Memo #26 Posted to the Blog September 1, 2014
July 1, 2002
From: Dad etc. Richard Marden Pratt
Re: The Light of the World
Last Sunday I was a speaker in Stake Priesthood meeting on the above subject, “The Light of the World.” It was so well received that I feel inclined to discuss it on paper.
But first just a reminder that Grandma has been dead two years come July 13th. If being separated from her was an eternal thing I would want to cease to exist. Yet I know that she is waiting for me because she and I have complied with all the laws pertaining to eternal family.
Some of you, quite a few, have not yet done that. Please do not put it off until it is everlastingly too late.
How can we know? Very simple! “Listen” to the Light of the World even Jesus Christ.
“For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
And the Spirit Giveth Light to EVERY MAN THAT COMETH INTO THE WORLD; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, THAT HEARKENETH to the voice of the Spirit.” D & C 84:45-46
Conscience is a part of the Spirit of Christ and every soul has a conscience in the beginning but because it is ignored by most it is usually quite dead by midlife. No one will have an excuse when they are resurrected and stand at the judgement bar. All will be told that had they hearkened to the Spirit they would have complied with God’s law.
I have many examples of this in my somewhat lengthy life. The following happened on our mission in Iowa.
We were working with the Mesquakie Indians who are very anti white and anti Christ. They still worship their old pagan gods and rituals. Neither do they live on a reservation as do most if not all of the other tribes. They own a piece of land about 4 miles square along the beautiful Iowa River and owning their own land separates them even further from whites.
Actually by a miracle - that I haven’t space to tell you now - we were fully accepted and attended their community gatherings that no other white person could gain access too. They even gave me an Indian name which I can’t spell nor pronounce but in English it was “Wild Buffalo”.
We baptized quite a few of them and organized an all Indian Branch of the church, except for us. And in as much as they had adopted us, I guess that made the Branch 100% Indian.
Mother and I were giving the last discussion to a 40ish year old mother and some of her adult children. We wouldn't be back.
Over 1,000 miles away in the El Paso, Texas jail a 26 year old man, Scott Youngbear, was finishing a lengthy term for drug trafficking.
Scott was the illegitimate son of the lady we were teaching. Her husband and their kids had never accepted Scott and made his life so miserable that he left home in his teens. He had never held a job in his life and had made a living up ‘till then in drugs and other illegal pursuits. He also was an addict, smoked cigarettes and had a drinking problem. He said that he had committed every sin except murder and he had stood by and watched a man murdered. For a few months he was in the army but they gave him a less than honorable discharge.
In his cell was a New Testament left by the Gideonites. You’ve all seen them in motels. He started reading it. He couldn’t put it down. He read it through twice and came to the following conclusion.
1. That God the Father really is and Jesus is His Son and our creator and Savior.
2. That he (Scott) had to repent of his sins and accept Jesus as his Savior or be forever miserable.
3. That Jesus organized His church wherein all could come and through certain covenants be accepted back into God’s presence.
4. That this church was destroyed almost before the crucifixion and certainly by 98 AD when the last apostle, John, left this world.
5. But most electrifying to Scott was to discover from his readings that the Church would be restored in the last days. And the New Testament made it clear that we are living in the “Last Days”
The New Testament had also taught him how to pray. So he got down on his knees and poured out his heart and closed his prayer with, “Where can I find the true church?”
The voice of the Spirit spoke saying, “Go home and you’ll find the truth.”
He jumped to his feet and declared, “there is no truth in my home, they are pagans and besides they don’t even like me.” “Now where do I go to find the truth?”
Again the Spirit spoke giving him the same instructions but even more firmly. He actually heard a voice.
A day or two later he was released with a warning that if apprehended again he would spend many years in jail.
Scott started homeward as fast as he could hitch hike. He walked into the home just as we started the discussion. We just ignored him and went ahead with the lesson. He sat on a chair in the back corner of the room.
When the amens were said, he jumped to his feet very excitedly and in a loud voice exclaimed, “You have spoken the truth, I have found the true church, what must I do?”
We gave him the seven discussions and he insisted on two a day. Shortly we baptized him, his mother and 16 year old half sister.
He stopped smoking, drinking and drugs that very day and never returned to them. When we left to come home about 10 or 12 months later he was a councilor in the branch presidency and was holding a job for the first time in his life.
“And the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that HEARKENETH to the voice of the Spirit.” he Hearkened!
Usually the spirit does not speak out loud but the sincere seeker of truth has feelings and promptings that quietly lead them to the truth. If these promptings are not acted upon gradually they go away and the person is left to wander the rest of their mortal life in darkness. Content with the temporal things (temporary) of the world, they live without hope and without the ultimate joy that comes to all who follow the teachings of the Spirit as did Scott.
Please Hearken to the Spirit! I love you!
Love, Dad, Grandpa etc. Richard M. Pratt
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