This brief sketch of the following 9 pages under title title of “Book of Orson” (Pratt) was written by himself , containing briefly an account of his early life from birth Sept. 19, 1811 to his babtism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day- Saints-
Sept 19, 1830.
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Book of Orson
Behold I Orson having obtained mercy from God and having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days yea <having> known much of his goodness, being called of him to go forth unto this generation and cry repentance unto them preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming, Therefore I make a record of my proceedings.
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in my days Behold I do not make a full account in this record but only a short account shall I give of my calling to the ministry, of my travels, of my preachings, of my labors in the vinyard of the Lord, and of the dealings of the Lord & great condsecution of the Lord to me. Behold I Orson was born in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & eleven
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in the ninth month and on the nineteenth day of the month. And it came to pass that many of my youthful days passed away before I did repent of my sins. And in the nineteenth year of my age I began to consider on the evil of my ways & the danger that I was in of being cast off forever, yea I saw that I had rebelled against my God & had not kept his holy commandments & I did
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fear exceedingly lest I should be cut off in my sins & suffer the wrath of God & the vengeance of eternal fire
Wherefore I began to amend my ways & cry unto the Lord for mercy yea oft times did the fields,& the wilderness, & the secret places witness my cries in the silent hours of the night yea & behold the Lord also did witness my cries & visit me with
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his spirit & soften my heart & behold I did covenant with the Lord that I would serve him all my days. And it came to pass that from that time forth I did strive to keep the commandments of God in all things inasmuch as they were made known unto me. And behold there were many churches built up in the land which professed to be the churches of Christ nevertheless they would contend
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much one with another about the doctrine of Christ & I not fully understanding the doctrine of Christ did not unite myself to any of them but continued to call upon the Lord for directions, that I might understand his will concerning me, & behold the Lord did direct me for it came to pass about one year from the time that I first sought the Lord that my my Brother
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whose name was Parley came from the western countries, with glad tidings of great joy even with the fullness of the everlasting gospel unto the gentiles & also unto the house of Israel which gospel was contained in the Book of Mormon which was a sacred record taken from plates which were found in the state of New York even a record of a fallen people which record the Lord brought to light by his own power to accomplish a great
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work among the people even to prepare the way of his second coming by bringing in the fullness of the Gentiles & gethering together the dispersed of Israel to the lands of their inheritance. Wherefore I did rejoise exceedingly for I beheld that the Lord had again visited the inhabitants of the earth by the ministering of his Angels & also by the spirit of Revelation & brought forth his church out of obscurity
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& out of darkness as hath been spoken by the mouth of the holy Prophets & Apostles. And it came to pass on the nineteenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & thirty (I being nineteen years old this self same day) that I went forth & was baptized, the ordinance being administered by Parley
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[Transcribed by Cheryl Brawn, Brandan Hull, Walt Morrell, Mauri Pratt, Suzanne Taysom, and Tiffany Wood Whiting; Nov. 2015]
“Autobiographical sketch, circa 1833,” MS 57: Orson Pratt autobiography and journals 1833-1847, file 1, p. 62-71 (https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE55137: Retrieved November 2016). Church History Library, Salt Lake City, UT.
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