-“First Presidency that explained the principles upon which the Church’s welfare efforts were based. Included were these familiar words: “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. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3.) (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare” by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“Today, many have forgotten the value of work. Some falsely believe that the highest goal in life is to achieve a condition in which one no longer needs to work.” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“Let us hearken to the counsel given by President Stephen L Richards in 1939: “We have always dignified work and reproved idleness. Our books, our sermons, our leaders, including particularly our present President, have glorified industry. The busy hive of the honeybee Deseret—has been our emblem. Work with faith is a cardinal point of our theological doctrine, and our future state—our heaven—is envisioned in terms of eternal progression through constant labor.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1939, p. 65.) (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“Self-reliance is a product of our work and under-girds all other welfare practices. It is an essential element in our spiritual as well as our temporal well-being. Regarding this principle, President Marion G. Romney has said: “Let us work for what we need. Let us be self-reliant and independent. Salvation can be obtained on no other principle. Salvation is an individual matter, and we must work out our own salvation in temporal as well as in spiritual things.” (In Welfare Services Meeting Report, 2 Oct. 1976, p. 13.) (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“President Spencer W. Kimball further taught concerning self-reliance: “The responsibility for each person’s social, emotional, spiritual, physical, or economic well-being rests first upon himself, second upon his family, and third upon the Church if he is a faithful member thereof.

“No true Latter-day Saint, while physically or emotionally able, will voluntarily shift the burden of his own or his family’s well-being to someone else.” (Ensign, Nov. 1977, p. 77.) (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“Perhaps no counsel has been repeated more often than how to manage wisely our income. Consumer debt in some nations of the world is at staggering levels. Too many in the Church have failed to avoid unnecessary debt. They have little, if any, financial reserve. The solution is to budget, to live within our means, and to save some for the future.” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.:

“It is the rule of our financial and economic life in all the world that interest is to be paid on borrowed money. May I say something about interest?

“Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours. … Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1938, p. 103.)” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“I remember as a young bishop receiving a telephone call from the hospital late one night wherein I was informed that a widow in my ward had passed away. I went to the hospital and there obtained the key to her apartment. A note had been left that this was the procedure I was to follow. As I entered her humble basement apartment, I turned on the light and went to the little table which was in the small living room. There on the table were two Alka Seltzer bottles with a note beneath them. The bottles were filled with quarters. This sweet little widow, Kathleen McKee, with no relatives surviving her, had written this note: “Bishop, here is my fast offering. I am square with the Lord.”” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“Recent surveys of Church members have shown a serious erosion in the number of families who have a years supply of life’s necessities. Most members plan to do it. Too few have begun. We must sense again the spirit of the persistent instruction given by Elder Harold B. Lee as he spoke to the members in 1943: “Again there came counsel in 1942. … ‘We renew our counsel, said the leaders of the Church, and repeat our instruction: Let every Latter-day Saint that has land, produce some valuable essential foodstuff thereon and then preserve it.’ … Let me ask you leaders who are here today: In 1937 did you store in your own basements and in your own private storehouses and granaries sufficient for a year’s supply? You city dwellers, did you in 1942 heed what was said from this stand?” (In Conference Report, April 1943, p. 127.)” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“President Ezra Taft Benson, wherein he has given specific suggestions for putting these teachings into action:

