To: Those I Love!
From: Dad, Grandpa, friend etc.
Re: The 4th article of Faith Continued: Trust, Prayer, Holy Ghost
Rachel Rice a granddaughter and her very handsome husband Brian have created a blog for Grandpa’s memos! You can share them with all you care to and even give comments back to Grandpa. To see the blog, go to prattmemos.blogspot.com and get excited. The picture is of Rachel & Brian's son with his great grandpa Richard M. Pratt. Rachel is Rose’s daughter.
Now to the memo!
The past four memos, 93-96, discuss various ways of gaining faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are: Reason, History, Prophecy, and Witnesses. Today’s memo will cover, Trust, Prayer, and the Holy Ghost. I may have to carry it over to another memo.
Who can one trust in this ever more untrusting world? Not the government for they are leading us down a path that will end our nation unless they can be stopped. Yet it doesn’t seem to make much difference who we vote for or what party we endorse. This coming election may be a startling revelation and perhaps, hopefully give us some respite. On the other hand the quicker the collapse the sooner we can rebuild. I’ve gone thru it once and it wasn’t pleasant. It was called “The Great Depression.” the only thing great about it was the immense amount of suffering.
It lasted over 12 years from September 19, 1929 to December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor) or spanned my life from age 17 thru age 29.
We were married right about the middle and the bottom of that dreadful time, May 19, 1934. We had no resources, no where to turn. The few people we could trust, mostly family, were also destitute. But the depression ended for us two or three years before Pearl Harbor. Isn’t it ironic that the depression had to end by a terrible war, the worst the world has ever seen, in death, misery, and suffering.
And why did it end for us while it still raged around us. BECAUSE in our desperation we turned to the only source we could trust, that could help us, God Our Eternal Father.
In the troubled days ahead as the world slips ever deeper into the abyss of despair, PUT YOUR TRUST IN GOD. GO TO HIM IN PRAYER AND LISTEN TO THE ANSWERS via the Holy Ghost.
But there is another source, and we would have failed without it, and it’s called FAMILY. And oh how that wicked one (Satan) is trying to destroy the family.
I was thinking the other day about the so called war on terrorists and how we are supposedly keeping our country safe by fighting in foreign lands which is so futile, hopeless, and downright silly.
For instance four out of every ten births in the USA are out of wedlock. What’s so bad about this? A few make it into a happy, productive adulthood. But most are dead ended in poverty or crime or both.
But now look at these startling figures, one and a half million babies are murdered by abortion each year. Talk about terrorists! When will it stop? Apparently you and I are not going to stop it. The government is making no effort to stop it. Who will stop it?
Now let us consider another area of terrorism. MURDER of adults. Our capital city, Washington DC with the strictest gun control laws in the nation suffers hundreds of murders yearly and all the mega cities in the USA are on a par with Washington. And as the gun control laws tighten the bloodshed increases.
In our own capital city, Salt Lake City, murders are of a daily occurrence. And it is not a large city.
And as the carnage increases and the gun control laws tighten, where are the guns coming from and of course the answer is simple. We are not protecting our borders and illegal aliens by the millions cross our borders at their leisure. True many are good people fleeing from oppression in their own lands. But this allows the criminals to smuggle guns, drugs etc. into our land.
Incidentally those states and cities which still allow legal gun possession, have a drastically lower death rate from murder. I’ve forgotten the figure but it’s more than 20% less.
In the meantime we continue to lose lives in Iraq, now more than 3000, and Afaganastan plus three times that many permanently crippled from wounds. Total lives lost in the USA number close to 2 million a year. Are we safe from Terrorism here at home while our troops are policing the world?
One might say, you can’t say these deaths were the result of terrorism. Perhaps we ought to talk to some of the victims. Murder from any source is sheer terror. I know for I have faced it.
We currently have over 700 military bases scattered over the world! YES that’s right. True some of them consist of only a few military personnel but many are large. I have a map before me right now, that is current, that shows we have established military bases in all the world except for a few small areas in Africa, a tiny speck in northern S.A. called Antilles. (Bet you never heard of it) and some of the Muslim countries, Iran being one of the largest.
The Prophet Joseph Smith made a prophecy eight days before his martyrdom, June 19, 1844 in which he stated: “There will be two great political parties in this country. One will be called Republican and the other the Democrat party. These two parties will go to war and out of these two parties will spring another party which will be the “Independent American Party.” (None of these parties existed by these names in 1844.) The United States will spend her strength and means warring in foreign lands until other nations will say, “ let’s divide up the lands of the United States.” (From: Prophecy Key to the Future by Crouther page 10)
Joshua who succeeded Moses as the prophet-general of Israel and led Israel in battle for many years made these very significant statements: “Now there fore love the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Jos. 24:14-15)Here is another plus for witnesses. “And Joshua said unto the people, ye are WITNESSES AGAINST YOURSELVES THAT YE HAVE CHOSEN YOU THE LORD, TO SERVE HIM. AND THEY SAID, WE ARE WITNESSES.” Jos. 24:22
The first person we should put our trust in is the Lord. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: Love the Lord, and depart from evil.” Proverbs 3:5-7
Who should you trust? After the Lord look to your mother and grandmother. An excerpt from Mother’s autobiography, Adaline Kearl Pratt - Kaleidoscope page 30. “In my blessing it states that by dreams and presentiments you will be warned of danger and changed in your course.” this literally took place in the autumn of 1948...our brother Ted, came to visit us from Canada. We spent a number of evenings staying up visiting until quite late. On one particular chilly evening, for the third day in succession, I omitted my prayers with the thought: “it’s chilly and I’m sleepy.” And with no particular feelings of guilt at not saying my prayers. In fact without a second thought I was soon cozy and asleep in bed.
