18 Oct
7th Article of Faith: Spiritual Gifts
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
Spiritual gifts are blessings or abilities given by God to His children through the power of the Holy Ghost. Gifts of the Spirit are given to bless and benefit those who love the Lord and seek to keep His commandments. The meaning of these gifts needs no explanation, although they are usually associated with ancient times and biblical prophets. We believe the Heavens are open today, pouring forth the above-mentioned Gifts of the Spirit directly from God.
These wonderful gifts are not meant to be used as tricks for show, and are not bestowed lightly. One of my favorite Book of Mormon stories tells of a man named Korihor, an anti-Christ who fought against the Church. He told the prophet, Alma, that he would stop fighting against the Church of God if only Alma would show him a sign.
43 And now Korihor said unto Alma: If thou wilt show me a sign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words.
44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.45 And yet do ye go about, leading away the hearts of this people, testifying unto them there is no God? And yet will ye deny against all these witnesses? And he said: Yea, I will deny, except ye shall show me a sign.46 And now it came to pass that Alma said unto him: Behold, I am grieved because of the hardness of your heart, yea, that ye will still resist the spirit of the truth, that thy soul may be destroyed.
49 Now Alma said unto him: This will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt be struck dumb, according to my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance.
Too often people feel that answers to their prayers and their pleading for guidance and direction will be given in dramatic manifestations or through a direct voice giving specific directions from a heavenly host. My personal experience and my observation of the Brethren as they guide and direct the Church and solve problems has taught me that the answers come oftentimes over an extended period of time with almost a natural solution whereby people take actions on the feelings of their hearts—which bring them peace and comfort—rather than through dramatic revelation.
Elder Alonzo A. Hinckley was a missionary in Holland who understood and spoke very little Dutch even though he had prayed and studied hard. When he returned to a home he had visited before, a lady opened the door and spoke to him very angrily in Dutch. To his amazement he could understand every word. He felt a strong desire to bear his testimony to her in Dutch. He began to speak, and the words came out very clearly in Dutch. But when he returned to show his mission president that he could speak Dutch, the ability had left him. Many faithful members have been blessed with the gift of tongues. Source.
“One morning we thought we would go and gather gooseberries. Father Tanner … harnessed a span of horses to a light wagon and, with two sisters by the name of Lyman, his little granddaughter, and me, started out. When we reached the woods we told the old gentleman to … rest himself while we picked the berries.
“It was not long before the little girl and I strayed some distance from the rest, when suddenly we heard shouts. … We walked forward until within sight of Father Tanner, when we saw he was running his team around. … As we approached we saw Indians gathering around the wagon, whooping and yelling as others came and joined them. We got into the wagon to start when four of the Indians took hold of the wagon wheels to stop the wagon, and two others held the horses by the bits, and another came to take me out of the wagon.
“I then began to be afraid as well as vexed, and asked Father Tanner to let me get out of the wagon and run for assistance. He said, ‘No, poor child; it is too late!’ I told him they should not take me alive. His face was as white as a sheet. The Indians had commenced to strip him—had taken his watch and handkerchief—and while stripping him, were trying to pull me out of the wagon. I began silently to appeal to my Heavenly Father.
“While I was praying and struggling, the Spirit of the Almighty fell upon me and I arose with great power; and no tongue can tell my feelings. I was happy as I could be. A few moments before I saw worse than death staring me in the face, and now my hand was raised by the power of God, and I talked to those Indians in their own language. They let go the horses and wagon, and all stood in front of me while I talked to them by the power of God. They bowed their heads and answered ‘Yes,’ in a way that made me know what they meant.
“The little girl and Father Tanner looked on in speechless amazement. I realized our situation; their calculation was to kill Father Tanner, burn the wagon, and take us women prisoners. This was plainly shown me. When I stopped talking they shook hands with all three of us and returned all they had taken from Father Tanner, who gave them back the handkerchief, and I gave them berries and crackers. By this time the other two women came up, and we hastened home.
“The Lord gave me a portion of the interpretation of what I had said, which was as follows:
“ ‘I suppose you Indian warriors think you are going to kill us? Don’t you know the Great Spirit is watching you and knows everything in your heart? We have come out here to gather some of our father’s fruit. We have not come to injure you; and if you harm us, or injure one hair of our heads, the Great Spirit shall smite you to the earth, and you shall not have power to breathe another breath. We have been driven from our homes, and so have you; we have come out here to do you good, and not to injure you. We are the Lord’s people and so are you; but you must cease your murders and wickedness; the Lord is displeased with it and will not prosper you if you continue in it. You think you own all this land, this timber, this water, all the horses. Why, you do not own one thing on earth, not even the air you breathe—it all belongs to the Great Spirit’ ” (“I Talked to Those Indians in Their Own Language,” in Leon Hartshorn, comp., Remarkable Stories from the Lives of Latter-day Saint Women, 1:26–28). Source.