“From the standpoint of food production, storage, handling, and the Lord’s counsel, wheat should have high priority. … Water, of course, is essential. Other basics could include honey or sugar, legumes, milk products or substitutes, and salt or its equivalent. The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.” (Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 33.)” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“the best storehouse system that the Church could devise would be for every family to store a year’s supply of needed food, clothing, and, where possible, the other necessities of life.” (*store more than just food) (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-” It is our sacred duty to care for our families, including our extended families. Often we see what might be called parent neglect. Too frequently, the emotional, social, and, in some instances, even the material essentials are not provided by children for their aged parents. This is displeasing to the Lord. It is difficult to understand how one mother can take care of seven children more easily than seven children can take care of one mother.” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-““The prime responsibility for supporting an aged parent rests upon [the] family, not upon society. … The family which refuses to keep its own is not meeting its duty.” (In Conference Report, April 1938, p. 107.)” (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“President Stephen L Richards gave an inspired appeal as he rallied members with these sentiments: “How can sons and daughters who owe everything they have—their education, their ideals of life, their capacity to acquire independent living and their characters—to parents who have worked, sacrificed, prayed, wept, and striven for them to the exhaustion of their bodies and their energies be parties to a scheme which would make their fathers and mothers the objects of charity and cast the burden of their support on the community and stigmatize them with the loss of independence and self-respect. …

“I think my food would choke me if I knew that while I could procure bread my aged father or mother or near kin were on public relief.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1944, p. 138.) (First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“I wish to stress is the proper use of Church resources. The Lord’s storehouse includes the time, talents, skills, compassion, consecrated material, and financial means of faithful Church members. These resources are available to the bishop in assisting those in need. Our bishops have the responsibility to learn how to use these resources properly.

May I suggest five basic guidelines: First, bishops are to seek out the poor as the Lord has commanded and administer to their needs. Do not suppose that someone else will do it. It is a bishop’s priesthood duty. He may call on members to assist, but he is responsible.

Second, bishops should thoroughly analyze the circumstances surrounding each need for welfare assistance. He wisely calls on his Relief Society president to assist in the evaluation. He exercises discernment, sound judgment, balance, and compassion. Church resources represent a sacred trust which becomes even more sacred as the bishop properly applies these resources in blessing the lives of others.

Third, those receiving welfare assistance should work to the extent of their abilities for that which is received. There are many creative ways leaders can provide work opportunities. With help from their welfare services committees, bishops will want to provide that work which will enhance the recipient’s efforts to become self-reliant.

Fourth, the assistance given by the bishop is temporary and partial. Remember, Church assistance is designed to help people help themselves. The rehabilitation of members is the responsibility of the individual and the family, aided by the priesthood quorum and Relief Society. We are attempting to develop independence, not dependence. The bishop seeks to build integrity, self-respect, dignity, and soundness of character in each person assisted, leading to complete self-sufficiency.

Fifth, we assist with basic life-sustaining goods and services, not the maintenance of current living standards. Individuals and families may need to alter their standards of living in doing all they can to meet their own needs. A church dole would be worse than a government dole because it would fail in the face of greater light. Church practices portray more honorable aims, more glorious potential. Faithful compliance with these revealed welfare principles and practices have preserved lives in times of crises.”

(First Presidency Message September 1986 Ensign “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare by President Thomas S. Monson Second Councilor in the First Presidency https://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/guiding-principles-of-personal-and-family-welfare?lang=eng)

-“Our rate of annual increase for the period from 1970 to 1978 in total fast-offering assistance was 15 percent. Then we had a little upset in our economy, and the rate last year jumped to 32.5 percent.

We look even worse when we examine total commodity assistance. For the period 1970–78, the annual rate of increase in commodity assistance was 11.3 percent. Last year, the rate was a disastrous 53.5 percent. A little dip in the economy found the membership without oil for their lamps. Immediately it was necessary for those not adequately prepared to turn to the Church for assistance.

The results indicate that training of families in basic principles of self-reliance and independence over the past years has not been as effective as it should have been.

