"After becoming acquainted with Mr. Teppley's circumstances I thought it providential that we were led to his house, for although he was a professor of religion and a Methodist, he was in a state of despair, believing that he had committed the unpardonable sin. However, I told him what the unpardonable sin was, and that he had not committed it, but that it was a trick of the devil to make him think so, in order to torment him. He then acknowledged that a few evenings before he went down to the wharf with the intention of drowning himself, but when he looked into the cold, dark water, he desisted and returned home, and said nothing about it to anyone previous to telling me. I taught him the principles of the gospel, which proved a comfort to him.
"We spent the next day in visiting the people of Belfast, and in the evening preached in a brick schoolhouse, provided by Mr. Teppley. Many wished to hear more from us. We next visited Northport and Frankfort, holding meetings at both places. On the 1st of March, 1838, we entered Bangor, which at that time had a population of ten thousand. This was my birthday, I being thirty-one years of age. I visited some of the leading men of Bangor. They granted me the use of the city hall, where I preached to good audiences for two successive evenings. This was the first time a Latter-day Saint elder had preached in that town. Many were anxious to learn more about our principles, but our visits through all the towns from Thomaston to Bangor were necessarily brief, owing to our appointments upon the islands. It was like casting bread upon the waters and trusting in God for the result.
"On the 5th of March we sailed from Penobscot for the Isle of Holt, where I held a meeting the following evening. The next day I took passage on the mail boat for North Fox Island, where I again had the privilege of meeting with the Saints for prayer and praise before the Lord. On my arrival I received a package of letters from friends. One was from Kirtland, and gave an account of the apostasy and tribulations which the Saints were passing through. Joseph, the Prophet, and others, with their families, had gone to Far West, Missouri, and the Saints were following him. At North Island, Brother Townsend left me and returned home, and I was again alone in the ministry.
"On the afternoon of the 22nd of March, Brother Sterrett and I, accompanied by our wives, went several hundred yards from the shore to a sandbar (it being then low tide), to dig clams. The ground near the shore was much lower than the bar, and while we were busy digging clams and talking Mormonism the dashing of the waves of the incoming tide against the shore suddenly made us conscious that we had fifty yards of water between that desirable place and ourselves. The surf waves added to our difficulty, and, as we had no boat, our only choice was to cross our four arms, thus forming a kind of armchair for our wives to sit upon, and carry them in turn to the shore, wading through two and a half feet of water. By the time we had our wives and clams safely landed, there was impressed firmly upon our minds the truth of the old saying, that 'time and tide wait for no man,' not even for a preacher of the gospel.
"On the 28th of March I received a letter from Zion, requesting me to counsel the Saints I had baptized to sell their property and gather to Zion. About this time the Lord was manifesting Himself in various ways upon the islands, by dreams, visions, healings, signs, and wonders. I will relate one peculiar circumstance of this kind that occurred. Mr. Ebenezer Carver had been investigating our doctrines for quite a length of time, and having a great desire to know the truth of our religion, walked to the sea shore, wishing he might have some manifestation in proof of its truth. There came to his mind the passage of Scripture which says there will be no sign given 'but the sign of the Prophet Jonas.' While this thought was in his mind a large fish arose to the top of the water, out at sea some distance, and suddenly sank out of sight. He greatly desired to see it again, and it soon arose the second time, accompanied by another fish of about the same size, and one of them swam on the water in a straight line towards Mr. Carver, as he stood upon the shore. It came as near as the water would permit, stopped and gazed at him with a penetrating eye, as if it had a message for him, then returned to its mate in the ocean, and swam out of sight. Mr. Carver retraced his steps homeward, meditating upon the scene and the wonderful condescension of the Lord. It is proper to say that this occurred at a season of the year when fish of that size are never known upon those shores or seas, and they are never, at any season, known to come so far inshore as in the case mentioned. Mr. Carver was convinced that it was intended by the Lord as a sign to him.
"Two days after this event I visited Mr. Carver at his house, where his wife was confined to bed with a fever, and was requested to administer to her. I placed my hands upon her head, the power of God rested upon me, and in the name of Jesus Christ I commanded her to arise and walk. She arose and was healed from that instant; she walked down to the sea, and I baptized her in the same place where the fish visited her husband. I also confirmed her there, and she was filled with the Holy Ghost and returned to her home rejoicing.
