In preparing for my daughter’s return from her 18-month
mission years ago, we had been helping her accomplish her plans of going
back to school. There were some stumbling blocks along the way but with determination and lots of prayer, we have accomplished this feat with many
miracles.
First, we live in Alabama and she had been accepted into
Brigham Young University on the Idaho campus where she started her degree before her
mission. We needed to get her there to start school on September 14th. With a limited budget for travel, we managed
to find an airline ticket for under $200 to Salt Lake City and a ride from my
brother’s house in Kaysville (30 miles from Salt Lake City) to Rexburg, Idaho
where the school is located.
Next, we needed was to find a way to pay for her
semester. After applying for a grant, she was able to acquire enough money for
tuition and books for her schooling in the fall. All she had to do was to find a
job when she got there and she would be on her way.
The last requirement was to find a place for her to live.
Many of the apartments were already full, but with a few last minute suggestions, we found a nice place that was still available for rent which also gave her a
discount because of her mission service and it had a vegetable garden growing
on the property shared by the students.
Wow. That was amazing. Miracles still happen.
Years ago, I needed two names to be cleared to
take to the temple. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints (LDS
Church), we research family members that have passed on and then seal them
together as a family by the power of the holy priesthood. There are some
qualifications which apply, namely the person we do the work for must be born
over 110 years ago otherwise we have to ask special permission.
When my nephew found my grandparents’ two children who passed away before a year old on the
newly digitalized indexed New York Death Index, I wanted to seal them
together. My grandparents had lost 5 of
their 6 children when they were babies during the 1920’s because of a family
illness that was passed on through our family line. It was a difficult time for my grandparents. but
because of the sealing power of the priesthood, we could seal those children to
them for eternity.
I applied for permission to seal them together and then
found out it took almost a month to get permission back by email. With so many
people all applying for permission at the same time the family history
department told me it would take a miracle to get the email back in one day. I
was planning a trip to our local temple that week, which was four hours away, but
with no permission I would have to wait. The next day I checked my email and
there was the permission to seal them together done in one day. Miracles still happen.
As a people, we all have read or heard of the miracles
from biblical times. These are widely
accepted as truths but in today’s world this is not always the case.
From a talk given in April of 2001 LDS Church General
Conference, Sydney S. Reynolds said this: “I believe that all of us can bear
witness to these small miracles. We know children who pray for help to find a
lost item and find it. We know of young people who gather the courage to stand
as a witness of God and feel His sustaining hand. We know friends who pay their
tithing (10% donation to the LDS Church)
with the last of their money and then, through a miracle, find themselves able
to pay their tuition or their rent or somehow obtain food for their family.” (See: Reynolds, Sydney S., “A God of Miracles,” Ensign,
May, 2001)
Miracles do happen today but we have to have faith in
Jesus Christ to believe that if we put forth the effort and keep trying that
all will work out for our good. This has been proven to be true so many times
in many people’s lives.
From our modern revelation, Doctrine and Covenants we
read:
“8 For I am God, and mine
arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all
those who believe on my name.
9 And
whoso shall ask it in my name in faith, they shall cast out devils; they shall
heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf
to hear, and the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk.
10 And
the time speedily cometh that great things are to be shown forth unto the
children of men;” (D&C: 35:8-10)
God does not want us to be hopeless and give up. He wants us to try and keep trying. Miracles
still happen today and every day. We need to remember when we have experienced miracles because that encourages us to be grateful. It is a great blessing to experience God's power in our life.
