Wilford Woodruff AI System Brings History to Life

By Erika Cook

With new artificial intelligence systems introduced, the Wilford Woodruff Papers give a new look to Church history learning.

The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation has released a new AI learning system where visitors can converse with a Wilford Woodruff character.

President Wilford Woodruff was an Apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 59 years, and he was the fourth President of the Church. He kept many records during the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. From journal entries to autobiographies, the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project compiles documents so that anyone with a computer can access and read the history of President Woodruff and the Church.

By Craig Earnshaw, Board Member

After he began working with the Project, Board member Craig Earnshaw was surprised to learn how instrumental President Woodruff was in the development of temple doctrine. Craig enjoys working with young people and feels that the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project can help inform and protect the rising generation from the buffeting of the world.

By Craig Lindquist

Long before George Washington became the great leader Americans are familiar with, he was just a young man, struggling to navigate a world that was challenging and perplexing. It is the same for all of us as we seek to find our way in this often mysterious world.



Most will gain little prominence outside our circle of family and friends, but a rare few will rise to greatness as their names become synonymous with righteousness and integrity. It behooves us as a society and as individuals to learn from such remarkable men and women. 

“Yet Still He Wrote”

By Maddie Christensen

“I have developed an appreciation for not only being ‘faithful’ and having a testimony, but also for simply doing the work despite how difficult the challenges may be,” says Craig Lindquist, volunteer for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation. “By just about any measure, Wilford had a hard life, but the hard parts did not turn him from the spiritual parts.”

Craig works with the Public Relations team and shares what he learns in the Papers through articles. He starts by seeking divine guidance through prayer, then researches a topic and begins to write. He explains, “As I am searching through the writings and stories about Wilford Woodruff I learn so much more than I can possibly write about in a short article, but my testimony of him as one of the Lord’s anointed prophets . . .

On October 8, 2023, Jennifer Ann Mackley spoke at a fireside in the St. George Tabernacle. Her remarks focused on Wilford Woodruff's role in the development of temple doctrine, the significance of the St. George Utah Temple in that development, how the mission of Elijah impacts each of us, and the crucial part every one of us plays in God's work to bring to pass the eternal life of man.

At the Joseph Smith Papers Conference held in September 2023, the editors and staff reflected on their 22 years of work to publish all the Papers online and publish selections in 27 print volumes. The Papers include over 19,000 pages of Joseph Smith’s records. Thanks to the trailblazing efforts of The Joseph Smith Papers, the leadership of Jennifer Mackley and Steve Harper, our hardworking editorial and research teams, our Board, and our generous donors, the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation has published almost 26,000 pages of Wilford Woodruff’s records online in less than three years. At the September conference, Church Historian and Recorder Elder Kyle S. McKay specifically cited the Wilford Woodruff Papers as the example of how future Church history projects may be successfully approached.

Our Technology Team has completed their work to improve the timeline feature on our website. Improvements include a new design, links directly into the documents, images for each event, and the ability to search the timeline. These enhancements allow users to easily find information and engage directly with the contextual sources.

We have added new data to the Wilford Woodruff AI Learning Experience about President Woodruff's vision of the Founding Fathers in the St. George Utah Temple.

Use the link below to download the experience and ask our AI-powered Wilford Woodruff character about doing the temple work for the signers of the Declaration of Independence and for other eminent men and women.

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