For Craig and Susan Bell of Rexburg, Idaho, the Word of Wisdom's "wheat for man" does not apply. Rye really is for the birds, and oats and barley go anywhere but in man's belly. Food storage does not include wheat.
That's because three of the eight members of the Bell family have celiac disease.
When they were first married, Craig noticed that his new wife experienced nightly stomach aches. Her mother was diagnosed with celiac disease when Susan was in her 30s, and Susan's sister found out it was hereditary.
The siblings began looking at their own health and that of their kids. Susan and two of her six children, Zach and Ashley, were diagnosed.
Since then, some grains have become off-limits.
The Bells initially wondered how grains could be an enemy. Dr. Peter H.R. Green writes in his book, "Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic," that "while wheat may be the 'staff of life' for some, for others it more closely resembles the 'terminator.'
Susan felt the weight of preparing meals for a large family without the use of breads and pasta. While the change to cooking gluten-free was immense, she regarded her diagnosis as life-saving. She also adopted a philosophical approach taken from the Book of Mormon that "there is an opposition in all things."
The Bells internalized this principle and now accept the fact that rice, not wheat, is the main staple in their food storage.
Susan says many ward members have demonstrated kindness for "the one" by calling ahead and planning treats for activities that can be consumed by all.
In addition, the Bells can't consume regular sacrament bread. Initially, Susan prepared rice bread for the entire congregation every week because there were four families in her ward with the disease.
Now Susan takes two slices of bread to church with her. A priest could contaminate the bread if he first touched wheat bread or if rice bread was passed on a tray with remnants of wheat on it. So a designated priest breaks their bread and the tray is passed to a sort of "celiac zone" where the other few members who have the disease are also sitting. Zach passes the sacrament, so he passes rice bread and partakes of it.
Church activity with celiac takes organization, and the Bells are getting it all down.
At home, Susan still has four boys with hearty appetites. She is sensitive to the two affected children's desires to eat "normal" menus and has adapted some of her old recipes. She also gathered gluten-free recipes where she could find them and adapted those to suit their needs.
Susan did a good deal of experimenting to come up with flavorful and filling meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Because there were so many ward and community members who called her for advice and recipes, she started a support group and began to write a cookbook. The support group is educational as well as supportive and continues to hold meetings. Her cookbook took a couple of years to finish, but is now found in health food stores in Idaho and Utah and available on amazon.com. It's called "Gluten-Free: Favorite Homestyle Recipes and Cooking Tips." She's peppered the recipes with stories of hope from people with celiac disease.
While opposition is a required element of life that Susan accepts wholeheartedly and with a catching smile, service is a life-saving principle, too. She hopes her work will give plenty of it to the people who need it most.
Abby Zenger is a member of the Hibbard 4th Ward in the Henry's Fork Stake in Rexburg, Idaho.