With such alarming results we must remind ourselves that the Church welfare system was never designed or intended to care for the healthy member who, as a result of his poor management or lack of preparation, has found himself in difficulty. It was designed to assist the membership in case of a large, physical disaster, such as an earthquake or a flood. It was designed to assist the ill, the injured, the incapacitated, and to rehabilitate them to a productive life. In far too many cases, members who should be making use of their own preparedness provisions are finding that there is nothing there and that they have to turn to the Church.” (L Tom Perry Assistant to The Quorum of the 12 Apostles (*now an Apostle), April Ensign 1981″The Need to Teach Personal and Family Preparedness” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/the-need-to-teach-personal-and-family-preparedness?lang=eng#watch=video)

-“What has created the problem of placing such a heavy burden on the Church to supply our welfare needs? My analysis of this problem would lead me to believe that, as leaders, we have spent far too much time in administering relief and far too little in prevention by having our families prepared to administer to their own needs. It is time to teach the basics—again. It is time to make the number one priority of our welfare efforts personal and family preparedness. We must prepare now so that in time of need more of our members will be able to draw upon their own preparedness and not have to seek assistance from the Church.” (L Tom Perry Assistant to The Quorum of the 12 Apostles (*now an Apostle), April Ensign 1981″The Need to Teach Personal and Family Preparedness” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/the-need-to-teach-personal-and-family-preparedness?lang=eng#watch=video)

-“I like the story of the old man in nineteenth-century New Hampshire who treasured his independence and self-reliance above all else in his life. He accounted it true Christianity that he cared for his own and helped others, and fiercely resisted the notion that he ought to accept help from any other mortal. (*A man is born to work FOR HIMSELF!) When his aged wife died, he buried her himself, then dug his own grave and laid in it his open, homemade coffin. “When my time is coming,” he said, “I’ll climb in the box and fold my arms over my chest. Won’t be no bother to no one. They can just nail down the lid and push in the dirt.”” (L Tom Perry Assistant to The Quorum of the 12 Apostles (*now an Apostle), April Ensign 1981″The Need to Teach Personal and Family Preparedness” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/the-need-to-teach-personal-and-family-preparedness?lang=eng#watch=video)

-“President Marion G. Romney has said so often: “No self-respecting Church member will voluntarily shift the responsibility for his own maintenance to another. Furthermore, a man not only has the responsibility to care for himself; he also has the responsibility to care for his family.” (The Basics of Church Welfare, address to the Priesthood Board, 6 Mar. 1974, p. 2.)” (L Tom Perry Assistant to The Quorum of the 12 Apostles (*now an Apostle), April Ensign 1981″The Need to Teach Personal and Family Preparedness” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/the-need-to-teach-personal-and-family-preparedness?lang=eng#watch=video)

-“The home must be the heart of the welfare program. We must focus our training of personal and family preparedness to reach the family organization. We must teach that every family should be headed by an executive committee comprised of a husband and wife who will set aside sufficient time to plan for their family needs. If it is a single-parent family or an individual living alone, there is still need to organize time and thought to establish goals for meeting needs.

It must start here.” (L Tom Perry Assistant to The Quorum of the 12 Apostles (*now an Apostle), April Ensign 1981″The Need to Teach Personal and Family Preparedness” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/the-need-to-teach-personal-and-family-preparedness?lang=eng#watch=video)

-“Personal and family preparedness planning must begin with the family executive committee. Planning must be tailored to fit the circumstances of each family. Consideration must be given to their unique requirements in career development, financial and resource management, education, physical health, home production and storage, and social, emotional, and spiritual strength.

Each family organization should include a family council comprised of all members of the family unit. Here the basic responsibilities of the family organization can be taught to the children. They can learn how to make decisions and act upon those decisions. Too many are growing to marriageable age unprepared for this responsibility. Work ethics and self-preparedness can be taught in a most effective way in a family council. President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., has paraphrased an old statement. “‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,’” he would say. “But all play and no work makes Jack a useless boy.” (As quoted by Harold B. Lee, “Administering True Charity,” address delivered at the welfare agricultural meeting, 5 Oct. 1968.)” (L Tom Perry Assistant to The Quorum of the 12 Apostles (*now an Apostle), April Ensign 1981″The Need to Teach Personal and Family Preparedness” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/the-need-to-teach-personal-and-family-preparedness?lang=eng#watch=video)