Children often quote their parents’ oft-repeated sayings like “remember who you are: or ‘return with honor.” My children will remember me saying often “Has the day of miracles ceased?” Then I would quote to them the rest of those wonderful scriptures that I love from Moroni 7:35-37:
“…has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men…” (Moroni 7:35-37)
I wanted my children to believe in miracles, to know that they are ever prevalent in our era too. I tried to teach them to expect them, to exert their faith and pray for them, to recognize them and know that angels can attend them, and then be appreciative of these marvels and miracles. An acronym can remind us that this is an “ERA” or day of miracles. E—expect them; exert your faith and prayers for needed miracles. R—recognize them; notice your amazing blessings. A—appreciate and show gratitude to a loving Father who grants what is best for us. I wanted to pass on to my children, that this was their “era” for miracles.
My mother was a woman of great faith. She lived for and was alert to everyday miracles. From my earliest years, Mom taught me to look for and recognize the “little miracles” in my life. By this she meant wonders and blessings and tender mercies from Heaven, large or small. She prayed for them, expected them, looked for them, and gratefully testified of them.
Of course, just because one prays for miracles and exerts faith and expects them does not mean one can force the Lord’s hand, or that the miracles will come in exactly the way one expects. Miracles (or blessings) may be packaged differently than we expect, but they will be what the Lord knows is best for us.
What exactly is a miracle? The Bible dictionary teaches us:
“Miracles should not be regarded as deviations from the ordinary course of nature so much as manifestations of divine or spiritual power. Some lower law [is] in each case superseded by the action of a higher. . . Miracles . . . are a response to faith, and its best encouragement. They [are] never wrought without prayer, felt need, and faith. . . They are called signs . . . powers or mighty works . . . wonders, marvels . . .” (Bible Dictionary, 688)
I learned these same lessons about faith, miracles, ministrations of angels and the Lord’s love that my mother had taught me as I read D&C 98:1-3:
“Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks; Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord…and are recorded with this seal and testament–the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.” (D&C 98:1-3)
I love this assurance that my prayers have “entered into the ears of the Lord” and this immutable promise from the Lord that all things will work together for my good.
Expecting and realizing miracles requires great faith. Elder Bednar taught about such faith. He said,
“Faith [is] the assurance of things hoped for which are true . . . the evidence of things not seen, and. . . the principle of action in all intelligent beings. . .
. . . These three elements of faith—assurance, action, and evidence—are not separate and discrete; rather, they are interrelated and continuous and cycle upward. [1]
My mother’s teachings about having faith in little miracles followed this very pattern. She acted on her righteous desires, exerting her faith, praying with her might. She was quick to recognize little miracles as works and blessings of God in our lives, as evidences of the Lord’s unseen hand. As she did so, she became more assured that she could continue to expect little miracles in her life and in our lives because of the evidence of past blessings.
Two of my favorite lines from two different hymns express this: “Thy God doth undertake to guide the future as he has the past.” [2] This reminds me that I can have increased assurance that He will bless me in the future because I know He has been there for me in the past. And another wonderful phrase re-teaches me that His hand is in my life: “Hast thou not seen how all thou needest hath been granted in what he ordaineth?” [3]
Other mothers and fathers have exerted faith and prayers for their children, expecting miracles and finding them. There is the familiar and great example of the Ammonite mothers. They taught their sons that “if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” (Alma 56:47) And their sons were miraculously delivered during a terrible battle.
“There was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.
And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power.” (Alma 57:25-26)
In another wonderful example, Joseph Smith’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, expected miracles for her sons. When Joseph and Hyrum were on Zions Camp one of the great obstacles they faced was a terrible cholera outbreak. They prayed many times for healing. Finally Joseph said to the men that they must stay on their knees until someone among them had an assurance that they would be healed. Finally Hyrum had this vision:
“Joseph, we shall return, for I have seen an open vision in which I saw Mother on her knees under an apple tree praying for us, and she is even now asking God, in tears, to spare our lives, that she may behold us again in the flesh. The Spirit testifies to me that her prayers and ours shall be heard – and from that moment we were healed and went on our way rejoicing.”
When they returned home Joseph told his mother of this experience and then added: “Oh, my mother . . . how often have your prayers been a means of assisting us when the shadows of death encompassed us!” [4]
Many of you are blessed to have parents who are praying with this kind of faith for you in your experiences here. What a great gift this is. Many times when I was a university student, as I heard the carillon bells ring at 7:00 a.m., I knew that at that very hour my family was praying for me. This reminded me to also pray, and to watch for, expect, and recognize the blessings that would be given to me that day. Now it is up to each of you to also exert your faith and prayers, have eyes to see, and then appreciate how the Lord is blessing you. Remember: expect, recognize, and appreciate each miracle and blessing.
It might help you to know and remember that we are living in a community and a land that has been miraculously blessed throughout history and that that era of miracles has not ceased for this place and for us as its inhabitants.
Let me remind you of just a few of these miracles.
