Memo #49 (Written June 1, 2004)

To: Those I love

From: Grandpa Pratt

Re: The Second Coming (Wickedness alters the earth)

The earth, beautiful and inhabitable from pole to pole as described in memo 47 was soon to start a change due to the sins of the people until it has reached its current stage of mostly wasteland and water. The first recorded change, that I can find, happened about 800 years after the fall of Adam. (He was still alive for he lived to be 930 years.)

In spite of Adam and Eve’s teachings, their children for the most part had cast God out of their lives. Their fourth great grandson, Enoch, was called and ordained by Adam to proclaim the gospel and to save all who would listen.“And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch...there also came up a land out of the depth of the seas and so great was the fear of the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and went upon the land which came up out of the depth of the sea. Moses 7: 13-14

Enoch gathered the believers into a great city and its surround farms and villages and then about fire years before the birth of Enoch’s grandson, Noah, his city of holiness called Zion, was wrenched from this earth and taken to another to await the second coming of the Lord, then they will return to this earth. This was the second major change in the earth’s surface and was the step taken by God to save, all who would obey, from the flood that engulfed the whole earth 600 years later.

The world denies that there was a flood, saying that a loving God would not do such a thing to his children. But if they would read the scriptures they would find that the earth had to be baptized and cleansed of all the filth brought on by its inhabitants. Not one soul needed to drown! Not all the saints were taken up with Enoch. His son Methuselah, the oldest recorded living man and his son Lamek continued on as preachers for righteousness. They were joined by Lameck’s son Noah who was born five years after Zion fled. Methuselah lived 969 years and died the year of the flood. His son, Lameck lived 777 years and died five years before the flood. Noah was 600 years old when the flood occurred and lived 350 years after.

These men and others, such as Noah’s three sons, warned the wold of the impending flood. “ and the Lord ordained Noah...to declare his gospel, even as it was given unto Enoch...Noah continued his preaching...believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost...

And if ye do not this, the floods will come in upon you; nevertheless they hearkened not.”

Moses 8:19-25. but there were some that believed. “ ”For angels descended out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost fell on many, (those that had believed) and they were caught up by the powers of Heaven to join the people of Enoch,” 

Moses 7: 27 

Finally there were only eight believing souls left, Noah, three sons, and their wives. “And God said unto Noah: The end of all flesh is come before me. For the earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh from off the earth.” Moses 8:30 NO ONE NEEDED TO DIE IN THE FLOOD ~ NO ONE NEEDS TO DIE IN THE BURNING AT THE SECOND COMING! But most will because they have ears to hear but they won’t listen.

Don’t be one of them!

The whole earth would have been changed by the flood and geological changes that supposedly took millions of years could and did happen during the years the flood lasted and a few years after as the excess water sought the lowest level.

There are other changes mentioned in the scriptures but I only have room for one more. The full account is found in third Nephi chapters 1-11 and especially 8-10

Matthew briefly mentions: “The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.” Matt. 27:51

but in the Americas where they had the gospel and then turned God out of their lives the destruction and changing of the earth was horrific, and note   “If it were not for the righteous who are in this great city, behold, I would cause the fire should come down out of heaven and destroy it.” Hel. 13:13

Samuel prophesied of America, “There shall be thundering and lightings... the earth shall shake...the rocks which ye know at this time shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath...there shall be great tempests, many mountains shall be laid low like unto valley and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great.” Hel. 14:21-31. And all this happened in the Americas during the three hours of the crucifixion. But the world says it took millions if not billions of years.

Now Third Nephi: “Tempest, earthquakes, fires, whirlwinds and upheavals attest the crucifixion of Christ.”.....a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land...the whole earth did shake as if it was about to divide asunder...the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea...earth covered the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city there became a great mountain “Note: “tempest, miners in Mexico have discovered a city 2000 feet below the surface.) Many cities were sunk...many people were carried away in whirl winds etc. and all this did last for about the space of three hours... and it came to pass that there was thick darkness... ante there could be no light....and the devil laugheth and his angels rejoice. And a voice spoke saying, “Oh all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, tht I may heal you. Behold,, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me, behold I am Jesus Christ the Son of God.” 3 Nephi 9-15

Jesus Christ lives and he extended the same love to each one of us. I testify of him with all of my heart. Seek him and you will find HIM. Learn HIS ways and rejoice in the peace they bring into your life 

Love, 

Dad, Grandpa etc. Richard Marden Pratt

Memo #48 (written May 1, 2004)

