Lessons of 2026
Lesson No. Twenty-Five

The Last Days is a Time of Miracles

The last days are a time of great wickedness where the wicked will be “drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations” (2 Nephi 27:1). The wickedness of the world and the worldly, of which there are many, are spoken of as the church of the devil. The church of the devil continually fights against the church of the Lamb of God of which there are relatively few compared to the world (See 1 Nephi 13:10-13).

The wrath of God is being poured out on the church of the devil “insomuch that there [are] wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth….then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel” (1 Nephi 14:15, 17, emphasis mine).

Even though the latter days are a time of horrible wickedness, they will also be a time of miracles, and the greatest miracle being the ongoing restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Concerning the latter days the Lord said: “I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work….For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles….Therefore, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder” (2 Nephi 27:21, 23, 26). The “marvelous work and a wonder” the Lord is speaking about is the ongoing restoration of His Gospel.

Nephi described how the miracle of the ongoing restoration will take place: “Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm (show His power) in the eyes of all nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel. Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance (this physical gathering of the house of Israel is now taking place in many nations); and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.” This spiritual gathering refers to people who become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and have a testimony of His restored Gospel (see 1 Nephi 22:11).

The growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the latter days is a miracle. The Church was organized in 1830 with 5 members. In 1943, the year I was born there were approximately 937,000 members of the Church. Today there is approximately 18,000,000, and a large percentage of these participate in one way or another.

Those who labor with the Lord as he fulfills his covenant to gather Israel will experience miracles. (See Jacob 5:69-71).

- Faithful members worldwide are the leaven the Lord spoke about which lifts their countries out of darkness as more of their countrymen join the Church.

- The Lord also spoke about salt, which is a preservative. Faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the salt which will preserve the freedom of the country where they live. A current example is in Ukraine where there are many faithful members of the Church and an operating temple.

The Book of Mormon is the miracle the Lord uses to gather Israel in the latter days. – The first printing of the Book of Mormon in 1830 comprised 5,000 copies. Now there has been more than 50,000,000 copies printed making it one of the most read books in history. Referring to the Book of Mormon the Lord said: “And in [the last days] shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness” (2 Nephi 27:21-29). This miracle is happening every day.

Missionaries experience miracles. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is likely the largest practitioner of missionary service in the history of the world. Today there are over 80,000 full time missionaries serving world-wide, and every region of the world is seeing an acceleration in the growth of convert baptisms.

A powerful way we can experience miracles is through missionary service. Members of the house of Israel, of which we are part, has the responsibility to “bear this ministry and priesthood (as missionaries) unto all nations” (Abraham 2: 9). “Abraham’s seed have carried out the missionary activity in all the nations since Abraham’s day” (Bible Dictionary, Abraham, Covenant of, p. 602).

The Lord said: “The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones….That faith also might increase in the earth; That mine everlasting covenant might be established; The fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers. Behold I am God and have spoken it” (D&C 1:19-24). (The weak and simple certainly include missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are proclaiming the Gospel world-wide)

The contrast between young missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and large numbers of youth world-wide is noticeable to objective observers.

Temple covenant people experience miracles by being armed with the power of God. Nephi beheld that “the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14). President Russell M. Nelson equated the word glory to mean priesthood. (See Ensign, Dec 1989, 13) The covenant people of the Lord are being armed with priesthood power as temples are built world-wide.

The increase in the number of temples is a miracle. In 1943 there were 7 dedicated temples. Today there is 385 temples operating or in various phases of development.

Testimony – It is our blessing to experience personal miracles as we work with the Lord to gather Israel. The Lord said, “the field is white already to harvest….and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul” (D&C 4:4). This promise of salvation is the thing that we desire most for our family. We know that if we keep our covenants and serve the Lord this greatest of all blessings will be ours.

Released on July 12th. 2026.