Memo #141

June 1, 2012 (written April 8, 2008)

From: Dad, Grandpa etc. Richard M. Pratt

Re: The Commandments

11. Pray always lest ye be deceived.

12. The law of tithing.

13. The law of fast and offerings.

14. The law to multiply and replenish the earth.           

15. The law of obedience to God and His Servants.

16. Temple ordinance work.

17. Genealogy.

18. Missionary work.

19. The law of eternal marriage.

11. “Pray always lest ye be deceived.” is my sweet wife’s own personal scripture. It was given to her by revelation in the following manner. Having told the full story in a previous memo I’ll make this a condensed version. We had been married only a year or two. I seemed to be away from home at the time. For two or three nights, and they were cold winter nights in an unheated bedroom, she had gone to bed without saying her prayers. She would get in bed, remember that she hadn’t said them and with the cold, she would think just once won’t hurt and went to sleep.

She had a dream, a very vivid and detailed dream in which she and I were attending a series of parties beginning with a little neighborhood party and each party becoming more ornate and sophisticated until we were in a mansion and clothed in the finest . In each party I would say Satan is here in person can you identify him? And each time she would fail. Finally in this deluxe party I narrowed it down to two handsome looking men dressed in tuxedos and said it’s one of them and she pointed at the wrong one. Immediately the other turned into a hideous looking monster and advanced on her. I seemed to have left her dream.

Horrified, she raised her arm to the square and said, “in the name of Jesus Christ; I command you to depart!” he immediately turned and fled thru the wall and she awoke, sitting up in bed with her arm to the square as a voice spoke to her, saying, “Pray always lest you be deceived.”

We’ve both searched for a scripture in those exact words and have never found it. (See if you can) in the meantime and even if it is found it remains hers and my favorite scripture. And guess what? I don’t believe either of us to this day have finished the day and before getting into bed, praying to God our Eternal Father in the name of his only begotten Son. What a privilege to actually be able to talk to deity in such a manner!

“There is no salvation without prayer. How could a man set his heart on righteousness, so as to work out his salvation, without communing by prayer with him who is the author of righteousness?” Bruce R. McConkie page 581

12. The law of tithing: “is as ancient as eternity and yet it is but a school master preparing us for the day when we will be offered the higher law designated as the “united order.” This will be the law of the Celestial Kingdom so I’ll say no more about that at present.

The first record we have of tithing being paid is that recorded in Genesis 14: 18-20 Abraham pays his tithing to Melchizedek King of Salem and he was the priest of the most high God. In other words the Prophet of the church. “And Abraham gave him tithes of all.” (Or paid a full tithing.) That tithing receipt would be dated about 1900 B.C. ~ the earliest receipt I have is dated about 1931 A.D. I was nineteen years old and working for fifty cents a day, the sum of the receipt was fifty cents.

Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament writes: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed

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me. But ye say, where in have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” (And then the challenge and promise.)

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:8-10

I promise you my wonderful family that the promise of the Lord is real. Pay an honest tithing and your blessings will multiply both spiritually and in worldly goods. For truly my own blessings are beyond my understanding at this point in time. And I’ve paid a full tithe ever since I can remember. Also paying tithing in full is essential to the attainment of those great blessings which the Lord has in store for his faithful saints. By this principle it shall be known who is for the kingdom of God and who is against it.

“Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming. For verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon. Wherefore, if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called today.” D.& C. 64:23-25

13. The law of fast and offerings. The law of the fast is simple and if complied with by all the adult members it would take care of the poor and needy. It simply requires that we fast two meals, meaning going without food and liquids for about twenty four hours. And giving the equivalent in fast offerings or more if you are able or desire so to do to the Bishop for the care of the needy. Because of health problems I no longer fast from liquids but I do from food. It is the spirit of the law and the willingness to give for the sake of the needy. Remembering that “sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.”

The first Sunday of the month is the designated Fast day unless otherwise stated for conferences etc. the early saints in Utah fasted the first Thursday of the month and their offerings consisted usually of produce from their farms and gardens.

Fasting at other times is encouraged when we are seeking extra spiritual strength and is limited to the individuals strength and needs. The longest I’ve ever fasted were 6 consecutive twenty four hour fasts. I ate and drank at the evening meal only from Monday thru Saturday in preparation for giving a blessing to a dear sister about forty years old dying of cancer of the liver. She was healed instantly.

However, as in all things pertaining to God’s law use good sense. Do not try fasting for forty days without any food or water even the strongest are dead withing fifteen days.

The Savior in his forty day fast and Moses in two consecutive forty day fasts with only three days between were able to do so only because they received a special blessing and strengthening from our Eternal Father. So use good sense, but great things result from obeying this law both in our personal health and that of our family and in all phases of our life.

Example: we moved to Provo from Washington state just fifty years ago this August. In all that time the LDS churches along the Wasatch Front, and that is most of Utah’s population, have been in the red on fast offerings. Meaning that tithing money must be used to supplement the fast offerings in caring for the needy. For eleven years of that time I was Bishop / Branch President of two different units and was well aware of the problem.

