BAPTISM, 1833.
Elders Visit Richland, N. Y.--The New Message.--Wilford Woodruff's
Testimony.--The Book of Mormon.--Healing Power.--Baptism.--Ordained a
Teacher.
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.
"Elder Pulsipher opened with prayer. He knelt down and asked the Lord
in the name of Jesus Christ for what he wanted. His manner of prayer
and the influence which went with it impressed me greatly. The spirit
of the Lord rested upon me and bore witness that he was a servant
of God. After singing, he preached to the people for an hour and a
half. The spirit of God rested mightily upon him and he bore a strong
testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon and of the
mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I believed all that he said. The
spirit bore witness of its truth. Elder Cheney then arose and added his
testimony to the truth of the words of Elder Pulsipher.
"Liberty was then given by the elders to any one in the congregation
to arise and speak for or against what they had heard as they might
choose. Almost instantly I found myself upon my feet. The spirit of the
Lord urged me to bear testimony to the truth of the message delivered
by these elders. I exhorted my neighbors and friends not to oppose
these men; for they were the true servants of God. They had preached
to us that night the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. When I sat down, my
brother Azmon arose and bore a similar testimony. He was followed by
several others."
No more beautiful illustration of the manner in which this new message
found its way into the homes of thousands of people could be given than
that taken from the quotations herein given. The power of an elder's
testimony has borne down upon {34} the souls of men and women until
like the Saints of old they have exclaimed: "Men and brethren, what
shall we do." The spirit of this meeting was not only convincing, but
controlling in its power. No man arose to say nay. If there were present
in that meeting a spirit of dissent, opposition, or hatred, it was
quelled and silenced by the power of God manifested in the testimonies
of those humble men.
The Woodruff brothers were aroused to a spirit of investigation. They
were full of hope and of grand expectations. They wanted to harmonize
the new message with the word of God as pronounced in Holy Writ. They
had rested heretofore their faith upon its teachings. In all matters
religious, it had been their supreme guide. They were anxious to know
more, and therefore took the elders with them to their home and sat up
late that night conversing upon the principles of the gospel.
Wilford began at once to read the Book of Mormon. "As I did so," he
writes, "the spirit bore witness that the record which it contained
was true. I opened my eyes to see, my ears to hear, and my heart to
understand. I also opened my doors to entertain the servants of God."
He at once became a living witness to the truth of the promise made
in that book that whoso should read it with a prayerful heart should
have a witness of its truth, and whoso should receive the record and
not condemn it because of the imperfections which might appear in its
language should know greater things to come. The spirit of that book
brought divine harmony to his soul so wonderfully attuned to the spirit
and language of the Bible.
Those were days of grand opportunities for a soul that had been so long
in a state of hunger and thirst after righteousness. The new message
brought to him a new enthusiasm. On the 30th of the month, Wilford and
the elders called upon Noah Holton, a preacher of the Freewill Baptist
denomination, whose daughter was very ill. After listening to the
elders for some time, Mr. Holton made a solemn covenant to go forward
and be baptized if the Lord would heal his daughter. The elders laid
their hands upon her and she was healed by the power of God.
It was not a time for delay. These brothers had long waited for the
message which had now brought the glorious tidings of a divine call.
They would not delay obedience to those ordinances {35} which opened
the door to the enjoyment of greater light. They asked for baptism at
the hands of the elders. On December 31st, the last day of the year,
1833, there assembled at the water's edge about 11 o'clock in the
morning a large number of people who witnessed the baptism of Wilford
Woodruff by Zera Pulsipher. There were baptized at the same time his
brother Azmon, also two young ladies who had been healed the day
before. Of this circumstance he writes in his journal: "The snow was
about three feet deep, the day was cold, and the water was mixed with
ice and snow, yet I did not feel the cold."
There was a public meeting held that night by candle-light and a large
congregation assembled; but unlike the meeting that was first held,
there was a spirit of opposition. After explaining to the people the
ordinance of the laying on of hands, the elders confirmed Wilford and
his companions members of the Church by the laying on of hands for the
gift of the Holy Ghost. Speaking of this meeting he says: "There was a
good deal of darkness in the room; but when the congregation dispersed,
the people took away with them that darkness. The Holy Ghost fell
upon us and we had a time of great rejoicing. The next day, January
1st, 1834, my brother Azmon reproached Noah Holton for his tardiness
in receiving the gospel after he had made a covenant to obey it on
condition that his daughter be healed. Holton received the warning and
was baptized."
The story of Wilford Woodruff's conversion was simply a continuation of
the life carefully prepared to receive the new message, and to embrace
in all sincerity the truth which it contained. What a similarity of
experience is found in the lives of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Heber
C. Kimball, John Taylor, and indeed thousands of Latter-day Saints! It
was the same spirit of inquiry, the same profound and heartfelt desire
to know the whole truth of God's existence and His divine purpose
respecting the children of men. The truth is, the new spirit of a
coming dispensation was upon them. Their hearts were strongly inclined
to worship. They were eager to know how they should worship; for they
saw in the religious contentions of those days a spirit strange to the
teachings of the Bible. They were in very truth, "Sheep who knew the
shepherd's voice and a stranger they would not follow."
{36} There is something beautiful in the ambitions of Wilford Woodruff
throughout a long life of great service. He was ambitious to know the
will of God and to be worthy of Divine approbation. If he could only
be an active worker in the Church of Christ; if the Lord would only
receive him into Divine service, his ambitions would be realized.
On January 25th, 1834, Elder Pulsipher organized the Saints in Richland
into a branch of the Church. He ordained Wilford Woodruff to the
office of a teacher and gave him a written license which embodied the
certificate of his baptism and his ordination. "I felt," he writes,
"that I could truly exclaim with the prophet of God, 'I had rather be
a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness.' The fulness of the everlasting gospel had come at last. It
filled my heart with great joy. It laid the foundation of a greater and
more glorious work than I ever expected to see in this life. I pray God
in the name of Jesus Christ to guide my future life, that I may live to
His honor and glory, and be a blessing to my fellowmen, and in the end
be saved in His celestial kingdom, even so, Amen."
{37}