No Coincidences

Tag: miracle

  • Sidney Rigdon Miracle

    Sidney Rigdon Miracle

    21 August, 1842. 

    Apparently, it had been thought that Sidney Rigdon meant “to renounce his faith in Mormonism” when he took the stand on 21 August 1842.  Instead, he “appeared to bear his testimony of its truth, and add another to the many miraculous evidences of the power of God.”

    I stumbled upon this story while reading a commentary on Doctrine and Covenants section 124 verses 103-110.  In these verses Sidney Rigdon is admonished to continue to stand by the Prophet Joseph Smith, along with other commandments, and “if he will hearken unto my voice, it shall be well with him” (verse 110).

    Smith and Sjodahl remark that, “Sidney Rigdon, according to a generally prevailing impression, was more or less under the influence of a spirit of apostasy.  It is related that, in Liberty jail, he declared to his fellow-prisoners that the sufferings of the Lord were nothing compared with his, and while the faithful Saints were straining every nerve to complete the Nauvoo Temple, he had no word of encouragement to them.  As a consequence of his disposition, he did not have good health.  Like the Corinthians who partook unworthily of the Sacrament (1 Cor. 11:30), he was ‘weak and sickly.’  The Lord, therefore, points out to him the cause of his ailments and promises to heal him, if he will do his duty and stand by the Prophet as a true counselor.”

    The admonition from the Lord in section 124 was given on January 19, 1841 so it was 19 months later that he took the stand to detail the miracle he had experienced to those gathered.

    As mentioned, given Sidney’s recent state of apostasy, I’m sure the gathered congregation was expecting to see some potential fireworks.  They got fireworks, but not the apostasy-themed ones they were expecting. 

    Sidney told the congregation that his daughter Eliza died.  She was pronounced dead by a physician.  I will quote the story from the Joseph Smith Papers.  “after a considerable length of time she rose up in the bed and spoke in a very powerful tone to the following effect in a supernatural manner: she said to the family that she was going to leave them (being impressed with the idea herself that she had only come back to deliver her message and then depart again,) saying the Lord had said to her the very words she should relate; and so particular was she in her relation, that she would not suffer any person to leave out a word or add one.  She called the family around her and bade them all farewell with a composure and calmness that defies all description, still impressed with the idea that she was to go back.  Up to the time of her death she expressed a great unwillingness to die, but after her return she expressed equally as strong a desire to go back.  She said to her elder Sister, Nancy, ‘it is in your heart to deny this work, and if you do, the Lord says it will be the damnation of your soul.’  In speaking to her sister Sarah she said, ‘Sarah, we have but once to die, and I would rather die now than wait for another time.’  She said to her Sisters that the Lord had great blessings in store for them if they continued in the faith, and after delivering her message she swooned, but recovered again.”

    It goes on to say that she continued in a near death fashion for 36 hours before she called her father, Sidney to her.  Continuing from the Joseph Smith Papers: “the Lord had said to her, if he (Sidney) would cease weeping for his sick daughter, and dry up his tears that he should have all the desires of his heart; and that if he would go to bed and rest, he should be comforted over his sick daughter, for in the morning she should be getting better and should get well.”  Sidney had wept and prayed for his daughter’s life.  His daughter told him the Lord had commanded her to stay for Sidney’s prayers.

    The account continues, (Sidney speaking), “It has also been rumored that I believe that Joseph Smith is a fallen prophet.  In regard to this, I unequivocally state that I never thought so, but declare that I know he is a prophet of the Lord, called and chosen in this last dispensation, to roll on the kingdom of God for the last time.  He closed by saying as it regards his religion he had no controversy with the world, having incontrovertible evidence, that through obedience to the ordinances of the religion he now believes, the Lord had actually given back his daughter from the dead.”

    There is so much to unpack here.  A few things that caught my attention –

    Sydney being weak due to taking the sacrament unworthily. 

    The statement potentially made by Sidney Rigdon to the effect that the Lord’s sufferings were nothing in comparison to his, blasphemous indeed. 

    Interesting that Eliza was commanded to give the precise words of the Lord.  Shows the importance of the Lord’s words, when He speaks, we listen and when we relay His message it must be precise.

    Also, interesting that Eliza at first didn’t want to die, but once she had met the Lord, she didn’t want to come back to life.  Why did she ultimately come back?  Because the Lord commanded her.  I believe this not to be out of duty to Him (though of course it was) but out of love.  The Lord doesn’t force. 

    My concluding thought is on the cunningness of the devil.  I haven’t studied the life of Sidney Rigdon much after he officially left the church.  After reading this story I looked a little more into Sidney Rigdon.  Apparently, after Joseph Smith’s martyrdom Sidney went on missions to the East to preach and gather followers to his new church.  Sidney called it, “the most successful mission he had ever undertaken.”  Where is this church today?