To: Those I love
From: Grandpa Pratt
Re: The Second Coming

    “No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” 
Eccl. 3:11. Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.
    For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, o then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?” Jacob 4: 8-9
    Now for a few things that we do know: Adam and Eve were the first people on the earth. (THERE WERE NO PRE ADAMITES.)  They were not yet mortals. For mortality is a serious and dangerous business. But it is the only way we can gain a body of flesh, which can reproduce itself, for spirit bodies cannot. So god gave Adam the choice of remaining in the Garden of Eden forever, which would have frustrated the whole plan or take into his body that which would trigger mortality and death. Note: physical death is separation of Spirit from the fleshly body.
    Eve had already eaten, whatever it was and would soon be cast out and die. Adam perceiving this CHOSE TO FOLLOW HER. That’s love! “Adam was not deceived, but the women being deceived was in the transgression 1 Tim. 2:14 and “Adam fell that men might be;
and men are that they might have joy. (men often refers to both men and women) 2 Ne. 2:25So, be grateful to them both, but more especially to Mother Eve. For had they not elected death and birth we would still be in the Spirit world begging our Heavenly Father to replace them with someone who would get the job done. Notice: they were married by God while still immortal and in as much as God does nothing save it be forever, their marriage was the first eternal one performed on this earth.
    Not only did they bring death and birth on themselves, but also on all life including the earth itself. And lowered the earth from a Terrestrial stage, or paradise, (where all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created. And they must have remained forever and had no end and they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. 2 Ne. 2:22-23) to a Telestial stage where Satan could tempt us, try us, and prove whom we would follow. Violence and evil became the lot of man and animal.
    Adam and Eve, of course, began to have a family, and their grown sons and daughters paired off and started families. A veil had been drawn over their minds so that they remembered little of their former life. The earth was also cursed for their sake. In other words the cursing was a blessing; now man would have to work and struggle which would produce growth and happiness and satisfaction in their achievements. How grateful I am for work!
    Because Cain and Abel are the first of their children named, we get the idea that they were the first of their family. BUT TIS NOT SO. A careful reading shows that Adam and Eve were 
over 100 years old when Cain was born, then Abel, and it specifically mentions that Adam was 130 when Seth, who replaced Abel as heir, was born. Note: Yes, before the flood they lived into the 10th century and would have had children for the first several hundred years of their life. Noah is mentioned as to age and he was 450 years old when Japheth was born, and 492 at the birth of Shem, and when he was 500 years old Ham was born, Moses 8:12, Gen. 5:32
    and Adam and Eve called upon the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord.....and he gave unto them commandments. And they were obedient...an angel appeared unto Adam and Eve and taught them of the Savior and his great redeeming sacrifice that thru obedience they could return home clothed with a resurrected body and blessed with an eternal companion. Adam was commanded “thou shalt do all that thou doest in THE NAME OF THE SON, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore. And the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth, and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will. 
    And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, (with the Holy Ghost) and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
    And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the Eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
    They made all this wonderful news known to their then existing family and they refused to accept it. “And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning.” Moses ch. 5
    and Adam was baptized by the Spirit of the Lord and with the Holy Ghost and given the Priesthood whereby he would have baptized Eve and any believing children. Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons.” Moses 6:64-68
    the rest of the earth was corrupt before God, and it was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.
    And God said unto Noah: the end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh from off the earth.
    Doesn’t this sound familiar today? Isn’t the whole earth filled with violence? Look around and see the necessity of a loving Father stepping in to stop it all.

I plead with you and pray for you that you will find where you are in the plan of our Father in Heaven. Honor HIM by living it. ......continued next month

                        Love,
                        Dad, Grandpa, brother, friend
                        Richard M. Pratt

Poem by Dawn Alta Pratt Taylor written for Dad's 92nd birthday  (We just past what would be his 104th birthday!

Generation Stones

Faces from the past look out from frames and smile,

Album pages full of legacy worthwhile.

His jaw looks just like Daddy's her eyes are my eyes too.

There heritage and history wrapped up in me and you.

Work ethics from my Grandpa and humor from Grandma.

Singing from dear Auntie and values from Ma and Pa.

Lives' stories eked in sweat and tears pave a path for me ~

boosting, helping me to become all that I can be!

Memo #47 (Written April 1, 2004)

To: Those I love

From: Grandpa Pratt

Re: The Second Coming (continued)

“A new heaven and a new earth are promised by the sacred writers. Or, in other words, the planetary systems are to be changed, purified, refined, exalted, and glorified, in the similitude of the resurrection, by which means all physical evil or imperfection will be done away.” 

