Recently one of my online friends requested that I write about healing stories within the Mormon faith.
My first thought was to share the traditional stories those of us who have been around the Mormon Church for awhile have all heard. I’m sure there are many bloggers out there who are well more versed on the history of Mormon faith healing and miracles, but for those of you interested, there are quite a few Mormon faith healing stories of the first Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith. Those of you who have stories to share on the history of healing or perhaps a relative who was miraculously healed, please share in the comment section because I know there are a lot of faith healing stories out there which would be beneficial for all of us to hear.
Also, as I researched, I found numerous inspirational stories of faith and healing from Mormons all over the world. For example, the LDS Addictions Recovery website has some amazing testimonials of people who were on the street and totally addicted who turned their will to God and were healed.
Another miraculous healing I recently read in the very inspiring book Let it Go by Chris Williams. This book is about Chris’s experience with a drunk driver hitting his family’s car. Chris’s wife, unborn son, daughter, and one of his sons were instantly killed. His other son was in very critical condition and had brain damage. Doctors thought that he had a very slight chance of survival, and if he did survive, would have permanent brain damage. Chris relates a story of how he felt God’s love encircle him and as he laid hands on his son to give him a blessing of healing, he felt God tell him to say his son would be completely healed. Three weeks later, his son was o.k. and released from the hospital.
While all of these examples are awesome, and the Good Lord has shown His hand countless times, I thought that I would share a few personal stories that were very impressive for me at various stages of my life. As I reflect on each of them, I am grateful for God’s merciful hand in my life.
I’ll start with the story of my sister being brought back to life, then share a personal story of healing within myself, and conclude with a recent story about my wife and our unborn daughter (due this June 20th).
The Day my Sister Died (and lived)
I was seven years old, but that didn’t stop my father from granting me my wish to help out on the farm. On this particular day I was busy pulling down a 80 lb hay bales, and rolling them to the feeding trough, cutting the strings and distributing the hay for the yearling calves. I wanted to make sure I was doing my job correctly, so I was very focused on making sure I did as my father had taught me and not clump the hay all in one spot. Rather, spread it out evenly so all the calves could get a good meal.
My focus was suddenly snapped as I heard a shrill screaming shrieking noise that startled me. I wondered what could be making that noise and when I looked a few hundred feet away from where I was it scared me even more. The noise was coming from my father. Tears were streaming down his face and he was running faster than I had ever seen him run in my life. What was even more frightening was my little sister, who was 3 1/2 years old was laying limp and lifeless in his arms. I dropped everything I was doing and ran towards my grandfathers house where I saw my father running.
By the time I entered the pantry my grandmother, grandfather, and father were surrounding my young sister. She was laying in my father’s arms limp and they couldn’t find a pulse. My grandmother had called for help and in the meantime, grandpa and dad proceeded to give her a blessing.
My father knows more precisely what was said in the blessing, but if I recall it correctly, he commanded her to be healed and promised that she would live a life of service to God. Shortly thereafter, her pulse returned and her stay in the hospital was very short.
She was daddies little girl and always followed him around the farm wherever he went. I’ve had conversations with him about how proud of her he was and how much he loved his little girl. On that particular day, as he was pulling hay bales down, he didn’t realize that she had slipped out of grandpa and grandma’s home to follow him. He pulled a line of hay from a stack that was 13 bales high, each bale weighing 80-100 lbs. which came crashing down right on top of her. It was the first healing miracle I witnessed and it made an impression on me that the Lord can and still does work miracles through His faithful servants.
Today, my sister is one of the most dedicated and committed members of our family to the Lord, Jesus Christ as she and her husband serve as pastors and missionaries for a local Foursquare Church. They are also beginning the process of planting a new church. She is a sweet blessing to our family and I thank the Lord that her life was spared at that time. Many times throughout my life she has touched me and moved me to be a better person who is more dedicated to the Lord.
My Blessing of Healing
Those of you who follow this blog know of my struggles I’ve had in the past with anxiety and depression. Those of you who read my book know how big of a challenge it was for me to overcome anxiety and depression, especially in my personal relationships.
