Early in January of that year there arrived in the midst of the Saints a man by the name of Walter M. Gibson. He had traveled extensively in the Indian Archipelago and on various islands of the sea. The novelties of these lands, the peculiarities of their people, and the products of the soil afforded interesting subject matter for a series of lectures which Mr. Gibson delivered in different places. These talks interested Elder Woodruff, and he gives a synopsis of several in his journal. Gibson claimed to be originally from South Carolina, and was accompanied by a young woman whom he introduced as his daughter. After a short stay in the city, they both professed faith in the Gospel, joined the Church, and received the ordinances of the House of God. Subsequent events, however, proved the Captain to be an adventurer, insincere and dishonest in his motives, ambitious for the honors of men.
Elder Woodruff records that on February 7th Justice Clinton called upon him with a request that he come to the court room and talk to a number of young men who were to be fined for rowdyism and for threatening to take the life of others. He responded to the invitation. The young men listened with marked attention, and what he said was received by them with great respect and earnest consideration. They felt that his words were the fruit of an honest God-fearing life.
On the evening of that day, a party was given to which Governor Cumming, General Stambough, his staff, and others were invited. The Presidency, the Twelve, and many of the Saints were in attendance, and everything was done to make the occasion one of social pleasure and fraternal good will. It was not easy in those days to draw the line. There were honorable men whose society was not offensive and whose manly course entitled them to attention and to social considerations and friendly intercourse. On the other hand, there were adventurers whose motives were well known and whose conduct was offensive. They would have broken in upon the integrity and purity of the Mormon homes without any conscientious respect for the religious feelings of their neighbors.
On March 1st he said: "I am fifty-three years old to-day. I feel sensitive when I look upon these years and see how truly short life is—like a weaver's shuttle, it soon passes. Man should strive diligently to make his life useful. He should speak the truth, live honestly, practice virtue, and set an example in all things worthy of imitation. It will pay no man to defraud his neighbor or to break the commandments of God."
The conference this year convened on the 6th of April and some fifty-four elders were sent abroad on missions. Among them was Captain Walter M. Gibson. President Young's instructions given to the elders are recorded by Apostle Woodruff as follows: "I want you to go upon your missions in the spirit of God. You will do more good by bearing testimony of the work of God through the Holy Ghost than by all the argument you can use. Take for example two men, one learned and able to preach eloquently from the Bible; the other may be ignorant of science and arts, but filled with the Holy Ghost. The man, however, who relies upon that spirit will make ten converts to one made by the man who relies upon his learning. I would not throw one straw in the way of the elders obtaining knowledge of the arts and sciences and of being armed with truthful arguments upon every subject; indeed, they should seek diligently to acquire knowledge, but they should obtain the Holy Ghost to assist them in their ministry. Some of you are going to visit your relatives. When you go where they are, don't sit down at your ease and give up preaching, but remember that you are on a mission and that you should improve your time.
"You will have all manner of evil spoken against you, and all I ask of you and all that God or angels will ask of you is that not one word spoken against you shall be true; and I want you for my sake and for your own sake and for the sake of Christ and the Kingdom of God to live so that the wicked shall have no cause to speak evil against you.
"Another subject I wish to speak about is that of begging while upon your missions. I do not wish you to beg, but trust in God, and do not rob any one or take anything unjustly, but go and preach the Gospel faithfully. If you trust in the Lord, He will give you all you need.
"There is another subject of importance, and that is the temptation you will meet from women. This has caused the downfall of more elders in the Church than any other thing. Some elders go upon missions nearly all their lives and keep themselves clean and pure, while others come home and are shady, their countenances fall, they cannot look you straight in the eye. They have fallen into a snare. Joseph said to the first Twelve that they would have to guard against this evil, for they would have more trouble from this source than from any other. While you are gone, let women alone.
"Again, you will meet with many who want to debate with you. Don't contend with any man. If they have one truth which you do not possess, you may accept it. In crossing the plains, have your prayers in camp. There must be no swearing or contention. If you think some one does wrong, impute it to the head and not to the heart. There must be no abuse of the cattle. I have never permitted the abuse of dumb animals where I have had control."
Such instructions were so perfectly in harmony with the life and character of Apostle Woodruff that it was quite natural that he should make special note of them in his journal; for in the observance of such counsel, he was, perhaps, as perfect a model as could be found in all Israel.