Sketch 14 - From David Pratt

FAMILY HISTORY OF PRATT/SHIRK LINES

SKETCH 14: Two Tough Hombres (Based on Richard’s memos 63 & 65)

At wheat harvest time, Ben Pratt and Roy Peterson would often travel and work with the threshing crews.  “The grain was poured into gunny sacks, each weighing 120-140 pounds.”  The crew would test each other’s strength by getting down on all fours and with sacks of grain on their backs, they would crawl to a finish line some 10 to 12 feet away.  Ben “won with eight sacks on his back.”

Roy had trained his riding horse to allow him to get underneath and then straighten up until all four hooves cleared the ground.  Ben would sometimes bet the rest of the threshing crew that that old Swede could lift a horse completely off the ground.  If they bit, Grandpa Pete would crawl under his horse and do his thing.

Later in life, Ben came home for lunch to find a neighbor lady crying on Mom’s shoulder.  Seeing some of her bruises, he asked Mom, what the matter was after the woman had gone home.  Mom said, “Oh, Ben, didn’t you know that her husband beats her?”  Dad was so mad, he went next door, grabbed the man and let him know in no uncertain terms that if Dad ever saw the woman in that condition again, the husband would have to face Dad’s full wrath.

Christian Leroy Peterson was born in 1877 in Sevier County, Utah.  His mother was Swedish and his father was Danish.  Roy hired on as a cowboy to support his family when he was 13.  He “punched cows” all over the Southwest and spent four years in Mexico.  He could speak Swedish, Danish, Spanish and had a “working knowledge” of Navajo.  He later worked as a hunter for the Southern Pacific railway as they laid tracks across the country.  “He spent each day killing wild game to feed several hundred men.  Mostly deer, elk antelope and bear….All he had to do was shoot and bleed the animal and mark it with a flag and the butchering crew and their wagons did the rest.”  His favorite rifle was a .25-35 which he claimed had better stopping power then the traditional .30-30.  A loaded .25-35 was always kept behind the kitchen range on the Colockum.  Leroy got in trouble for firing it out the open kitchen window when he spied a varmint in the barnyard.

“Grandpa Pete was a large man and very large boned. (Photos 28-29)  I remember his thumb appeared to be as large as my wrist.  He stood 6 feet and three or four inches tall and weighed well over 225 pounds.  He always wore a very big black Stetson hat called a ten gallon hat….[In the desert he would open his canteen], dismount, pour two or three quarts of water in his hat and give his horse a drink.  Then hurriedly put his hat back on and enjoy the few drops left in the hat falling down on his head….

“The strongest word I ever heard from him was a simple ‘DAMN,’ and that but seldom.  Usually when he was aggravated he just gave a little grunt.  And I do it to this day.”

Grandpa Pete loved horses, and I’ll tell you more about horses and how he made cowboys out of my brothers Richard and Leroy next time.

Sketch 13 - From David Pratt

Richard's brother, David, has been writing up family history stories. We thought we would share them on here for anybody that might be interested!

FAMILY HISTORY OF PRATT/SHIRK LINES

SKETCH 13: Remembering my parents on what would have been their 103rd anniversary

Ben Pratt and Lilly Shirk were married on January 14th, 1911.  He was five feet ten in his prime and she was five feet four.  Both had brown hair and gray eyes.  He was outgoing with a big grin and an infectious belly laugh.  She was more reserved with a gentle smile and quiet chuckle.  They both loved to sing and dance.  They both loved their neighbors.

Richard remembered a team of horses pulling a wagon that quietly stopped in front of our ranch house.  Dad investigated and found a drunken driver who had passed out.  Dad managed to get him indoors, put him to bed, and then went out to take care of the horses.  Mom fed the man a good breakfast in the morning and then they sent him on his way.  Richard as a boy didn’t quite know what to make of it, but later wrote: “it was a lesson to me of love for your fellow beings no matter how wretched they are, which our parents had an abundance of.”

They received a wooden pump organ as a wedding present.  Mom would play while they sang in harmony together.  Dad was a tenor but could sing bass and baritone if needed.  Richard noted that Dad “could hear a tune once or twice, and then play it on the guitar” and accompany himself on the harmonica.   Melba adds that a wire harness around his head held the harmonica in place and that Dad was always singing or whistling.  My siblings could all sing in harmony and Mom made sure the girls learned to play the piano.  Dad managed to teach me to whistle but the rest of the family’s musical talent never made it to the end of the row.

