Hi,
I enjoyed reading your Recommended Retreat Areas page. As a member of the LDS church [commonly called the Mormon church] who has lived for a long time in Utah I think your assessment of our attitude towards preparedness is too optimistic. (Sadly). I would agree that Utah is probably better prepared than any other area that I know of, but that’s not saying much. Only 3% to 5% of LDS families in Utah have a year’s supply of food. The majority of families practice no preparedness at all. The church used to strongly suggest at least a two year supply, then that was reduced to a one year supply. Now the suggestion is to get three months of things that you regularly eat, and add another nine months of long term storage when you can. No ward has it’s own cannery. We do have a local “dry pack” cannery that serves a population of about 100,000 people. At that it’s not heavily used. :-(.
LDS people generally try to do what’s right, and active members of the church make pretty good neighbors. We do believe in Christ, and some members have deep testimonies of Him, that He is our savior and redeemer. Others, maybe even the majority, are more centered in the many good (but not saving) programs of the church, following church leaders good example, etc. Overall though, pretty good people, fairly clean cities, lots of open spaces. Thanks for your excellent site! – Henry J.