The conference of that year began on April 6th, with about 12,000 people in attendance. Times were somewhat exciting, and there was a pronounced demonstration on the part of the Saints in the matter of their adherence to the work of God. At that time about one hundred missionaries were called. A little later on in the same month the Deseret Theological Society was organized.
On May the 15th, the Endowment House was dedicated. To the older of the present generation its sacred precincts, its rites, and ordinances are among the most cherished memories. Apostle Woodruff was present at its dedication; and later in life when the Temple supplanted it, he ordered it removed. On the day following its dedication, Geo, Q. Cannon gave an interesting account of his mission to the Sandwich Islands.
On the same date President Young in speaking of the resurrection, as recorded by President Woodruff, said: "The identical particles of matter in which we have honored our spirits, our tabernacles, in which we have suffered, traveled, labored, and built up the Kingdom of God would be the identical bodies resurrected, and no others. They will be raised from the grave to immortality and eternal lives. Evil was placed upon the earth that man might know the good from the evil, for without an experience in those things, men could not know one from the other. Upon the earth the devil sowed the seeds of death in everything, so that as soon as Adam and Eve began to eat of the fruit of the earth they received into their systems the seeds of mortality—death. Their children thus became mortal and subject to pain, sorrow, and death. By this means they were redeemed and partook of life, peace, and happiness, and they would know how to prize them. Father Adam would never cease his labors to redeem his posterity and exalt them to all the glory they were capable of receiving. Yet man has his agency to act for himself—choose good or evil, and to be rewarded according to his works."
On May the 19th Elder Woodruff set out upon another visit to the southern settlements in company with President Young. At Cedar City they found the iron works in full blast. They were making good iron, casting pipes and other necessary appliances needed by the people. While there, they organized a stake of Zion comprising Iron County. On reaching Lehi on their return they had an interesting visit from Aropene, an Indian chief. This was the latter part of May, and by this time the crops and gardens had almost entirely been destroyed by the grasshoppers.
In his journal of June 30th of that year he records the funeral of Judge Schafer, Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court of Utah. The funeral was held on that day. The Saints turned out in large numbers and showed great honor to the judge whose justice and uprightness were so greatly respected.
On July the 13th Elder Woodruff attended the conference in Provo with Presidents Young, Kimball, and Grant. During the conference, they had a visit from an Indian chief whose English name was High Forehead. He and others of his tribe addressed the congregation, expressing their confidence in President Young and the people over whom he presided. There was in those days a class of people in Provo whose conduct was not entirely satisfactory. It was a gathering place for many uncouth miners, whose habits of drinking and gambling did not give Provo a very good name. Speaking of the town, Apostle Woodruff says in his journal: "There was a strange spirit in Provo and many had not the spirit of God." Many of the early inhabitants of the town will find in that remark something of the spirit of charity.
On Elder Woodruff's return to Salt Lake City he speaks of the excellent times they had in the Polysophical Society as well as in the Universal Scientific Society. These social gatherings for intellectual improvement afforded the progressive men of those days some opportunity to satisfy their desires for education. Elder Woodruff rarely failed in his journal to give an account of the doings of those societies, and to express the great delight he had had over the information imparted by the lectures. In his journal he says: "On September 13th we met in the Social Hall under the organization of a Pomological Society. The house was well filled and the subject discussed was the organization of a Horticultural Society. A committee was appointed to draft the constitution and by-laws to govern said society. I was chosen chairman of this committee, and subsequently president of the society which did much to promote the culture and growth of fruit in the Territory."
The spirit of Wilford Woodruff was pre-eminently missionary in every aspect of his life. If he raised fruit, it was in fulfillment of a mission to promote an industry. When he sat in the legislative halls, he regarded his work as a grand mission for the establishment and spread of the principles of civil government. It all made him an enthusiastic worker. If he farmed, he did it as much to teach others how to farm as to obtain a livelihood from it. With him, all life and labor was a mission. It was all in the spirit of a teacher and he was conscientious in the extreme about what and how he would teach. In attending a quarterly conference at Farmington in October, 1855, he writes in his journal: "After retiring to bed I prayed to the Lord to show me what we should teach the people, and this I received as an answer. 'Let my servants obtain the Holy Ghost and keep My spirit with them and that will instruct them what to teach the people continually. Instruct the people to keep My spirit with them and they will be enabled to understand the word of the Lord when it is taught unto them.'"
It is quite natural, therefore, that he should keep a careful account of missionary work both at home and abroad. He notes in the fall of that year that Nathaniel V. Jones returned from his mission to Hindoostan, also the appointment of Lorenzo Snow, Ezra T. Benson, and Phineas Young to England.
Elder Woodruff was appointed as a missionary, in connection with Elders Orson Pratt, and Parley P. Pratt, to travel throughout the Territory. He speaks of this event as giving him much pleasure and adds: "It is the first time since the organization of this Church and Quorum that I have had the privilege of being associated with these two men on a preaching mission. We have met but little except in conference from time to time." He mentions about this time the death of Orson Spencer who had died in St. Louis. Of him he says: "Many friends mourn his loss. He was a firm pillar in the Church and Kingdom of God."