Parley P. Pratt

The first step towards this glorified perfection will be at the Saviors appearance when the earth will be renewed as it was in the morning of the creation and the first couple was placed thereon. This step is imminent and the scriptures testify that it will happen sometime in the beginning of this millennium which has just started. So it could and should and will happen in the lifetime of the current generation.

The final step in its perfection will be at the end of this millennium when it will become a Celestial globe and the meek will inherit it.

So the question now is: “What was the earth like when the first inhabitants took up housekeeping there on?” When a prophet speaks of the restoration of all things, he means that all things have undergone a change and are to be again restored to their primitive order, even as they first existed.

When God had created the heavens and the earth, and separated the light from the darkness, his next great command was to the waters. “And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. Gen. 1:9

“From this we learn a marvelous fact which very few have realized or believed in this benighted age: we learn that the waters, which are now divided into oceans, seas and lakes, were then all gathered into one vast ocean and consequently, that the land which is now torn asunder and divided into continents and islands almost innumerable was then one vast continent or body, not separated as it now is.

Second, we hear the Lord God pronounce the earth, as well as everything else, very good. From this we learn that there were neither deserts, barren places, stagnant swamps, rough, broken, ragged hills, nor vast mountains covered with eternal snow; and no part of it was located in the frigid zone so as to render its climate dreary and unproductive, subject to eternal frost or everlasting chains of ice. 

The whole earth was probably one vast plain, or interspersed with gently rising hills and sloping vales, well calculated for cultivation; still its climate was delightfully varied, with the moderate changes of heat and cold, of wet and dry, which only tended to crown the varied year with the greater variety of productions, all for the good of man, animal, fowl or creeping thing; all the vast creation of animated beings breathed naught but health, and peace and joy. “ Neither sigh nor groan was heard through out the vast expanse; neither were there sorrow, fear, pain, weeping, sickness, nor death; neither contentions, wars, nor bloodshed; but peace crowned the seasons as they rolled forth, and life, joy and love reigned over all God’s works. But oh how changed the scene!” “Voice of Warning”  page 84 Parley P. Pratt

      Of all the earths surface only a small portion remains fairly unchanged. We served a mission in Iowa. The most beautiful of the 50 states equaled only by the surrounding states and matches the early creation except for the weather.

The Garden of Eden was located where Independence, Missouri now is and when Adam and Eve were driven out they moved about 70 miles North to a valley called Adam-an-Diahman meaning the place where Adam dwelt. But other than the surfaces of the central states, all else has been changed until 71% of the earth is now covered with three major oceans and their connecting salt seas such as the vast Mediterranean and Arctic and Antarctic. Another 29% is vast desolate deserts and huge space of wasteful mountains, swamps and rivers and fresh water lakes. It is claimed that only 6% of the earth currently is inhabitable and even some of it is barely so. For one thing the climate becomes so increasingly harsh beyond the 45th meridian North or South of the Equator that one wonders why people live there at all. I’ve experienced cold -40* and it’s anything but pleasant.

Yet there is ample evidence that the Poles once enjoyed semi tropical weather. North of the arctic circle, through Alaska and Siberia, in the past two hundred years more than 30,000 mammoths and other large animals have been found frozen solid and in such perfect preservation that the flesh could be eaten. In fact when I was a young man a Fairbanks restaurant featured mammoth steaks on its menu. Furthermore the contents of their stomachs revealed that they had feasted on plants of a semi tropical nature. Some even had unswallowed plant growth in their mouths. And while the findings of animal life in the Antarctic has not been as prolific. Still they are found along with plant life. Just recently a large tree, still standing erect with leaves on it was fond frozen solid in the ice.

What changed all this? Wickedness! The earth reeled to and fro like a drunken man; the great flood, earthquakes and other natural or unnatural storms of violence were triggered by sin.

The flood, probably, more than any other phenomena would have changed the entire earths surface and then about 200 years after the flood: the Bible simply states; “In the days of Peleg was the earth divided (Gen. 10:25) into its present ocean and continents with some great changes 2000 years later at the death of the Savior which will be covered in our next memo.

Interestingly, our sun now spins on its axis 23 ½ degrees from perpendicular, some what like a kids top as it loses speed. This gives us our polar ice caps and harsh seasons. Could it be when the earth reels to and fro like a drunken man it will again spin upright and dispel the arctics????

To be continued next month! 

D. & C. 90:24 “Search diligently pray always and be believing and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.

I LOVE each one of you!

