38. Miracles

An account of my missionary homecoming report in the Nampa Fifth Ward, Nampa Idaho Stake, on Sunday afternoon, January 10, 1971. I had returned from Brazil three weeks earlier—on Saturday, December 19, 1970. This account was adapted from an entry in the journal I started after my mission. In my original journal I only recorded an outline of what I talked about; the portions that appear here in brackets were added as notes when I was preparing my missionary journal for publication.

During sacrament meeting this afternoon I was the featured speaker as I gave a report of my mission. Rather than just talking about my mission per se, I spoke of faith and developed the theme “Miracles” and used incidents from my past two years to illustrate that theme.

The Spirit was present as I shared faith-promoting experiences and bore testimony, and animated by that Spirit I was able to speak with an unusual degree of fluency. After 45 minutes I was just getting started but had to stop to let the other ward in. Throughout the day I had prayed diligently that the Spirit might attend. I think it did.

Bishop Jensen informed me after the meeting that it had been the quietest meeting in a long while. I responded, “I probably put everybody to sleep.” He assured me that it was quite the contrary. Several other people remarked about how reverent it had been for a change.

Just before I stood to speak, “He That Hath Clean Hands” was sung as a special musical number. Coincidentally, that same number was sung right before I spoke 28 months earlier as I was preparing to begin my mission.

The song, often sung by Sister Jessie Evans Smith, the wife of our Prophet, President Joseph Fielding Smith, in her distinctive contralto voice, is based on a poetic Old Testament passage:

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof;
The world and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
Nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Lift up your head, O ye gates;
And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.

Who is the King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.

Who is the King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
— Psalms 24:1–5, 7–10

The mention in this psalm of ascending into the hill of the Lord and standing in his holy place is clearly a reference to the temple, the House of the Lord, “the mountain of the Lord’s house” (Isaiah 2:2; 2 Nephi 12:2), a place of holiness and peace and beauty, a place of covenant and learning.

And the answer to those questions—who shall ascend? and who shall stand?—is likewise clear: he that hath clean hands and a pure heart, one who is worthy, one who has been cleansed by the atoning blood of the Savior, the King of glory.

And that leads us to miracles, the subject of my talk. The Book of Mormon gives us an insight into the relationship between being clean and working miracles: “And we know our record to be true, for behold, it was a just man who did keep the record—for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity” (3 Nephi 8:1).

I began my talk quoting Moroni, who wrote, “And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues;

“Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them.

“For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?

“And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

“But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are” (Mormon 9:7–11).

I continued, using this much of my simple outline:

Sister Hinckley’s comments on miracles [Sister Marjorie P. Hinckley, when she was with us in Rio de Janeiro in September 1969, spoke of the miracle of the missionary system. She said she never worried about her sons while they were serving missions, just when they returned home did she begin to worry again (see journal entry for Sept. 8, 1969).

A year later, when she was with us in Recife, she spoke of the modern-day miracles she had been seeing, including the growth of the Church and its members. Just the previous Sunday, she related, she had seen the third stake in São Paulo organized. South America holds a special spot in her heart. She compared the work here to the construction of a great building. Sometimes an elder may feel he has done nothing on his mission, but hundreds before have felt the same. In reality, they have all placed their bricks into the edifice, and the kingdom grows (see journal entry for Sept. 10, 1970).]

My learning Portuguese, my first day alone with another junior missionary, my becoming a senior companion [In connection with this point, I quoted what the Lord said to Moroni: “My grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

“Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness” (Ether 12:26–28).]

Growth of the Church in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro [Less than five years earlier the first stake was organized in São Paulo, the first in all of South America. Now there were three stakes. And Rio was moving toward having a stake.]

Yolanda’s conversion [Maria Yolanda de Souza and her eight-year-old son Marcos joined the Church in less than three weeks from the time we first knocked on her door. I had the privilege of baptizing her on my 20th birthday (see various journal entries from July 1969). At some point after she started receiving the missionary lessons, she related to my companion and me that she had seen the two of us in a dream before we first came to her door.]

Antonio’s conversion [I do not now recall what I may have said about Antonio’s conversion. In fact, we baptized and confirmed two Antonios within a single month: 40-year-old Antonio José Pimental on October 5, 1969, and 59-year-old Antonio Fernandes Costa on October 25, 1969. I am not certain which one I was even referring to, although probably the latter. He progressed in his investigation quite quickly. On the day of his baptism and confirmation, I wrote, “His testimony has grown much, and his faith is waxing strong” (see journal entry for October 25, 1969).]