The gift of healing, found in one woman’s account of how she exercised faith that she could be healed:
Sister Afton Affleck of Salt Lake City related this personal experience with a spiritual gift:
“I was preparing for a wonderful Christmas party. … I wanted it to be so lovely, but as I was working on some of the preparations, I had a headache that kept getting more severe. I tried several times in the afternoon to reach Bob [my husband]. A voice said to me, ‘You have spinal meningitis,’ and I cried aloud, ‘Oh, no!’ My father had died of spinal meningitis! …
“When the doctor came, he lifted up one of my legs and it was as if red and blue lightning had come out of the back of my neck. He said to Bob, ‘Let’s administer to her,’ so they did. Before we left for the hospital, Bob called President Robert Young of the Salt Lake Temple and asked him to meet us there. …
“At the hospital President Young and Bob administered to me and I heard them though I was unconscious. President Young rebuked the disease to have no power to distort my body, and promised me that I would be made whole. He blessed me that I would have the strength to undergo the suffering that would be mine to bear.
“During the time in isolation, where I suffered severely, I learned a great deal about the Savior, the atonement, and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. It seemed to me that I was being taught constantly. There was only one time that I felt I could not endure the pain, but at that very moment Uncle Ray Moss and his son Raphel put their hands on my head and administered to me.
“During this time I had such terrible pain in my eyes that I could not see. Once I regained consciousness long enough to hear a doctor telling his … technician, that I had one chance in five thousand of ever seeing—but I knew I would see. In addition, my right side was affected; I could not move my foot, and my arm had become weakened. But I never doubted that I would be made whole.
“One night … a voice said to me, ‘If you have faith even a thousandth the size of a grain of sand, you can move your foot and you can see.’ I felt rebuked, because I thought I had already exercised great faith. …
“I prayed to the Lord and I exercised faith. Then I tried to turn my head. Up to then I had not been able to do so without losing consciousness, but this time I was able to turn it and could see a sliver of light under my door.
“I also felt that if I tried, I could move my leg. …
“Faith is a gift of God, and he granted me more faith than I had ever had in my life. I did move my leg. I lay there the rest of the night rejoicing and praising the Lord—I did not want to tell anyone until morning. The Lord had promised that I would be healed through faith and the power of the priesthood and the prayers of those who loved me. I praise the Lord for allowing me to have that kind of experience, because it strengthened me” Source.
Following a brief period of refuge in Quincy, Illinois, during the early months of 1839, the Saints began moving about 50 miles north to the settlement of Commerce, Illinois. After his escape from his Missouri imprisonment, the Prophet had begun purchasing tracts of land in and around Commerce as gathering places for the thousands who had fled Missouri and now needed a place to rebuild their lives. By July 1839, hundreds of Saints were camping in tents and wagons on the east side of the Mississippi River in Commerce, while others had found shelter in abandoned military barracks on the opposite side of the river in Montrose, Iowa. In this new home, the Saints worked to clear and drain the swampy land near the river. Many Church members were bitten by mosquitoes and fell seriously ill with malaria and other diseases. Some of the Saints died, and others were near death. Joseph and Emma Smith took so many into their log home to nurse that the Prophet gave up his bed to sleep outside in a tent.
On July 22, in the midst of the sickness that afflicted so many, the Saints witnessed what Elder Wilford Woodruff would call “a day of God’s power.”1 That morning the Prophet arose, called upon the Lord in prayer, and, being filled with the Spirit of the Lord, administered to the sick in his house, in the yard outside, and down by the river. He crossed the river and visited the home of Brigham Young in Montrose to give him a healing blessing. Then, in company with Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young, and other members of the Twelve, he continued on his mission of mercy among other Iowa Saints. Elder Woodruff recalled one of the most memorable healings of that day:
“We crossed the public square, and entered Brother [Elijah] Fordham’s house. Brother Fordham had been dying for an hour, and we expected each minute would be his last. I felt the power of God that was overwhelming his Prophet. When we entered the house, Brother Joseph walked up to Brother Fordham, and took him by the right hand. … He saw that Brother Fordham’s eyes were glazed, and that he was speechless and unconscious.
“After taking hold of his hand, [the Prophet] looked down into the dying man’s face and said: ‘Brother Fordham, do you not know me?’ At first he made no reply; but we could all see the effect of the Spirit of God resting upon him.
“[Joseph] again said: ‘Elijah, do you not know me?’ With a low whisper, Brother Fordham answered, ‘Yes!’ The Prophet then said, ‘Have you not faith to be healed?’
“The answer, which was a little plainer than before, was: ‘I am afraid it is too late. If you had come sooner, I think I might have been.’ He had the appearance of a man awaking from sleep. It was the sleep of death. Joseph then said: ‘Do you not believe that Jesus is the Christ?’ ‘I do, Brother Joseph,’ was the response.
“Then the Prophet of God spoke with a loud voice, as in the majesty of the Godhead: ‘Elijah, I command you, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, to arise and be made whole!’
“The words of the Prophet were not like the words of man, but like the voice of God. It seemed to me that the house shook from its foundation. Elijah Fordham leaped from his bed like a man raised from the dead. A healthy color came to his face, and life was manifested in every act. His feet were done up in [cornmeal] poultices. He kicked them off his feet, scattering the contents, and then called for his clothes and put them on. He asked for a bowl of bread and milk, and ate it; then put on his hat and followed us into the street, to visit others who were sick.” Source.
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I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
Thanks for sharing these great stories about spiritual gifts. Sometimes we forget how powerful they can be.
1Thank you so much for these insights! I teach Gospel Doctrine in my ward and I was just looking around for some personal spiritual ammo to get me juiced for my lesson on the gifts of the spirit. Well, I found it here. I don’t know who you are but you have touched my life.
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