Shortly after I was married to my wife, I was still struggling with sever anxiety. I was traumatized by my parents’ divorce at a young age and I still had panic that my wife may leave me or be taken away from me.
A couple weeks after we were married, I was visiting a friend of mine. My wife was on a trip to Taiwan and I was scheduled to go visit her. However, I was in a state of panic wondering if she would still want me knowing I was suffering so much from anxiety, etc. I asked my friend to give me a blessing.
In the blessing, God talked to me through him. I felt words of comfort and he also pronounced a blessing of healing, that I would be freed from anxiety.
Since that time, I have never suffered from a panic attack, which is a miracle given that I had suffered for years prior to that. I feel the Lord’s hand in my life as I am a husband and father of two beautiful kids (soon to be three), which leads me to the final story of healing.
Healing for My Wife and Unborn Child
A few months ago my wife told me she was very weak from bleeding. Given that she was about 15 or 16 weeks pregnant, I knew that wasn’t a good thing. We had had a miscarriage before so I thought that perhaps this was the case. My mind then went to the “what if” situations of if it was something more that could be wrong with her and she was bleeding internally.
As the blood kept coming, I knew we needed to do something. I called her Dad to see if we could have him come over and watch our kids who were sleeping and then called the hospital and explained the situation. I then had the impression to give her a blessing of healing.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Mormon concept of giving a blessing, I’ll try and summarize it. Members of the church who hold the Melchezedek Priesthood have the authority and power to act as the “voice” of God so to speak and give a blessing. Blessings can be given for comfort, or for healing. In the case of healing, we annoint the person receiving the blessing with consecrated oil, place our hands on their head, and then speak the words the Lord gives us. It is a very humbling experience because going into the blessing the person doesn’t know what words are going to be given. (Read this article for a more detailed description on blessings).
Before I started speaking the words during the blessing, the Lord’s Spirit came over me and I sensed a complete feeling of peace and that everything was going to be fine. I knew in my heart that whatever happened would be the Lord’s will and I was prepared to accept it.
When I began speaking, I was impressed to speak the words that she would be healed and the baby would be fine. For a split second I had a bit of doubt seeing how much she had bled (which seemed like much more compared to the miscarriage we had had), but I put the doubt out of my mind and focused on the promptings I received.
Shortly afterwards, her bleeding slowed down and we didn’t even need to go into the doctor that evening.
She is now 26 weeks along and we found out we are going to be having a little girl.
Your Stories
These are just a few “Mormon Faith Healing Stories” that I have personally witnessed in my life. I’m positive there are many of you out there who have stories to share. Whether you are Mormon or not, I know that the Lord can and does heal according to His will and the faith of the people receiving and/or giving the healing. I would love if you shared some healing stories you have seen in your life. I think it will be a great blessing to those who read this.
Grace for Grace 
12 comments
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April 4, 2013 at 6:46 pm
Susan Anderson
Aaron, I loved this blog. I get great comfort from Priesthood Blessings. I am an elementary school teacher. Each year, in August, as school approaches, I receive a priesthood blessing. I remember the words that were said to me from my Heavenly Father, through my husband, and it’s what pulls me through the hard times, the struggling times, and the stressful times. Many years I feel like I can’t handle the things that are asked of me as a teacher, mother, grandmother and church member. But I always remember the feelings I felt and the promises that were given to me on that August night before school started and know that I can do it, not alone but with my Heavenly Father’s help.
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April 5, 2013 at 11:02 am
Bob Lloyd
I could share a few….First, about two weeks ago my 8 month old baby girl was in a lot of pain due to being constipated. We would lay her down for a few minutes, then she would scream out in pain. It was so heart wrenching to hear! Anyways, I gave her a blessing and afterwards she didn’t cry at all and had no more issues.
Second, when I was on my mission in Iowa we met a lady who was visiting our church, she was a member and was visiting family. Anyways, she said that she was having some back pain, and asked my companion and I for a blessing. We did so, and she bore her testimony in testimony meeting that her back felt totally healed.
