Memo #34 (Written March 1, 2003)

From: Richard Pratt

To: Those I love

Re: The Worlds present chronological Point in Time:

I will begin by quoting the closing paragraph of memo 32: “So as we approach the end many great and terrible things will happen in rapid succession. Those prepared shall have no fear but should rejoice. What a great time to live and have some foreknowledge of the great plan of redemption.”

President Hinckley has placed new emphasis on missionary work, raising the standards and insisting that only worthy young men WITH TESTIMONIES of the divinity of this great work will now be called. And as Elder Ballard states, “Church members have a remarkable message of startling truth that is needed in the world today....future missionaries must study and appreciate the gospel’s message, then learn how to share it with others in clear and simple terms.”

This new stress on warning the world caused me to reread and read again the 24th chapter of Matthew as found in the “Pearl of Great Price”. In this version the prophet rearranged the New Testament 24th chapter of Matthew in chronological order. No meaning is lost or changed but it is simply easier to understand. So I call your attention to it and you can plainly see where the world is chronologically as to the second coming of the Lord!

Notice that there are three divisions in the time sequence. Verses 1 - 21 concluded with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D. and answered the disciples first question as to when that would happen. Then they asked two other questions: “What is the sign of thy coming?” “And the end of the world or the destruction of the wicked, which is the end of the world?”

The answer to the second question, “What is the sign of thy coming?” is answered in verses 22-30 and covers the early history of the restoration of the gospel down to the present.

Verse 22 says in part: “For in those days there shall also arise false Christs and false prophets...that if possible they shall deceive the very elect.” I will briefly mention two.

In 1842, a George Miller, a self-professed prophet, stated emphatically that Christ would appear at such and such a date in 1842 and that all that believed him would dispose of their worldly goods and with him ascend a certain high hill to meet the Savior. A considerable following did so. Dressed in white they spent a cold and miserable night on the hill top and in trying to return to their homes in the morning were for the most part repulsed by those to whom they had given their worldly goods.

Miller then declared that he had made a miscalculation and set a new date but with few followers and the same disappointment as before.

There have been false Christs and false prophets reported in the past 150 years from Australia to Europe and the Americas. I will only relate one more.

In New York in the 1930s a black man claimed to be Jesus Christ and had come to burn the world and salvation would come only to those who sent him their tithing. So many contributed that in a short time he was a very wealthy man and just disappeared, I suppose to enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

I was on my first mission at the time and met two elderly widows who regularly contributed. When asked why, they replied, “we’re not taking any chances.” Of course if they had known their scriptures they would not have been deceived.

Describing this past century verses 23-30 warns; “and you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled, for all I have told you must come to pass; but the end is not yet.” The theme continues... the Saints are to be gathered (they have been and are) more wars, nation against nation...famines and pestilences, and earthquakes...iniquity shall abound. All of this has and is happening.

Now we come to the answer to the third question: “The Second coming in power and the destruction of the wicked.”

Starting with verse 31: “And again this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked.”  THIS IS THE POINT WE ARE NOW AT! This new missionary thrust will finish reaching those who have not yet heard the warning cry.

And verse 32: and again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet be fulfilled. The first abomination of desolation was the slaughter of 1,100,000 Jews, few prisoners were taken, men, women, and children were killed indiscriminately at Jerusalem in 70 A.D. 

Or as the Book Of Revelation tells us. The combined world armies of two hundred million (the current number of all armed forces) will engage in such a terror that one third of the world’s population will be killed. “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Revelations 9:18-21

This third world war will end with a world wide assault on Jerusalem. And as the Old Testament Prophet Joel said: will end with all nations attacking the Jews. This supports the quote in the previous paragraph from the Revelation of John.

Joel continues: “a fire devoureth before them and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind a desolate wilderness, yea and nothing shall escape them.” Joel 2:3

God does not send wars upon the nations. They bring the wars upon themselves by turning away from God and casting him out of their collective and National lives as per the present conditions in the United States. No nation or world of nations can long remain at peace that turn their back on God. So the final result will be an all destroying third world war. And those who escape the war will be incinerated as the earth is cleansed by fire. EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO ARE PREPARED. 

When will this all happen? Back to Matthew 24:34 “Verily, I say unto you this GENERATION, in which these things shall be shown forth, shall not pass away until all I have told you shall be fulfilled.”

As Isaiah prophesied: “the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants there of because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinances and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the earth is burned and few men left. 

Conclusion: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” D & C 38:30.

“Be of good cheer. And do not fear, for I the Lord am with you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am and that I am to come.” D & C 68:6     NEXT MONTHS MEMO: Preparation!

Love,

Dad, grandpa etc (Richard Marden Pratt)

Dawn wrote a poem that Dad sent out with this memo. It is a tribute to our Mom. 

I Am Mother 

I am cheerful and courageous,

Meeting each oxygen-tethered, blind day with appreciation

To our Father in Heaven for the many blessings He gives me,

Positive of Hope in Christ.

I Wonder: Is my own mother,

Now long since passed beyond the veil, standing near?

I like to imagine her, Rose Marie Enders Kearl,

Standing across the room, her melted-chocolate eyes

Gleaming approval on her daughter.

I imagine I hear her name -

Gently whispered, like the lingering fragrance her name implies,

Reminding me of the flower garden she so lovingly nurtured-

Like she did us, her eleven children.

I see her turn. She smiles.

She reaches for Pa’s hand. They are young, like I once was.

I want to join them. I feel impatient for that day,

Yet hesitant to let go of my own title “Mother”

To become “daughter” again.

But I must be cheerful and courageous.

Meeting each oxygen-tethered, blind day with appreciation

To our Father in Heaven for the many blessings He gives me,

Positive of Hope in Christ.

I shut my eyes and pretend that Final Day is come.

I feel Ma and Pa’s arms enclose my bony stooped shoulders

Like a Cashmere wrap. I feel renewed. Warmed. Strengthened.

I yearn to go with them. But I worry about Richard, my soul mate.

He is yet vital while I wither. I cry! Bereft. Incomplete without him.

I refuse to imagine our “Apartness”.

I must be cheerful and courageous,

Meeting each oxygen-tethered, blind day with appreciation

To our Father in Heaven for the many blessings He gives me,

Positive of Hope in Christ.

I understand the Day will come.

We are born to die! To die and then go on to greater things. 

I say life on Earth is just the beginning of our Father’s wonderful Plan.

I dream of our Forever Family. Six out of Six. United. Progressing. 

One Heart. One Mind. For Eternity.

I try to impart to these Dear Ones the WORD,

The wisdom I have won in my 80+decades. I hope they listen!

I pray to God they listen, they strive. What more honor could I ask?

I also hope to be able to endure myself. With Nobleness. With Dignity.

I am cheerful and courageous,

greeting each oxygen-tethered, blind day patiently with appreciation:

Thanks to our Father for the many blessings He gives me!

Thanks be for Certainty. Love. Hope. For my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am Adaline Kearl Pratt, a Daughter of God...................

(a tribute to my own lovely Mother– born September19, 1913 * died July 13, 2000).

By Dawn Pratt Taylor written February 2003