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
"When the cholera broke out in Camp, Joseph attempted to rebuke it,
but was shown by the Lord that when He sends a judgment man must not
attempt to stay it. (Joseph returned to me the sword which I had given
him, and it still remains in my family as a relic of that expedition.)
Those who died in Zion's Camp were A. S. Gilbert, John S. Carter, Eber
Wilcox, Seth Hitchcock, Erastus Rudd, Alfred Frisk, Edward Jones, Noah
Johnson, Jesse B. Lawson, Robert McCord, Eliel Strong, Jesse Smith,
Betsey Parrish, and Warren Ingles.
"The Prophet called the brethren together at Lyman Wight's and told
them the cholera had been sent in fulfillment of his prediction. Nearly
all had suffered from it, and fourteen had died. Joseph said that if we
would now humble ourselves, the cholera would be stayed. We covenanted
with uplifted hands to keep the commandments of God, and the cholera
was stayed from that hour; not another case appeared among the Saints.
"The journey of Zion's Camp to Missouri was necessarily one of trial
and hardship. Several of the brethren murmured, and found fault. Joseph
prophesied that a scourge would come upon the Camp, and it came in the
form of cholera, thirteen of the brethren being stricken in death.
During the journey, when brethren would have killed the serpents which
at times came into the tents and coiled up near the beds, the Prophet
taught his brethren the beautiful principle that men themselves must
become harmless before they can expect the brute creation to be so.
When man shall lose his own vicious disposition and cease to destroy
the inferior animals, the lion and the lamb may dwell together, and the
suckling child play with the serpent in safety."
In all the trials incident to the journey, Wilford Woodruff never
murmured. He was a staunch supporter of the Prophet Joseph in all the
latter's counsels and desires, and was so wrapt {44} in the spirit of
his calling and labor that it is doubtful if a thought of trial or
hardship ever entered his mind. This was characteristic of his entire
life. He never undertook a labor assigned him by the Lord and wished
he had not undertaken it. When he put his hand to the plough, he never
turned back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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