A friend of ours Brian Mecham ( http://www.latterdayconservative.com/ ) , recently sent us these quotes about healing that were worth sharing with you:


1.

D&C 42:43–44, 9 February 1831
And whosoever among you are sick, and have not faith to be healed, but believe, shall be nourished with all tenderness, with herbs and mild food, and that not by the hand of an enemy.
And the elders of the church, two or more, shall be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name; and if they die they shall die unto me, and if they live they shall live unto me. [The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989), p. 73.]

2.

Joseph Smith Jr., President of the Church, 5 September 1841
I preached to a large congregation at the stand, on the science and practice of medicine, desiring to persuade the Saints to trust in God when sick, and not in the arm of flesh, and live by faith and not by medicine, or poison; and when they were sick, and had called for the Elders to pray for them, and they were not healed, to use herbs and mild food. [History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. 4, intro. and notes by B. H. Roberts, second edition revised (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret Book Company, 1976), p. 414.]

3.

Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 8 August 1880
When our human machinery is out of order, [the Lord] understands all about it; and he is the best physician that can be employed; and he also can be employed without money and without price. He imparts to this machinery his Holy Spirit which circulates through the whole body, and promotes health and strength in the individual. But how apt we are to apply to inferior physicians. As soon as something ails this mortal tabernacle, the cry is, “Oh, mother, or husband, will you send for the doctor. My son is very sick, and we need the doctor.” Now this is sometimes the way with those who call themselves Latter-day Saints, but they ought to be ashamed that they do not honor the name which they have taken upon themselves. The Lord has ordained that when you are sick, you should apply the simple ordinance of the laying on of hands, or the anointing with oil by his servants in the name of Jesus Christ. In this ordinance there is more power than in all the medical ability in the world; for there are many diseases which baffle the skill of the wisest physicians, while by the laying on of the hands of the servants of God—not in their own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ—according to the directions given in the Scriptures, we have the promise that they shall be healed; that is, if they are not appointed unto death. [“Man to Be Judged by Law—A Law Given to All Things—The Law of Gravitation—How It Varies by Distance—Law of Projection—Law of Elliptic Forms, Having the Same Length of Year—Law of Orbital Velocity—Its Variations Depending on Distance—Wise Adaptation—Intelligent Selections of Law—Laws of Nature Counteracted,” reported by John Irvine, Journal of Discourses, vol. 21 (Liverpool: Albert Carrington, 1881), p. 239.]

4.

Brigham Young, President of the Church, 9 October 1872
Would you want doctors? Yes, to set bones. We should want a good surgeon for that, or to cut off a limb. But do you want doctors? For not much of anything else, let me tell you, only the traditions of the people lead them to think so; and here is a growing evil in our midst. It will be so in a little time that not a woman in all Israel will dare to have a baby unless she can have a doctor by her. I will tell you what to do, you ladies, when you find you are going to have an increase, go off into some country where you cannot call for a doctor, and see if you can keep it. I guess you will have it, and I guess it will be all right, too. Now the cry is, “Send for a doctor.” If you have a pain in the head, “Send for a doctor;” if your heel aches, “I want a doctor;” “my back aches, and I want a doctor.” The study and practice of anatomy and surgery are very good; they are mechanical, and are frequently needed. Do you not think it is necessary to give medicine sometimes? Yes, but I would rather have a wife of mine that knows what medicine to give me when I am sick, than all the professional doctors in the world. Now let me tell you about doctoring, because I am acquainted with it, and know just exactly what constitutes a good doctor in physic. It is that man or woman who, by revelation, or we may call it intuitive inspiration, is capable of administering medicine to assist the human system when it is besieged by the enemy called Disease; but if they have not that manifestation, they had better let the sick person alone. I will tell you why: I can see the faces of this congregation, but I do not see two alike: and if I could look into your nervous systems and behold the operations of disease, from the crowns of your heads to the soles of your feet, I should behold the same difference that I see in your physiognomy—there would be no two precisely alike. Doctors make experiments, and if they find a medicine that will have the desired effect on one person, they set it down that it is good for everybody, but it is not so, for upon the second person that medicine is administered to, seemingly with the same disease, it might produce death. If you do not know this, you have not had the experience that I have. I say that unless a man or woman who administers medicine to assist the human system to overcome disease, understands, and has that intuitive knowledge, by the Spirit, that such an article is good for that individual at that very time, they had better let him alone. Let the sick do without eating, take a little of something to cleanse the stomach, bowels and blood, and wait patiently, and let Nature have time to gain the advantage over the disease. . . . Ladies and gentlemen, you may take any country in the world, I do not care where you go, and if they do not employ doctors, you will find they will beat communities that employ them, all the time. Who is the real doctor? That man who knows by the Spirit of revelation what ails an individual, and by the same Spirit knows what medicine to administer. That is the real doctor, the others are quacks. [“The Order of Enoch,” reported by David W. Evans, Journal of Discourses, vol. 15 (Liverpool: Albert Carrington, 1873), pp. 225–26.]

