Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints / History of His Life and Labors, as Recorded in His Daily Journals

by Wilford Woodruff

That Wilford Woodruff had a true conception of the message and work of Mormonism, is evinced by the great pleasure which he took in the call of his son Wilford to a mission. It was something to which he had looked forward with great pleasure. No greater honor can come to a man than the privilege of carrying the gospel to the nations of the earth. To have sons was, of course, a great joy; but to meet the expectations of their father, they should fill honorable missions and maintain their integrity in the Church.

It was now time to divert his work from the Historian's Office to the farm and to the care of his sheep. In those days the warm sulphur springs were converted into a sort of dipping vat in which one hundred and twenty-eight sheep could be washed during the day. Whether dipping sheep, or sowing grain, or writing history there was the same enthusiastic devotion in all he did.

On June 12th he recorded the killing of two stage drivers coming from Camp Floyd; and on the 12th he also recorded the drowning of Albert Smith, in the Jordan River. He was the first male child born in the Church after the entrance of the Latter-day Saints into the Valley. He was a good youth, dutiful to his parents, and died in the faith.

When the mid-summer months arrived, and his fields and orchards could be left, he set out upon a journey in company with President Young to different parts of the Territory. Fruit growing was at that time the theme of many discourses. He stated in his record of July 31st that, "With J. V. Long. Thos. Bullock, Robert Campbell, and John Jacques, I visited in Provo the garden of Brother Hemingway. He has the best orchard, nursery, and flower garden combined in the Territory." A little later they returned from the South and went on a visit to Logan. There, while addressing the Saints, he pointed to the hill east of the town and prophesied that a temple of the Lord would soon be built upon it. When President Young arose to speak, he said that Apostle Woodruff had spoken by revelation and his words would be fulfilled. As all know, President Woodruff lived to see that Temple completed and dedicated to the Lord.

It was on this visit to Cache Valley, in the latter part of August, 1863, that a decision was reached to form settlements on Bear River. Apostle Chas. C. Rich was placed in charge of those called to settle the valley east of Cache, which was subsequently known as Rich County.

On the return of President Young from Logan, a meeting was held in Ogden where the Word of Wisdom was preached with great force, and where President Young spoke strongly against the practice of some of the people in leaving their farms to become prospectors for gold and silver. In those times, the mining excitement in California was running high. If the Saints were to remain in the Valleys of the Mountains where they were to build up settlements by co-operative effort, they must not yield to the temptation of the mines in California. If they began mining here, it was the first step to the abandonment of the farm and a rush to the gold fields of the coast.

Elder Woodruff related in his journal the circumstance of a brother who went three times to President Young to secure his approval of a trip to California for the purpose of making money. Each time, the President counseled him to remain at home, but finally yielding to the man's entreaties he said: "Yes, go if you will against counsel. You will make money but you will lose it before you get home."

The man went. After remaining about a year and accumulating several bags of gold-dust, he was greatly elated by his success, and started home with his money; but the word of prophecy was against him, and when a few days out from San Bernardino, he was held up by a gang of robbers and relieved of all his gold-dust. The man returned to Utah with some remorse of conscience and a witness to the folly of treating lightly the counsel of his superior in a wild desire to obtain wealth.

In September of that year, in consequence of the agitation that was going on against the leading brethren, and the efforts to try Presidents Young and Wells upon false charges, the brethren left their homes for a place of safety while the excitement lasted. Elder Woodruff reported at some length the circumstance of the death and funeral of Sister Ivins, the grandmother of Apostles Heber J. Grant, and A. W. Ivins. Her funeral sermon was preached by President Young who spoke in the highest terms of love and esteem for the deceased. "She was a woman," he said, "of faith and good works, worthy of the confidence and respect of all. We shall meet her in the resurrection. She has been well treated by her children and by all the family, and I feel to bless them for it."

During these times Elder Woodruff's journal contained frequent instances of the healing of the sick by the laying on of hands both in his own home and in the household of his friends. He often dwelt in a reminiscent mood upon the manifestation of God's power in the healing of the sick throughout the early history of the Church and during the early days in the Valleys of the Mountains. He spoke of the goodness of God, of His wonderful mercy and of His divine power manifested in behalf of the Saints. All that he said and all that he did he ascribed to the glory of God. To him, death, however, is nothing, if men and women die in the faith of the Lord Jesus. It is a wonderful faith which he recorded through every year of his life, and his daily record shows that he never abandoned his faith or felt desolate or despondent in the midst of the most trying scenes. He was no pessimist. Every page of his journal threw out hope, and revealed a spirit of grand expectations.