"We can heed warnings. We have been told that many had been given concerning the vulnerability of New Orleans. We are told by seismologists that the Salt Lake Valley is a potential earthquake zone. This is the primary reason that we are extensively renovating the Tabernacle on Temple Square. This historic and remarkable building must be made to withstand the shaking of the Earth.

"We have built grain storage and storehouses and stocked them with the necessities of life in the event of a disaster. But the best storehouse is the family storeroom. In words of revelation the Lord has said, 'Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing' (D&C 109:8).

"Our people for three-quarters of a century have been counseled and encouraged to make such preparation as will assure survival should a calamity come.

"We can set aside some water, basic food, medicine and clothing to keep us warm. We ought to have a little money laid aside in case of a rainy day.

"Now what I have said should not occasion a run on the grocery store or anything of that kind. I am saying nothing that has not been said for a very long time."

President Hinckley has said none of the recent natural disasters were likely a divine punishment.

"Now, I do not say, and I repeat emphatically that I do not say or infer, that what has happened is the punishment of the Lord. Many good people, including some of our faithful Latter-day Saints, are among those who have suffered. Having said this, I do not hesitate to say that this old world is no stranger to calamities and catastrophes. Those of us who read and believe the scriptures are aware of the warnings of prophets concerning catastrophes that have come to pass and are yet to come to pass."

He also said, "We know, of course, that the rain falls on the just as well as the unjust (see Matthew 5:45)."

After the 1976 Teton Dam disaster in southern Idaho, President Boyd K. Packer of the LDS Church's Council of the Twelve Apostles stated that if a man says all suffering and disaster is caused by sin only, then how do we explain the suffering of Jesus Christ?

God in Old Testament times did chasten his people with weather-related calamites and could perhaps do so today.

According to 1 Kings 8:35-36, the heavens can be shut from delivering rain when people sin. Leviticus 26:3-6 mentions similar situations.

However, there are apparently times when God is not directly a part of natural disaster, or at least his true message to us is not found there.

According to 1 Kings 19:11-12, the Lord spoke to Elijah not in a strong wind, an earthquake or a fire, but in a "still small voice."

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com