509 Wilford WoodruffPresident of the Church, 18891898 When Wilford Woodruff heard the testimonies of two missionaries on 29 December 1833, he was quick to recognize the truth and was baptized just two days later. Because of his humility and willingness to serve, he was called "Wilford the Faithful" (see Preston Nibley, The Presidents of the Church [1974], 101). He wrote this advice about family harmony to his 19-year-old daughter: "We are expecting to live together forever after death. I think we all as parents and children ought to take all the pains we can to make each other happy as long as we live that we may have nothing to regret" (quoted in Dean C. Jessee, "Wilford Woodruff," in The Presidents of the Church, ed. Leonard J. Arrington [1986], 137). To the young people he taught: "I feel to exhort and counsel you, my young friends, to listen to the voice of God and obey it while young, as Samuel did, that you may be great, good, and useful, and the beloved of the Lord and your parents. ... Your eternal destiny for time and eternity, will in a great measure depend upon the foundation which you lay in the days of your youth" (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham [1946], 26566). 1807 | Born on 1 March at Avon (currently Farmington), Connecticut, to Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson Woodruff | 1833 | Age 26, baptized in an icy stream near Richland, New York, on 31 December | 183436 | Ages 2729, serves a mission to the southern United States | 1837 | Age 30, marries Phoebe Carter on 13 April; she dies in 1885 | 183738 | Ages 3031, serves a mission to the eastern United States and the Fox Islands | 1839 | Age 32, ordained an Apostle by Brigham Young on 26 April | 183941 | Ages 3234, serves a mission to Great Britain | 1843 | Age 36, serves a mission to the eastern United States | 184446 | Ages 3639, serves as president of the European Mission | 1847 | Age 40, enters Great Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young on 24 July | 1887 | Age 80, leads the Church as President of the Quorum of the Twelve at John Taylor's death on 25 July | 1888 | Age 81, dedicates Manti Temple on 17 May | 1889 | Age 82, sustained as President of the Church on 7 April; keeps as counselors George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith | 1890 | Age 83, issues Manifesto on 24 September after receiving a revelation to discontinue the practice of plural marriage | 1893 | Age 86, dedicates the Salt Lake Temple on 6 April | 1898 | Age 91, dies on 2 September in San Francisco, California, after nine years as President of the Church |
SummaryWilford Woodruff, fourth President of the Church, quickly recognized the truth of the gospel and was baptized two days after hearing the message. He entered the Great Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young on 24 July 1847. He taught the young people "to listen to the voice of God and obey it." He said to them, "Your eternal destiny for time and eternity, will in a great measure depend upon the foundation which you lay in the days of your youth." Artist, H. E. Peterson © 1997 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA |
