I love miracles, and not just the miracles of hundreds of years ago, Latter-day miracles! I have heard countless third and second-hand stories of miracles, but one always questions the details/accuracy and if they are being embellished. To avoid these spiritual Twinkies, I’ve been seeking out accounts of first-hand miracles experienced by Latter-day Saints.
These Latter-day miracles defy science, facts, and logic; stories that show God and His Priesthood command the elements, can heal, and even raise the dead are truly inspiring and powerful. I want to share with you 6 faith-promoting first-hand accounts that I have found of Latter-day miracles in the words of the people who performed, witnessed, or participated in them.
Raising the Dead by Elder Matthew Cowley
Matthew Cowley served three missions in New Zealand, once as an Elder, once as the Mission President, and then again as an Apostle overseeing all the missions of the Pacific. In his time with the peoples of the Pacific, he performed, witnessed, and recorded many miracles. He shared many of these first-hand accounts at an address at BYU on 18 February 1953. Today I want to share two of them. The first is his account of raising the dead:
“I was called to a home in a little village in New Zealand one day. There the Relief Society sisters were preparing the body of one of our Saints. They had placed his body in front of the big house, as they call it, the house where the people come to wail and weep and mourn over the dead, when in rushed the dead man’s brother. He said, “Administer to him.” And the young [Maoris] said, “Why, you shouldn’t do that; he’s dead.” “You do it!”
This same old man that I had with me when his niece was so ill was there. The [dead man’s brother] got down on his knees, and he anointed this man. Then this great old sage got down and blessed him and commanded him to rise. You should have seen the Relief Society sisters scatter. He sat up and said, “Send for the elders; I don’t feel very well.” Of course, all of that was just psychological effect on that dead man. Wonderful, isn’t it—this psychological effect business? We told him he had just been administered to, and he said, “Oh, that was it.” He said, “I was dead. I could feel life coming back into me just like a blanket unrolling.” He outlived the brother that came in and told us to administer to him.”
Gospel Classics: “Miracles” Ensign, Oct. 2004
By Elder Matthew Cowley
An Unfailing Tank of Gas by President Reid Tateoka
President Reid Tateoka of the Japan Sendai Mission was serving when the 2011 earthquake and Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster happened. He wrote an article detailing miracles his missionaries experienced during this crisis, but he also detailed a miracle he experienced as follows:
Following the earthquake there was a run on gasoline. The fuel trucks that could maneuver over broken roads traveled very slowly, resulting in three-hour waits for gasoline, if any was available at all. But the Lord provided for us in miraculous ways. For example, while evacuating sisters and elders to safety in Niigata on the other side of the island, we realized we had driven 18 hours on a single tank, with a gas gauge that always registered “full.” As we neared Niigata, the gas gauge immediately dropped to “empty.”
“He Would Deliver Us” Ensign, Feb. 2018
By Reid Tateoka
Raising the dead to life by Elder ‘Iohani Wolfgramm
This miracle was related by Dallin H. Oaks in a talk given at a Church Educational System fireside in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on 7 May 2000. President Oak’s commentary and framing of the first-hand account of this miracle by quotes from Elder Wolfgramm were too good to not share. President Oaks related the following:
Another sacred experience is related in the book Tongan Saints. It happened while Elder ‘Iohani Wolfgramm and his wife were serving a mission in their native Tonga, presiding over a branch on an outlying island. Their three-year-old daughter was accidentally run over by a loaded taxi. Four of the occupants of the taxi sorrowfully carried her lifeless body to her parents. “Her head was crushed and her face was terribly disfigured.” The sorrowing helpers offered to take the little girl’s body to the hospital so the doctors could repair her severely damaged head and face for the funeral. I now quote the words of her father, Elder Wolfgramm: “I told them I did not want them to take her but that I would ask God what I should do and, if it was possible, to give her life back.”
The helpers took the little girl’s body into the chapel. Elder Wolfgramm continued: “I asked them to hold her while I gave her a priesthood blessing. By then the curious people of the village were flocking in to see our stricken little daughter. As I was about to proceed with the administration, I felt tongue-tied. Struggling to speak, I got the distinct impression that I should not continue with the ordinance. It was as if a voice were speaking to me saying: ‘This is not the right time, for the place is full of mockers and unbelievers. Wait for a more private moment.’
“My speech returned at that moment and I addressed the group: ‘The Lord has restrained me from blessing this little girl, because there are unbelievers among you who doubt this sacred ordinance. Please help me by leaving so I can bless my child.’”
The people left without taking offense. The grieving parents carried the little girl to their home, put her body on her own bed, and covered her with a sheet. Three hours passed, and her body began to show the effects of death. The mother pleaded with the father to bless her, but he insisted that he still felt restrained. Finally, the impression came that he should now proceed. I return to his words:
“All present in the home at that moment were people with faith in priesthood blessings. The feeling of what I should do and say was so strong within me that I knew Tisina would recover completely after the blessing. Thus, I anointed her head and blessed her in the name of Jesus Christ to be well and normal. I blessed her head and all her wounds to heal perfectly, thanking God for his goodness to me in allowing me to hold his priesthood and bring life back to my daughter. I asked him to open the doors of Paradise, so I could tell her to come back and receive her body again and live. The Lord then spoke to my heart and said, ‘She will return to you tomorrow. You will be reunited then.’”