Grandpa, Dad, brother, friend 

                         Richard Marden Pratt

Memo #46 (Written March 1, 2004)

Memo #46 

March 1, 2004

To: Those I love

From: Grandpa Pratt

Re: The Second Coming (continued)

Those who support the false theories mentioned in last months memo #45 must of necessity attack revelation and any communication coming from God or forsake their theories.

The word of the Lord through his servants the prophets is the only safe guide that man, any man, and all men have it. Or as Lehi taught, “If there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.” 2 Nephi 2:14

“But there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth (yes even billions of earth like unto this) and all things that in them are, both things to act (man) and things to be acted upon.” 2 Nephi 2:14

Literally there were two creations:

1. Spiritual Creation: “Every plant of the field BEFORE it as in the earth, every herb of the field before it grew....and there was not a man to till the ground. Genesis 2:5

2. Temporal (temporary) or mortal creation. When the Father announced, a great

council held in heaven, the creation of an earth on which we might dwell, receive a house or body for our spirit and select an eternal companion and form an eternal family; we, and we were all there, sang and shouted for joy. Job 38:7 Naturally, the mortal body is created after the likeness of the spirit. You, and I mean you who are reading this, look like your spirit, and your spotted dog looks like his spirit. Oh you may be larger or smaller but you’ll still look like you.

The brother of Jared saw the finger of the Lord “and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood...and he fell down from fear...  “I feared lest he should smite me for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood...the Lord showed himself unto him...Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my Spirit; and even as I appear unto thee in the spirit will I appear unto my people int eh flesh.” Ether 3:6-17 This happened nearly 2000 years B.C.

The thought comes to me that the two creations might be likened to an automobile. The power of the auto, that which give it life is the motor (which is out of sight as is our spirit) and the body of the car represents our physical body. In fact when the motor won’t run, we say , “the car is dead.”

At this great heavenly council, the Father announced that the “first born” of all spirits, even Jehovah (known to us as Jesus Christ) would be in total command and supervise the creation of a mortal estate and would be the Savior there of. In fact his mortal name is a transliteration of two Greek words Jesus and Christo. Jesus in English means Savior and Christo equals anointed or appointed. Or as Paul often writes, “Christ Jesus” which means literally “the Appointed Savior.” 

At this council, the anointed commander stood in the midst of many souls that were good. YOU WERE THERE! And he said, “These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good...and he said unto those who were with him: WE will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell. And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” Abraham 3:23-25; Deut. 32:7-8, Acts 17:24-26 (NOTE: there is no end to space to buid nor of materials to build new earths with.) 

Of those who assisted in the creation I think of two who are named. 1. “Abraham, thou are one of them.” there were probably more! Michael, the archangel at the finish of the creation became Adam, the first man and the first flesh or mortal upon the new earth. (Note Arch means first and it follows naturally that as the first man, Adam would also be the first angel for an angel is a resurrected man and Adam would have been the first person resurrected after the Savior and would have been in the group of those resurrected souls recorded in Matthew 27:52 “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.” 

“And the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water neither in the air. Moses 3:5"

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden...and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every there that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.” Gen. 2:8-9

“Hmmm,,” I wonder where he got the seeds and plants to start vegetation on this earth? Could it be that he brought them from an older planet? And what about the animal life? It simply states that out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air. Gen. 2:19 and man also was formed out of the dust of the ground. Gen 2-7

Now were they formed? Why say the prophets the same way God always forms things which is the simple act of bringing together male and female of the same species. This all seed, all life, was brought from an already stocked and thriving planet.

Preposterous say thou! Not when we consider that puny man has placed men on the moon and is even now planning how to go farther into space. But God controls the space and traverses it far faster than the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) on man’s journey to the moon, peak speed reached about 20,000 miles per hour. Slow, huh? And the scriptures relate at least two accounts fo people being taken from this earth to reside on other earths until the restitution of all things. The people of Enoch before the flood were translated ~ incidentally no one needed to drown in that deluge as all could have been with Enoch. And with his people was a good sized chunk of our present earth with all their homes, fields etc. they will return!

The second people was the city of Salem under King Melchizedek, but only the people were translated, for Abraham offered as a sacrifice on the Salem City site where modern Jerusalem now is. (“Translation” an exciting subject perhaps I’ll write about it when trough with Creation.)

TO BE CONTINUED! 

I loved you!