Then I spent two years in the world in the republic of Kiribati out in the Pacific ocean on tiny islands near the equator. The people had nothing. Home was just a thatched roof, no walls, no floor, no furniture, very little clothing and food was fish from the ocean, coconuts and bread fruit (this grows on trees and is similar to squash) and maybe some rice. The average income per family per year was only four hundred dollars. They paid their pennies and nickels in tithes and offerings and took care of their families. Not once was I able to get them to use the Fast Offering fund. One lovely little mother with seven children age 6 months to twelve years said, “NO”, when offered church assistance at the drowning of her husband. Said she, “my brother brings me fish every day and I gather coconuts and bread fruit.  If

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only all folks would try hard to be self sufficient. This fund is so important but should be used very carefully.

14. The law to multiply and replenish the earth has never been revoked. It is still valid today. The greatest blessing you can have in this life is your children. My own dear mother, only seventeen was told that she would surely die unless I was removed by the doctor a piece at a time. I thank my God regularly after ninety-six years that she refused the doctors advice and expected to die. Pretty spunky for a seventeen year old girl! She lived, and the doctor then warned her to never attempt another birth so she only had six more, three more boys and three girls. And how I love them all. And what a fantastic mother!

From time to time the news media publishes a detailed list of the thousands of dollars it costs to raise and educate one child. Its enough to scare the “living-be-jabbers” out of parents. Just ignore such figures even if they are true. They are not true. (Now try and figure that one out!)

Just have faith and keep the commandments and you will be blessed with the means to bless and raise and educate all the Lord sends to you. In our case we had six. Your mother / grandmother wanted more, but that was it. And now in my advanced age I can state that from the day we knew each one was coming they have been only blessings indeed. And your “children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” Proverbs 17:6

“ Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Proverbs 4:1-7

15. The law of obedience to God and his servants.

“And now I give unto you a commandment (law) to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life. For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God. (So there is the commandment to keep the commandments) D. & C.84:43-44 Actually God boils all the commandments down to one word. The word is CHARITY. “ And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.” Moroni 7:45-47

truly then to possess charity encompasses all other commandments and without charity, keeping all the other commandments would be a waste of time. It is bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray  unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons (and daughters) of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. Moroni 7:48

16. Temple ordinance work. Whenever the true church is upon the earth TEMPLES are built. When there are no temples there is no true church. Temples are for more than worship, in fact they are closed on the Sabbath. In the temple the eternal truths of the Celestial kingdom are taught, how to get there and what to expect.

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 Those who have received their endowments enter into a series of covenants and are symbolically stripped of the sins of mortality and here and only here on this mortal earth can a man and a woman be married for time (this life) and all eternity and children born to them are there’s forever and when they have passed beyond the Vail they continue on until they to have the status of Godhood.

And all the ordinances that a live person must have to receive the ultimate is also performed by proxy for the dead. “Proxy” means to do something for someone else that they can’t do for themselves.

The first temple built after the flood that we have record of is the tabernacle built under the direction of Moses, the first year after they left Egypt. It was a portable Temple and all the ordinances for the living could be performed in it. Work for the dead was not authorized until after the Savior’s resurrection. And we have only one recorded in the New Testament. Paul trying to teach “resurrection” said. “Else why are they baptizing for the dead if the dead rise not at all?”

But wickedness and a refusal to believe stopped work for the dead with the destruction of the temple in seventy AD.

When we were married in the Cardston, Alberta, Canada Temple, May 19, 1934 (note that is 78 years ago as of 2012!) there were only ten temples in the whole world, the rest were in the United States. (Although Hawaii was not yet a state) and all of them were in Utah. At the 178^th general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints last week, 124 temples have been finished, dedicated and are in use in far flung reaches of the world. There is even one in China. In  Hong Kong . During the millennium they will “dot” the world as the vast work for the dead from Adam down will be offered to the spirits of the dead.

17. Genealogy. All of us are responsible to see that our ancestry as far as possible is traced back as far as possible. Our daughter, Carolyn, is doing a great work there in and has traced literally thousands of names. My brother, David, has done a tremendous job for us . (You might give us a report Dave!) All I know is that we have some rather interesting ancestors in strange places; as for instance, Pepin the Short and Bertha Bigfoot were king and queen of some little group in the fifth century. I suppose their names are descriptive.

18. Missionary work. The resurrected Savior’s final instructions, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, Amen. Matthew 28:19-20

I’ve filled a little over six years on four missions and Mother was with me on three of them. Besides being the perfect wife she was also the perfect missionary companion. We’ve lost all track of how many we have influenced and or baptized but it would run into the hundreds. Hopefully our efforts are acceptable. We also spent two years with the Navajo and Hopi Indians, but I was with the Church Education system and getting paid. It was a mission to us though and I feel to count it as such. Don’t be afraid to open your mouth and share the good news of the gospel. Share it within your families and with your friends the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives for the better! It is True!

19. Eternal marriage continued in the next memo.

Love you forever,

Dad, Grandpa etc. Richard M. Pratt