Mom could draw and demonstrated artistic creativity.  Melba notes that Mom’s box always won the prize at the box socials.  Melba remembered boxes designed like a battleship, Uncle Sam’s hat, and a red barn with silo.  Mom wrote that “Most Saturday nights we danced in our front room while Melba played the piano, had chili at midnight.”  Members of the Wenatchee LDS branch would drive out after Sunday School for chicken and dumplings and homemade ice cream.  On July 24th, “we would clear the apple-shed and dance.  The men would sleep in the hay and the women in the house.”

Monday was always washday and bean soup day.  Fires would be lit out doors to keep hot water going for washing and rinsing clothes.  A big pot of beans would be simmering on the kitchen range to feed the hungry and supply mashed beans for sandwiches during the week.  The mashed beans were used like peanut butter between two thick slices of Grandma Pete’s “peasant bread.”  When my brothers were sent out to ride the range, they would be given a couple of these sandwiches in an old flour sack which they would tie to the pommel of their saddles. They would stop by a cold spring of water for lunch or even earlier on a hot day before the sandwiches could absorb the horse’s sweat.  I don’t know about bean sandwiches, but how I loved my Mom’s baked beans.

Dad never finished the third grade.  Mom made it through the sixth grade.  Both were bright as well as caring and wanted their children to all finish high school.  Two of the five who survived childhood made it and went on to get bachelors and masters degrees.  Dad hoped that one of his children would become a doctor.  I finally received a Ph.D, but as my two brothers liked to remind me, I was the kind of doctor who couldn’t help anyone!  (I did manage to caution a whole generation about bananas.)

Dad had the ability to start laughing in a movie and others around him could not help but join in.  A theater in Wenatchee (I think it was the Rialto) tried to persuade him to come to all of their comedies, but Dad’s laugh was not for sale.  He did star in a local production about a World War I soldier that was staged in the school house on the Colockum.   Mom told me that the uniform did not fit and had to be pinned in strategic places.  All went well until the soldier’s death.  Dad collapsed dramatically to the stage only to be pierced in the side by a loose pin.  He yelped and jumped to his feet in pain, but the audience was wowed by the resurrection scene of the hero.

Dad was a strong man physically but not as strong as Grandpa Pete which I’ll tell you about in the future.  Dad was particularly uptight about men who abused their wives.  He was gentle in child rearing, but all of us knew that one line we could not cross was to sass or show disrespect in any way towards our Mother.  

I’ll close this sketch with a rhyme Dad made up to be sent in a box of cookies Mom had made for Leroy.  (Rhymes were part of the humor of both father and son.  I can just hear Mom say, “Oh, Ben” as she heard the words “swear,” “junk” and “punk.”)

Our mama dear to hear her swear,

Fills daddy’s soul with deep despair.

She’s making cookies for the Navy

While daddy begs for spuds and gravy.

Between the dog, Dave, and me

We’ve licked the cake pans till their free

Of all the dough and other junk

That goes to make these cookies punk.

We hope with you they will agree

As they have the dog and Dave and me.

We’re sending you this little rhyme

To help you pass away the time.

To you, dear Son, we wish to say,

If these cookies with you too long stay,

Take Carter’s Little Liver pills

And they’ll move all your ills.

Memo #30 (Written November 1, 2002)

Memo #30

November 1, 2002   

From: R. M. Pratt

To: all I love

Re: Marriage

Last months memo on marriage was far too brief and tho basically I covered the main points. Yet I feel that I need to bare down harder on all we men! That doesn't mean you wives are free of responsibility but for the most part you automatically respond when the husbands do their part.

Now a question, a serious question to each of you husbands as tho you and I were having a face to face discussion of the matter.

Will you be happy living single eternally? Resurrected a eunuch, de sexed, totally bereft of ever associating with one of the opposite sex other than as a platonic friend. For that will be the fate of ALL MEN who do not take advantage of the great gift God is trying to give you thru the Holy law of matrimony. 

Marriage for eternity is the highest ordinance of the gospel (God’s Law) on earth and to be eternal it must be performed by a man who has received authority to act in God’s behalf and can only be performed in a holy building called a Temple. And a Temple can only be entered after its dedication, by a person who has followed the basic steps of God’s laws. Which are, 

1. Faith (belief) in Jesus Christ as our creator and Savior.

2. Put ourselves in compliance with His laws. This is called repentance. 

3. Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins by an authorized servant of God.

4. Reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands of authorized servants. 

5. Men must then qualify to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. This Priesthood is defined as the power of God delegated to man to act in his behalf. 

All this the Savior plainly teaches in the New Testament and other scriptures. The women do not receive the Priesthood but they receive all its blessings by obedience.