Grandpa, Dad, uncle, friend (you choose) 

POST it note from typist:

Grandpa has been writing and studying and has memos ready clear up and past December of this year! Stories and ideas are flowing onto paper and you might ask why? I know why. It is his deep and abiding LOVE for the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is centered in family! His love for yo and I is eternal and his knowledge and wisdom are a boon to me personally. I am sure we all benefit form his prayers on our behalf. Those who come to lift his spirits are the ones lifted when they leave. He would ask us to search, ponder and pray and know for ourselves that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is TRUE. We can know just like he does if we apply ourselves.

Memo #45 (Written February 1, 2004)

To: Those I Love

From Grandpa Pratt

Re: The Second Coming: (Foolish World Philosophies)

“We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (The New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.” 10th Article of Faith

In other words the earth will be restored to the condition it was in at the finish of its creation which is likened unto Paradise which is like unto heaven. 

In order, then, to understand the second coming we must go back to the beginning and discover what the earth was like as it issued forth from the womb of creation. In doing so we will be going counter to the teachings and philosophies of the world. Which are diametrically opposed to the revelations of God. These man-made philosophies are freely taught as though true in all our schools and the media from the earliest grades through college. And are so thoroughly implanted in our minds, that if believed in, can weaken or destroy our faith in God who is our only hope. I will mention first a few and their absurdities.

1. Darwins theory of evolution usually taught as fact and it hasn’t a leg to stand on because the science of microbiology, which has only developed since 1950 by the invention of microscopes of a nature and strength to study the single cell which is the building block of all animal and plant life, shows that the single cell is a tiny solar system with a nucleus (sun) in the center and many tiny revolving particles around it even to its own garbage system to rid itself of waste. The cell is so complex say these scientists that it could not evolve. IT HAD TO BE RIGHT AT ITS FIRST INNOVATION. It constitutes in itself a complete organism.

2. Cavemen are the remnants of a highly organized and advanced society as the American Indian shows, whose ancestors built a great civilization including 10,000 miles of superior concrete highways and vast cities of millions and the world has caveman just backwards. Caveman is not man on his way up, he is man on his way down because of the sins of his forbearers.

3. The so called glacial or ice age or ages is much harder to believe than a universal flood the remains of which are found on the highest mountains.

4. But the most absurd is the current lie, Global Warming. And most real scientists ridicule the idea by pointing out that better than 99 percent of the gases which are supposedly contributing to this calamity are emitted naturally from the earth and its plant and animal life. Yet this element in Australia is so concerned about the flatulence (gas) of cattle that they are trying to devise an emissions system to fasten on each end of the cow similar to the emission systems on cars. These believers also ignore the climate records of the past 100 years that show the earth has cooled sightly.

So as I outline the creation as described by the scriptures try not to let these world taught absurdities weaken your belief. Remember: we have learned by sad experience, that it is the nature of most men as soon as they get a little learning as they suppose, and they are presented with the truth and the false, they will choose the false and cast the truth aside and even after the lie is exposed the majority will go on teaching and believing the lie for two or three generations or longer. Peter tells us...”There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” 2nd Peter 2:1

Karl Marx, the father of Communism in his manifesto, which is the communist constitution, wrote, “Communism abolishes Eternal truths; it abolishes all religion and all morality.”

And here is another big lie, we are currently taught by the media, “Communism is dead.” well sorry to say it isn’t. They’ve just changed their name. The majority of the worlds people even now are suffering under its bloody rule. Witness from Cuba to China to Russia to many of the nations in Africa and the terrible slaughter going on by guns, starvation and disease under communist rule.

The day before Columbus discovered America his crew threatened mutiny if he didn’t turn back because of the centuries of old teaching that the earth was flat and one could sail to the edge of it and fall off. And this continued to be taught and believed even after Ferdinand Magellan sailed around the earth in 1520-1523.

Now the creation. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” and he did it in six periods of time each of 1,000 years duration. And after each DAY beginning, with the second, he pronounced, “it was good.” and at the end of the sixth day he said, “Behold it is very good.” and Peter tells us, “Be not ignorant of one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. And a thousand years as one day.” 2nd. Peter 3:8

also from Peter: knowing this first, that their shall come in the LAST DAYS scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgement and perdition of ungodly men. 2nd. Peter 3:3-7

Then Peter continues on in language that cannot be refuted: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” 2nd Peter 3-10-12

TO BE CONTINUED the next several months with a description of the earth from Adam to the present.

It is an exciting time to prepare to meet our Heavenly Father. I love each one of you with all of my heart. Just as I know you pray for me, I pray for each one of you that you will build a relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

Love, Grandpa Pratt