Elder Hallstrom talks about miracles as he talks about a man who had a terrible accident on a hike to a high peak. This man fell from a cliff and was badly injured but miraculously survived and will walk again. He questions if we have the faith to recognize miracles in our lives that occur all around us.

• Do good people and their loved ones have reason to ask the question posed by Mormon: “Has the day of miracles ceased?”

He shares a story of another tragedy, a plane crash, where two couples were killed. He says he doesn't understand why the first person was able to live while these other couples tragically died.

• My limited knowledge cannot explain why sometimes there is divine intervention and other times there is not. But perhaps we lack an understanding of what constitutes a miracle.

He provides us a definition of a miracle and notes that faith plays a vital role in us recognizing events as miracles.

• Defining a miracle as “a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand” gives an expanded perspective into matters more eternal in nature. This definition also allows us to contemplate the vital role of faith in the receipt of a miracle.

Sometime our faith is tested by the possibility that we might not be healed of our earthly infirmities. Elder Hallstrom talked about an example that Elder Bednar shared in a previous conference talk.

• Elder David A. Bednar once asked a young man who had requested a priesthood blessing, “If it is the will of our Heavenly Father that you are transferred by death in your youth to the spirit world to continue your ministry, do you have the faith to submit to His will and not be healed?” Do we have the faith “not [to] be healed” from our earthly afflictions so we might be healed eternally?

Faith is a key part of recognizing miracles in our lives. Our faith needs to be accepting that God and Christ have great things for us and sometimes we don't understand the big picture like they do. We have to have faith in their plan.

• A critical question to ponder is “Where do we place our faith?” Is our faith focused on simply wanting to be relieved of pain and suffering, or is it firmly centered on God the Father and His holy plan and in Jesus the Christ and His Atonement? Faith in the Father and the Son allows us to understand and accept Their will as we prepare for eternity.

Elder Hallstrom concludes with his testimony that the days of miracles have not stopped and that miracles are given for all of God's children.

• Today I testify of miracles. Being a child of God is a miracle. Receiving a body in His image and likeness is a miracle. The gift of a Savior is a miracle. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is a miracle. The potential for eternal life is a miracle.
• No matter our ethnicity, no matter our nationality, no matter what we have done if we repent, no matter what may have been done to us—all of us have equal access to these miracles. We are living a miracle, and further miracles lie ahead.

I believe that miracles happen all around us. But sometimes we are too occupied in our lives to recognize them. Since last October, I have tried to identify a small way that the hand of God was seen in my life. I have learned that as I focus on looking for small blessings and miracles around me, I am more open to the idea that things don't just happen by chance. I have recognized that the Lord is active in our lives and wants to bless us. Sometimes we don't recognize the simple things that occur as miracles, or blessings, but I would encourage you to have a little more faith and take a little more time each day to try to figure out how the hand of God impacted your life each day.

One of the great truths that came from the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ is our relationship with God the Father and His son Jesus Christ.  Elder Hallstrom reminds us that we are literally children of a loving Heavenly Father.

• Our most fundamental doctrine includes the knowledge that we are children of a living God. That is why one of His most sacred names is Father—Heavenly Father.
  

Understanding our relationship with the Father and the Son is needed to gain eternal life.  Knowing this relationship provides us guidance and directions throughout our life.

• A correct understanding of our heavenly heritage is essential to exaltation. It is foundational to comprehending the glorious plan of salvation and to nurturing faith in the firstborn of the Father, Jesus the Christ, and in His merciful Atonement. Further, it provides continual motivation for us to make and keep our indispensable eternal covenants.

We each identify with who we are from a worldly perspective.  Our heritage means a lot to us.  But our most basic heritage is that of being a child of God.

• Here on earth, we identify ourselves in many different ways, including our place of birth, our nationality, and our language. Some even identify themselves by their occupation or their hobby. These earthly identities are not wrong unless they supersede or interfere with our eternal identity—that of being a son or a daughter of God.
  

Without continually reminding ourselves that we have a personal relationship with God, we can lose focus of what matters most and what the purpose of our existence here on earth is about.

• We live in a world that can cause us to forget who were really are. The more distractions that surround us, the easier it is to treat casually, then ignore, and then forget our connection with God.
  

We should always keep in our minds and hearts that we are Children of a loving Heavenly Father.  Doing so will help us stay on the correct path back to Him.

• In today’s world, no matter where we live and no matter what our circumstances are, it is essential that our preeminent identity is as a child of God. Knowing that will allow our faith to flourish, will motivate our continual repentance, and will provide the strength to be “steadfast and immovable” throughout our mortal journey [Mosiah 5:15].

I had a talk with one of my daughters the other night about her self image and how she views herself in relation to her friends.  I told her that she knew something that her friends didn't and that she can always rely on this truth to help her throughout her life.  I told her this simple truth is something she speaks about every Sunday in Young Women's.  I reminded her that the Young Women's theme says that she is a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father who loves her.  This most basic truth will give her guidance throughout her life and remind her that all the distractions of the world really don't matter.  What matters is that her Father in Heaven loves her and that she has a personal relationship with Him.