I dreamed that Richard and I were with a large group of people of the world playing in the water and having fun. I was given to understand that Satan was there also. When I tried to pick him out of the crowd, I could not detect which one he was.
Then we were with a large group playing in the snow, laughing and having fun. I knew Satan was there also. Again I failed to find out which one he was.
The scene then changed to a beautiful, large living room where a party was in full swing. At the right of the room in front of a large glass window stood a group of well-dressed, happy, laughing people. On the left there was a stairway. At its foot stood two men, very handsome and exactly alike, Richard and I stood a little apart from the group. The two men began talking and looking our way. Richard whispered to me, “one of them is Satan. Which one?” I pointed to one and Richard said, “No dear, you’re wrong again.”
Upon one being eliminated, the other showed his real self. His handsome visage melted away and was replaced by an evil ugly frightening countenance. He started menacingly toward me. Without a moments hesitation, I raised my right arm to the square and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave.” He stopped, turned instantly, and fled thru the large glass window without breaking it. I was instantly wide awake with the words, “Pray always lest ye be deceived.” ringing in my ears. This warning testified to me the value of guidance from the men who hold the Priesthood and the importance of seeking always the Lord’s guidance thru prayer. It convinced me that the Lord loves us as individuals and is anxious to help us know the best paths to follow. I shall always be grateful to our Heavenly Father for his kindness in bringing these facts to my understanding. (page 31)
Note: “Pray always lest you be deceived.” is our own personal scripture for I have searched them repeatedly and cannot find it therein.
We are admonished to pray always. What does this mean? It should be easy to understand in these days of miracles ~ Just always have your spiritual “cell-phone” with you and turned on.
(Richard Pratt)
Yes, you can trust the “well” from which you come. My patriarchal blessing describes her fully. “You shall be privileged to marry in the temple of our God, one of his daughters who is as pure and sweet as the lilies in the field.”
The following is excerpted from a talk she gave at a stake girl’s conference in Holbrook, Arizona. She used to talk frequently at ward, stake, and youth conferences and was an excellent speaker. (In fact at one occasion I was supposed to be the main speaker following a short talk by her. But she got so involved in her message that she talked almost a full hour. Here is an excerpt.
“You girls remind me of a lovely garden with your radiant young faces, cupped in pretty colors. This garden is a royal garden. This garden will bare the choicest of fruits, bodies for our Heavenly Father’s spirit children.
At the time of creation, our Heavenly Father placed the first man, Adam, in another beautiful garden called Eden. In it were all the things a man could desire, all except a companion and help meet. So as a crowning achievement a woman was placed in the garden and given to Adam to be his wife. He called her Eve because she was the mother of all living.”
Eve was pure, strong and willing to joyfully accept the responsibilities connected with earth life. She soon learned the experiences of joy and sorrow, health and sickness, and pleasure and pain.
We too, must learn these values of life if we are to live up to the royal heritage that we have been entrusted with. It is about values and preparedness that I would like to touch upon. Life holds many beautiful and sublime experiences. These vary in degree, according to our preparedness to receive them. As a daughter, life can be beautiful and thrilling. Then as a mother it can be beautiful, thrilling and rewarding.
I was fortunate in having fine parents and a good home life. There were eleven children in our family. Five of these were girls. Then when I married there were five daughters born to us. Since then, the score has doubled again with ten granddaughters. So we know something about girls. And what we know we like! Yes, there were boys too, but for today we are just going to talk about girls. Our first baby was a tiny little 5 lb. 10 oz. Soft cuddly ~ yes, you guessed it, a girl. My joy was full as I tenderly cuddled this my first real live doll.
She opened her eyes. I looked and listened. Have you ever looked deep into a baby’s eyes and heard them speak? There is a certain spiritual communication of soul to soul.
“Mother, you are beautiful! And your arms feel warm and assuring. Thank you for being my mother. Thank you for saving your love and yourself for Daddy and me! Thank you for not listening to or reading that which was sordid or cheapening. And thank goodness Heavenly Father helped Dad and you to find each other! Because you hearkened to those that were your guides and listening to the whisperings of the spirit, I will have a head start in life. I hope that I have some good guides, too, so that I won’t stumble too much, and that I will follow their directions. It is great that you and Daddy were married in the temple for time and eternity. Now we can always be a family. It makes my chances for success more sure.”
“I liked being sheltered, warm and cozy inside, right next to your heart It was good! However, I heard people saying some rather disturbing things. They talked about population explosions and planned parenthood. They said it was wrong to have so many children, that there was not room in the world for them. But anyone with intelligence to create worlds would know how many children to place on each one, and know how much room is needed.” Note: there is more, read it on page 48 of “Kaleidoscope.”
Adaline closed her talk with a poem by Carol Lynne Pearson called Investment. It is choice.
The last few lines are the key: ..... “I see the wisdom of investment, the easy gift is easy to forget, but what is bought with coin of pain is dearly kept.”
Trust.....Prayer....The Holy Ghost. Keep on saying your prayers and trusting in the Lord.
Next month I’ll tell you more ways you can trust your grandmother.
Love,
Dad, Grandpa etc. Richard Pratt