George Q. Cannon was called in 1850 as one of the first 10 missionaries to preach the restored gospel here in Hawaii. The results were miraculous but they did not come without much labor, sacrifice, and prayer. George Q. Cannon records in his detailed and prolific journal miracle after miracle, including receiving the gift of tongues, translating the Book of Mormon into the Hawaiian language, and even receiving the gift of “taste”—learning to like poi. His words about this little miracle are both amusing and inspiring. He wrote:
“I had tasted a teaspoonful of “poi” but the smell of it . . . was so much like that of a bookbinder’s old, sour, paste pot that when I put it to my mouth I gagged at it. . . But in traveling among the people, I soon learned that if I did not eat “poi” I would put them to great inconvenience; for they would have to cook separate food for me every meal. This would make me burdensome to them, and might interfere with my success. I, therefore, determined to learn to live on their food, and that I might do so, I asked the Lord to make it sweet to me. My prayer was heard and answered; the next time I tasted it, I ate a bowlful, and I positively liked it. It was my food, whenever I could get it from that time as long as I remained on the islands.” [5]
This is an example of a temporal, seemingly small miracle God blessed him with as he requested it through prayer. But it was an important one for George Q. Cannon. The Lord also provided even grander miracles, the greatest of which for George Q. Cannon was the spiritual conversion of many Hawaiians. He records:
“We had landed there [in Hawaii] friendless and unknown. . . Now [as we were leaving] there were thousands who loved us, who rejoiced in the truth of the gospel and in the testimony of Jesus. . . We had gone forth weeping and bearing precious seed. The Lord had given us souls for our hire.” [6]
In that 3½ year mission, he had witnessed the conversion of almost 4000 people.
Another early leader of the Church, Brigham Young felt that the saints in Hawaii needed a gathering place, a safe haven of refuge. After a bad experience on the island of Lanai, church leaders came searching for something better. Brigham Young miraculously appeared to William Cluff and affirmed to him that Laie was that place. Brother Cluff related:
“I retired to a dense thicket . . . between the house and the beach and knelt down in secret prayer. I then strolled along a path in a mood of reverie, when suddenly and to my astonishment, President Brigham Young came walking up the path and met me face to face. . . He then referred to the beautiful landscape before us . . . and said, this is a most delightful place.
“He then rose to his feet and silently casting his eyes over the surrounding country, turned to me, and in his pleasant and familiar manner, said: ‘Brother William, this is the place we want to secure as headquarters for this mission.’
“The interview then terminated and I was alone. The meeting and the interview had all seemed so real and matter-of-fact that when I found myself alone, I was filled with, wonder and amazement . . . it could not have seemed more real. Had I been in a vision? . . .I knew I had not been dreaming. No matter what the bodily condition might have been at the time, the apparent meeting was in the open air and in the broad light of day. It was as real to me as any fact of life. Ever afterwards that place, [Laie] appeared to me the best place on the Islands for the gathering of the Saints.” [7]
There were also prophecies about building a temple and an international school here in Laie. These have come to pass. Miracles ensued which made these prophecies realities.
Brothers and Sisters: Heavenly Father has shown many times over that He loved and cared for those in this community and this school in the past. I know that He loves us and continues to care for us now.
I love to hear about your miracles. How did you come to be one of our students or faculty or staff? What is your story? What are your miracles? I hope you recognize the Lord’s hand in your experiences.
During the New Student Orientation last week I heard several miraculous stories of how students have become part of our University ohana. One young man had visa issues caused by a secretary who made some mistakes and misrepresented him. These were resolved just barely in time for him to get here. I encouraged him to record in his journal the day-by-day events that unfolded, each just in the nick of time. Surely the Lord’s hand was directing these affairs so he could be here.
Other students receive inspired help from priesthood leaders, funds that come at the needed time, the gift to learn English—through prayer and hard work and miracles, and other blessings that all “work together for your good” so that you can be here in this era. Appreciating these mercies in your life will help you to give back, to be builders of “peace internationally” as David O. McKay prophesied and to be leaders “leavening” your communities, families, and the Church throughout the world.
Thank you for inspiring us by sharing your miracle stories.
When anticipating speaking with you, I thought of many miracles I have experienced in my life – travel miracles, weather miracles, healing miracles, children miracles, crisis miracles, and even small, almost-could-be-missed miracles. Sometimes trying to explain a miracle to someone is inadequate to the feelings one feels during the experience. Nevertheless I will try to share some.
Even as we returned from summer travels to our campus a few weeks ago, we experienced miracles. It was August 21st. We had just visited with our wonderful Saints, alumni, and parents of students in Mongolia. Then John had meetings in Salt Lake with the Church Board of Education before we could return to Hawaii. We learned that Hurricane Lane was looming over the seas just south of the Islands. Its trajectory was directly towards Hawaii. John knew he needed to be here to help prepare the campus community for this potential natural disaster.
So we rushed through all of our assignments to hurry back here. All the while, I was praying, praying for travel miracles, for weather miracles, for safety miracles, for knowledge of how to best prepare and help provide little miracles for others. Time and again we felt the Lord’s hand directing us.
