We are not the only church in modern times to claim that Miracles and revelation actually occur. We are, however, the only church to make that claim and subsequently manage to stick around for more than one generation. Many groups claiming such "amazing" things spring up here and there, and some of them have years or decades of explosive success, but when their founders pass away, everything goes to pieces. This is because such movements are often centered around the leader rather than the message. At the opposite end of the spectrum, "mainstream" Christianity largely teaches that revelation occurs, but not like it did before, and that miracles can occur, but generally don't. We, on the other hand, absolutely believe that revelation and miracles can and do occur in the very same sense as they did in Biblical times, and that, if they do not occur, it is only because the people lack sufficient faith. However, when such miraculous events do occur, we bear this warning in mind:

And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall do many wonderful works; in my name they shall cast out devils; in my name they shall heal the sick; in my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; and the tongue of the dumb shall speak; and if any man shall administer poison unto them, it shall not hurt them; and the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them. But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation. (D&C 84:65-73)

In my life, I have talked to many members of this Church who have been first-hand witnesses of true prophecy and miraculous healings. However, when we hear that something miraculous has happened at a particular person's house, we do not drum up the press, pass out the candles, and turn the place into a shrine. There are several reasons for this:

1. Even if such events are not commonplace, they ought to be. So we should not treat every miracle as if it were the Second Coming.
   
2. Parading such things before the world often robs them of their sanctity.
3. Though miracles are part of the message, they are not the message. The message is the message.
4. Those who lack the faith to live according to the precepts of the Gospel will usually lack the faith to believe in such miracles anyway.
   

Now, one could argue that our tendency to not publicize the miracles that occur within our Church is just a way for us to cover up the fact that such miracles do not really occur. Well, aside from just saying that my personal experience have proven to me that this is not the case, one way to deal with this is to list the miraculous things that the prophet Joseph Smith said and did. Though I shy away from publicizing the miraculous things that I and my close friends and family have experienced, I do not shy away from publicizing the miracles wrought by Joseph Smith, since these events are already in the public domain anyway. According to those who witnessed the events, Joseph Smith did the following:

• Cast the devil out of Newel Knight.
• Healed the lame arm of the wife of John Johnson.
• Healed Joseph Smith, Sr. of cholera.
• Healed Angeline Works of cholera.
• Healed Brigham Young, Elijah Fordham, Joseph B. Noble, and a whole company of feverish saints, who, though being on the brink of death, immediately arose to their feet. (22 July 1839)
  
• Healed over sixty people who had been too sick to sit up. (23 July 1839)
• Healed the daughter of J. and Margaret Shamp of deafness. (December 1840)
• Called down a fierce storm upon a mob that had assembled to attack the Saints.
  
• Prophesied the location of the opening battle of the Civil War years before the fact.
• Prophesied to Stephen A. Douglas, while having dinner with him, that he would aspire to the Presidency, but that if he turned his back on the suffering of the Saints the way President Van Buren had, he would "feel the weight of the hand of the almighty God" upon him. (This prophecy was first published in 1856. In 1857, Douglas openly slandered the Church and published lies about its members and leadership. In arguably the greatest political upset in U.S. history, he ran for President in 1860 and lost to Abraham Lincoln.)
  
• Prophesied that the day would come in which musket balls would fly around Willard Richards like hailstones, and that his friends would drop around him, but that he would emerge unscathed. (Willard was with Joseph when the mob attacked the Carthage Jail. Joseph and Hyrum were killed and John Taylor was shot several times, barely surviving. Willard emerged unscathed.)

There are many more examples, but you get the idea. We believe in prophecy, revelation, and miracles, and we believe that Joseph Smith performed all of them.

Now, something that many people ask is whether or not we believe that people outside of our faith are capable of receiving revelation and working miracles, and the answer is yes and no. Yes because we believe that faith in Jesus Christ is essential for the reception of such gifts, and people outside of our Church can have faith in Jesus Christ sufficient to receive miraculous blessings. No because the Holy Priesthood is essential for the working of miracles upon others and the reception of revelation for others as an authority figure, and only members of our Church have the Holy Priesthood.

Criticizing our assertion that one must have Priesthood authority in order to prophesy, many quote this verse:

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

The argument is that, unlike times before when there were some select people who were prophets while the masses were not, we are now in an age in which everyone who believes in Christ is a prophet. However, it is interesting how those who make this claim fail to account for the fact that so many people today prophesy and preach entirely different things. If you have two of God's prophets in one room, they will not argue. Period. They will not preach different doctrines. Period. If they do, at least one of them is lying about being a prophet.

Every individual has the need and the capacity for personal revelation. That is true for men, women, boys, and girls, and it has always been that way. There have been times in which most of the people lack such communion with God, but that is only because the people live in disbelief, rendering them incapable of receiving the revelation to which they are entitled. However, whether the people are receiving personal revelation or not, there is always the necessity of having an authority figure who receives revelation for the Lord's People as a whole. Though it is too inconvenient for many "freethinking" Christians to admit, the Lord did in fact establish a Church upon the earth that has a clear hierarchy of authority, and those who refuse to recognize the leaders sent by the Lord are in turn refusing the Lord.

Miracles work in a very similar manner. Everyone can receive miracles from God for themselves. However, in order to administer to others and work miracles upon them, one must have the Holy Priesthood. Attempting to do so without having received the Holy Priesthood through the proper channels constitutes an affront to God.

In conclusion, I absolutely believe that revelation, prophecy, and miracles are just as real today as they have ever been. If these things were to disappear from the world, it would only be because of disbelief.

And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.

And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.

And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?

Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?

Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.

For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made. (Moroni 7:33-38)