My serving as mission historian: baptism in Vitória, general conference [I do not remember what I said about serving as recorder-historian, nor the baptism in Vitória, nor general conference.]

Blessing of Richard (not psychological) [This undoubtedly refers to Richard Tenório, who was born with glaucoma and had to have his eyes operated on. He was Sônia and Simone’s baby brother. Aldo Tenório and I gave him a priesthood blessing on June 21, 1970, before his family took him to Belo Horizonte for an eye operation. On July 18, the day they left for Belo, we had a special fast for the little guy. On July 28 I recorded in my journal, “Good news arrived today. We saw Sônia, who was bubbling with joy and happier than ever. She received word from Belo Horizonte that Richard had been operated on with everything going well. Our prayers have been answered.”]

Drunk piano salesman [On Wednesday, October 22, 1969, my companion and I had the following experience, which I recorded in my journal on October 25: “Late Wednesday afternoon as Elder Staker and I were tracting, we encountered a drunken piano salesman who thought we were Baptist ministers. He dragged us into his home, or little shop, and had me play one of the pianos there. All I could play without music was ‘We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,’ and so I did exactly that. As we were trying to leave, in came a very dark Negro who was Baptist, in every sense the epitome of a crente. We finally made the point that we were Mormons, to which the Baptist replied, ‘That’s alright. As long as you profess Jesus, you’re saved.’ That sort of philosophy irks me, and we graciously made every effort to excuse ourselves and be on our way, which we were allowed to do after I had played the same hymn once again.” I am not sure what point this experience contributed to the talk I was giving on miracles.]

Miracle of change: Gilberto and what he was 10 years earlier [Gilberto da Silva was baptized and confirmed on December 13, 1969, when he was 53 years old. On New Year’s Eve I recorded in my journal, “This evening we visited in the home of Gilberto da Silva, the irmão we baptized a few weeks ago. I am gladdened to see his progress. He is a simple uninstructed man but warm in friendship and love. He reads the Book of Mormon slowly but understands and enjoys it. It is difficult to tear him away from the chapel after meetings (as if we cared to) because he loves to meet with everybody present. His lovely wife, Laura, has not yet been able to attend church and therefore has not yet been prepared for baptism. She cannot read but seems to understand well what we have explained to her.”

On January 15, 1970, I recorded, “In our visit with Irmão Gilberto da Silva we spoke of baptism and some of the beautiful concepts, promises, and blessings associated therewith. He has now been a member one month and spoke of the joy and peace and happiness that already have come to him. His face fairly beams with happiness. His eyes sparkle with joy. His sweet wife, not yet a member, said she has seen the change in him since his baptism. I have noted it also, as I have seen in so many cases already: The gospel works miracles in the lives of those who accept it, for the gospel comes in power and not just in word. The Spirit’s influence is felt and its gifts and blessings are spread abroad in the lives of the faithful.”

Gilberto was among a handful of members who came to the Galeão International Airport in Rio on December 16, 1970, to see me off as I was leaving Brazil.]

Family home evening [I do not remember what I said on this occasion regarding family home evening. I had ample evidence from my mission, particularly during the time I served in Maceió, that home evening could be a great blessing to a family.]

Answered prayer: Elder Brockbank’s eight-step Book of Mormon program [In a zone conference on November 20, 1969, Elder Bernard P. Brockbank, as Assistant to the Twelve, presented a Book of Mormon missionary approach. I wrote in my journal on November 21: “Brother Brockbank’s talk was an answer to much pondering and many prayers on my part: How can we effectively use the members? How can we put the Book of Mormon to better use to make it the great converting tool it was meant to be?

He outlined a program that he worked out by inspiration, emphasizing the eight steps suggested by Moroni’s promise in Moroni 10:4–5. These are (1) read the Book of Mormon, (2) meditate in your heart the things read, (3) ask God the Eternal Father, (4) in the name of Jesus Christ, (5) ask if the Book of Mormon is true, (6) ask with a sincere heart, (7) and with real intent, and (8) having faith in Jesus Christ. We are asked to push the program further, enlisting member help, to give the Book of Mormon its chance to be a witness to all nations.”]

Greatest miracle of all time: the Savior’s atonement, death, and resurrection

Greatest miracle in our day: Joseph Smith’s first vision

My testimony (in English and Portuguese)

I had invited a number of friends, both member and nonmember, to come here the report of my mission. None of them showed up. My brother Jerry, who was very sick, came over from Boise to hear my talk.