Mormons believe that just before magic jeezus comes back, things will really start to fall apart (a combination of Revelation and D&C "prophecies"). That, for example, the US will fall nearly to ruin, the "constitution will hang by a thread," and a mormon will come to the rescue of the country. That and the two dead prophets lying in the streets of Jerusalem are key "signs" that it's all about to go down.
They keep food storage so they can survive the falling apart of the US (and other countries) just before it's time to pack all their stuff and head for Missouri. And that when they do, they'll be protected and safe, and be the first to be taken in glory, because they'll be with the prophet and be at the place where jeezus will come back.
Yeah, I know, crazy. No more so, really, than the "rapture" folks, though. :)
Looking up the "White Horse Prophecy" leads to wacky stuff. If you believed in even part of it you could justify almost any kind of graft for the "greater good."
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2016 03:39PM by anybody.
When we were taught about this stuff, in the UK, they stressed that we could use the food and goods in times of unemployment and food shortages - something which we had experienced a couple of times in the 70,s and 80,s. There was occasional reference to famines in third world countries and disasters like hurricanes and floods in far off places, but no mention of apocalypse or armageddon