Personal Experience from the Cluff's

I asked Sister Zanna Cluff to share her experience with food storage and the importance of obeying the prophets counsel. I want to thank her very much for sharing their history with us.

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After Jerry and I got married, Jerry worked construction for nearly 18 years. As most of you know, construction is a very seasonal and volatile working occupation. I used to be sick with fear if I saw Jerry come home during the day. I knew he had probably lost his job. It wasn't Jerry's fault, or problem with the work he performed. Back then, they didn't do concrete work in the winter, so construction stopped with the cold weather. We were out of work most winters. Sometimes his boss quit building, which left all his employees out of a job, including us. Several times there was a recession and there was no construction work to be found. Jerry and I learned the hard way early in our marriage that having food storage in our home was not only a good idea, but absolutely necessary! The first time we went without a job or food or money to pay our bills was a real eye opener for us. We went to the bishop to see if the church could help us. He wanted us to ask our families first. Both of our families were not in a position to help us, they would have if they could, but at the time it wasn't possible. It was very hard. We felt bad, both about having to ask for help, and the helpless feeling at not being able to provide for ourselves. It was a huge learning experience for the both of us. We decided that we would do everything we could to build up our food storage when we had work, so that the times we were out of work we would at least be able to eat. I cannot tell you how many times I prayed that something wouldn't happen to the economy right then , because we were living on our food storage. Many times we were out of work, but it took only once for us to learn that our prophet was inspired to direct us to store food against times of need. Jerry and I both have a testimony of the importance of following the instructions of our prophet. The peace of mind is worth every effort.

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