6. Having complied with the five points above a man is now qualified to take a sister of his choice who has obeyed the first 4 points above to a temple of God and enter into the holy and eternal covenant of marriage. And if both then continue to the end of mortal life keeping that holy covenant they will claim each other in the resurrection and proceed on to Godhood. Being Kings and Queens and filling their kingdom with their own posterity.

Now here is the important thing. All this must be done in this life. For this life is the time to prepare to meet God. There is no promise that we will have a second chance if we could have done it here. 

Now it doesn’t matter how long you have been living together as man and wife (until death do you part any of you can qualify in one years time to be ready to have your wife sealed (married) to you in God’s Temple. Yes only one year to comply with the simple and easy steps thus outlined.

I remember the first time I served as Bishop. Zealously I contacted all the couples in the ward who had not entered into this covenant of everlasting happiness and tried to get them to understand that mortal life is too fleeting and insecure to put it off.

One such couple in their early 30's with three lovely children met in my office at the appointed time. He was a handsome man and she was an exceptionally beautiful woman. 

At my questioning they freely expressed their love for each other and their desire to go to 

the temple and be sealed as eternal companions. I conveyed my happiness and said then lets get it done.

He said, “I can’t because you won’t give me a Temple recommend because I smoke cigarettes.”

Said I, “No problem, throw them away tonight and in only 30 days I can issue you the recommend.”

He answered, “No I like to smoke and intend to keep doing so.”

This so provoked me that I held up a piece of chalk between my thumb and forefinger (it looked somewhat like a cigarette) and said to him, “you’re telling me that you love this lousy cigarette more than you love this beautiful woman. And in 30 to 40 years you will have neither wife or tobacco. For it is not available in Heaven and it’s a sure cinch that the Devil will withhold it from all those who enter His realm.”

With that he stormed out of the office in a rage muttering. “I’m not going to quit smoking.” 

The poor wife broke into a terrible fit of weeping. And with the mother crying, all three kids also wept and wailed.

I was sorry that I had made it so dramatic, but it was true. 

Now my sons consider carefully what I have plainly taught in this memo. I promise you it is true. God will not be mocked. Or when I was a kid my Dad taught us that you “sass” me or your Mother and I’ll whale the daylights out of you and that’s what God is saying.

In plain language he is saying, “I love you. I want the best for you, now and forever and here is the way I’ve provided for you to receive it. And if you turn down this free gift, that is mockery.”

And I sent my best son, the first born in Heaven and my only begotten on earth to bring to pass this great gift.

He sweat blood in his agony in Gethsemene and on that awful cross he suffered and died that all who would believe in him might have all that I have to give which in short is ETERNAL FAMILIES.

Incidentally, God also said that those who do not accept the sacrifice Christ made for them, that they must suffer even as he did which suffering is beyond man’s imagination. Finally when they have paid for their foolishness and are pronounced clean they may come forth in the second resurrection and dwell in some degree of happiness but without wife, children etc.

As a carpenter I was once nailed to a wall by an 8 penny nail (about the size of a wooden match.) It passed through the base of the nail on my second finger of my left hand. I immediately broke into a terrible scream, I sounded like a fire truck siren and I couldn’t stop until that nail was pulled out. That gave me just a small idea of what my Savior suffered for me because he loves me  and is trying to give me the best that God has to give.

Or as the Savior said: “He who accepts my servants, accepts me, and he who accepts me accepts my Father. And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s Kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him. (Doctrine & Covenants 84:36-38)

I am Christ’s servant. If you will accept this teaching by acting on it you have accepted the Savior, and the Father and will heir all that the Father has to give. To which I testify in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

My love eternally,                      

                                Dad, grandpa, friend etc. Richard Marden Pratt 

Memo #29 (Written October 1, 2002)

Memo #29

October 1, 2002

From: Richard Marden Pratt

To: Many loved ones

Re: Our wives                                                   

For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and yet lose his own wife (soul). Mark 8:36

“It is not good for man to be alone.” To that I can solemnly attest. My sweetheart departed this life 2 years and 2 months ago today. She died July 13, 2000 and it is, as of this writing, Sept. 13, 2002. We had 66 years and 2 months of near perfect marriage. Any flaw in it was due to my weaknesses. For she was as near perfect as any person that has ever walked the earth, save Jesus only. 

I adore her! She is my queen and my eternal sweetheart. I expect soon to again be by her side, if I am found worthy, for we have obeyed the law of God and have been sealed as eternal husband and wife.

So as I pondered for the past two weeks the subject for October’s memo it has been borne in upon my soul to council all the couples receiving this to consider the happiness of their marriages.

