Benbow Farm and Pond, by Francis R. Magleby, Church of Jesus Christ Media Library

Wilford Woodruff's Missionary Service:

Preparation for a Future Prophet

By Steven C. Wheelwright and Kristy Wheelwright Taylor

How might the Lord choose to prepare a twenty-six-year-old convert to become a prophet and future President of the newly restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? For Wilford Woodruff, it was through a series of early missions that taught the young disciple the lessons of consecrated service, joyful hard work, faith to open his mouth, and exact obedience to the Lord’s commands.

Wilford Woodruff joined the Church in upstate New York on December 31, 1833. He immediately began to keep a journal, which has become an incredible record of ...

Louise Manning lives in the former home of John and Jane Benbow. She recounts learning about Wilford Woodruff's mission in England and expresses admiration for British Saints who moved to America.

On August 7, 1839, a very ill Wilford Woodruff prepared to leave his pregnant wife, Phebe, and his one-year-old daughter, Sarah Emma, to serve a mission with other members of the Quorum of the Twelve in the British Isles. He wrote, “I make a sacrifice of my all for Christ’s sake to do his work. It is no small trial of faith.”

In November 1839, he was still recovering from his illness and preaching the gospel in New York while awaiting the departure of their ship to England. Over the course of three weeks, he recorded three dreams about his wife and child. On November 8, he wrote, “I saw Mrs. Woodruff in deep affliction in a dream at Montrose. I did not see Sarah Emma.” Three days later ...

Volunteer Spotlight: Rachel Huntsman Baldwin

By Lyndie Jackson

“My testimony is that we need each other,” says Rachel Huntsman Baldwin. “We need to lift up and bear one another's burdens. And in God's work, we need each other's time and talents.”

Rachel’s testimony is particularly powerful as one who personally dedicates her own time and talents to the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project. She currently transcribes Wilford’s letters and daybooks to be sure that the technical and digital quality of the text corresponds to the original nineteenth-century handwriting. Rachel notes, “It's hard work and a blast!”

Jason Godfrey, Transcription Team Lead, says, “Rachel has been enthusiastic and optimistic about learning how the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project goes about editing the documents in all of its various stages.”

Rachel found out about the Project through an article highlighting a "treasure box" ...

Insight from the People and Places Research Team

Our Research Assistants usually stick to researching individuals from a specific geographic region, but we encourage them to try and find their own ancestors in the Papers as well. I have been working with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project since January of 2021 and just recently had the opportunity to research some of my own ancestors, several of whom wrote to Wilford Woodruff to accept mission calls when he was President of the Church. It made Wilford Woodruff’s writings come to life for me in a personal way ...

The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation launched the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project on March 1, 2020. Our mission was to digitally preserve and publish Wilford Woodruff's eyewitness account of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ by 2030. With the progress made in the past two years, we anticipate the Project will be completed by 2027, three years ahead of schedule.

We are thankful for everyone who attended and made our Building Latter-day Faith Conference possible. Recordings of the Conference presentations by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Amy Harris, Joshua Matson, Ellie Hancock, Hovan Lawton, and Steve Wheelwright will be available on our website in the coming weeks.

We are grateful for the service of our volunteers! If you are interested in a service opportunity, the Foundation is in need of genealogists, transcribers, and researchers. Send an email to contact@wilfordwoodruffpapers.org if you or someone you know is interested.

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