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 JournalsWoodruff, Wilford
Religion
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
Woodruff, Wilford
Woodruff, Wilford, 1807-1898
in City Road chapel--the first ever erected by the celebrated John
Wesley. The Lord Mayor said: 'It is with pleasure that I have been
permitted to preside over this respectable body this evening, on so
important an occasion, which will be indelibly fixed upon my mind as
one of the most pleasing events of my life; and I trust I shall ever be
as ready to perform every duty required of me by the citizens of London
as I have been to meet with our Wesleyan friends this evening.' The
house rang with applause. In the midst of all this, who can imagine our
feelings? None but those in like situation. Here were we with a mission
and message from the Lord to the inhabitants of London. We stood in
their midst ready to deliver that message as the Lord might open our
way, and yet we were as little known to the people as was Jonah to the
citizens of Nineveh while in the belly of the whale. Notwithstanding
all this display of talent, yet the people needed a humble servant
of the Lord to teach them {152} the gospel in its purity, as Nineveh
needed a prophet to cry repentance therein. I retired alone, and
reflected upon these things."
Scenes of this kind stirred Wilford Woodruff, in his deeply
conscientious nature, with great anxiety and concern, lest he might
fail to deliver his divine message to the very uttermost of the
requirement made of him.
The grief that bowed down Wilford Woodruff's heart at receiving news
of the death of his little daughter finds pathetic expression in his
journal, in which also appears the letter from his wife bearing the
sorrowful tidings. It reads:
"My Dear Wilford: What will be your feelings when I say that yesterday
I was to witness the departure of our little Sarah Emma from this
world? Yes, she is gone. The relentless hand of death has snatched her
from my embrace. She was too lovely, kind, and affectionate to live in
this wicked world. When looking upon her I have often thought how I
should feel to part with her. I thought I could not live without her,
especially in the absence of my companion; but she is gone. The Lord
has taken her home to Himself, for some wise purpose. It is a trial
to me, but the Lord has stood by me in a wonderful manner. He will
take better care of her than I possibly could do. We have one little
angel in heaven, and I think it likely that her spirit has visited you
before this time. She used to call her Papa, and left a kiss for her
Papa before she died. Today, little Wilford and I with a number of
friends, came over to Commerce, to pay our last respects to our darling
in seeing her decently buried. * * She had no relatives to follow her
to the grave, or to shed for her a silent tear, except her Mamma and
little Wilford. She lies alone in peace. 'The Lord giveth, and the Lord
taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.'
"PHOEBE W. WOODRUFF."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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