Lectures on Faith states that in order to have perfect faith in God, one must have “a correct idea of [God’s] character, perfections, and attributes” (Lectures on Faith [1985], 38). One of God’s characteristics is that He will not change: “[God] changes not, neither is there variableness with him; but that he is the same from everlasting to everlasting, being the same yesterday, today, and for ever; and that his course is one eternal round, without variation” (Lectures on Faith, 41).
“Many miracles happen every day in the work of our Church and in the lives of our members. Many of you have witnessed miracles, perhaps more than you realize.
“A miracle has been defined as ‘a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand and of themselves cannot duplicate’ [Encyclopedia of Mormonism (1992), “Miracles,” 2:908]. The idea that events are brought about through divine power is rejected by most irreligious people and even by some who are religious. …
“… Miracles worked by the power of the priesthood are always present in the true Church of Jesus Christ [see George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, sel. Jerreld L. Newquist (1987), 151–52]. The Book of Mormon teaches that ‘God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles’ (Mosiah 8:18). The ‘means’ provided is priesthood power (see James 5:14–15; D&C 42:43–48), and that power works miracles through faith (see Ether 12:12; Moro. 7:37)” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Miracles,” Ensign, June 2001, 6, 8).
“I believe that all of us can bear witness to … miracles. We know children who pray for help to find a lost item and find it. We know of young people who gather the courage to stand as a witness of God and feel His sustaining hand. We know friends who pay their tithing with the last of their money and then, through a miracle, find themselves able to pay their tuition or their rent or somehow obtain food for their family. We can share experiences of prayers answered and priesthood blessings that gave courage, brought comfort, or restored health. These daily miracles acquaint us with the hand of the Lord in our lives” (Sydney S. Reynolds, “A God of Miracles,” Ensign, May 2001, 12).
“We pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes the wishes of Christ—when His words abide in us (John 15:7). We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant. Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent His mind but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart” (Bible Dictionary, “Prayer”).
Moroni stated that he had the ability to write in at least two languages: Hebrew and reformed Egyptian. He noted that if the “plates had been sufficiently large,” he would have written in Hebrew; however, those who kept the record used “reformed Egyptian” due to the lack of space (see Mormon 9:32–33). Previously in the Book of Mormon, both Nephi and King Benjamin acknowledged their use of Egyptian. Nephi stated that he wrote in “the language of the Egyptians” when he engraved the small plates (1 Nephi 1:2).
When speaking to his sons about the importance of the brass plates, King Benjamin noted that Lehi could read the record because he had “been taught in the language of the Egyptians” (Mosiah 1:4). Therefore, we understand that Lehi taught both the gospel and the Egyptian language “to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children” (Mosiah 1:4). Evidently, this pattern continued through the generations of record keepers who followed until Moroni learned the language from his father. However, Moroni acknowledged that he wrote in “reformed Egyptian” that had been “handed down and altered … according to [their] manner of speech” (Mormon 9:32), indicating that some adaptations in the use of the language had occurred over the thousand years since the time of Lehi. This could explain why Moroni concluded with the comment that “none other people knoweth our language” but that God had “prepared means for” the eventual interpretation and translation of the record (Mormon 9:34).
Egyptian was commonly used in Lehi’s day, especially by merchants and traders who traveled widely throughout the region around Jerusalem. If, as some have suggested, Lehi’s profession required him to travel throughout the region, he likely would have made sure his sons learned the language of the Egyptians to support the family occupation.