The beginning of the year 1849 found Wilford Woodruff actively at work in the spread of the gospel. It was a glorious message which he was bearing to the people of the East, and he gave to it all the ardor of his intensely religious nature. Nor was he less concerned about the integrity and devotion of his wife to the faith they had espoused. His family was carefully instructed in the duties and sacraments of the Church. On the 15th of the month he wrote a lengthy letter to President Young and Council in which he reported his travels and labors. He prepared a historical sketch for the historian's office, and wrote to Orson Pratt, who was presiding over the British mission, as follows: "I am 42 years old today, March the 1st, 1849. How peculiar such figures look to a man while counting up his years in this probation. The very sight of them crowds on to his mind a flood of thoughts more than tongue can utter or pen describe. The last sixteen years of my life have been passed endeavoring to preach the gospel and build up the Kingdom of God in association with my brethren. The past is gone, I have no desire to recall it. I would not wish to live my life over again if I could. I feel like looking forward and not backward. "While the Jews were high-minded and in the height of their power, the Son of God, in lamb-like meekness, bowed to the ordinance of baptism and all other rites of the gospel and commandments of His Father. He was looking forward to a time when He {337} should make His second visit to His brethren after having overcome death and the grave. At the present day, while emperors, princes, kings, lords, nobles, and great men of the world have been making a wonderful effort to maintain their dignity, and appear to good advantage before the world, many of the noblest spirits that ever dwelt in the flesh, like Jesus and the Apostles, have been meekly submitting to the ordinances of the gospel, and like little children have submitted to the authority of the holy priesthood." During the month of March Elder Woodruff visited Cape Cod, preaching to the Saints and strangers, the latter including sea-captains, sailors, and fishermen. There he also organized a branch of the Church with 21 members. Upon his return home to Cambridgeport, he found his father-in-law, Ezra Carter Sr., awaiting him. On the 22nd of March Father Carter was baptized, his wife having received the gospel before this. Elder Woodruff records these events as the fulfillment of prophecy by Father Jos. Smith, the patriarch, who, in blessing him and his wife years before, promised that their household should receive the gospel and stand with them in the Church. Elder Carter lived to be 96 years of age. His old home, in a beautiful rural district of southern Maine, still stands. It is near the roadside as you go from Saco to Portland.