Introduction
Across the history of the Restoration, countless events—some dramatic, others subtle—have illustrated a divine pattern: God prepares solutions long before His children recognize their need for them. This episode explores how miracles often unfold quietly, through timing, circumstances, and the faithfulness of individuals who may not understand why their contributions matter. From Joseph Smith’s childhood to modern Latter-day Saint experiences in remote regions of Argentina, the narrative demonstrates that the “day of miracles” continues whenever faith and sacrifice invite God’s hand.
Joseph Smith’s Childhood Leg Surgery: A Prepared Miracle
In early 19th-century New England, serious bone infections almost always resulted in amputation. Medical knowledge was primitive, antibiotics did not exist, and most physicians considered limbs unsalvageable once infection spread. When young Joseph Smith developed osteomyelitis after a typhoid epidemic, his family faced the same grim prognosis.
Yet, by what believers identify as divine orchestration, the Smith family lived near Dr. Nathan Smith of Dartmouth Medical College—one of the only physicians in America who had pioneered a radical procedure for such infections. Instead of amputating the limb, Dr. Smith developed a technique to cut into the bone and remove only the diseased sections. He had performed the surgery successfully only a handful of times.
Because of this unlikely geographic and professional convergence, Joseph’s leg was saved. The procedure was excruciating: with no anesthesia, he refused alcohol, clung to his father for strength, and endured the surgical removal of infected bone. His mother could not bear the screams and repeatedly left the room. Over months, fragments of bone continued to work their way out of his leg as it healed.
From a historical perspective, the episode is striking. From a doctrinal perspective, it is interpreted as God preparing a solution years before Joseph’s prophetic calling—arranging the expertise of a physician, the family’s location, and the preservation of Joseph’s mobility for the heavy work he would later perform.
Moroni, the Hill Cumorah, and God’s Long Preparation
Another example of divine preparation spans centuries. Around AD 400, Moroni buried the gold plates in the Hill Cumorah, not knowing who would one day retrieve them. More than 1,400 years later, the Smith family—through a combination of financial hardship, crop failure, and circumstance—moved from Vermont to western New York, settling only a few miles from Cumorah.
This chain of events could have led the Smiths anywhere, yet they arrived precisely where the plates lay hidden.
Doctrinally, this illustrates two complementary roles in God’s work:
Sometimes we are Moroni: acting in faith now, unsure why our efforts matter.
Sometimes we are Joseph Smith: receiving blessings because someone else was faithful long before we existed.
The Restoration itself depended on such unseen preparations across generations.
Modern Example of Providence: Temple Trip from Southern Argentina
The episode shifts from early Church history to a modern miracle involving Saints in Río Gallegos, Argentina—one of the southernmost Latter-day Saint communities in the world.
An Impossible Journey
The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple is more than 72 hours away by bus. For many families, the cost of travel and lodging represented five to seven months’ income. Local leaders had begun planning to save for years, hoping to send only a few members.
By natural reasoning, taking an entire district of youth and families to the temple was impossible.
President Roero’s Revelation and the Turn Toward the Temple
In late 2023, President Roero was called as district president. He had a dream in which he saw himself with many youth at the temple in Buenos Aires. After President Nelson’s strong invitation to prioritize the temple in April 2024 general conference, he told local leaders they must act:
Prepare spiritually for temple covenants.
Increase family history efforts.
Save whatever small amounts they could.
He did not know how such a trip could ever occur. He simply obeyed prophetic counsel in faith.
Modern Miracle Narratives
Vanessa and Augustina
Vanessa and her daughter were new converts when their beloved father/grandfather passed away. Shortly afterward, one of them dreamed of an unfamiliar structure resembling a baptismal font. A week later, missionaries showed them a video of the Rome Italy Temple—and she recognized the baptistry from her dream. She learned for the first time about proxy baptism for the dead.
Soon afterward, unexpected donations opened the possibility for more people to attend the Buenos Aires Temple, and they were invited—just in time to perform ordinances for their recently deceased loved one.
Their introduction to temple work had been prepared long before they knew what a temple was.
The Mirinda Family
More than eleven years earlier, the Mirinda family began saving for temple ordinances. Their savings grew slowly, painfully. Then disaster struck: their house burned down, and they had to use their long-saved temple money to rebuild. They accepted the setback, not knowing if they would ever reach the temple.
Years later, when donated funds made a district-wide temple trip possible, the Mirinda family was included. Their entire family received endowments and sealings. God did not prevent their trial, but He redeemed it.
A Man in Faith Crisis
At the temple, during a testimony meeting, another Latter-day Saint—visiting alone and seeking answers—happened to be present. As he heard testimonies from the Argentine Saints, he felt the same Spirit that had converted him years before. His faith crisis was pierced by unexpected reassurance.
Once again, timing that appeared coincidental became evidence of divine orchestration.
Abraham, Isaac, and Sacrificial Faith
President Roero’s experience echoes the story of Abraham and Isaac: God did not require Isaac’s life—but He required Abraham’s willingness. In the same spirit, President Roero was prepared at one point to surrender his own seat at a sealing so that a faithful sister could attend. Only after making that internal sacrifice did a member of the temple presidency intervene so everyone could be admitted.
The pattern emerges again: when disciples surrender their will, God provides a way beyond mortal capacity.
Miracles, Preparation, and God’s Long Vision
The episode concludes with a doctrinal reflection: miracles often appear to be coincidences only after they unfold. God’s hand operates quietly through natural events, small decisions, dreams, geographic movements, and the choices of individuals who may never see the full purpose of their obedience.
Sometimes we are Moroni.
Sometimes we are Joseph.
Sometimes we never see the reason at all—like Mormon adding the small plates “for a wise purpose,” which only God understood.
Faith precedes the miracle.
Sacrifice opens the way.
And God’s purposes span generations.
Listen to the full podcast here:
Season 4, Episode 50 – Has the Day of Miracles Ceased?
https://app20602.cloudwayssites.com/importance-temple-modern-prophets/