Have any of the Mormon Prophets been right about anything?

Answer 1

Yes, although it must first be understood that the prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon" church) do not act as a stereotypical 'prophet' - that is, they do not generally prophesy that such and such thing will happen by such and such date. Within Mormonism, Prophet is the title for a priesthood leader who has the authority and keys to be the mouthpiece of God to the entire church and the entire world. He is more technically called a 'prophet, seer, and revelator'. He may prophesy, but more commonly conveys instruction and counsel that has been revealed to him by God which God wishes His people to hear and obey. You can see this very simply by reviewing past messages from the Prophets and Apostles of the Church - very little prophesying,mostly inspired instruction and counsel. Many Mormons testify of spiritual and physical benefits which stem from following the counsel of the prophet and therefore view it to be prophetic. Examples will follow.

While actual prophesying tends to be quite rare in Mormonism, there have been some significant fulfilled prophesies, mostly stemming from the Church's founding prophet, Joseph Smith Jr. One of the most well known and significant was Joseph Smith's prophesy of the American Civil War. On Christmas 1832, Joseph Smith prophesied that "Thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; and the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshaled and disciplined for war." This is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 87. Thirty years later, this prophesy was fulfilled and the Northern and Southern states were at war.

Another fulfilled prophesy, which also serves as an example of prophetic counsel, is in Joseph Smith's prophesy of the Saints finding peace in the Rocky Mountains, recorded in August 1842. He said, "The Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure of disease, and some of you will live and go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains." (History of the Church 5:85) Only 5 years later, after a large apostasy, several skirmishes in which people lost their lives, and a difficult winter of exposure and disease, the Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Rocky Mountains and established Salt Lake City and many other towns, where they remain a 'mighty people' today.

What is perhaps Joseph Smith's final prophesy is also quite well known. As he was traveling to Carthage, Illinois to await a legal trial, Joseph said that he was "going like a lamb to the slaughter... I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me, 'he was murdered in cold blood.'" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:4) Only a few days later, before the trial could occur, a mob broke into the jail where he was staying and killed him. Even now, believers and non-believers agree that he was murdered in cold blood.

There have also been fulfilled prophesies from the leaders of the Church in recent years, although they have come as 'prophetic counsel' and not direct prophesy. One example are the General Conference addresses of current President and Prophet Thomas S. Monson in April 2005 and 2006. In 2005 he said "My brothers and sisters, I'm appalled at some of the advertising I see and hear advocating home equity loans. Simply put, they are second mortgages on homes. The promotion for such loans is designed to tempt us to borrow more in order to have more... Avoid the philosophy and excuse that yesterday's luxuries have become today's necessities. They aren't necessities unless we ourselves make them such... It is essential for us to live within our means." In 2006 he had similar counsel: "We live in a time when borrowing is easy. We can purchase almost anything we could ever want just by using a credit card or obtaining a loan. Extremely popular are home equity loans, where one can borrow an amount of money equal to the equity he has in his home... The day of reckoning will come if we have continually lived beyond our means... I urge you to live within your means." At this time, the economies of many industrialized nations was doing very well and many people, including Mormons, were borrowing against their homes and participating in other large loans because the economy was so great and loans were easy to come by. Many Mormons ignored the counsel given because it sounded silly and trivial, yet only a few years later the economy crashed, companies went under, thousands lost their jobs, home values plummeted, and many lost their homes because they were unable to pay back the equity loans that were now more than their homes were worth. This is a perfect example of what modern 'prophesy' looks like.

Please see the "Related Links" below for sources and recent addresses by Mormon Church leaders to see what prophesy and prophetic counsel looks like in the Church today.