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
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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
Speaking of his visit to Maine he says: "While I was at the home of my
father-in-law I had a peculiar dream. Much of it was unutterable and
cannot be written; indeed, I do not comprehend it myself. Among other
things I was called with the Twelve to hold the keys of the Kingdom in
all the world. I traveled with them over much of the earth and I also
traveled through many countries alone. When I finished my journey I saw
many things which I cannot write, but in the end, Joseph, the Prophet,
assisted me to come where he was and pointed out to me my place and
work. I immediately entered into the duties of the new calling to which
I was appointed.
"The same night I had another dream. I was in the presence of the
Prophet, and was conversing with him about his death. I told him I felt
bad over it, and that had I known he would have been taken so soon I
should have conversed with him more while he lived. I would have asked
him many questions. In reply he said that it was not his fault that I
did not."
Whatever the significance of these dreams may have had, they clearly
indicated the loving remembrance in which he held his great leader.
Around the name and memory of the man there was to him a great halo.
The influence of Joseph Smith upon the life of Wilford Woodruff never
waned. There was something about this modern Prophet that invited the
veneration of his devoted followers who proclaimed his name and mission
from the housetops of every part of the world where their duties and
missions might take them.
After reaching New York on the 29th of November, he paid a visit to
Elder Jedediah M. Grant who was then performing a {235} mission in
Philadelphia. On his return to the former city he made preparation for
his voyage to Europe. He speaks of a letter he received in New York
from President Young in which the latter gives him an account of the
reckless and unwarranted course of William Smith and George J. Adams.
On the 8th he and his party, together with Milton Holmes and Leonard
Hardy, set sail for Liverpool on the packet ship, John R. Skiddy. On
the 11th they encountered a severe storm at sea, a storm which greatly
terrified the passengers. "We kneeled down," he said, "and unitedly
prayed that the storm might cease and that the wind might change so
that we could go forward and not backward. In a short time the wind
suddenly ceased and finally changed to the southwest which gave us a
fair wind."
Christmas day they passed upon the ocean. On the 28th they entered the
Irish Channel where they were driven about for some days by foul winds.
Finally on the 3rd of January, 1845, they landed in Liverpool with
feelings of thanksgiving and prayer for their safe arrival. They were
twenty-seven days at sea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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