The Autobiograph of Parley P. Pratt by: Parley P. Pratt

I have found a new hero from LDS history!! From the moment I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down, and I went through the first 150 pages in one sitting. What an incredible man. I fell in love on page 4 with his statement "But I always loved a book. If I worked hard, a book was in my hand in the morning while others were sitting down to breakfast; the same at noon; if I had a few moments, a book! A BOOK! A book at evening, while others slept or sported; a book on Sundays; a book at every leisure moment of my life." My ability to identify with Elder Pratt only continued from this point.

This is one of the most amazing missionaries I have ever read about. From beginning to end, I sat in awe of his amazing ability to teach the gospel. Even in the course of writing his own autobiography, Elder Pratt taught the gospel. He frequently talks about the healing of the sick, and the trials, and tribulations he went through -- but they all seem to pail in comparison to his love of teaching the gospel. There is something about this passion that even comes through in his writing, which left me as a reader wishing I could sit and listen to him teach in person. He reminds readers early in the course of his story of the charge given to him by Oliver Cowdery, when he was sent out on one of his early missions, as an Apostle of the Church that "the mind naturally claims something new; but the same thing rehearsed frequently profits us." Elder Pratt demonstrates this principle in all of his teachings. He never treats the simplest principles of the gospel as something burdensome that people have heard over and over. But rather, every element of the gospel to him was beautiful, and important and necessary for the understanding of all men. His writing is personable, and he even addresses the reader frequently throughout the book, as if he were sitting in the same room having a conversation with you. It is this personal approach to the story that kept me as a reader involved, and wanting to read more. It is also insightful that one of the greatest looks into the character of the Prophet Joseph Smith comes from Elder Pratt. Elder Pratt doesn't spend a lot of time talking about the Prophet, and his relationship to him, in this book. But I find it very interesting that of all the challenges that Elder Pratt shared with the Prophet, one of the few that he shares is when he was incarcerated in Missouri with Joseph. And instead of talking about the injustices, and the horrors that they were experiencing -- he instead leaves us with such a forceful snapshot of the prophet, that this description of him survives even today. "I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the Courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri."

I am so grateful that I have read, and can recommend this book. And for anyone that has a love and passion for the truth -- particularly those that are seeking to share the teachings of God, this is a book that you shouldn't miss! It is a man that I hope to one day be able to sit down and talk with, and learn, and be taught through his unique understanding of the things of the Spirit.