5.

Joseph Young of the First Quorum of the Seventy, 3 January 1858
There is a class of people here that do not believe in sustaining professional doctors. I am one of them. There is a certain class of people, again, in this community, when they are sick, the very first motion they make is to call upon a doctor as quick as possible. Which of these two classes are right? Neither of them. I will not say that I would not send for a doctor in some instances, for example, to perform some difficult surgical operation, if I knew he was a good surgeon; then there are instances of sickness in which I would not send for a doctor, because I understand the nature of the disease and I now how to treat it, as well and better, perhaps, than any doctor, and, aided by the blessing of the Lord, I can check it, and that is my duty. But, if I have the Spirit of God dwelling in me, my tabernacle is not very apt to be diseased. [In John Heinerman, Joseph Smith and Herbal Medicine (Monrovia, California: Majority of One Press, 1975), chapter 7.]

6.

George Q. Cannon and Brigham Young Jr. of theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles, 15 October 1877
If objection is raised against the laying on of hands because its effects are not uniform in every case, the poet’s advice, “Throw physic to the dogs” should be followed, for there is nothing more uncertain than the results of medical treatment, and we should therefore use no drugs and fee no doctors. [“The Ordinance for the Sick,” The Deseret News, vol. 26, no. 33 (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Brigham Young Jr., 19 Sept. 1877), p. 518.]

7.

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 19 August 1846
If you are sick, live by faith, and let surgeon’s medicine alone if you want to live, using only such herbs and mild food as are at your disposal. If you give heed to this counsel, you will prosper; but if not, we cannot be responsible for the consequences. A hint to the wise is sufficient. [“Letter to the Mormon Battalion,” Messages of the First Presidency, edited by James R. Clark, vol. 1 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft Inc., 1965), p. 302.]

8.

Brigham Young, President of the Church, 31 August 1875
It is the duty of every father and mother to live so that they may have the mind and will of the Lord concerning their duties to their families. If they are not called to exercise the priesthood which they hold, more than to administer to their children, it is their duty to live so as to know how to teach, lead and advise their children; and if they are disposed they may have the privilege, for it is God’s mind and will that they should know just what to do for them when they are sick. Instead of calling for a doctor you should administer to them by the laying on of hands and anointing with oil, and give them mild food, and herbs, and medicines that you understand; and if you want the mind and will of God at such a time, get it, it is just as much your privilege as of any other member of the Church and kingdom of God. [“Present Revelation Necessary to Lead the Church—The Apostleship—Present Revelation Necessary for All—Evils of Waste, Intemperance, and Extravagance—True Reformation Is to Cease from Doing Evil,” reported by David W. Evans, Journal of Discourses, vol. 18 (Liverpool: Joseph F. Smith, 1877), pp. 71–72.]

9.

