“Building Your Ark”

(a.k.a. Inventorying your Food Storage)

Compiled by Janetta Graham 3/10

Materials Needed: Scriptures, Songbook/Hymnbook, GAK 102-103,

Inventory sheets or lined paper, pencils/pens

Song Suggestions: The Wise and the Foolish Man p. 281 Children’s
Songbook
Do as I’m Doing p. 276 Children’s Songbook
Follow the Prophet p. 110 Children’s Songbook
We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet Hymn #19

Prayer/Scripture: D&C 109:8 “Organize yourselves; prepare

every needful thing, and establish a house, even a
house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith,
a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of
order, a house of God.”

Lesson:
Scripture Story: Noah and the Ark [Genesis 6:12–21; 7:2–11; 8]

Show a picture of Noah and the Ark (GAK 102, 103) and discuss what
was needed in order to prepare the Ark. What did Noah have to
gather?

Noah made sure he had seeds of every kind to plant them in the new
land to bring forth food for them to eat. He made sure he had two
animals of every kind, both male and female, so they were not
destroyed. He also made sure there was food for not only his family
but also the animals. This was not an easy task.

Quote: President Ezra Taft Benson relates the importance of our food
storage to Noah’s time:

“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” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1987, 61; or Ensign, Nov.
1987, 49).

Q&A
Why would having our food storage be so important to us now?
What have we been asked to have in our food storage?

Read one of the following articles: (look these up on www.lds.org )

 1. Debbie Davidson, “The Andersons’ Ark,” Friend, Nov 1990, 9–10
(primary age)
2. Jane McBride Choate, “Canning Jars and Prophets,” Friend, Oct. 2006,
38–39. (primary age)
3. Julie Wardell, “The Bread of Life,” Friend, Feb 1995, 34. (primary age)
4. Allie Schulte, “Two Cans of Corn: Home Storage for Newlyweds,”
Ensign, Sep 2009, 66–69. (young adult)
5. Quotes about 3 month supply from the pamphlet “Safely Gathered In”
or one of the food storage articles listed below. (youth, young adult)

Activities: (choose one of the following)

1. Inventory your food storage as a family.
a. For a younger family, choose a few items to count and show them how
to tally the total.
b. For older primary kids, have them count or write the numbers on your
inventory sheet.
c. For older youth, give them an assignment of a given space to inventory
and report back to you.
2. Food Storage Scavenger Hunt. If you have your food storage in several places
throughout the house…have a scavenger hunt. Prepare ahead of time a list of
items to find and write down their location. Items might include short and
long term foods, water, 72 hour kits, tent, dutch oven, toilet paper, etc.
3. Play Food Storage BINGO (attached). This will reinforce what is part of your
food storage.

Discuss as a family what improvements or goals you may have in the

future for your food storage. You may have a better idea what you
need after you take inventory of your food storage.

Prayer:

Treat: Try the Devil’s Food Cake mix cookies. Just add any
chocolate chips, nuts, or M&M’s and enjoy!
(Note: This is so easy to make and you are using your food
storage too!)

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

1 pkg. Devils Food Cake Mix

½ C. Butter or Margarine, Softened
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Eggs (2 T. dehydrated eggs + 1/4 C. Water)
½ C. Chopped Nuts
1 C. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (or your choice)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat half of the dry mix, the butter, vanilla
and eggs in large bowl on medium speed until smooth. Stir in remaining
cake mix, the nuts and chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded
teaspoonfuls (about 2 inches apart) onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake
10-12 minutes.

Taken from Everyday Food Storage

 Food Storage Quotes
“Latter-day Prophets Speak on Preparedness,” Ensign, Aug. 2007, 33

Gordon B. Hinckley

“The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes, together with a little
money in savings. The best welfare program is our own welfare program. Five or six
cans of wheat in the home are better than a bushel in the welfare granary. …

“We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then
to three months. I am speaking now of food to cover basic needs” (“To Men of the
Priesthood,” Ensign, Nov. 2002, 58).

Spencer W. Kimball

“We encourage you to grow all the food that you feasibly can on your own property.
Berry bushes, grapevines, fruit trees—plant them if your climate is right for their growth.
Grow vegetables and eat them from your own yard. Even those residing in apartments
or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters. … Make your
garden as neat and attractive as well as productive. If there are children in your home,
involve them in the process with assigned responsibilities” (“Family Preparedness,”
Ensign, May 1976, 124).

Harold B. Lee

“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” (Teachings of
Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [2000], 171).

Joseph Fielding Smith

“[The pioneers] were taught by their leaders to produce, as far as possible, all that they
consumed, and to be frugal and not wasteful of their substance. This is still excellent
counsel” (“The Pioneer Spirit,” Improvement Era, July 1970, 3).

George Albert Smith

“How on the face of the earth could a man enjoy his religion when he had been told by
the Lord how to prepare for a day of famine, when instead of doing so he had fooled
away that which would have sustained him and his family” (Deseret News, Mar. 4, 1868,
26).
 Food Storage Articles
• “Home Storage—How to Begin,”Ensign, Apr. 1986, 64–65.

• “Emergency Water Storage,”Ensign, Aug. 2006, 71.

• “Storing Fats and Oils,”Ensign, June 1999, 71–73.

• “Food Storage: Where and How,”Ensign, Aug. 1981, 54–55.

• “Food Storage for One Year,”Ensign, Mar. 2006, 70.

• “Protecting Your Food Storage,”Ensign, Jan. 2006, 70.

• “Spicing Up Your Food Storage,”Ensign, June 1990, 72.

• “Mmmmm! This Couldn’t Be Food Storage!”Ensign, Mar. 1990, 71.

• “Prepared for Today: Medical Supplies,”Ensign, July 1981, 54–55.

• “How Will Your Garden Grow?”Ensign, Mar. 1979, 66.

• “When Disaster Strikes,”Ensign, Aug. 1994, 71.

• “What’s in the Safe?”Ensign, Aug. 1988, 72–73.

• “Tips for Becoming Self-Reliant,”Ensign, Mar. 2000, 68–69.

• “Out of a Job?”Ensign, Feb. 2004, 73.

• “Emergency Savings the ‘Centsible’ Way,”Ensign, Feb. 1992, 65.