October 1, 2011 (date written: March 28, 2008)
To: My beloved family & friends
From: Grandpa Pratt (Richard Marden Pratt)
share at: http://www.prattmemos.blogspot.com
Re: The Gathering of Israel
Everything our Father does has a purpose. The scattering of Israel was two-fold. First, through their suffering they would be taught, to obey as it is freedom from suffering, and to disobey brings nothing but misery. And secondly, it scattered the blood of Israel through out the Gentile world. Some times called the “believing blood”. As the ten tribes crossed Russia and Europe, they would have moved slowly as they grazed their animals and frequently a few people would stop by the wayside, because of sickness, death, or a beautiful countryside and other reasons. Also, Ephramites, who are a curious group would have taken side trips and never returned so all of the area they passed through would have salted the later Gentile settlers with “believing blood.”
Judah on the other hand was destroyed and the few survivors were scattered thru out all the great Roman empire from Africa to the arctic circle and into Asia. The Romans hoped to utterly destroy the Jews by, as the scripture says, putting one to a family two to a city. Smaller groups were led away, because they were righteous, for their preservation and protection such as Lehi and his family to America. And the resurrected Lord instructed the Nephites that the Jews did not know of them. And he continued:.. “I have other sheep, which are not of this land (America) neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to minister. For they of whom I speak are they who have not as yet heard my voice: neither have I at any time manifest myself unto them. But I have received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd; therefore I go to show myself unto them. 3rd Nephi 15:1-3
So besides the lost Ten Tribes, which must soon be brought forth from their hiding place, there are others, who like Lehi, were led away and are yet to be revealed along with the lost ten tribes.
However the gathering is going to be in a certain order and because of the sifting of Israel’s blood thru all nations many gentiles will receive the gospel and be saved. The first to be gathered will of course, be the children of the birthright. The right to lead which is the right to serve their brothers and sisters. Again to refresh our memories, this right belongs to Joseph who was sold into Egypt as a slave. And his twin sons, Manasseh and Ephraim received this birthright, or rather Ephraim did, but Manasseh is not far behind him.
So Ephraim will be gathered first along with Manasseh (The Lamanites) and then Judah. So we will begin with a short history of Ephraim.
Fifty years ago, give or take a few, the members of the church were mostly of the tribe of Ephraim, who are of the remnant of Jacob. We know it to be a fact that the Lord called upon the descendants of Ephraim to commence his work in the earth in these last days. We know further that he has said that he set Ephraim, according to the promises of his birthright, at the head. Ephraim receives the richer blessings, these blessings being those of presidency or direction. The keys are with Ephraim. It is Ephraim who is to be endowed with power to bless and give to the other tribes, including the Lamanites, their blessings. All the other tribes of Jacob, including the Lamanites, are to be crowned with glory in Zion by the hands of Ephraim. Doctrines of Salvation pages 250-251
The remnants of Joseph, found among the descendants of Lehi, will have part in this great work but it is Ephraim who will stand at the head and direct the work.
As this last dispensation dawned with the first vision in 1820 to the boy prophet, Joseph Smith, little or nothing was known about the gathering tribes etc. how then did we get this information. Of course revelation. If Epharaim was to be the leader then how was Ephraim to be identified, the answer of course is thru Patriarchs.
The first Patriarch to the church was the father of the prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith senior was called to be the Patriarch to the church in 1833, December 18th. Among other blessings that a patriarch may pronounce upon the head of the person receiving it is his lineage. Not surprisingly then, the first blessings designated that the person being blessed was a descendant of Joseph thru his son Ephraim and hence an Ephramite.
My blessing says, “Thou art a pure Ephramite.” What does yours say? As the church grew in its earliest days and members came in as total strangers to each other. Then searching out their ancestors they found that they were in many cases the descendants of a fifteenth century minister, John Lathrop who taught and preached far beyond his time. The Smiths, Taylors, Kimballs and Pratts were some of them. In late years as members are gained in the far flung areas of the world other tribes have been identified and I understand that all of the twelve tribes have representatives in the church now.
I have served on six high councils of twelve men plus the stake presidency and clerks. And on each one I have asked how many are descended from this “believing blood” it averages about seventy-five percent. We don’t need to ask about the general authorities. A high percentage, if not all of them also claim the distinction of being the descendants of Ephraim. Remember this is the right of presidency and it will always be dominated by Ephramites. And the right to direct is the right to serve as the Savior directs and will always serve his family forever.
How does one become a member of Israel? The same way they always have and that’s by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of sins, baptism by immersion by one holding Priesthood authority and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. As this new member continues in faith and obedience they receive all the other ordinances and covenants that will unite them back into the eternal family of our everlasting Father, and many will be the gentiles that the scattering will have brought into the fold.
Next, the gathering of the Lamanites. Our great grandfather. Parley P. Pratt records in his journal March 16, 1851, “I left Salt Lake City for the Pacific, on a mission to its islands and coasts. Being commissioned and set apart for that work by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” July 26, 1851, now in San Francisco having traveled from Salt Lake by wagon he records: “I hold the presidency of all the islands and coasts of the Pacific, under the direction of the First Presidency of the church ~ to open the door to every nation and tongue, as fast as the way is prepared and the Lord directs for the preaching of the gospel of salvation.”