First in our travels. We were able to change our tickets to arrive before Hurricane Lane was scheduled to hit Oahu. But then we were delayed from Salt Lake to Los Angeles, nearly missing the connection. Somehow we made it with no minutes to spare. And somehow even our luggage made it. Ironically we made it back in time for the hurricane. Yes—a travel miracle!
Then the weather miracle! Lane was slow moving, allowing us ample time to work together as a community, each working hard, giving knowledge and talents, sharing emergency goods and supplies. One great blessing was how united we were, helping one another in love. Another huge blessing was the learning experience gained by actually going through the emergency processes – sandbagging, radio communicating, setting up shelters, etc. The slow speed of the hurricane seemed to allow for these miracles. Then the hurricane started dispersing, dividing, changing direction and velocity. It passed us by. A true weather miracle! We felt the Lord’s hand in all of it.
However our neighbors on the Big Island did not have the same miracles. We were praying for them in their difficult and destructive weather and hoping that they too could have miracles in their circumstances to make it through their trials.
This is how it is with miracles. They are packaged as the Lord sees fit for us. His hand is in our lives, but not always as we expect. However, for those of us who exert our faith, we recognize that all things will work together for our good.
Two of our family miracles that are quite the opposite of each other illustrate this.
Thirteen years ago we discovered that our daughter Becky was expecting twins. The doctors determined through many tests that they were at high risk, developing in the same sac, with a mortality rate of 20 to 60 percent. Normally this condition requires automatic hospitalization at 24 weeks so the babies can constantly be monitored. With a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old already in her family we knew that this would be next to impossible. Immediately we all started praying for miracles, whatever that meant. The priesthood blessings she received from her husband gave her great comfort.
At about 16 weeks she saw the specialist for the first time. He reviewed the past tests and came back with the same grim results. Then he did yet another ultrasound. The doctor was stunned by what he found, so he called in other doctors to verify his findings. Finally he reported that they had actually seen the faintest membrane developing, meaning that the babies were indeed in two separate sacs. Our son-in-law, her husband, who is also a doctor, had seen all the previous test results and now this new one. He said it was nothing short of a medical miracle – a membrane was developing. Our Becky called me in tears and said, “People can explain it however they want, but I know it’s the miracle we’ve been praying for.”
After many other uncertainties and complications during the pregnancy coupled with amazing blessings, two miraculously perfect little 5 pound girls were born. I felt that angels were attending our daughter and I knew that the day of miracles has not ceased.
However as many of you know our family has also received another type of blessing. Recently our little grandson Jack was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal deletion affecting his development and making everything about his care challenging. On the surface level this may not seem like a miracle that we have prayed for. But we do feel that Heavenly Father is blessing us with so many little miracles to help us.
There have been clinical mercies like finding just the right home therapist and like having the national family support conference held right in their home town. Aside from such temporal blessings, we have felt spiritual blessings. Jack’s sweet personality is touching the heart of each member of our family. Teenage grandchildren who may struggle to get outside their own feelings of inadequacy, forget themselves as they serve Jack and are in return blessed by him. I am sure he has special purposes for being sent to our family, in teaching us about faith, endurance, and God’s perfect love.
Even though we know of God’s love and blessings, meeting Jack’s needs on a daily basis is a struggle. On one particular day I was praying that my daughter would feel angels attending her that day. I knew that she needed that strength. Later in the week I talked to my daughter, and I asked her how that hard day had gone for her. She said that nothing miraculous had happened, except that she had felt almost an uncanny strength to get through it. I stopped her and said, “That was the miracle—not necessarily what you had expected, but just what you needed—an uncanny ability to just make it through.”
As with Becky, I felt that angels were attending her and I knew that the day of miracles has not ceased.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught about the angels that minister to us. He said:
“In the course of life all of us spend time in “dark and dreary” places, wildernesses, circumstances of sorrow or fear or discouragement . . . I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. . . always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.” [8]
You have probably had such blessings—angels attending you, tender mercies bestowed upon you, giving you the ability to just make it through a trial. Did you notice these blessings? Did you thank Heavenly Father for them?
The words of my husband’s hymn have been constantly in my mind:
As witnesses, we gather here
To thank, and to attest
Of mercies and of miracles—
Oh, still our lives so bless! [9]
I do witness of mercies and miracles in our lives. I want to teach you, as my mother taught me. Heavenly Father knows us. He loves us. The day of miracles has not ceased. This is the ERA of miracles in these latter days. Expect them; Recognize them; Appreciate them. Let me close by citing again this beautiful counsel and promise from the Lord:
“Fear not, let your hearts be comforted . . . for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord . . . [and] he giveth this promise unto you . . . that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good. (D&C 98: 1-3)
I know He loves us. He is on our right and our left; His spirit is in our hearts, and His angels are round about us bearing us up. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
[1] David A. Bednar
[2] “Be Still, My Soul,” Hymns, no. 124
[3] “Praise to the Lord,” Hymns, no. 72
[4] Joseph Smith, p. 319
[5] George Q. Cannon
[6] George Q. Cannon
[7] William Cluff
[8] Jeffrey R. Holland
[9] “Bless Our Fast, We Pray,” Hymns, no. 138