The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt: One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry, and TravelsPratt, Parley P. (Parley Parker)
Religion
The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt: One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry, and Travels
Pratt, Parley P. (Parley Parker)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Apostles -- Biography; Pratt, Parley P. (Parley Parker), 1807-1857
It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might
be secured to me for time and all eternity; and that the refined
sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other emanated
from the fountain of divine eternal love. It was from him that I
learned that we might cultivate these affections, and grow and
increase in the same to all eternity; while the result of our
endless union would be an offspring as numerous as the stars of
heaven, or the sands of the sea shore.
It was from him that I learned the true dignity and destiny of a
son of God, clothed with an eternal priesthood, as the patriarch
and sovereign of his countless offspring. It was from him that I
learned that the highest dignity of womanhood was, to stand as a
queen and priestess to her husband, and to reign for ever and ever
as the queen mother of her numerous and still increasing offspring.
I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved--with a
pureness--an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which would
lift my soul from the transitory things of this grovelling sphere
and expand it as the ocean. I felt that God was my Heavenly Father
indeed; that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife of my bosom
was an immortal, eternal companion; a kind ministering angel, given
to me as a comfort, and a crown of glory for ever and ever. In
short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding
also.
Yet, at that time, my dearly beloved brother, Joseph Smith, had
barely touched a single key; had merely lifted a corner of the veil
and given me a single glance into eternity.
While visiting with brother Joseph in Philadelphia, a very large
church was opened for him to preach in, and about three thousand
people assembled to hear him. Brother Rigdon spoke first, and dwelt
on the Gospel, illustrating his doctrine by the Bible. When he was
through, brother Joseph arose like a lion about to roar; and being
full of the Holy Ghost, spoke in great power, bearing testimony of
the visions he had seen, the ministering of angels which he had
enjoyed; and how he had found the plates of the Book of Mormon, and
translated them by the gift and power of God. He commenced by
saying: "If nobody else had the courage to testify of so glorious a
message from Heaven, and of the finding of so glorious a record, he
felt to do it in justice to the people, and leave the event with
God."
The entire congregation was astounded; electrified, as it were,
and overwhelmed with the sense of the truth and power by which he
spoke, and the wonders which he related. A lasting impression was
made; many souls were gathered into the fold. And I bear witness,
that he, by his faithful and powerful testimony, cleared his
garments of their blood. Multitudes were baptized in Philadelphia
and in the regions around; while, at the same time, branches were
springing up in Pennsylvania, in Jersey, and in various directions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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