At this conference one of the brethren spoke upon the God-head. The discourse met, in the main, the views of President Young. The latter, however, said: "When any man publishes or preaches his peculiar views he should not say they are the views of the Church." At the close of the meeting President Young talked very plainly with him about saying that such and such were the doctrines of the Church; about telling what would have been if Christ had not died; if Adam had not fallen; or if there had been no Savior prepared, the world would not have been created.
The conference was further characterized by the call to Dixie of a hundred young men. Instructions were also given on the laws of life and health. A simple life was urged upon the people. President Young further impressed upon young ladies the necessity of some sort of business education. He thought they should study telegraphy, learn to keep books, and prepare themselves for the lighter vocations of life.
The conference had its shadows. Much that was taught was no doubt a result of peculiar views which Amasa Lyman preached. This Apostle was dropped from his position in the Quorum of the Twelve.
Elder Woodruff recorded the marriage on October 12th of his son Wilford to Emily Jane Smith. To the father, the ordinance was in keeping with man's express duty to his God and his obligation to the Church. He thought it was a circumstance in a young man's life which called forth a prayerful desire to serve the Lord. Indeed, such sacred obligations as marriage should never be undertaken without resorting to prayer for God's guidance.
The organization of the School of the Prophets was again taken up and effected on the 16th day of December, 1867. Its members met in the City Hall. It had been organized in earlier days of the Church by the Prophet Joseph through revelation, and was designed for the spiritual growth and development of the Saints of God. Of this school Elder Woodruff was a devoted and active member.
The winter of 1866 and '67 was an open one. Up to January 1st the ground was bare. The weather was warm and there had been a considerable fall of rain. The winter months of that spring were occupied by Elder Woodruff in legislative work.
He had with him at that time two Indian boys whom he undertook to educate. One was called Moroni, the other Sarrowkeets. The latter, he sent to a private school taught by Elizabeth Cowley in her home in the Fourteenth Ward. These Indian boys, in one way or another, caused him considerable trouble, yet he bore with them patiently and sought to educate them and provide for them a father's care. Moroni died as a boy. Sarrowkeets or "Keets," as he was familiarly called, yielded to the wandering spirit of his ancestors and left home. It is supposed that he was run over and killed by a Short Line train four miles north of Salt Lake City.
In his journal of January 21st he recorded some instructions given to a body of the priesthood. "Who was Michael, the Archangel?" "He is Adam, who was Michael in the creation of the world. It will take all the ordinances of the gospel to save one soul as much as it will take to save another,—the dead as well as the living. Jesus Christ Himself obeyed all the ordinances of the gospel that He might fulfill all righteousness. Therefore, those who have died without the gospel will have to receive it in the spirit world from those who preach it to the spirits in prison. Those who dwell in the flesh will have to attend to all the ordinances of the gospel for and in behalf of the dead."
Continuing, he remarked: "There are some keys which the Prophet Joseph held which no other man held while he lived. So it is with Brigham Young. The keys of the sealing power are held by the President alone, although he permits others to administer in this ordinance.
"When I was baptized into this Church, I was observing the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord, and not the first day of the week; but I knew that the Latter-day Saints were the people of God, and had the true Church of Christ; and if I had had a hundred traditions I would have laid them all aside."