Elder Woodruff was no less enthusiastic in the great latter day work than he had formerly been. The men he most respected he regarded simply as instrumentalities of a divine purpose; for to his mind it was a great thing to be an instrument in the hands of God in the furtherance of a new and grand dispensation. His missionary zeal never waned and those mid-summer days of 1844 found him busily occupied making preparations for his departure to England where he was to preside over the British Mission. His wife was to accompany him, and arrangements were made to leave their son, Wilford, during their absence with his old time friend, John Benbow.
Before leaving Nauvoo, he paid a visit to Emma Smith to whose life he sought to bring consolation in the hour of her bereavement. She gave him a piece of oak for a staff. The oak had been taken from Joseph's coffin. She also presented him with a pair of white cotton gloves, and to his wife she gave a handkerchief. He and Mrs. Woodruff next called upon Mary Smith, widow of Hyrum, and the mother of President Joseph F. Smith. She gave Elder Woodruff several small locks of hair taken from the heads of Joseph, Hyrum, Samuel, and Don Carlos, all brothers who had passed away into the other world. Speaking of these relics Elder Woodruff says: "I also obtained some hair of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. My purpose in getting it was that I might put a part of each of these collections in the knob of my staff as a relic of those noble men, the master spirits of the nineteenth century." These relics he held as something sacred during his life time, and they are now in the possession of his family.
"I next visited Mother Lucy Smith, the mother of the Prophet, and of a large family of sons. This noble mother and prophetess felt sorely grieved over the loss of her children, and lamented the cruel treatment she had received at the hands of an unfeeling world. She begged a blessing at my hands. I laid my hands upon her head and by the spirit of God pronounced upon her a blessing. This was August 23, 1844. I quote from that blessing as follows: 'Let thy heart be comforted in the midst of thy sorrow for thou shalt be held forever in honorable remembrance in the congregations of the righteous. Thou shalt be remembered in thy wants during the remainder of thy days; and when thou shalt be called upon to depart, thou shalt lie down in peace having seen the salvation of thy God who has laid the everlasting foundation for the deliverance of Israel through the instrumentality of thy sons.'"
That God had made her sons the instrumentality in the opening of a new dispensation gave the aged mother an abiding consolation in the midst of her grief.
On the 24th of August Elder Woodruff was set apart for his mission to Europe under the hands of the Twelve Apostles, John Taylor pronouncing the blessing. On Sunday the 25th Elder Woodruff addressed the Saints in Nauvoo, and from the synopsis he made of his remarks, the following quotation is here given: "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. It is through this spirit which giveth understanding that this congregation is assembled at this place. You have the spirit of God and you therefore understand His ways and purposes. I have now one important declaration to make to you and that is that inasmuch as you have been anointed in heart, mind, and action in supporting your counselors, the priesthood of God, the present authorities of the Church, as you have supported the Prophet while he was alive, you will be safe and you will be blessed. You will also be protected, but if you are divided and reject the counsels of God, you will fall. Union and faithfulness are necessary for your salvation. It is true that you have been led by one of the best men that ever graced humanity or tabernacled in the flesh, but he is gone, he sealed his testimony with his blood, he loved this people unto death.
"I now call upon the people to be united in building upon the foundation which the Prophet laid during his lifetime. You have been called to suffer much for the cause in which you are engaged, but if judgment begins at the House of God, Babylon will not escape. If there is fire in the green tree, what shall happen to the dry tree. No people are better prepared for the shock that is coming to this world than are the Latter-day Saints. The real object we have is to secure the blessings which lie beyond the veil and which will be found in the first resurrection. For these blessings we are preparing ourselves.
"The fact that the Prophet sealed his testimony with his blood does not destroy the gospel or lessen the power and purposes of God. Truth has not been annihilated, neither has the priesthood found its burial. The testimony of Jesus is now in force. My counsel, therefore, is to follow the example of those who are gone and who have been faithful unto death. If you would be united, go in all your might and build that Temple and get your endowments.
"I earnestly exhort you to faithfulness and ask your faith and prayers in my behalf. I also want your forgiveness for any wrong I may have done. I bid the congregation farewell."
"The next week I went to the river with Mrs. Woodruff where we were baptized for some of our dead friends." At midnight of that day Elder Woodruff and his wife, accompanied by Chas. C. Rich, Elder Goddard, and several others ascended the walls of the Temple where they knelt in solemn prayer. Elder Woodruff, being mouth, poured out his soul to God for the successful completion of the Temple. He also implored divine aid for a prosperous season for the Church.
In the completion of the Temple was centered the hope of all the devoted Latter-day Saints of those days. The leaders of the Church prayed and labored unceasingly for its completion. The spirit of apostasy in those times manifested itself most strongly in the efforts of those who sought to get away from Nauvoo, who wanted to establish in some distant place the Church anew. These dissenters argued that Nauvoo must be abandoned, and they were right in that conclusion; but Nauvoo was not to be abandoned at that time nor under their leadership. It sometimes happens in this life that greater wisdom and virtue are found in the time an event is accomplished than in the accomplishment of the event itself. The great truth of the exodus from Nauvoo was to be sought for rather in the circumstances of that exodus, than in the fact itself.