    What I thought about the cunningness of Satan is this: Sidney Rigdon appears to never have denied the faith. Maybe that source exists and I haven’t seen it.  What Sidney did instead was claim the authority as his own.  He was misguided and pride took over.  He believed the authority rested with him and so, instead of denouncing the faith, he tried to promote it in his own way.  God had chosen his prophet.  Sidney Rigdon couldn’t upheave that.

    I believe there is a lot to be learned from this story from Church history. I noted just a couple of the interesting points that could result in their own post. Ultimately I settled on this important point –

    I’m not sure where Sidney Rigdon’s church is today.  I know where the Church of Jesus Christ is today.

  • Temple Miracle

    Temple Miracle

    I don’t recall a good temple miracle story for myself.  I love the temple.  I feel peace in the temple.  The truth is, I’ve felt like I have a difficult time after the temple.  The idea that you can take the temple with you and feel peace in the world after leaving, I’ve personally not experienced that.  My experience has been more that as soon as I leave the temple Satan doubles and triples his efforts to bring strife and impatience into my heart.  I feel the world engulf me when I leave that peaceful home.  Of course, those are probably my own shortcomings.

    So, if you asked me my best “temple story”- a story where I felt overwhelming peace, or received a profound answer to prayer, or something drastic in my life changed after a visit, I wouldn’t immediately have an answer.  That’s not to say those things haven’t happened.  I believe if we don’t write down the miracles we experience we seldomly remember them.  What a sad thing to forget miracles.

    Salt Lake Temple

    Which leads me to writing this, to be sure I don’t forget this subtle, but profound and important miracle.

    Recently Beth and I went to the Mesa temple open house.  It was an extraordinary experience.  It was my first time doing a tour of a temple.  I’ve obviously been in the temple many times, but never taken a tour.  Also, it’s been a while since I’ve been to the temple.  Since Covid, I’ve only been to the temple once, for my sister’s wedding, aside from this recent open house visit.

    Touring the temple was amazing.  Every picture inside the temple was spectacular.  I had a hard time not pausing to stare at every picture of Jesus Christ I encountered.  I would have held up the tour if I had done so, but I love staring at any depiction of Christ and trying to fathom who He is.

    The beauty in every detail of the temple is awe-inspiring.  It is a place of pure peace.  I kept tears at bay as I walked through the halls and eternally significant rooms as I realized how much I had missed that place. 

    This leads to my miracle.  It’s small, almost unnoticeable, but significant.

    Beth and I had been having some difficulty the few days, maybe week, leading up to this open house visit.  Normal marriage stuff.  Strife, snippy comments, unkindness, our house hadn’t been a super peaceful and happy place.  I say this with the vulnerability of knowing we (as people, society, etc.) don’t often admit these things, but it’s important to understand what happened after the temple.

    There was something I realized I needed to say to Beth earlier that day, but it was difficult to say because it’s extremely difficult for me to be “touchy-feely” or “lovey-dovey.”  Wasn’t how I was raised. So there was something I needed to say but it was going to be difficult.  Then, after the temple, it came out so naturally and easily.  I believe the temple brought it comfortably out of me. Maybe because being in the temple had reminded me of the covenants I made there with Beth.

    On our drive home from the temple I told Beth this:

    “Things have been hard the past few days but that’s marriage.  It’s not always going to be great.  It’s going to be difficult and we know that.  But I need to remind you, and I need you to know, I’m not going anywhere.  I’m never going anywhere.  And neither are you.  We are here for each other no matter what, no matter how hard it gets.  We made covenants to each other and I plan on keeping mine and I know you plan on keeping yours.  And throughout any challenge we’ll become closer, and more united, and stronger for those challenges.”

    This led to a conversation about the covenants we made and how important our faith is to us, and to our relationship.  I know Beth and I will always be together because I know what our relationship is centered on.  Our relationship is centered on Jesus Christ and a covenant we made with each other that included Him.  Without that rock, without that stable foundation, the world is just too shaky and full of turmoil.  But I know we will grow through any challenge because we made eternal covenants and we plan on sticking to them.

    Where Beth and I were sealed for eternity

    I believe being in the temple in some subconscious way reminded me of the covenants we’d made and made it so easy to have that deep, emotional, and important discussion.

    I’m grateful for the temple and the covenants I’ve made there.  Life and marriage is difficult enough.  With the option of walking away, too many do.  The temple is God’s house and I know that to be true.  I know it is a beacon in a dark world.  I know it is where peace can be found.  I know it is where eternal covenants and a welding link can be established.  I am eternally grateful for that home. I am grateful for the miracle it provided me that day. I am grateful for the miracle the temple is in my life every single day, whether I visit it or not, due to the covenants made there.

    San Diego Temple
  • Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

    Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

    We’ve been having a difficult time with Ivy’s sleeping the last couple weeks.  This morning I woke up and Beth was awake.  I asked if Ivy got up during the night.

