Eliza Dana Gibbs Instantly Healed of Fever by Apostle Orson Pratt in Nauvoo

Shortly after arriving in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1844, Eliza Dana Gibbs was stricken with the deadly fever that was then ravaging the city. She described the pain as excruciating, particularly in her head: 'It felt as though it lay near a scorching hot fire.'

Apostle Orson Pratt was called to administer to her. Eliza recorded the outcome in her autobiography with striking precision: 'Before Brother Pratt lifted his hands from my head the pain and fever were all gone and returned no more.'

The healing was instantaneous and complete — the moment the blessing ended, so did the sickness. The fever did not return.

This healing stands in sharp contrast to the fate of others in the Gibbs household at the same time. Her sister Mary was soon struck down by the same illness and died after two weeks of severe suffering. Her husband William was also stricken and bedridden for three weeks. Eliza alone was miraculously and immediately restored.

The timing of these events made the miracle all the more poignant: Eliza had just arrived at Nauvoo after a long journey, only to find the city in mourning over the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Yet even amid that season of grief and sickness, God's healing power was manifest through the priesthood administration of a living apostle.