Wilford Woodruff

“ Who can comprehend the joy, the glory, the happiness and consolation that an Elder of Israel feels in being an instrument in the hands of God of bringing his father, mother, sister, brother, or any of the posterity of Adam through the door that enters into life and salvation? No man can, unless he has experienced these things, and possesses the testimony of Jesus Christ and the inspiration of Almighty God. ”

“ While the priesthood is restored to the earth, and the revelations of God are revealed to us through the mouths of prophets and apostles concerning the fullness of the gospel—doctrine, ordinances and principles, we should study them, and treasure up knowledge by faith. We should study out of the best books, and the Holy Ghost will bring to our remembrance those things which we stand in need of, in the self-same hour that we are called to teach the people. ”

“ I trust the remainder of the Twelve will learn wisdom and not follow the example of those who have fallen. When the Twelve, or any other witnesses of Jesus Christ, stand before the congregations of the earth, and they preach in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost, and the people are astonished and confounded at the doctrine, and say, 'That man has preached a powerful sermon,' then let that man or those men take care that they do not ascribe the glory unto themselves, but be careful that they are humble, and ascribe the glory to God and the Lamb ”

“ The teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith to President John Taylor and the rest of us was to obtain the Holy Spirit, get acquainted with it and its operations, and listen to the whisperings of that Spirit and obey its voice, and it soon will become a principle of revelation unto us.
We have found this true in our experience, and in order to prove whether a revelation is from God or not we follow out the principles revealed to us, and if we find that which was manifested to us proves true, we know it is from God; for truth is one of His attributes, and the Holy Ghost deceiveth no man. ”

“ Ye are not sent out to be taught, but to teach.
"Let every man be sober, be vigilant, and let all his words be seasoned with grace, and keep in mind it is a day of warning, and not of many words.
"Act honestly before God and man; beware of sophistry, such as bowing and scraping unto men in whom you have no confidence. ”

“ There is no church of Christ, or kingdom of God upon the earth in your generation. There is no fruit of the church of Christ upon the earth. There is no man ordained of God to administer in any of the ordinances of the gospel of salvation upon the earth in this day and generation. But, in the next generation, I the Lord will set up my kingdom and my church upon the earth, and the fruits of the kingdom and church of Christ, such as have followed the prophets, apostles and saints in every dispensation, shall again be found in all their fullness upon the earth. ”

“ On the 28th I held a meeting at a school-house, when William Douglass, the Methodist minister, came and wanted me to work a miracle, that he might believe, and otherwise railed against me.
I told him what class of men asked for signs, and that he was a wicked and adulterous man, and predicted that the curse of God would rest upon him, and that his wickedness would be made manifest in the eyes of the people. ”

“ It was with great difficulty at last that I saved the lives of my horses by getting them into a box car and taking them to Ogden; while, if I had obeyed the revelation of the Spirit of God to me, I should have traveled to Salt Lake City over a good road without any storm.
As I have received the good and the evil, the fruits of obedience and disobedience, I think I am justified in exhorting all my young friends to always obey the whisperings of the Spirit of God, and they will always be safe. ”

“ Possessed of wonderful energy and determination, and mighty faith, Brother Woodruff has labored long and with great success in the Church. He has ever had a definite object in view—to know the will of the Almighty and to do it. No amount of self-denial has been too great for him to cheerfully endure for the advancement of the cause of God. No labor required of the Saints has been considered by him too onerous to engage in with his own hands. ”

“ There I visited many of my former neighbors and relatives, and the grave of my mother, Bulah Woodruff, who died June 11th, 1808, when twenty-six years of age. The following verse was upon her tombstone:
"A pleasing form, a generous heart,
A good companion, just without art;
Just in her dealings, faithful to her friend,
Beloved through life, lamented in the end."
At the close of the day I walked six miles to Farmington, where my father, Aphek Woodruff, was living, and I had the happy privilege of once more meeting with him and my step-mother, whom I had not seen for seven years. ”

“ But when any priest, elder, prophet, apostle, or messenger is sent of God to preach the gospel, gather the Saints, work in temples or perform any work for the Lord, and that man is faithful and humble before the Lord, in his prayers and duty, and there is any snare or evil in his path, or the righteous to be sought out, or danger to the emigration of the Saints either by sea or land, or knowledge needed in a temple, then the Lord will reveal to him all that is necessary to meet the emergency. ”

“ Father Coltrin was resolved to continue his journey, and, in conversing with Brother Taylor, he thought it better for one sick man to be left than for two, as I was so sick with the chills and fever that I was not able to render him any assistance, nor, indeed, to take care of myself. ”

“ Brother Woodruff is a remarkable man. Few men now living, who have followed the quiet and peaceful pursuits of life, have had such an interesting and eventful experience as he has. Few, if any in this age, have spent a more active and useful life. Certainly no man living has been more particular about recording with his own hand, in a daily journal, during half a century, the events of his own career and the things that have come under his observation. His elaborate journal has always been one of the principal sources from which the Church history has been compiled. ”

“ Thus ended my journey of two months and sixteen days, leading the Fox Island Saints to the west, through all the perils of a journey of nearly two thousand miles, in the midst of sickness and great severity of weather.
I took my family in the spring and removed to Quincy, Illinois, where I could mingle with my brethren, and I felt to praise God for His protecting care over me and my family in all our afflictions. ”

