Acts of God / Intervention

David W. Patten's miraculous protection of a mother and child during a storm

Published October 12, 2026 at 6:19 AM

1830s · 1838
Missouri

Contributed by

Millennial Star Research

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While traveling across the Missouri prairie, David W. Patten encountered a woman who, due to fear from being harassed by a mob, was suffering from physical distress and threatened with a premature birth. A severe storm was also approaching. Patten called a halt, prayed, and commanded the rain to stay and the woman to be conveyed safely. The storm subsided, the sky cleared, and the group reached their destination safely.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 59, No. 4 (28 January 1897), p. 55):

Of the party had found the mother with an infant in a distressing condition before, was threatened with severe labor. In this distressing situation, a heavy storm seemed to be gathering, and in sympathy for the sorrowing, David at once called the company to a halt, and, stopping aside in the tall grass, he commanded the rain should be stayed, and that the woman should be conveyed to safety. The rain was stayed, the sky began to clear, and they reached their destination without further trouble.

In Their Own Words

“Of the party had found the mother with an infant in a distressing condition before, was threatened with severe labor. In this distressing situation, a heavy storm seemed to be gathering, and in sympathy for the sorrowing, David at once called the company to a halt, and, stopping aside in the tall grass, he commanded the rain should be stayed, and that the woman should be conveyed to safety. The rain was stayed, the sky began to clear, and they reached their destination without further trouble. — Millennial Star 59:4”

Sources & References

The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 28 January 1897 (Vol. 59, No. 4). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1897-01-28_59_4 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Fuller account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 59, No. 4 (28 January 1897), p. 55 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1897-01-28_59_4

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