George Q. Cannon, First Counselor in the First Presidency, 26 Aug. 1894
Many of us have not faith enough even to send for the Elders of the Church when any one of our family is sick; but the first thought is, “go for a doctor!”—as though the gift of healing had been lost in the Church. How many of you feel as if the gift of healing no longer existed in the Church of Christ but that doctors must be sent for and drugs administered? And this among the Latter-day Saints, a people who profess what we do and to whom such glorious promises have been made!
I am scarcely ever called in to administer to a sick person without being told what the doctor is doing and what he says. To me, it is an evidence of a want of faith in the ordinances of God’s house and in His promises. To think of a people with the promise made to them that their sick shall be healed, if they will only exercise faith, neglecting this and treating it as though there was no certainty to be attached to it!
It is the same in other directions. We fail to set a proper example before our young people. If I were to send for a doctor, what would be the effect upon my children? Why, they would say, “That is the course my father took, and he is an Eider in the Church and a man of experience; he sent for the doctors, and why should not I? My mother was a good woman, but when one of the children was sick, she sent for a doctor; she did not trust to the ordinance alone; and shall we not send for a doctor? Must it all be faith and no works?” How often do we hear this sort of reasoning?
I believe in works; I believe in nursing, in taking care of the sick and in doing all that is possible for them; but I believe also in the ordinances of the house of God. God has made precious promises to the Latter-day Saints concerning the health of their families, and I tell you, in the presence of the Lord, that if the Latter-day Saints would observe the Word of Wisdom there would be less of this disposition to send for doctors and more faith in the ordinances that the Lord has established. [Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of George Q. Cannon; selected, arranged, and edited by Jerreld L. Newquist (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1987), p. 425; see also Deseret Weekly, vol. 49, p. 450.]

10.

Joseph Smith Jr., President of the Church, 13 April 1843
The doctors in this region don’t know much. . . . Doctors won’t tell you where to go to be well; they want to kill or cure you, to get your money. [History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. 5, intro. and notes by B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Deseret Book Company, 1980), p. 357.]

11.

George Q. Cannon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 26 March 1888
Speaking about faith-cures, I have felt deeply impressed with the idea that the members of our Church do not value as they should the means which God has placed within their reach for the relief and healing of the sick.
There is too great a disposition, when sickness enters a household, to send for a doctor. Occasional appeals will be made to the Elders to come and administer, but the two methods are too frequently united—the doctor on the one hand and the Elders on the other.
The experience of those who put their trust in the Lord, and who with careful nursing unite the administering of the ordinance, goes to prove that the Lord has not forgotten His promises. Instances are very common among the faithful Saints of the gift of healing being manifested in a very wonderful manner.
In the breasts of our children, especially, the greatest care should be taken to inculcate faith in this heavenly ordinance. Where children are thus taught, it is remarkable how strong their faith becomes.
I know of children who could not consent to have a doctor come near them. If anything ails them or their brothers and sisters, they insist on the Elders being sent for.
Where such faith prevails, the happiest results follow the application to the Elders to administer. . . .
God has not forgotten His promises, and He has not withdrawn Himself from His people. But the Latter-day Saints should make use of these means more frequently than they do, and put more trust in God and less in man’s skill. [“Doctrines of the Gospel Spreading,” The Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star, vol. 50, no. 13 (Liverpool: George Teasdale, 26 March 1888), p. 194–95.]

12.

Lorenzo Snow of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 6 May 1882
When our friends are stricken down by sickness and disease, or when our little ones are in the agonies of pain and death, there should be Elders in our midst who have educated themselves so thoroughly in developing the gifts of the Spirit within them, and in whom the Saints have such perfect confidence, that they would always be sought after instead of doctors. There are men among us who possess the gift of healing, and might have great faith; but they do not exercise the gift, they do not live for it, and, therefore, do not have the power to use it so effectually as they might. There are men in this Church who are as good in their hearts and feelings as men ever were, but lack faith and energy, and do not obtain really what it is their privilege to receive. If their faith, their energy and determination were equal to their good feelings and desires, their honesty and goodness, they would indeed be mighty men in Israel; and sickness and disease and the power of the evil one would flee before them as chaff before the wind. [“The Establishment of Character—Traits That Are Admirable—How to Have Influence With Heaven—Why Men Should Do Right—The Cultivation of Spiritual Gifts—The Things of God Must Be Sought After—Fasting, Prayer, Devotion and Sacrifice,” reported by George F. Gibbs, Journal of Discourses, vol. 23 (Liverpool: John Henry Smith, 1883), p. 194.]

13.