God is eternal. God is love. Therefore love is eternal. And love is best expressed in marriage. And God intends for marriage to be eternal.

It should be the greatest adventure of this life. I have lived a very adventuresome life for 90 years and all other exciting experiences lumped together is not even a beginning to the thrill of being the husband to my wife. And I expect thru all eternity it will continue to take priority over all celestial joys. 

I have served most of my adult life in church positions where I have counseled many failing marriages. I have arrived at two conclusions. One, the man is usually the offender. Two, there would be no divorce of Later-Day Saint couples if both lived the commandments of our Savior. Or as the Prophet, David O. McKay said of divorce, “sin lieth at the door of one or both parties.” 

Because I love you all, both my male blood descendants and you who have married my daughters and granddaughters I am going to try and give you a few pointers which if followed will lead to that great adventure called eternal romance, and you feminine readers may also profit from them where needed.

God performed the first marriage and nothing was said about death parting them. Indeed Adam and Eve were married for eternity. Also note that this world, especially that part called Eden was made as perfect as possible before the Father placed therein one of his choice daughters. Eve was his crowning achievement, the most beautiful of all his creations and Adam was commanded to love and cherish her, to protect and provide for her and to create an atmosphere wherein she would be happy. Boy! What an order! It is still in force today. So brethren how do we do it? And it should be the greatest work of all.

First of all if she has fallen from the pedestal that you placed her on in your courtship days, reinstall her there on. She belongs there. She is your queen. You chose her above all others. It’s up to you to make her your one and only. We are to love our neighbors as our-self. She is the closest neighbor you will ever have. 

The greatest handbook ever written on a happy marriage is found in Ephesians 5:22-33. Verse 25 says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church AND GAVE HIMSELF for it. And verse 27 that he might present it to Himself a glorious church (wife) not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it (she) should be holy and without blemish. To be completely fulfilled in the resurrection.

Verse 33 - “Never the less let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

And Verse 29 “for no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishath and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church.”

We are admonished by both Paul and Moroni to develop within ourselves “the pure love of Christ” which is called “charity” without this pure love we will fall short of Celestial glory which means we will lose our companion in the eternities and will remain separate and single forever. What a sad fate. And it awaits most men who have lived on this earth. 1 Cor. 13:4-13; Moroni 7: 44-48.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which God hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ, that ye may become the Sons of God. Without charity (the pure love of Christ) we are nothing.”

1. “Charity suffereth long and is KIND.” To keep our wife on the pedestal of love, we are more than kind, we try to fill her every need even if we don’t understand it. (And we usually don’t) above all, we are never, never guilty of verbal abuse. We never make unkind remarks or jokes at her expense. Or compare her unfavorably to someone else. We always treat her as we would some great dignitary visiting our home always be on your best behavior, freely use “thank you” and “please” and “your welcome” etc. be free with praise and forget criticism, there is no place for the latter. Many times each day say “I love you!” open doors and other courtesies that you so freely exercised when courting. Never stop holding hands!! Never! Never!

It infuriates me to see an older couple, and it’s a common sight, shuffling down the street, he two or three shuffles ahead of her and she struggling to keep up and often carrying a load as well. I want to shake him until his teeth fall out and cry out to him. “Wake up you fool and take your wife by the arm and cherish and nourish her and protect and provide her with love and security. Romance should be an eternal thing and not end within the first year or two after marriage. And if you don’t keep it alive, forget it, she won’t have you in the next life. 

2. “Charity seeketh not her own.”

Meaning you look to your wife’s needs and are not off chasing after your own. Develop hobbies and interests together. She is your best friend. You would rather be with her than any other person. The friends you had before marriage are no longer important and should be dropped also any interest away from home is a no no unless you can enjoy these together. 

3. “You are not easily provoked.” Control your temper and your tongue. How grateful I am for a wonderful earthly Father who would not permit his children to speak disrespectfully to their mother and his wife. Which rule he faithfully followed. Mother was always on her pedestal.

What a gift a glorious gift, to be born of goodly (Godly) parents. See that your children can say the same of you.

          4. Finally, charity, “thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.”

An excellent book on marriage is “Marriage For Better Not Worse by Gary and Joy Lundberg, Gary is a professional Marriage counselor and He and Joy are the parents of my grand-son-in-law Paul, married to my granddaughter Amy Rowbury Lundberg. 

Rose recommends this book and also the book, Between Husband and Wife 

by Stephen E. Lamb M.D. and Douglas E. Brinley, PH.D.

Any marriage, even the best,  can use a refresher course. Apply your best efforts for the best success!