    Beth laughed.

    Not a good sign.

    Beth said yes Ivy did get up during the night.  She said she was rocking Ivy and could tell that Ivy was not going to go back to sleep.  So she did something drastic.

    Warning: this strategy is not recommended, and we know full and well this is NOT a good idea. 

    Beth said she GOT IN IVY’S CRIB WITH HER.  My first thoughts, it didn’t break?

    I looked at Beth and said instead, “…is that ok?”

    Beth responded that of course no, it’s not ideal.  It’s not safe and the crib could have broken.  All bad things.  Like the title of the post says, Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures. 

    Beth continued to tell me that after a while she got out of the crib and successfully returned to our bedroom. A hero had slain the dragon. A cute little booty-up-in-the-air-dragon, but a dragon nonetheless.

    She said she got into bed and Ivy started to stir and cry.  Beth asked me if I remembered in the middle of the night her saying, “oh no.”  Beth told me I then started patting her on her back.  I vaguely remember this.

    But then a miracle happened!  Ivy went back to sleep.  Hallelujah.

    After hearing Beth’s tale, I started to meditate to prepare for the day. My mind drifted to this story as the mind is wont to do during meditation. I thought about that moment when Ivy cried and very well should have continued screaming until one of us came to get her.

    A past successful night of sleep resistance. The smug face of a champion saying, “I’m the boss here,” cross-legged and all.

    The coolest visual came to me as I was meditating. You see, that night was the first time in months that I slept a night without getting out of bed. MONTHS.

    This is the visual that came to me. Ivy started to cry, and God said, “someone do something!” And a legion, thousands of angels came pouring out of heaven to comfort and console Ivy back to sleep. Heavenly Father was like, “give that man one full night in his bed.”

    It was a true miracle and that’s the only possible explanation.

    So I say, thank you Heavenly Father, I sure needed that.

    After a good night’s sleep

    Sleep training here we come.

  • What is the Power of Faith?

    What is the Power of Faith?

    What is the power of faith?

    Well, by it the worlds were made so… what can our faith do?

    I’ve written about a miracle I saw happen in my post Miracle Baptisms.

    I was once told a story that strengthened my faith and taught me something about the power of faith. By the way, this is a true story, not made up. If you don’t believe me, have faith.

    The story goes like this…

    There was a guy attending ASU.  His parents planned a big cruise vacation over the winter break.  This guy had been praying and looking for an opportunity to share the gospel with someone. Who? He didn’t know, just someone.  He had made a commitment to baptize a friend before the end of winter break.

    When his parents told him about the plans for the cruise he declined. His parents were shocked.  “Why??? We’re going on a family cruise!” He explained he already had plans.

    Best Large Cruise Ship Winners (2021) | USA TODAY 10Best

    “What plans?!” They asked. “What could be more important than our family cruise?”

    “I’ll be baptizing a friend at that time,” was his response.

    Oh… they thought.  Well, that is important.  They asked who the friend was.  He told them he didn’t know, yet. 

    Let’s break this down.  Here was a cruise.  It existed.  It was paid for.  It was happening.  It was a guarantee. 

    This guy, though, had another guarantee.  He had a commitment.  He would be baptizing someone at that time.

    Soon after the conversation with his parents (aka the testing of his faith) he was sitting outside on campus reading the Book of Mormon.  An acquaintance from class walked by and asked what he was reading.  A few weeks later our hero was baptizing this friend at the precise time his family was on their cruise.

    Some would say the cruise was a sure thing and the baptism was not.  The baptism was a pipe dream, a shot in the dark.  It was unlikely to happen.

    What role did faith play in this story?

    Obviously, faith was everything.

    Soon after declining a sure thing, an all-expense paid cruise vacation, the interaction happened.

    While this guy could have been on a cruise, he was doing something vastly more important, baptizing a friend.

    What is a cruise when compared to the eternal salvation of a soul, of one of God’s children?

    I don’t know the rest of the story. I don’t know what happened with the individual that was baptized. My faith tells something special happened. What if this individual joined the Church of Jesus Christ and devoted himself to it? What if he went on a mission? What if he baptizes five individuals on his mission and shares the Gospel of Jesus Christ with countless others? What if he marries in the temple and has five children? What if those children are raised to worship Christ and bear testimony of Him throughout their lives?

    Fact – that cruise turned into one baptism.

    Faith – that one baptism turned into thousands hearing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and coming closer to their Savior.

    Where does faith end and fact start? – That’s up to us.

    “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”

    Doctrine and Covenants 18:10

    “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!”

    Doctrine and Covenants 18:15
  • Last Night I let the Party get the best of me (No Sleep)

    Last Night I let the Party get the best of me (No Sleep)

    Remember last week when I wrote about The greatest moment of my life every day? Yeah, well here’s the dark side of that smile.