Spencer W. Kimball, President of the Church, October 1981
Instantaneous healings are numerous and range into the areas of sight, hearing, lameness, internal organs, skin, bones, and all parts of the body. Incurable diseases have been healed. We are grateful beyond expression for the great skill and accumulated knowledge possessed by our physicians, but it must be that numerous healings credited to doctors and hospitals have been the healing of the Lord through the priesthood and by prayer. We are generally too ready to give the credit to the physician when at best his was but a contribution, small or large.
It must be remembered that no physician can heal. He can only provide a satisfactory environment and situation so that the body may use its own God-given power of re-creation to build itself. Bones can be straightened, germs can be killed, sutures can close wounds, and skillful fingers can open and close bodies; but no man yet has found a way to actually heal. Man is the offspring of God and has within him the re-creating power that is God-given. And through the priesthood and through prayer, the body’s healing processes can be speeded and encouraged. Again, how grateful we are for the skill and patience and understanding of our great men who are trained to give us such marvelous service.
There are many who run to the doctor first and then go later to the elders when all other hope is gone. Elders are often called to the hospital to administer after the medical profession has done all it can. Then when the ill one is on his way to recovery, his recovery is credited to the scientist; or in case of death, some wonder why the priesthood did not heal him. It must be remembered that whether the Lord sees fit to heal instantaneously or gradually, whether it be through surgery and treatment or without it, the healing is still the Lord’s miracle. While the profession has worked hard to gain the accumulated knowledge of today, it must be remembered that He who created our bodies has known since the beginning how to remodel, re-create, and repair them. [“President Kimball Speaks Out on Administration to the Sick,” New Era, vol. 11, no. 9 (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oct. 1981), pp. 48–49.]

14.

George Q. Cannon, First Counselor in the First Presidency, 1 Nov. 1893
There is another tendency that is very noticeable among Latter-day Saints, and against which the voices of the servants of God should be lifted in continued protest, and that is the inclination that seems to be growing everywhere to resort to drugs and doctors when sickness enters the household, instead of having recourse to the means which God has commended His people to use. The laying on of hands for the healing of the sick is an ordinance of the Gospel. One of the signs which the Lord Jesus Himself promised His disciples in ancient days that should follow them that believed was, “they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:18.) In our day the promise has been renewed, and we can claim it. . . .
Many, however, fail to avail themselves of these promises, and excuse themselves for doing so by saying that faith without works is dead. They seem to think that works consist in sending for a doctor and using what he may prescribe, having apparently more faith in man’s skill than in God’s power to heal through the ordinance which He has appointed.
In saying this we would not wish to convey any wrong idea. We believe it to be the duty of those who have sick in their households to do all in their power for their comfort, to nurse them with the greatest possible care and to use what skill they may have in that direction, asking the Lord to bless the means which they use and also to inspire those who may have to wait upon the sick to do the very thing for them that will be of the greatest advantage. In this way works can be united with faith, and the ordinance of the Gospel can be used. . . .
It is only reasonable to think that the Lord knows better that which is good for us than man does. His power to heal is without limit. He desires His children to exercise faith. By its exercise great blessings can be obtained. The more it is exercised and the oftener the results which are desired are obtained the stronger does faith become.
Children who are taught by their parents to desire the laying on of hands by the Elders when they are sick receive astonishing benefits therefrom, and their faith becomes exceedingly strong. But, if instead of teaching them that the Lord has placed the ordinance of laying on of hands for the healing of the sick in His Church, a doctor is immediately sent for when anything ails them, they gain confidence in the doctor and his prescriptions and lose faith in the ordinance.
How long would it take, if this tendency were allowed to grow among the Latter-day Saints, before faith in the ordinance of laying on of hands would die out? Little by little the practice of using drugs and resorting to men and women skilled in their use would grow among the people, until those who had sick children or other relatives who did not send for a doctor when they were attacked with a sickness would be looked upon as heartless and cruel. Perhaps they would be taunted for not sending for some skilled person and perchance be condemned for trusting entirely to the ordinance of the Gospel and the proper nursing and kind attentions which every person who is sick should receive.
There is great need of stirring up the Latter-day Saints upon this point. Faith should be encouraged. The people should be taught that great and mighty works can be accomplished by the exercise of faith. The sick have been healed, devils have been cast out, the blind have been restored to sight, the deaf have been made to hear, lameness has been cured and even the dead have been raised to life by the exercise of faith. And this, too, in our day and in our Church by the administration of God’s servants in the way appointed. All these things can again be done, under the blessing of the Lord, where faith exists. It is this faith that we should seek to preserve and to promote in the breasts of our children and of all mankind. [Juvenile Instructor, vol. 28, 1 Nov. 1893 (Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon), pp. 669–70.]