The parents spent an anxious night beside the body of the little girl, who appeared to be lifeless. Then, suddenly, the little girl awoke, alive and well. Her father’s account concludes: “I grabbed her and examined her, her head and face. They were perfectly normal. All her wounds were healed; and from that day to this, she has experienced no complications from the accident. Her life was the miraculous gift from Heavenly Father during our missionary labors in Fo’ui.”
“Miracles” Ensign, Jun. 2001
Tongan Saints Page 88-89
By Dallin H. Oaks
Healing the Blind by Elder Matthew Cowley
The second miracle shared by Elder Matthew Cowley:
I’ve told the story about the little baby, nine months old, who was born blind. The father came up with him one Sunday and said, “Brother Cowley, our baby hasn’t been blessed yet. We’d like you to bless him.” …
I said, “All right, what’s the name?” So he told me the name, and I was just going to start when he said, “By the way, give him his vision when you give him a name. He was born blind.” It shocked me, but then I said to myself, why not? … I had faith in that father’s faith. After I gave that child [his] name, I finally got around to giving [him his] vision. That boy is about 12 years old now. The last time I was back there I was afraid to inquire about him. I was sure he had gone blind again. That’s the way my faith works sometimes. So I asked the branch president about him. And he said: “Brother Cowley, the worst thing you ever did was to bless that child to receive his vision. He’s the meanest kid in this neighborhood, always getting into mischief.” Boy, I was thrilled about that kid getting into mischief!
Gospel Classics: “Miracles” Ensign, Oct. 2004
By Elder Matthew Cowley
The Healing of a blind woman by President Gordon B. Hinckley
President Gordon B. Hinckley worked tirelessly to build a temple in Hong Kong China. He relates one of the many miracles he experienced in Hong Kong as follows:
“I recall once when I arrived in Hong Kong I was asked if I would visit a woman in the hospital whose doctors had told her she was going blind and would lose her sight within a week. She asked if we would administer to her and we did so, and she states that she was miraculously healed. I have a painting in my home that she gave me which says on the back of it, ‘To Gordon B. Hinckley in grateful appreciation for the miracle of saving my sight.’ I said to her, ‘I didn’t save your sight. Of course, the Lord saved your sight. Thank Him and be grateful to Him.’”
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 343.
The Blinding of Enemies by Alice W. Flade
Alice W. Flade was born and grew up in Eastern Germany. Near the end of World War II Soviet forces ransacked their entire town in Kreis Annaberg, Saxony, Germany. She related the following miracle of blindness and how their family was spared:
At the end of World War II, when I was 19 years old, enemy troops came to occupy my hometown in Europe. One evening my parents and I were sitting at our table when we heard a loud noise. We looked out through the blackout curtains, hung so that bombers couldn’t detect our house at night, to see enemy troops—along with their motorcycles, trucks, and tanks—coming into our village from two different directions. I was very frightened.
My father (Paul Martin Wagner), always a faithful man, said simply, “Don’t be scared.” In the face of what was just outside our house, that was an extraordinary statement. We all knew that the soldiers would likely invade the neighborhood to pillage people’s homes. Father suggested that we kneel next to the couch and pray for Heavenly Father’s protection. He prayed, “Father in Heaven, please blind those soldiers. Make our house invisible so they won’t see it.”
After he prayed, my mother (Martha Elizabeth Hilbert) prayed. Then I prayed. Afterward, we returned to the table and cautiously looked out the window. We watched soldiers storm into every house on our street. Ours was the last one on the street. They approached our house but then passed our front gate and went to the next street. We watched them enter every house that we could see from our window.
After an invasion of about two hours, someone blew a loud whistle, and the soldiers returned to their vehicles. As they slowly left, we were tremendously relieved and knelt again, thanking Heavenly Father for His kindness and protection.
The next day I learned from a distraught friend that the soldiers had done terrible things in every house she knew of. When I told her that they had not come to our house, she was shocked. She said she had watched them go in our direction and that she knew of no homes in our sector that they had not entered. Our house was the only one the soldiers had left alone.
I know that Heavenly Father hears our pleas and answers them. Sometimes it seems that we might not ever receive an answer, and we wish that He would answer sooner. But I know that in our home 65 years ago, He answered right away.
“Make Our House Invisible” Ensign, Aug. 2011
Alice W. Flade, Utah, USA
Conclusion:
One of the hallmarks of Christianity is the miracles Christ and his apostles performed. As Latter-day Saints, we boldly claim that miracles have not ceased. And whereas our faith can’t be based on a miracle, I have found that miracles can provide a boost of faith to the faithful. This is why I have collected and shared these stories with their citations for you today. I hope your faith has been bolstered and you have a greater desire to follow Christ because of these stories. If so, I invite you to share this with your friends and on social media. Also, I have collected far more stories than just these six, so be on the lookout for additional installments to this series. (When published I will simply add a link here at the bottom to them).