IN KIRTLAND, 1836.
Wilford's First Attendance at Meeting in the Temple.--Called to
Speak.--Church's Attitude Toward the Use of Liquor.--Wilford in the
First Quorum of Seventy.--Receives Temple Endowments.--Troubles
in Kirtland.--Greatness of the Prophet Joseph.--Wilford's
Marriage.--Receives a Patriarchal Blessing.
The missionary experiences of Wilford Woodruff in the Southern States
gave to him a firmness and a comprehension that came from the testimony
of the spirit of God. From the day he joined the Church, he was in
active service. He was not among those who required special training
and who needed the constant guidance of the leaders to keep them within
the bounds of the Church. His first experience was in Zion's Camp. He
remained a short time in Missouri and then set out upon his mission.
His life was therefore governed by the workings of the spirit within
him. That spirit was his guide--the rock upon which his faith and
understanding were established. His return, therefore, to Kirtland did
not subject him to the temptations of evil, nor to the rebukes of the
Prophet. He knew that he was about his Father's business and was not
swerved by the sophistries of men, or the speculative spirit of those
times.
When he entered the city, he beheld, to his great joy, the Temple of
the Lord. It contained for him grand opportunities. Its ordinances
which he so fervently revered gave comfort and consolation to his life.
On Sunday the 27th, 1836, he attended his first public meeting in the
Temple. He had visited the building previously and viewed with pleasure
its sacred apartments. On the forenoon of that day in company with
Elders Warren Parrish and A. O. Smoot, he listened with pleasure to
the words of Elder S. Carter, and to an impressive discourse from the
Prophet Joseph.
In the afternoon of the same day, Elders Woodruff and A. O. Smoot
were invited to address the congregation. Elder Woodruff first opened
by prayer and then turned at random to a page in the Bible. To his
surprise, he opened to the 56th chapter of Isaiah, the same chapter he
had turned to on the night of his {65} eventful prayer in Connecticut.
Here the memories of that night flashed upon his mind, and he told
the incidents thereof with impressive force and inspiration upon the
congregation. The people were greatly interested. Those who knew the
voice of the good shepherd recognized in him a man truly born of the
spirit of God, a fit companion of prophets and apostles.
On the 1st of December, 1836, he attended for the first time in his
life a meeting called for the purpose of giving certain persons their
patriarchal blessings. Father Joseph Smith was the patriarch of the
Church in those days. This new experience brought to him new evidences
that the God of the Bible, the God of the patriarchs of old,--Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob,--was truly the God of the new dispensation whose
spirit and purposes were kindred to those in ancient times when the
patriarchs of old blest the people.
The spiritual manifestations of those times in Kirtland brought with
them heartfelt desires to observe every rule of correct living. That
spirit was not at all in harmony with the use of intoxicating liquors;
and whatever became an obstacle to the spirit of worship must be
removed if the worship were to be enjoyed. It was important that the
use of liquor should be discontinued, and Elder Woodruff records in
his journal that on the 4th day of December, that year, Sidney Rigdon
called for a vote of the people on the discontinuance of the use of
liquor in the Church both in sickness and in health. An exception to
the rule was made in the case of the washing of the bodies; and under
proper regulations, wine might be used for the Sacrament. The vote was
unanimous.
On the 11th of December, the Prophet sharply rebuked the Kirtland
Saints for their sins and backsliding. He warned them to repent,
lest judgment should come upon them as it had come upon the Saints
in Jackson County, Missouri. Those were trying times. They were days
of separation when it became necessary to separate the unworthy from
those who were of the household of faith. Kirtland was not to be the
abiding place of the Saints. They must give up their possessions and
their love for the city they had striven so hard to adorn. Many had
placed themselves in opposition to a divine purpose whose wisdom they
could not comprehend. That opposition invited the {66} presence of the
evil one who both tempted and beguiled them. Wilford Woodruff, however,
was among those who could say then, as he ever after kept himself in a
condition to say, "Thy will, not mine be done."
