Elder's miraculous recovery from smallpox through faith
Published October 5, 2026 at 11:28 PM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
An unnamed missionary, laboring in Bohemia, was imprisoned in a dungeon. While there, he received word that his missionary companion was stricken with smallpox and near death. Unable to visit, the missionary appealed to the Lord, wrote a letter to his companion encouraging him to rely on God, and prophesied he would recover. The companion eventually recovered and returned to his family in Utah.
In Their Own Words
“I was here notified, through letter, that my companion was seriously ill. He earnestly entreated me to come to him, and administer to him by the laying on of hands, that he might not die. This was indeed a serious blow; incarcerated in prison among a strange people, with no redress from bigoted judges, held through the evidence of a perjured Judas; and my companion sick nigh unto death; as I scarcely anticipated, although I had prepared for the worst. In vain I tried every means possible to grant my companion his humble request. After appealing to the Lord in humble prayers, the liberty was at last granted me of writing a letter to him, in which I encouraged him to cling to the Lord, who was abundantly able to raise him up from the bed of affliction, and permit him again to join his family and friends in Utah. I concluded my letter by prophesying that he would get well; and I am pleased to state, that although the affliction proved to be that dreadful disease, the smallpox, he recovered, and is to-day with his happy family and friends in his mountain home.”
— Unnamed missionary, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 26 January 1885 (Vol. 47, No. 4). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1885-01-26_47_4 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 47, No. 4, 26 January 1885 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1885-01-26_47_4
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