    There’s a serious question/joke every new parent has heard at least 100 times.  Are you getting any sleep?

    Why are we asked this question?

    Because it’s a REAL concern.

    Ivy trying to eat my hand when she should be sleeping

    So, for all those wondering, how has our sleep been?  I wrote about the First 48 Hours.  How have the first five months gone? In a blur would be one way to answer.

    I could go on for a while about sleep training and how much work and effort Beth has put in.  This isn’t a mommy blog so I won’t go into all the detail.  I will say Beth has done an awesome job helping Ivy to sleep.  She usually puts her down between 7pm-8pm.  Ivy will sleep until 6:30am-7:00am with at least one wake-up in the middle of the night.  Some of these wakeups just take putting the pacifier back in her mouth.  Sometimes it’s an hour feeding her a bottle and helping her back to sleep.

    Physically restraining a stubborn baby

    Before I provide my spiritual thought on this, I will stress two points:

    1. Ivy is pretty good overall with her sleeping.  We are blessed.  Beth reminds me of this.  While I have no frame of reference, Beth is in touch with all the mommy’s of the world and knows that babies don’t always sleep the way Ivy does.
    2. Beth does the heavy lifting most nights as I work in the morning.

    As I proceed with my thoughts on getting sleep with a newborn, please refer back to points 1 and 2 often.  Every time you’re thinking, “well Beth is doing all the work, of course you (enter your feelings about my thoughts)…” or “of course it’s not that bad, not all babies sleep like yours has!”  Please refer back to those points.  I am aware of how blessed we’ve been in point one, and I’ve been in point two.

    That said.  My thoughts.

    It hasn’t been that bad.  There.  I said it.

    Don’t get me wrong, it’s HARD.  I’ll say this, I think lack of sleep isn’t as bad as interrupted sleep.  There’s something about having to get up every 2 hours in the middle of the night, even if it’s quick and you can go back to sleep.  That’s what made the first couple months so difficult. 

    I recently heard another father describe the newborn sleeping phase as something like advanced sleep deprivation training for the military.  As he said that, I thought, “huh, I don’t think it was THAT bad” (see point 1!).

    Leading up to Ivy’s birth, I made some big changes to everyday habits of mine.  For one, I’ve cut out sugary drinks completely.  For those who know me, that included Hawaiian Punch or soda with lunch and dinner.  That’s A LOT of sugar.  I cut out the juice and soda about 18 months ago.

    Leading up to Ivy’s birth I read a book that led to two other changes.  I started doing a breathing exercise once or twice a day.  According to this book it’s the single most important thing anyone could do to immediately improve their health.  The other thing this book prompted me to start doing was change my breakfast habits.  I’ve always had breakfast every day no matter what. My breakfast every morning is usually cereal and milk.  My cereal is most often not of the healthy variety.  Berry Colossal Crunch (Cap’n Crunch knockoff) and Cinnamon Toasters (Cinnamon Toast Crunch knockoff) are still in my kitchen from our last order before I changed this habit.  Instead of artificial sugar for breakfast, I’ve transitioned to fruit every morning.  Usually grapefruit and blueberries, apples, oranges, or bananas.

    For those keeping score, I’ve cut out Hawaiin Punch, soda, and cereal in the form of straight sugar.

    For those of you wondering if I still eat candy.  Emphatic YES.  Maybe one day this can be cut down in my life.  We’re not there yet.

    As I pondered on the past 5 months, and the difficulty, something occurred to me.  Like I said above, I don’t think it’s been that bad.  Difficult, not debilitating.  As I thought about this, I thought about a scripture.

    Mosiah 24:14-15 reads:

    And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

    And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

    I think this is the most I’ve ever related to this scripture.  I’ve always wondered what it would feel like for burdens to be made light.  The lack of sleep should be killing me.  I have to be on-call every few weeks for work.  A call at 3 in the morning that would take 2 minutes used to infuriate me.  It would ruin my night and the whole next day.  Now a 3am-4am feeding session is a pretty regular occurrence.

    What explains that I haven’t gone into a fit of rage?  For one, I love Ivy passionately. That helps.  But I can’t help but feel like my burdens have been made light.  Heavenly Father knows my prayers have picked up, needing this assistance.

    I’ve wondered how the change in my eating habits has helped my energy.  Does God miraculously give us more energy and uplift us?  He can, of course.  I believe more often He would like to help us by allowing us to help ourselves.  I believe these new habits were inspired and I was guided to them.  I believe it has lightened my burdens, and God continues to lighten my burdens.

    I’m still working on the cheerfully and patient parts.  That I could always improve on.  But I am grateful for God and His help these first few months.  I’ve felt His presence and assistance every day.

    In the end, all the lack of sleep in the world is worth that smile.