The movement westward when Wilford Woodruff located in Richland, New York was in full accord with the restless energy and ambitious purposes of a new and active generation. The movement called for the best talent and most ardent workers of those times. In Richland this young man gave his old time zeal to a new found occupation. What lay at hand to do he did with all his might. The duties and occupations of his life were with him never temporary, never makeshifts, and he never waited for something to turn up. Nor did the frequent interruptions in his occupations all through life ever give to him an unsteady aim, or a waning enthusiasm. When he plowed in the earth, he saw God's will in the furrows. There was divine harmony in the click of the mill, and the song of heaven in the warblings of the birds. He "settled down" in Richland with the fervent expectation that, God willing, it should be to him a permanent home. In the midst of the busy life he had taken up in his new home, there came to him a message of joy, a warning voice, to whose accents his soul had long been attuned. In the winter of 1833, and on the 29th day of December, there came to his home two humble elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were Zera Pulsipher and Elijah Cheney. At the time of their appearance, he and his brother Azmon were away from the house engaged in their daily labors; but Azmon's wife knew very well the frame of mind, both of her husband and his brother Wilford. Their hopes and expectations had been the subject of conversation in their humble home. She therefore received the elders kindly and gave them to understand that her husband and his brother would be anxious to hear them preach. According to the custom of the Mormon elders then, as now, a meeting was appointed at the schoolhouse and notices were circulated throughout the village. The story of this new experience is told by Wilford Woodruff in a simple and beautiful manner: {33} "Upon my arrival home my sister-in-law informed me of the meeting. I immediately turned out my horses and started for the schoolhouse without waiting for supper. On my way I prayed most sincerely that the Lord would give me His spirit, and that if these men were the servants of God I might know it, and that my heart might be prepared to receive the divine message they had to deliver. "When I reached the place of meeting, I found the house already packed. My brother Azmon was there before I arrived. He was equally eager to hear what these men had to say. I crowded my way through the assembly and seated myself upon one of the writing desks where I could see and hear everything that took place.