warmed, perhaps we will fail in the building of faith. 4 We have repeated often the statement that was given to us by President [Heber J.] Grant when this [welfare] program was launched. These were his words … : “Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership.” [In Conference Report, Oct. 1936, 3.] I traveled over the Church by request of the First Presidency with Elder Melvin J. Ballard in the early days of the welfare program to discuss with local Church leaders the details essential to its beginning. There were three favorite passages of scripture that he frequently quoted to the people. One statement that he often repeated was this: “We must take care of our own people, for the Lord has said that all this is to be done that: ‘… the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world.’ (D. & C. D&C 78:14.)” … [He also quoted] from the one hundred fifteenth section of the Doctrine and Covenants: “Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations,” [and he taught that] this is the day of demonstration of the power of the Lord in behalf of his people. [D&C 115:5.] And again quoting the one hundred fourth section: “Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.” [D&C 104:18.] I read these quotations to you today to remind you of the foundation stones on which the welfare work of the Church has been laid. 5

What resources should be used to solve an individual welfare problem? What are the resources that the Church has, or you might call them assets, in order to solve an individual welfare problem? How do you start to solve it? Suppose I should ask you this question at this time. Suppose that tonight a telephone call comes to the father of a family where he is at work, bringing him the distressing word that his little son has been hit with an automobile and has been rushed to the hospital, critically injured. This family is making only a very low income, just barely enough to keep the family together with food and the essentials. Now there faces the family immediately, a doctor bill, a hospital bill—how in the world are you going to handle it?

I fear if I should ask you that question and have you answer it here, most of you would say: “Well, we will call on the fast offering funds.” And that is not the way the Welfare Program begins, and that is where we make our error. In the first place, we start out with the individual himself. We do not move from that point until we have helped the individual to do all he can to help his own problem. Now, sentiment and our emotional sympathy might push us to other conclusions, but that is the first, and then we reach out to the immediate relatives of that family. We are losing the family solidarity, we are losing the strength that comes from family unity, when we fail to give opportunity and to help to direct a way by which immediate relatives of that family, so distressed, can come to the aid of their own. Then, the next point we move to is to call on the storehouse for the immediate necessities. In a home like that I have just described, I want you to see the advantage of giving to that family the clothing, the food, bedding, fuel that they need for a couple of months in order to relieve the cash that they otherwise would spend to pay for that emergency hospital bill, rather than merely taking fast offerings and passing it out to them in money. … Now, beyond what you can do from the storehouse, then the next thing, of course, is to recommend to the bishop the use of the fast offering fund, which, he has been schooled, is to be used first from that which he provides from his own efforts and the efforts of his leaders. To that end, we must always put the gathering of fast offerings and the increasing of the fast offerings, and teaching the law of fasting, as one of the foremost parts of the Welfare Plan. … Now then, following from that, we come to the rehabilitation aspects of our problems. There the Relief Society, and there the Priesthood quorums play their major part. Now what is the Relief Society’s part in a rehabilitation program? Well, the first thing you do, as you visit the home of a distressed family, is to do as the bishop requires, make an analysis of the conditions of the home. … You go there to make the analysis, find out conditions, and to make an order on the storehouse, if that be necessary, and report back to your bishop the needs of the family for his approval and withdrawal from the storehouse, or from funds that he has in his possession, if that be necessary. The second thing you do is to make certain that the home management problems of that home are studied, and that there be set in motion such direction that will help to cure the evils that are there. You must stand ready to meet home emergencies, sickness, death, and other conditions of that kind, that call upon a sisterly sympathy that ought to be expressed by the Relief Society. Then, too, you must be always morale builders in this part of the program. Yours must be the uplifting hand, yours the one to steady the family situation through the emergency. 6 Now is the time for priesthood members to know their quorum group. Each quorum should know their members and their needs and seek out those heavily in debt and in a kind way suggest how they can get out of debt. There never is a time when a man needs a friend quite so much as when he is plowed under by some such circumstances. Now is the time to give them strength of vision and power to go forward. Not only should we teach men to get out of debt but we should teach them likewise to stay out of debt. 7

We expect the individual to do all he can to help himself, whether it be an emergency for a single family or for a whole community, that the relatives will do all they can to help, then the Church steps in with commodities from the storehouse, with fast offerings to meet their needs that commodities from the storehouse will not supply, and finally, the Relief Society and the priesthood quorums will assist with rehabilitation. 8

How can we make our households more self-reliant? In order for an individual or a community to be self-sustaining, the following five steps must be taken: First: There must be no idleness in the Church. Second: We must learn the lesson of self-sacrifice. Third: We must master the art of living and working together. Fourth: We must practice brotherhood in our priesthood quorums. Fifth: We must acquire the courage to meet the challenge of each day’s problems through our own initiative to the full limit of individual or local resources before requesting others to come and aid us in that solution. 9 Keep in mind that the Church welfare program must begin with you personally and individually. It must begin with every member of the Church. We must be thrifty and provident. … You have to act for yourself and be a participant before the welfare program is active in your own household. … Pursue the course … to see that food is in your homes; and counsel your neighbors and friends to do likewise, because someone had [the] vision to know that this was going to be necessary, and it will be necessary in the future, and has been the savior of our people in the past. Now, let’s not be foolish and suppose that because the sun is shining today that there won’t be clouds tomorrow. The Lord has told us by revelation some of the things that are ahead of us, and we are living in the day when the fulfillment of those prophecies is now at hand. We are startled, and yet there is nothing happening today that the prophets didn’t foresee. … God help us to keep our own houses in order and to keep our eyes fixed upon those who preside in this Church and to follow their direction, and we won’t be led astray. 10 You show me a people who “have a mind to work,” to keep out of the bondage of indebtedness, and to work unitedly together in an unselfish service to attain a great objective, and I’ll show you a people who have achieved the greatest possible security in the world of men and material things. 11

Disasters strike in every place. One of the worst of our disasters was [an earthquake] down in the San Fernando [California] Valley. We were concerned when days went by and we couldn’t get communication because the telephones were jammed, and there was no way of getting word as to how our people were faring; so we got in touch with our [priesthood leader] just outside of the earthquake area and asked if he could get us word. And the word came back, “We are all right. We have drawn on the storage of foodstuffs that we have put aside. We had water stored.” The regular water was contaminated, and people were distressed and in danger because of the contamination of the water; but the people who listened had stored water as well as foodstuffs and the other things to tide them through; and even though they didn’t all have foodstuffs and didn’t have water, those who listened and prepared didn’t fear, and they set about together in a marvelous way to help each other. 12