Love, 

                                       Dad, Grandpa, etc Richard Marden Pratt

Dad then included: THE FAMILY: A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD.  You can find it and study it on https://www.lds.org  It is a wonderful and powerful document!

Memo # (Written December 1, 2002)

December 1, 2002   From: R. M. Pratt    (posted to the blog December 3, 2014)

To: My Loved Ones    

Re: The Historicity of Jesus

This will be the third Christmas message since Grandma died. And as I think of the possibilities of soon joining her it dawns on me with an irresistible force that if this happens it will only be because of a man named Jesus Christ.Did he really live? Was he really the Son of God and not the son of man as he said? Did he really die on a cross and was he buried and three days later appeared in his body of flesh and bones? And most important of all questions: Is he soon to return to earth to clean up the filthy mess inflicted upon it by man and to redeem those who have fought against this vile corruption?

The answer to the four questions is a thundering YES!

No fact of the past has been so completely documented. Why even our calendar testifies to the yes of his actuality. And of course there is no way in these two brief pages that I can cover the thousands of pages written by thousands of authors attesting to the fact that he, Jesus, is everything the scriptures certify him to be. In fact without him we would not be neither the earth nor all the heavenly bodies. So I will devote this little space to his resurrection, for if this really happened then all the rest of his story is true. 

Everything stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead three days after he was crucified. He has to be the Son of God, for no one less than God had the power to lay down his life and the power to take it up again.

Our Eternal destiny depends upon Jesus being the Son of God and the Savior of men.

When carefully weighed, the evidence for Christ’s resurrection is so compelling that it is hard to understand how anyone can question it. What is harder to understand is WHY mankind fights against it, for without it we are doomed to total oblivion.

Many Lawyers going back for hundreds of years have attempted to prove Jesus a fake and without exception they have ended up converting themselves.

I’ll mention just a few: Lord Darling, Chief Justice of England said: “No intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that the resurrection is true.”

Professor E. M. Blaiklock said: “I claim to be a historian, and I tell you that the evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than most historical facts.”

John S. Copley, one of the greatest legal minds in British history has the following to say:

“I know pretty well what evidence is, and I tell you such evidence as that for the resurrection HAS NEVER broken down yet.” 

Josh McDowell decided that he would silence Christians once and for all by writing a thesis that would disprove Christ’s resurrection once and for all. Because of the discoveries that he made during his research, he ended up doing just the opposite of what he set out to do. He wrote a book entitled: “Evidence that Demands a Verdict.” in it he presents evidence for the resurrection so forcefully that a person would have to be WILLFULLY BLIND not to see it.

(The above excerpts from an article by Ralph Woerner)

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a myth as skeptics would like us to believe. It’s one of the best attested facts of history. Supported by the strongest kind of evidence. But the best evidence of all is personal revelation, which is freely offered to every person, male and female, old 

and young.

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they WHICH TESTIFY OF ME.” John 5:39

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:16-17

And the great promise made by Moroni to sincere readers of the Book of Mormon. ... “Ponder it in your hearts...I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the Power o the Holy ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”  

Moroni 10:3-5

And by the power of the Holy Ghost I know what I am writing here is true. I have received and continue to receive my own personal revelation as to the divinity of my Savior

Jesus Christ. And if you (I’m speaking of each one of you as an individual) have doubts then believe on my word and keep the commandments that we might have ETERNAL LIFE TOGETHER! 

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, AND DENY YOURSELVES of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you. That by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.” Moroni 10:32

I love this closing statement of Moroni: verse 34, “And now I bid unto all, farewell. I SOON GO TO REST IN THE PARADISE OF GOD. Until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the Great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and Dead Amen.”

And the closing words of Ether also verse 34, “Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the Kingdom of God.” (With you) Amen.

So this Christmas season we will have the opportunity to mindlessly play or to offer our Thanksgiving to him who created us, gave us this beautiful life on this lovely earth and furnishes us the very breath that sustains our life from one moment  to the next and all he asks in return is for us to LIVE  the laws of happiness.

He has a plan for this earth and for us. Where we fit into that plan is our choice. But a fulness of joy eternally is to do all we can as an individual to bring his great plan to fruition.

Forty days after his resurrection and at least 10 personal appearances recorded in the Bible, “He was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (11 apostles). And while they looked up steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11

This great event is imminent. The baby Jesus born in a manger, a carpenter by trade, abused and vilified, scourged and crucified  is about to return to earth as King of Kings and rescue all who will, from the evil one. 

So this Christmas season joyfully commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord’s.

Merry Christmas Love,     

                                   Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, friend etc.