D&C 34

In personal revelation to Orson Pratt, the Lord said -

"...lift up your voice and spare not, for the Lord God hath spoken; therefore prophesy, and it shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost."  (Doctrine and Covenants  Section 34:10)

To Orson, this instruction was much the same given to many saints in their patriarchal blessings.  We learn a great deal more about the personality and meekness of Orson Pratt as he related -

"He [Joseph Smith] inquired of the Lord, and obtained a revelation for your humble servant. He retired into the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in the house where this Church was organized in 1830. John Whitmer acted as his scribe, and I accompanied him into the chamber, for he had told me that it was my privilege to have the word of the Lord; and the Lord in that revelation, which is published here in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, made a promise which to me, when I was in my youth, seemed to be almost too great for a person of as humble origin as myself ever to attain to. After telling in the revelation that the great day of the Lord was at hand, and calling upon me to lift up my voice among the people, to call upon them to repent and prepare the way of the Lord, and that the time was near when the heavens should be shaken, when the earth should tremble, when the stars should refuse their shining, and when great destructions awaited the wicked, the Lord said to your humble servant: 'Lift up your voice and prophesy, and it shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.' This was a particular point in the revelation that seemed to me too great for me ever to attain to, and yet there was a positive command that I should do it. I have often reflected upon this revelation, and have oftentimes inquired in my heart—'Have I fulfilled the commandment as I ought to have done? Have I sought as earnestly as I ought to obtain the gift of prophecy, so as to fulfill the requirement of heaven?' And I have felt sometimes to condemn myself because of my slothfulness and because of the little progress that I have made in relation to this great heavenly and divine gift. I certainly have had no inclination to prophesy to the people unless it should be given to me by the inspiration and power of the Holy Ghost; to prophesy out of my own heart is something perfectly disagreeable to my feelings, even to think of, and hence I have oftentimes, in my public discourses, avoided, when a thing would come before my mind pretty plain, uttering or declaring it for fear that I might get something out before the people in relation to the future that was wrong." (Orson Pratt, JD 17:290-91.)

As I read a commentary on Orson Pratt this morning, I was touched with a portion of his obituary in the Deseret News -

" 'Orson Pratt was a true Apostle of the Lord. Full of integrity, firm as a rock to his convictions, true to his brethren and his God, earnest and zealous in defense and the proclamation of the truth, ever ready to bear testimony to the Latter-day work, he had a mind stored with Scripture, ancient and modern, was an eloquent speaker, a powerful minister, a logical and convincing writer, an honest man and a great soul who reached out after eternal things, grasped them with the gift of inspiration, and brought them down to the level and comprehension of the common mind. Thousands have been brought into the Church through his preaching in many lands, thousands more by his writings. He set but little store on the wealth of this world, but he has laid up treasures in heaven which will make him eternally rich.' " (Smith and Sjodahl, DCC, p. 179.)

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have similar life summaries of all saints.