“ After sunset on Sunday evening, men might work, and boys might jump, shout, and play as much as they pleased.
Our parents were very strict with us on Saturday night, and all day Sunday we had to sit very still and say over the Presbyterian catechism and some passages in the Bible.
The people of Connecticut in those days thought it wicked to believe in any religion, or belong to any church, except the Presbyterian. They did not believe in having any prophets, apostles, or revelations, as they had in the days of Jesus, and as we now have in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ”

“ Latter-day Saints were treated with merciless cruelty and had to endure the most outrageous abuses. It was with the greatest difficulty that many of them got out of the State, especially the prominent men; for there were many men of that State at that time, who acted as though they thought it no more harm to shoot a "Mormon" than a mad dog. From this brief explanation you will be able to understand why some of the brethren thought we were not required to go back to Far West to start from there upon our mission across the ocean to Europe. ”

“ These one hundred evil spirits to each one of the children of men seek to lead them into every temptation possible, to use tobacco, smoke, drink whisky, get drunk, curse, swear, lie, steal, and commit adultery and murder, and do every evil to cut them off from exaltation as far as possible. ”

“ Brother Hyrum Smith opened by prayer; after which the Presidency laid their hands upon our heads and gave each of us a blessing.
President Rigdon was mouth in blessing me, and also blessed Sisters Young, Taylor and Woodruff.
The Prophet Joseph promised us if we would be faithful, we should be blessed upon our mission, have many souls as seals of our ministry, and return again in peace and safety to our families and friends; all of which was fulfilled.
Brother Hyrum advised me to preach the first principles of the gospel; he thought that was about as much as this generation could endure. ”

“ The Spirit of God will rule over and guide all men who will permit it and seek for it, and this is especially necessary for young Elders who are laboring in the vineyard of the Lord. For the Lord knows where the righteous, honest and meek of the earth are, and will lead the Elders to them. ”

“ I cried unto the Lord, and prayed that she might live and not be taken from me. I claimed the promises the Lord had made unto me through the prophets and patriarchs, and soon her spirit revived, and I drove a short distance to a tavern, and got her into a room and worked over her and her babe all night, and prayed to the Lord to preserve her life.
In the morning the circumstances were such that I was under the necessity of removing my wife from the inn, as there was so much noise and confusion at the place that she could not endure it. ”

“ Bidding good-by to the small remnant of the Saints who remained on the temple ground to see us fulfill the revelation and commandments of God, we turned our backs on Far West and Missouri, and returned to Illinois. We had accomplished the mission without a dog moving his tongue at us, or any man saying, "Why do you do so?" ”

“ The published history of Zion's Camp gives an account of the bones of a man which we dug out of a mound. His name was Zelph. The Lord showed the Prophet the history of the man in a vision. The arrow, by which he was killed, was found among his bones. One of his thigh bones was broken by a stone slung in battle. The bone was put into my wagon, and I carried it to Clay County, Missouri, and buried it in the earth. ”

“ I held meetings almost daily with the Saints up to the 13th, when I crossed to the North Island. Here I found that the seed I had sown was bringing forth fruit. Six persons were ready for baptism.
But my mission upon these islands was not an exception to the general rule; success did not come without many obstacles presenting themselves. Those who rejected the word were frequently inspired by the evil one to make an attempt at persecution. ”

“ We spoke to the people several times during this conference, and at its close we were called upon to administer to a woman who was possessed of the devil. At times she was dumb, and greatly afflicted with the evil spirits that dwelt in her. She believed in Jesus and in us as His servants, and wished us to administer to her. Four of us laid our hands upon her head and commanded the devil, in the name of Jesus Christ, to depart out of her. ”

“ Before closing this little book, as a reader for our children, I wish to bear my testimony upon several principles, to the Latter-day Saints, especially to the rising generation, the young men of Israel.
First, I wish to speak of the spirits of good and evil. The Lord says, whatever leads to good is of God, and whatever leads to do evil is of the devil. ”

“ The power of God has been manifested in a most remarkable manner in preserving Brother Woodruff's life. Considering the number of bones he has had broken, and the other bodily injuries he has received, it is certainly wonderful that now, at the age of seventy-five years, he is such a sound, well-preserved man. ”

“ The argument might be used that when our earth was first peopled there were but two persons on the earth, and after the flood but eight souls were left alive, but the probability is that during the millennium the inhabitants will increase very fast as the age of children will be as the age of a tree, and the inhabitants of the earth will not die off as they do now. ”

“ After Joseph, the Prophet, had led Zion's Camp to Missouri, and we had passed through all the trials of that journey, and had buried a number of our brethren, as recorded in history, the Prophet called the Camp together, and organized the Church in Zion, and gave much good counsel to all.
He advised all the young men, who had no families, to stay in Missouri and not return to Kirtland. Not having any family, I stopped with Lyman Wight, as did Milton Holmes and Heman Hyde. ”

“ Whenever you are tempted to do evil, turn from it. Never make light of any of the commandments or ordinances of the gospel of Christ, and when you meet with any persons who do it, shun their society.
Avoid the use of tobacco and strong drink, for they lead to evil. ”

“ Whenever you are blessed with any good thing, be willing to share it with others. By cultivating these principles while you are young, you will lay a foundation to do much good through your lives, and you will be beloved and respected of the Lord and all good men. ”