"I called the people together and exhorted them to sell their property and prepare to accompany me to the land of Zion. I had labored hard for many days for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the inhabitants of those islands, and the Lord had blessed my labors and given me many souls as seals of my ministry, for which I felt to praise Him; and now I felt to labor quite as zealously to gather out those who had embraced the gospel, and lead them to Zion."
Among the sad experiences of Wilford Woodruff during his mission to the Fox Islands was the fact that his former missionary comrade, Warren Parrish, with others in Kirtland, had apostatized and left the Church. Wilford had been especially attached to Warren Parrish, because of their former missionary companionship. Elders who travel in the mission field realize how great is the love of missionaries for each other when they enjoy the spirit of their calling. He was pained severely to learn that Warren Parrish had made shipwreck of his faith and taken the downward road. The cause thereof he explained as follows: "It might be stated here that Warren Parrish fell through disappointed ambition. He aspired to the Quorum of the Twelve, or to be a leading spirit of the Church. He was what is termed a smart man, and through his smartness, which was distorted by ambition, envy, and bitterness, he turned against Joseph and the Church, having fallen into darkness and given himself up to the power of Satan." The failure of Warren Parrish was but one instance out of many. Joseph, the Prophet, warned the elders against being thus envious and striving to excel each other through envy, instead of being excellent in doing good. At this period the Prophet and Saints were moving to Missouri. Apostasy and rebellion were rampant at Kirtland; but Wilford Woodruff was undaunted, and continued his labors and baptized a considerable number who listened to his message. A scurrilous letter sent by Warren Parrish to the postmaster at Vinal Haven aroused a strong opposition, but did not hinder the work of the Lord there.
On the 11th of April, Elders Milton Holmes, James Townsend, and Abner Rogers, who had come to the islands to attend the conference, again met with Elder Woodruff, and on April 13th conference was held on North Fox Island, with a goodly representation of the various branches of the Church on the islands. "On the 17th of April," writes Wilford, "Mrs. Woodruff left the islands, returning to her father's home in Scarboro, Maine, and a few days afterwards I called the Saints of North Island together and gave them some instructions. I also informed them that the spirit of God bore record to me that it was our duty to leave the islands for a season, and take a mission westward. They had been faithfully warned, and the Saints were established in the truth, while the wicked were contending against us and some were disposed to take our lives if they had the power. On the 28th of April we left the island in an open sailboat, made our way to Owl's Head, and from there walked twenty miles. The following day we walked forty miles and suffered some from weary limbs and blistered feet, but we felt it was for the gospel's sake, and did not wish to complain. The next day a walk of thirty miles brought us to Scarboro, where we spent the night at Father Carter's. On the 8th of May I parted with Mrs. Woodruff and Father Carter and family, and in company with Milton Holmes walked thirty-three miles towards Portsmouth, which city we reached the following day, spending several hours there, visiting the navy yard. We then walked to Georgetown, formerly New Rowley, and spent the night with Father Nathaniel Holmes.
"On the 11th of May I visited Charleston and the Bunker Hill Monument, and spent several hours in the city of Boston, which then contained a population of one hundred thousand. I ascended to the cupola of the courthouse, from which I had a fine view of the city; then I visited several of the Saints, and walked over the long bridge to Cambridge and Cambridgeport. I visited the jail there to have an interview with Brother A. P. Rockwood, who had been cast into prison on a charge of debt, to trouble and distress him because he was a Mormon. This was the first time he and I had met. The jailer permitted me to enter the room where he was. It was the first time in my life that I had entered a prison; the jailer turned the key upon us, and locked us both in. I found Brother Rockwood strong in the faith of the gospel. He had the Bible, Book of Mormon, Voice of Warning, and Evening and Morning Star as companions, and read them daily. We conversed together for three hours in his solitary abode. He informed me of many things which had occurred at the jail while he was confined there as a prisoner. Among other things he related that the jail had taken fire a few days previous to my visit. He said it looked a little like a dark hour; the fire was roaring over his head, while uproar and confusion were upon every hand; fire-engines were playing rapidly around the building; the water was pouring into every room; the people were hallooing in the streets; prisoners were begging for mercy's sake to be let out, or they would be consumed in the fire; one was struggling in the agonies of death; while others were cursing and swearing. Brother Rockwood said he felt composed in the midst of it all. The fire was finally extinguished. At 8 o'clock the jailer unlocked the prison door and let me out, and I gave the parting hand to the prisoner. We had spent a pleasant time together, and he rejoiced at my visit; and who would not, to meet with a friend in a lonely prison? I left him in good spirits, and wended my way back to Boston.