by David E Bay, High Councilor

A couple weeks ago two of my grandsons turned 18 years old. These two are used to sharing birthdays; they are our twins, Jake and Dylan. I began to consider what it means to become an adult. A coworker of mine, Kat, has a cross stitch sampler hanging on her office wall that says “Adulting Is Hard”.

What is it that makes the path of being an adult harder than when we were children? When we become adults, we are responsible, at least in the eyes of the law for more than when we were still children. We are responsible for providing for ourselves. We need to get our own home as well as everything else, food, transportation, entertainment, and all our needs and wants. The outlined life plan that almost everyone follows ends at high school graduation. After that, we need to decide what to do with our own lives for ourselves.

Self-Reliance decisions

Deciding to become self-reliant is a turning point just like becoming an adult. We need to recognize that we want to be able to stand on our own with the help of God. We can make this decision as an individual, or as a married couple, or as a family. At this point there are two basic paths we can follow. We can try doing things the world’s way and try to prepare for all eventualities using our arm of flesh and seeking to be prepared for anything that may come. Or we can try to accomplish becoming self-reliant in the Lord’s method by following the council of prophet leaders and having basic preparation supplemented by those actions that the Holy Ghost prompts us to do.

In the first case, the worldly approach, most who prepare in this method are very independent. While working with others to become self-reliant they are first of all concerned about getting what they want. They do not want their preparations to be taken or shared with others nor to have any event that is not properly planned for. In addition to preparing for the future, they are also making preparations to protect their goods against others, because they believe there is a limited amount of food, and stuff.

Those who turn to the Lord, also seek to prepare to the very best of their ability. They additionally follow personalized promptings that they receive from the Spirit so that they can provide for their family as well as for others if needed. They are much less concerned about protecting what they have accumulated. They have an attitude like that of my daughter-in-law, Shannon, 18 months ago. When their family and those who they were responsible for, were evacuated from their home because of wildfires in Oregon, and had to leave their food storage and other preparations behind, she said, “I did everything that I could to prepare. Now I just need to depend on Heavenly Father’s promises to take care of us. He will provide.” In the Doctrine and Covenants 38:30, we read, “if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” Those whose preparation has a spiritual foundation can have an inner knowledge that the Lord will provide and that “the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare.” (D&C 104:17)

Have you decided to prepare and become self-reliant?

One of the decisions we can make, as adults, is to become self-reliant. We can then turn to the Lord for guidance and direction on how that would be for our families. As you decide to do this, the Lord will bless you and guide you in your efforts.

As you seek and receive guidance you will be able to become self-reliant and to be prepared for those experiences the world will send to you and your family. I hope this will be a great and exciting journey for you.