And thus the gospel in this dispensation was launched for Central, South America and the islands of the Pacific. He states: “I am studying Spanish with all diligence, and will I trust master it in the course of a few months. I fear not earth, nor hell, nor men, nor devils, nor death. I desire to do good continually, and to bring about the restoration of His people. I glory in my calling. I
would not exchange it for any other position or calling on this earth.” (Page 387)
September 15, 1851 ~ “Here we are on the deep, bound for Chili. We have all been seasick...we study Spanish every day. It is a beautiful language. I hope to master it during the passage and a few months residence among the Chileans. We pay sixty dollars for passage in the cabin included food. We have a miser for a captain, who thinks more of a sixpence than he does of our lives or even his own. He keeps us on hard moldy bread, full of bugs and worms, and on salt beef and pork ~ the pork being rotten. He has flour, potatoes and good pork but will not allow it to be used.”
“After a most agreeable and tedious passage of sixty four days we at length arrived in port in tolerable health. (“we” consisted of he, his wife and companion) We landed at noon and took lodgings at a French Hotel, where we have a great variety of good eating and front parlor to ourselves ~ price four dollars a day for three of us.”
“The proprietor speaks French, the clerk, French with a little English, the landlady German, the waiter Spanish, and ourselves English, with a little Spanish. So you see we have a little Babel of our own independently of Nimrod or the great Tower.” (Valpariso, Chili November 9, 1851)
And so the gathering of Israel was launched among the descendants of Lehi.
They worked hard with little success and after a few months had exhausted their means and had to sail for home after a very miserable voyage of seventy four days they landed in San Francisco. But the seed had been planted the harvest must surely follow. And my youngest brother David on his first mission which was to the same area Parley had labored in, because he was a descendant was sent, with his companion, to open up missionary work in Valpariso. And later he and his wife served as mission president in Colombia in northern South America. In spite of this feeble and painful beginning there are now tens of thousands of members through out the entire area, upwards of four hundred stakes and many temples at this writing! More when you read this! Nice to know our family had the start of it.
Now to Judah. The Jews have probably been dispersed more widely, suffered more deeply and have had more miraculous preservations than all the other tribes because they crucified their and our Savior. But they also have great promises of a return and it is now taking place, and the world is not even aware of what is happening.
Oh! The blood, the tears, the suffering that the Jews have endured the past two thousand years and they still stubbornly refuse to accept Jesus as their Savior. The efforts to utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth beginning with the Romans two-thousand years ago has never ended and still goes on. In our times it was Hitler and his henchmen. They murdered six million reducing the total world population to twelve million. There apparently isn’t a people today that doesn’t have a Jewish population. The United States the largest number and Russia the next. There are Asian Jews, Black Jews, White Jews etc. Where ever they are the Orthodox among them still maintain their identity and are looking forward to returning to their home land. This they are now accomplishing in spite of the worlds opposition. It’s an exciting story, that which they have accomplished in the last ninety years ~ for ninety years ago their were virtually no Jews in Palestine and hadn’t been since the Roman’s efforts to annihilate them two thousand years ago. Now over half, about six million live in their homeland. A speck of land so tiny, about sixty miles wide by one hundred sixty miles long. That it could be fitted into the state of Utah eight times and leave a large area for public lands.
We no longer need to say that the Jews are going to gather. “I think now we may say they have gathered.” Conference report 1960(when there were only two million now it’s three times that!)
Continued next month under the title “Fantastic Victory!”
My love always
Dad, Grandpa Pratt
(Richard Marden Pratt)
Here is a must for your kitchens:
Dad’s Pioneer spoon bread and is it ever delicious! He often had a loaf of bread for visitors to take home or share a slice with him.
Pioneer Spoon Bread by Richard M Pratt
2 cups warm water 1 T. Yeast
1 tsp salt about 2 ½ cups flour (enough flour to make a “spongy” dough)
2 T. Sugar (or honey etc)
stir water and salt together. Add sugar then yeast then flour. Stir hard. Use a bowl that is big enough to allow this to rise tell double in bulk. Cover let rise 45 minutes.
Stir down and pour into well greased pans ( I use 2 loaf pans. More crust that way!)
Cover and let rise 45 minutes. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes. You can use various types of flour, add raisins, nuts or sunflower seeds. Really GREAT especially when shared with someone you love. Or with a hot cup of cocoa or a cold glass of milk.
Our daughter, Kathy Rowbury Diether, took my bread recipe and “tweaked” it! Well she made perfection!
BREAD by Kathy: YES YOU PUT THE YEAST IN THE
12 cups flour (white or wheat) FLOUR TOO! IT WORKS!!!!! WOW!
½ cup sugar
1 T salt Email me if you have questions!
2 T saf-instant yeast randrflower@gmail.com
½ cup oil or liquid lecithin
5 cups hot tap water
Mix ALL dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Mix in mixer for 5 minutes or by hand for 10 minutes. After kneeding, cover and let rest for 10 plus minutes. This is a sticky dough. (I oil my hands to work with it). Use oil or Pam spray on the counter instead of flour to work the dough. Shape loaves and place them in bread pans, cover and let them rise 25 minutes. Bake at 350* for 30-35 minutes. This recipe makes 4 loaves. Can also be used for pizza crust, rolls, scones, braids and cinnamon rolls.
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The other day I had 6 cups of white 6 cups of wheat flour and had formed 3 loaves and then decided to make a treat with the last of the dough. It turned out so good I have to share it. I was inspired by Mom’s “plumb duff”recipe, But I had fresh peaches and so here it goes:
Peach Supreme better than any Danish you’ve had! By Rose Marie Pratt Rowbury
grease a 9x13 inch pan. Roll 1 loaf worth of dough into the pan. Spread ½ cup softened cream cheese. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon like making cinnamon rolls. Peel and slice fresh peaches over the top. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Cover and let rise 25 minutes. Bake at 350 for 21-25 minutes. This is divine and so easy!
