Despite being something of a prepper I was not aware that the world was supposed to end in September. Maybe I’m not a member of the right internet forums but I first heard about all the blood moons and accompanying mayhem on Facebook. (“Mormons claim the world will end this weekend!” Hmmm, interesting.)

I’ve always been into preparedness. Even as newlywed I had a closet in our tiny apartment full of food. To me it’s just the same as paying for car or home insurance. I may need it; I may not. Better safe than sorry.

So when people start freaking about the world ending every so often (Y2K, the end of the Mayan calendar, et al), I shrug my shoulders and keep doing what I’m doing. This last bunch of hoopla has been particularly interesting. It used to be that nobody knew what tent cities were. Now all sorts of people are jumping into the conversation. I especially enjoyed the statement issued by the Church that said, in essence, “Cool it, everybody!”.

Lots of people in the Church are laughing and scoffing, “hey, look at those dumb members who are into preparedness! What idiots!” But we all know these are the last days. We have statements like this by Joseph Fielding Smith, “Thus the work of the Lord is advancing, and all these things are signs of the near approach of our Lord. …

The words of the prophets are rapidly being fulfilled, but it is done on such natural principles that most of us fail to see it.

Joel promised that the Lord would pour out his spirit upon all flesh: the sons and daughters should prophesy, old men should dream dreams, and young men should see visions.”

And another quote by Joseph Fielding Smith who is also quoting Matthew chapter 24: Shall we slumber on in utter oblivion or indifference to all that the Lord has given us as warning? I say unto you, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

“But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.”

So the world is going to end and it won’t be that far in the future (next month? Next year? In a decade? In a hundred years?). We all agree on that, right? But what does that mean? That we don’t really need to get super prepared until the General Authorities say we do? Because we will for sure be warned if things are about to fall apart—or will we?

Do we just rely on the Church to save us all? (Because the Church could easily care for 15 million people. Not.) Would the Church even tell its members that the world is about to end, if it were? Or do we have to pray about it and get our own answers? And then we start telling others and pretty soon there’s a ton of people who are quoting us in Sunday School classes around the country.

I guess I’m asking if the Church would tell us if something big is about to happen. Although I can’t imagine the Prophet standing up and saying, “next month there will be a pandemic so you should all buy surgical masks.”  Or maybe something big might not ever go down and it will all be little things that happen bit by bit until one day the Chinese army is marching into our country. Or would the leaders essentially shrug and say, “we told you for a hundred years to be prepared and apparently you never bothered to listen.” And wave goodbye on their way to hide in that big mountain where all the microfilm is kept.

Honestly, I have no idea what the answer is. I guess I’m just waiting with my lamp oil for the bridegroom to return. And by lamp oil I mean lots of rice, sugar and toilet paper.


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