The last one I can think of is a person that I knew in my elders quorum. He was still in the womb when x-rays indicated that he had spinal bifida. According to what his mother told him, her father (his grandfather) gave his mom a blessing and felt a very real tangible power working through him. At the next x-ray, there was no sign of any issues, and he is a normal guy
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April 6, 2013 at 8:34 am
Cal
Thanks very much to GraceforGrace, Susan, and Bob, for the uplifting stories of our Father’s grace, manifested through faith in Jesus.
In putting together a piece on LDS history, I ran across the following miracle which may be lesser known than other historical miracles: Parley P. Pratt’s autobiography, pages 77-78, tells of a healing that happened during the battle to stay in Jackson County, Missouri, in the early 1800s:
“In the battle Brother Philo Dibble, of Ohio, was shot in the body through his waistband; the ball remained in him. He bled much inwardly, and in a day or two his bowels were so filled with blood and so inflamed that he was about to die or, rather, he had been slowly dying from the time he was wounded. The smell of himself had become intolerable to him and those about him. At length Elder Newel Knight administered to him by the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus. His hands had scarcely touched his head when he felt an operation penetrating his whole system as if it had been a purifying fire. He immediately discharged several quarts of blood and corruption, among which was the ball with which he had been wounded. He was instantly healed, and went to work chopping wood.”
Exciting!
GraceforGrace, thanks also for the links you provided.
A little story from my own life: During one Sunday morning service I and another man prayed for our pastor’s back in Jesus’ name. When the pastor got up to make some announcements 15 minutes later, he said his back pain was gone. That Sunday evening, at another meeting, he announced again that his back pain was still gone.
God is good!
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April 6, 2013 at 6:55 pm
Cal
GraceforGrace, the story about your sister is really neat. Wow!
And I didn’t know that your sister & her husband pastor a Foursquare church. That’s neat, too.
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April 18, 2013 at 7:40 am
Doug Dwyer
Beautiful stories! A parent calling on the Lord on behalf of their child really touches my heart. I can recall kneeling at the bed side of my son David and touching his feverish brow with my hand and praying for his healing in the name of Jesus Christ and the very next day seeing him running down the stairs happy and well. How good and loving our Father is. Let us pray for the victims of these terrible bombing in Boston as they have deep physical and emotional scars.
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May 2, 2013 at 6:46 am
Doug Dwyer
I thought you would enjoy this article from Christianity Today regarding what the LDS missionary movement and how teens in the church are raised can teach evangelicals.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/may/what-can-christian-leaders-learn-from-surge-in-mormon-youth.html
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May 5, 2013 at 9:18 pm
graceforgrace
Hi Doug,
I think there were some great points in the article. I do think there were some statements making assumptions on why all Mormon missionaries go on a mission that may or may not be true, such as how they allude that Mormons go out of duty rather than love for the Lord. When making those statements, they do not back it up with any study or research, but just assume that Mormons all think they can “earn” their way to Heaven, which is tiresome for me to hear from Evangelicals.
However, they do make some good points that Mormons and some Christians fall into the trap of doing things out of duty rather than love.
After reading this I have a couple of questions.
1. I wonder how many Mormon missionaries go on a mission because they’re “supposed to” or because they feel love for the Savior and want to serve. I know that for me, personally, the teachings in the Book of Mormon and the born again transformation I had at age 13 instilled a desire for me to share that book with everyone I could. It has been my personal experience that the Book of Mormon together with the Bible brings people closer to Jesus and salvation. I don’t like hearing blanket statements from people who assume that because I’m Mormon that I think I can earn my way to Heaven and that I chose to go on a mission because I was “indoctrinated” throughout my youth and it was my duty to go. I’m sure there are some people who fall into that category, but from my experience as a missionary most people did it because they felt moved by God to do so.
2. I wonder why churches don’t start a seminary program like the Mormons have for their youth.
What do you think? (mostly about #2)?
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May 6, 2013 at 5:15 am
Cal
I appreciate Doug’s submission of the article but was disturbed, as graceforgrace was, by the article’s assumption that Mormons are trying to earn their salvation apart from Christ.