15.

Abraham H. Cannon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
It is the doctors, however, and their erroneous practice that I desire more especially to write at present. The time was in the territory when physicians numbered but few and the families were limited wherein their services were required. At present the conditions are changed, and nearly every family residing in the neighborhood of a doctor are visited to a greater or lesser extent by him. The general experience is similar to that of a prominent man in one of our stakes as expressed to us recently: “A short time ago we had no physician in our stake and it was rarely that we felt the lack of one but since one located among us sickness has increased so rapidly that we can now keep two such professionals going night and day to answer calls.”
If it is true that the hosts of doctors now in our midst find remunerative practice, then there must be some censure, due to the Saints, for a disregard of the Lord’s counsel. For there certainly has been an increase of disease and a consequent greater demand for medical services all out of proportion to the increase of population.
I have no doubt that we should very soon become a healthy and strong people if we would strictly follow the suggestions contained in the Word of Wisdom and the ordinary rules of health which common sense suggests; and then exercise faith in the ordinances of the gospel for the benefit of the afflicted, instead of sending for a doctor the moment we feel indisposed. This latter course shows a lack of faith. But unbelief is natural where disobedience has been practiced. . . . It is a shame to us as a people that we neglect, as many of us do, the gifts of healing and the gift to be healed which the Lord has so mercifully given to us. It is a disgrace that many possessing a mere smattering of medical knowledge and can speedily obtain a practice netting annually thousands of dollars, while the great Giver of life, who knows how to provide every organ of the body is unsought in the hour of sickness. It is a standing reproach to us, we still place more reliance on the skill and knowledge of man, than on the power of God. [In John Heinerman, Joseph Smith and Herbal Medicine (Monrovia, California: Majority of One Press, 1975), chapter 8.]

16.

Susa Young Gates, August 1914
The custom of appealing to physicians for medical assistance in all cases of sickness has become as prevalent even among the L.D.S., that faith in the healing of the sick has been measurably relegated to the rear. It is true, we still send for the elders, but the physician is, or will be, in the house as well, and we are apt to rely more upon his skill than upon the administration of the Priesthood. While if there is a return of health, we are pretty sure to give the credit to the physician. This people are not narrow in their views on the subject of physicians, but we must sound a warning cry in the ears of the women of the Relief Society, that they fail not in their duty to teach lessons of faith in God and in the laying on of hands for the healing of the sick, to their families.
In the rise of this church, faith was the one and only recourse in all cases of sickness and disease. Simple remedies were administered and were perhaps a part of the household equipment. But the bottle of consecrated oil occupied the most prominent place in the sick rooms of the Latter-day Saints. The pages of the old Millennial Star teemed with the cases of miraculous healings under the hands of the Elders. Who is among this people from time to time? Is there any lack of power in the Priesthood? On the contrary, there has probably never been more power and efficacy in the united ranks of the priesthood than at the present time. What, then, may be the difference? It is an entirely individual trouble. You and I, dear sister, may be at fault. The moment we are sick, do we take a remedy or hunt up a physician? And if we hear of a neighbor who has been taken ill, is our first question, who is the doctor, or what does the doctor say? Too much of our time in social affairs is spent in discussing medical problems and medical treatment. The children hear all this and consequently when they are sick their first thought is not to inquire for a spoonful of consecrated oil, but to lean upon the doctor and his advice.
If we are to retain the established principle of faith for the healing of the sick, we must work at it as we would at any other principle or doctrine which we wish to make a part of our lives. Whenever the need arises with ourselves, or with our dear ones, then call in the Elders, as we are told to do so in the scriptures. . . . The Lord will surely heal us if we surely call. We sometimes say we need a physician to tell us what ails us. The Lord is perfectly cognizant of our condition and he’s able to heal one difficulty as another. [The Relief Society Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 8 (Salt Lake City, Utah: August 1914).]