Jan 10, 2025

One evident truth within the Wilford Woodruff Papers is that God still works miracles in our lives. This idea was highly disputed in early Restoration times, and it is still contested by skeptics today. But the plan of salvation created by Heavenly Father is a divine plan including events beyond the capacity of mortal creation or explanation.

Miracles and Revelation

One miracle in our lives is the opportunity to communicate with heaven. Not only can we speak to God, but He can speak to us through the Holy Ghost—always in a way He knows we can understand.

Time and time again, Wilford Woodruff wrote about miracles that came in response to a prayer or a priesthood blessing. One such miracle occurred while he was traveling on a mission in the southern United States. He said,

My companion, bro. Brown, had got in a hurry, and wished to . . . return to his family in Kirtland, and as I could not travel as fast as he wished, we parted; he left me sitting on a log in the mud and water; I was lame and unable to walk, without food, and 12 miles from the nearest house on the road; he went out of sight in great haste; I then knelt down in the water and prayed to the Lord to heal me; the spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I was healed; the pain left me, I arose and went my way; whenever I met with one or more families I preached and bore testimony to them.

Reading about this miracle and others like it has strengthened my testimony of God’s ability to perform miracles in our lives. In turn, my testimony has been strengthened of the greatest miracle of all—the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The miracle of His Atonement grants us the opportunity to be redeemed from sin and be changed into something new. 

Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of all mankind and rose from death as a perfect, resurrected being. His miraculous sacrifice and new life can have an effect in our everyday lives as we repent and look forward with hope to receive the blessings promised to us as we follow Him.

Jesus Praying in Gethsemane by Harry Anderson

Just Coincidence? 

We often ascribe the label of “coincidence” to happenings that are too ironic or too perfect for us to explain. I am a firm believer that coincidences don’t exist. Miracles are everywhere, but it takes a watchful eye to recognize and identify them. 

Wilford Woodruff recorded a miracle of survival for two men, George and John Thatcher, who were attacked by a mountain lion. Somehow they were able to kill it without any weapons and preserve their lives. Wilford said that the mountain lion “jumped onto John’s back in a dark night . . . stripped all the clothes off the back of John and tore his flesh considerably, but it seemed a miracle that they should have killed him without any weapon.”

Anything can be ascribed as a coincidence, as luck, or as a miracle. Wilford Woodruff chose to see this as a miracle, a sign that the Lord had sent divine aid in their moment of need. Seeing “coincidences” or lucky circumstances instead as blessings from the Lord, or as small miracles, can help strengthen our faith in God and in His involvement in our lives.

The Importance of Faith 

Faith is crucial in the Lord’s miraculous plan. Almost every time Jesus Christ miraculously healed someone in the New Testament, He first asked them if they believed in Him and in His ability to heal them. Jesus taught, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).

Where faith is found, so are miracles. Think of the disciples of Jesus Christ during His mortal ministry, or the Nephites in 3 Nephi when angels ministered to them, or the early Saints as they walked across the plains, still faithful to their God even after heavy persecutions from mobs. 

Wilford Woodruff recorded in his journal the words of Gilbert Clements, who spoke of the pioneers, saying, “I do not think there ever was a greater miracle than these people coming here and doing what they have done. How has this been accomplished? By the faith of the faithful of this people and the blessings of the Lord upon us.”

Growing Faith: Inviting Miracles into Our Lives

If we feel our faith is weak, or we are in need of a miracle, we can grow our faith in many ways. President Russell M. Nelson said, “Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work.” We can start using the faith we do have to seek the Lord every day. 

I’m grateful for the Lord’s grace at work in my life and the miracles I have seen because of it. I know the plan of salvation is a miraculous plan—one that works with imperfect but willing people, like Wilford Woodruff and like us. I’ve been inspired by the faith of the prophet Wilford Woodruff and his dedication to Jesus Christ and His Church. Wilford Woodruff saw many miracles in his life because he chose to remain faithful, and that is an inspiration to all who read his writings. 

Caralyn Bullough is studying Public Relations at BYU–Idaho. She has enjoyed working as an intern on the Public Relations Team for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation and is grateful to have played a part in moving the mission of the Project forward to strengthen others’ testimonies of Jesus Christ and His gospel.

The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation’s mission is to digitally preserve and publish Wilford Woodruff’s eyewitness account of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and make his records universally accessible in order to inspire all people, especially the rising generation, to study and to increase their faith in Jesus Christ. For more information, please explore wilfordwoodruffpapers.org