Before the close of 1836, there came to Elder Woodruff one of those
choice blessings which he esteemed so highly. He was advanced in the
priesthood to a place in the first quorum of seventies. His faithful
friend and missionary companion, A. O. Smoot, was likewise ordained
to the office of a seventy. This ordination of his friend was in
fulfillment of a prophesy which he had pronounced upon the head of
Elder Smoot on the 30th day of June, that year, while they were
together in Tennessee. The call of Wilford Woodruff to take his place
in the first quorum of seventy took place on the 3rd day of January,
1837, though he had been ordained to his new calling in the priesthood
on the 20th of the preceeding December. His love for missionary service
made this calling one of special honor to him. To be a witness for
Jesus Christ to the nations was his soul's delight. The manner in which
he honored that calling is known to all who are at all familiar with
the early history of the Church.
The early part of April, 1837, Wilford Woodruff devoted himself to the
meetings which were held in the Temple during those days. Those who
were absent from Kirtland in the spring of 1836, and had not therefore
the privilege of receiving their endowments at that time were granted
the opportunity to do so in the following spring. This was another
blessing that he received with feelings of gratitude and praise to his
Maker. The influence of the Temple ordinances is, perhaps, the most
potent of any influence in the Church in the establishment of union, in
the perpetuity of brotherly love, and in the preservation of a God-like
purity. It is not too much to say that one, upon whom the spirit of
these ordinances has fastened itself, never escapes in his conscience
the sacred obligations they impose upon him.
Referring to the administration of the Temple ordinances on that
occasion, he writes in his journal: "The Prophet Joseph arose and
addressed the congregation for the space of three hours. He was
clothed with the power, spirit, and image of God. He presented many
things of great importance to the elders of Israel. O, that the record
could be written as with an iron pen, of the {67} light, principles,
and virtue that came from the mouth and heart of the Prophet Joseph,
whose soul, like that of Enoch, seemed as wide as eternity! That day
strikingly demonstrated that he was, indeed, a prophet of God raised
up for the deliverance of Israel. He presented to us a plan of the
city of Kirtland which was given him by vision. The future will prove
that the visions of Joseph concerning Jackson County and concerning
the various stakes of Zion will be fulfilled in the time appointed of
the Lord. After his remarks, the Sacrament was administered and all
were made glad at the table of the Lord in association with apostles,
prophets, patriarchs, evangelists, and teachers. In the evening a
meeting was held in which many took part by speaking in tongues, giving
the interpretations thereof, prophesying, etc.,--a veritable feast of
Pentecost."
Temple work in Kirtland in the early part of 1837 afforded him that
spiritual satisfaction which was so helpful in those subsequent years
of his life when he was employed in missionary service and upon the
plains as a pioneer. He also learned during those days in Kirtland
that the more remarkable the spiritual manifestations, the greater the
opposition of the evil one. He was present at the Sunday services in
the Temple, April 9th, when Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, and Sidney
Rigdon laid before the Saints the condition of the Church respecting
temporal affairs.
A financial panic was on throughout the United States. Its depressing
influence was severely felt in Kirtland. Before it reached that
place, however, many of the leading brethren had given their time and
talent to speculation and were absorbed in schemes detrimental to
their religious standing, and quite contrary to the counsel of the
Prophet. Speculations brought on jealousies and hatreds, and those evil
attributes manifested themselves toward Joseph who sought so diligently
to suppress them. Prominent men--men who had shown the highest
degree of loyalty to the Prophet became disaffected. Their financial
speculations brought on a spirit of self-sufficiency, and that spirit
made them wise in their own conceit. The affairs of the Church were put
to the test of "wisdom"--wisdom as they understood it. Such wisdom,
however, was undermining their integrity to the Church. The meek and
humble maintained their fidelity and brought encouragement {68} and
solace to the Prophet, and the noble men who stood with him in the
hours of financial distress.
