Sep 23, 2021
by Howard Collett
The Wilford Woodruff Papers released over 830 pages of new documents in September, including letters from Wilford Woodruff’s British mission in 1839–1840, over 120 pages of notes for Wilford’s autobiography and testimony, and 680 pages of his journal entries covering July 1845–December 1853.
Sep 13, 2021
by Steven C. Harper
As 1834 dawned, the Latter-day Saints in Missouri were “exiles in a land of liberty.” A mob had driven them from the land they legally owned and inhabited—land the Lord had consecrated (D&C 52:2, 57, 58:57, 103:22). The Missouri Saints sent Parley Pratt to Kirtland, Ohio to seek counsel from the Prophet Joseph Smith. He probably carried a letter informing Joseph that Missouri Governor Daniel Dunklin was willing to help the Saints regain their land, but he would not maintain a militia to defend them indefinitely. Would eastern Saints come to the aid of Zion?
Jul 15, 2021
by Jane Clayton Johnson
By Jane Clayton Johnson During the final days of December 1833, twenty-six-year-old Wilford Woodruff, began his first journal as a new convert. He titled his first entry, “The First Book of Wilford.” Wilford had a divine calling to keep a record. In the preamble of his first journal he writes, “It is at once beneficial and instructive to the reflecting mind to review the past with candor and rightly consider the present and be in perfect readiness for that which is to come.&r ...
by Hovan Lawton
By Hovan Lawton, Editorial Assistant In early 1838, Phebe Woodruff and other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were passing through very challenging times. The collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society banking system had brought financial hardship to the Saints, causing some to turn against Joseph Smith and call him a fallen prophet. Just two years earlier, the Saints had unitedly celebrated the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. Kirtland had been a place of holiness wher ...
by Kristy Wheelwright Taylor
This picture includes members of our Autobiography Transcription Team and they know how to get the job done. These ladies work in pairs to complete the second level of document verification (2LV), which means that one of them reads the original document while the other reads the transcription to check for errors. They also do transcription and subject links, which allow you to click on names and places in the documents on the website and learn more about who Wilford interacted with and where t ...
Jul 12, 2021
by Jennifer Ann Mackley
Wilford Woodruff met Colonel Solomon Copeland in April 1835 while preaching in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee. On April 21st he records, “Preached at the house of Col Soloman Copeland Henry Co Tennessee Mrs Copeland was healed by the laying on of hands.” They continued their friendship during Wilford’s mission to the Southern States, and the Copelands hosted Wilford dozens of times as he rode his preaching circuit through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama. Nine years later, ...
Jul 11, 2021
In March of 1838, the newlyweds, Wilford and Phebe Woodruff, were in Maine where Phebe had accompanied Wilford on a mission, and where she was staying with her family in town. On an afternoon off from preaching and traveling, Wilford and Brother Cyrus Sterrett went with their wives for a visit to the shore. Wilford writes that they
Jun 8, 2021
1840 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR WILFORD’S MISSION AMONG THE UNITED BRETHREN “The ministers of the Church of England sent three church clerks to see what I was doing,” said Wilford Woodruff, “and I baptized them.” This is only one of the remarkable stories of Wilford Woodruff on his mission to England. Among those who heard the message of the restored gospel in 1840, one thousand eight hundred were baptized, one-third of them members of the United Brethren chur ...
Jun 7, 2021
Insight to Come Follow Me - D&C 71-75 IN 1846, WILFORD WAS ALMOST KILLED BY A FALLING TREE The accident broke his sternum and three ribs, and also caused severe internal injuries. It was only one of more than two dozen incidents that threatened his life. A list of these incidents follows, humbling indeed to know what an apostle endured. A prominent participant in many defining events of early Church history, Wilford became familiar with clouds of adversity that eventuall ...
May 31, 2021
The development of temple doctrine in the nineteenth century can be traced through the life of one man: Wilford Woodruff. Indeed, his is the only life that spans the period from the introduction of temple ordinances through Joseph Smith in the 1830s to the revelations in 1890s that changed the focus of temple work to eternal families, as God intended.
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