The article quoted 2 Nephi 25:23. Let me show the verse in context:
23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.
25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.
26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
I’d like to note that (1) the above verses are from the “Old Testament” portion of the Book of Mormon, (2) verse 25 says “the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith,” and (3) verse 26 reveals a belief in Christ to the point of rejoicing (the fruit of the Spirit that shows we belong to Christ), and remission (forgiveness) of sins.
That’s not earning salvation; that’s the biblical gospel.
Jesus said a house divided against itself will not stand. We who rejoice in Christ must stand together, especially during these evil times when Muslims—who say Jesus was only a prophet who did not die and has no power to forgive sins—are expanding Satan’s work.
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May 6, 2013 at 9:03 am
Doug Dwyer
I agree with you that the writers (especially #2) had a poor understanding of what motivates many Latter-day Saint young people. I have to confess that as I read the article I focused more on the failure of evangelicals to raise their children in the knowledge of God. Our youth programs are so busy trying to be hip and cool and entertaining that we have failed to disciple our youth. I have no doubt that some Mormons struggle with a “works righteousness” attitude of earning God’s favor-because it’s in my own church-that’s human nature. The Lord’s wants us to do good works because we love him and delight to do so because this is his desire for his children.
Sorry this article offended as that was not my motivation.
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May 6, 2013 at 12:50 pm
graceforgrace
Hi Doug,
I know your intention wasn’t to offend and maybe you just caught me in a feisty mood. Sorry if I came on a bit strong as I know your heart is in the right place.
I did notice that author #2 is a former Mormon and I’ve seen Mormons try to force belief by actions and that doesn’t work. They eventually quit participating or leave altogether. Perhaps he falls into that category of focusing more on the works while he was a Mormon and now he doesn’t.
Anyways, I appreciate you passing this along regardless because it did cause me to self-reflect and I felt blessed that the works I’ve done have been an extension of God working through me (for the most part). Sure, there are times that I do things out of a sense of duty because I know it is the right thing to do, but the core reason why I do things (i.e. serve in the Church, serve my family, neighbors, write on this blog, witness to others, etc) is because God has blessed me with a testimony of his Son Jesus Christ and that he died for my sins and that through him all people can be saved.
Cal, you are right that we should unite in this common ground and share the Gospel. When people write articles attacking Mormons and lumping them in with Muslims or other non-Christian sects it divides us and the Spirit of the Lord is restrained.
But…back to your question, Doug. I have noticed what you said about Christian churches trying to be “hip”. I’ve seen how pastors behave completely differently up on the pulpit than how they are in real life and it seems contrived to me. Kids notice this and can read through it.
Having gone through seminary as a youth and doing everything that the articles mentioned, I can tell you from personal experience that the people trying to be “hip” factor is non-existent usually. For the most part our youth leaders were not getting paid and had no reason to put on a show so to speak. We did have seminary teachers who were paid and I have seen some of them struggle when they tried too hard to impress the youth. But leaders who just serve with pure intentions of guiding youth to know God and apply the principles into their lives are the successful ones and those people are who I see volunteering of their time serving in the Mormon church.
The other thing I notice, and that you mentioned is the “discipline factor”. More and more Christian churches do not have any consequences for youth or young adults who are living very sinful lifestyles such as having sexual relationships. I’m amazed by this.
In the Mormon church youth are instructed and know for sure where the line is for sexual purity. Our leaders teach it to us and when we make a mistake there are consequences that can lead up to excommunication, if the person is not repentant and wants to keep continuing in the sin. This causes youth to reflect before making bad choices and when they do make poor choices, they know there will be consequences involved (as well as counseling and guidance to help get them back on the right path).
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May 7, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Doug Dwyer
I appreciate the clear line that is drawn and we need to do the same or we will loose our youth to a godless culture.
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May 23, 2013 at 10:59 am
Doug Dwyer
I know this has nothing to do with inspiring faith stories but this clip is a reminder of the power of human sacrifice and is a perfect reminder as we prepare to honor our fallen heroes on Memorial Day: http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/2863-the-sacrifice-of-one-no-text
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