On one occasion he met Wilford Woodruff, and after scrutinizing him
very closely as though he were reading his inmost thoughts, said:
"Brother Woodruff, I am glad to see you. I hardly know when I meet
those who have been my brethren in the Lord, who of them are my
friends. They have become so scarce." Elder Woodruff felt throughout
all the subsequent years of his life a supreme satisfaction over the
loyalty he had manifested in those trying times to the Prophet of God.
Elder Woodruff was so faithful in the discharge of his duties, so
humble in his demeanor, so sincere and devoted that he was rewarded by
a discerning spirit which kept him in the path of safety when some of
his brethren were struggling in the meshes of misgivings and doubt.
The correctness of Wilford Woodruff's attitude in those days was
manifested in his ability to see in the Prophet the same spiritual
power that had been manifested to him on former occasions. Of a meeting
held on April 19th, when the Prophet spoke, he writes: "He seemed
a fountain of knowledge from whose mouth streams of eternal wisdom
flowed. As he stood before the people, he showed clearly that the
authority of God was upon him. When speaking of those who professed to
be his friends and the friends of humanity, but who had turned against
the people and opposed the prosperity of Kirtland, he declared the Lord
would deal severely with them. Joseph uttered the feelings of his soul
in pain, while reviewing the poverty and afflictions of his people,
and while finding false brethren whose course brought peril upon the
Saints. Joseph is a father to Ephraim and to all Israel in these last
days; and he mourned because of unbelief and treachery among many who
had embraced the gospel. He feared lest few in Kirtland should remain
worthy to receive an inheritance."
"There is not so great a man as Joseph standing in this generation,"
he wrote later on. "The Gentiles look upon him, and he is like a bed
of gold concealed from human view. They know not his principle, his
spirit, his wisdom, his virtue, his philanthropy, of his calling. His
mind, like Enoch's, expands as eternity, and God alone can comprehend
his soul."
Misfortune and affliction so often unsettle men's minds and {69} move
them from their moorings that they are prone to doubt the goodness of
God and His protecting care over them. The highest type of saintly life
and divine loyalty among men, alike in affliction and prosperity, was
Job. Job was one of those beautiful characters in Old Testament history
that appealed strongly to the mind and heart of Wilford Woodruff. His
reference to Job in public discourses shows how deeply that worthy
character of Holy Writ had influenced his life.
At the time herein mentioned, Wilford had reached his 30th year. He
now felt that it was his duty to assume the responsibility of husband
and father. He was, no doubt, strongly actuated in this feeling by an
inspiration which the new-found message brought to his soul. On the
13th day of April, 1837, he received in wedlock Miss Phoebe Whitmore
Carter, an estimable young lady from the state of Maine. She was the
daughter of Ezra Carter of Scarboro. With other members of her father's
household, she had been baptized some time previously by Elder John
F. Boynton. Like her husband, she belonged to that sturdy New England
race that gave strength and force to the new movement. They had been
acquainted only about two months when they joined hands in holy
wedlock. The ceremony was performed by President Frederick G. Williams.
The Prophet Joseph had intended to marry them, but owing to severe
persecution, he was compelled to be absent from home.
She had already received her patriarchal blessing from Father Joseph
Smith on November 10, 1836. It contained many glorious promises which,
so far as they related to this life, have been fulfilled. Some were
fulfilled in a remarkable manner.
On the 15th of April, two days subsequent to their marriage, Elder
Woodruff likewise received his patriarchal blessing. These blessings
gave hope and courage to the new life which they were hereafter to
experience together. Such a blessing brought joys and assurances
greatly in excess of those which came from wedding tours. They
therefore began life together in faith and in perfect reliance upon the
goodness of God. Elder Woodruff's blessing contained the promise that
he should bring all of his relatives into the Church. The fulfillment
of that promise was realized in a remarkable manner, and was one of
those evidences which gave him support and comfort throughout all the
subsequent years of life.
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