Description
The Miraculous Healing
May 14, 1832. Two Latter-day Saint missionaries came into the town of Charleston, Vermont. The morning after their arrival, they approached one of the prominent men of the town, Judge Farr, seeking permission to preach in the schoolhouse. Permission was granted and when the elders stood to speak, Judge Farr was there with two of his sons. The first elder to speak was barely twenty years of age. He spoke of the Book of Mormon, of a new prophet, Joseph Smith, and of the gifts of healing and the working of miracles.
At the conclusion of the meeting Judge Farr invited that firsts missionary to his home, while his companion went home with another family. After supper, the family conversed upon the Restoration further. As it came time to retire, the Judge invited the missionary to pray. They gathered around the bed of Mrs. Olive Hovey Farr, Judge Farr’s invalid wife, who had been ill for seven years and was given up by the doctors to die.
The missionary, Elder Orson Pratt, prayed for the family and particularly for the healing of Mrs. Farr. At the conclusion of the prayer, he stood and walked to the bedside of Mrs. Farr and:
“…asked her if she had faith in Jesus Christ to be healed. She responded that all things were possible with God, and if it was His will that she might be healed, she believed it would be done.
“Elder Pratt then took her by the right hand and asked her name, and said unto her, ‘Olive, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, I command you to be made whole.’ She was healed and made whole, in the twinkling of an eye. She raised herself and sat up in bed, called for her clothes, dressed herself, walked the room and sang praised to God. It caused such rejoicing in the family that there was no sleep that night.”
That miracle caused such a sensation that the entire family of Winslow and Olive Hovey Farr joined the Church along with many others—including the Snow family, and the Freeman Family. A branch of the Church was organized and in time they gathered with the Saints. What would have happened that night if Elder Pratt had ignored that prompting to bless Sister Farr? Sister Olive Farr lived to be 94 years-old. She actually out-lived Orson Pratt, who blessed her.
One last thing, it was April 15, 1846, at a wilderness camp on Locust Creek in Iowa that William Clayton received word that his wife had just given birth to a son back in Nauvoo and that mother and baby were healthy and well. In the spirit of rejoicing, Elder Clayton sat down and penned a hymn that would become the great anthem of the pioneers, Come, Come Ye Saints. His wife’s name was Diantha Farr Clayton, daughter of Winslow and Olive.
Source: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/K2WW-YKM
