Wilford Woodruff’s missionary years offer a powerful example of devotion and sacrifice. He served over half a dozen major missions, often at significant personal cost. On one occasion, he left his wife in an unfinished home. On another, he was away in the eastern United States when Joseph Smith was martyred. He even attempted to secure a copyright for the Doctrine and Covenants during a mission to England. In this interview, Kristy Wheelwright explores how Woodruff’s mission experiences deepen our understanding of his life and legacy.
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What inspired you to write about Wilford Woodruff’s mission years?
Wilford Woodruff spent pretty much the first twelve years of his church membership serving missions, and he was an incredibly enthusiastic and effective missionary.
Those years are full of great learning experiences and engaging stories. On his missions, Woodruff learned the doctrine of the Church, how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and how to lead in the growing Church. They were hugely formative years for him and his family—and so inspiring.
What role did the Wilford Woodruff Papers project play in the creation of this book?
I’ve been with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation since its inception in 2020, as a board secretary and a transcriptionist, among other tasks. In the project’s early days, when we were few in numbers, I sometimes read a document three or four times before I finished the transcription and editorial steps. I got to know Wilford well, and I liked him more and more all the time.
By the time we had our first Wilford Woodruff Conference in 2023, I was helping with some research for a talk my dad was giving. It turned into the perfect topic to expand into a full-length book. (There was so much material it could have been several books.)
How was Wilford Woodruff converted to the Church?
Wilford Woodruff and his older brother Azmon heard two missionaries, Zerah Pulsipher and Elijah Cheney, preach the gospel in Richland, New York at the end of December, 1833.
Wilford felt like he was prepared to hear the message and believed immediately. He said, “We read the Book of Mormon, and I received a testimony that it was true.”
Two days later, on December 31, 1833, he and his brother were baptized.
Why did Wilford Woodruff keep such detailed records?
Wilford Woodruff was an amazing recordkeeper. Immediately after his baptism, he began what he called “the First Book of Wilford,” recording in his daybook or journal almost every day until his death in 1898.
He wanted to keep an account of his stewardship, to keep a “record of the dealings of God with this people.” He felt it was his duty to record the doctrine taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith, to record the names of people who received ordinances at his hands, and to document the Restoration of the Gospel.
Most of what we recognize as temple and family history practices and processes come from Wilford Woodruff.
Wilford left behind 31 daybooks and journals and about 30,000 letters (sent and received). Altogether, his documents make up about 45,000 pages of extant records today. The Church History Department says that his “volumes constitute one of the most significant records of the history of the Church.”
How did Wilford Woodruff add humor to his stories?
Wilford Woodruff was such a colorful storyteller. Here are a few examples of how he made his records so engaging:
- At age 67, he was on a twelve-foot ladder harvesting peaches when he fell to the ground. We might think he shouldn’t have been up the tree in the first place, but he complains that the devil caused him to lose his balance.
- In Nauvoo, he was finally building the first house that he and Phebe would share, and he said he “flung about seven thousand bricks… nearly melted myself.”
- He also told the story of when he and Phebe were serving a mission in Maine and went digging for clams with a new member couple. He calls this story “Adventures in the Surf,” and it ends with them getting stuck on a sandbar. The two men had to carry their wives back to shore.
Who was Phebe Carter Woodruff?
Phebe was a stalwart and brave member of the Church with a strong faith. She was converted in Maine and left her family to join the saints in Kirtland. While there, she met Wilford after his mission to the southern states. Frederick G. Williams married the couple in April 1837 in Joseph Smith’s home.
She supported her husband during his mission years, serving with him in Maine, where their first child was born. She was also with him in England when he presided over the European Mission, where their fifth child was born.
How did Wilford’s missions affect Phebe?
Phebe’s most difficult missionary separation was probably while Wilford Woodruff served his first mission in England. She stayed behind in Nauvoo, not having enough to eat and living in an unfinished house that leaked snow and rain through the roof and walls.
Their toddler was sick when Wilford left and died about a year later. Phebe was lonely and grieving, and the mail service was unreliable, so she had a hard time communicating with her husband. She wasn’t able to tell him of the baby’s death or the birth of their second child, having to tell him of both several times before he received the message.
It’s clear these were very difficult months for Phebe.
How were Phebe and Wilford Woodruff equal partners in their faith?
Even while Phebe struggled at home in Nauvoo while Wilford Woodruff was in England, her letters clearly show that she supported his missionary efforts and loved the gospel. She sounds like other wives with husbands serving in busy callings, wishing they were home, but glad they’re serving the Lord.
Both Phebe and Wilford were great letter writers. She loved to give him news from home, and he loved to get it.
In one letter from October 1840, she related Joseph Smith’s sermon about baptism for the dead. In it, she conveyed the excitement of this doctrine, calling it “strong meat,” yet reported that Joseph “makes this doctrine look very plain and consistent.”
What missions did Wilford Woodruff serve?
Wilford Woodruff served more than half a dozen primary missions throughout his life, beginning with Zion’s Camp in 1834 and concluding with a mission in Europe after the death of Joseph Smith:
- Wilford’s first mission experience might be considered Zion’s Camp, which essentially served as his MTC. In only a few short months, he learned a great deal from the Prophet.
- He then served in the southern states for about 18 months in 1835-36.
- He then took his new wife with him to serve in Maine and the Fox Islands from May 1837 to October 1838. (It was a kind of mission-honeymoon.)
- Wilford returned home upon receiving the call to serve in England with other Apostles (D&C 118), then served in England from the summer of 1839 to June 1841.
- He served two short missions to the East Coast in 1843 and again in 1844, where he received news of Joseph and Hyrum’s martyrdom.
- Upon returning to Nauvoo, Wilford and Phebe were quickly sent to England to preside over the European Mission from December 1844 to May 1846.
Why did Wilford Woodruff try to obtain a copyright for the Doctrine and Covenants during a mission?
Part of the reason Wilford Woodruff was sent to England was that he was a problem solver. Among other issues, Brigham Young wanted Wilford to figure out how to secure the copyright for the Doctrine and Covenants, which had not been published in England at the same time as the Book of Mormon.
Securing a copyright for the Doctrine and Covenants became a much higher priority when Wilford received a copy of a letter just a couple of months after he arrived.
It would have been a huge blow to the Church.
He explained in his journal on March 1, 1845, that an apostate in Philadelphia wanted to:
get the copyright secured so that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints could not Print them. This certainly is a bold move for an apostate or apostates to undertake to Print the works of the Church & rob them out of it.
Wilford Woodruff
This would have prevented the Church from selling copies of the scriptures. More importantly, it would not have been able to control the authenticity and correctness of the printing.
It reminds me a little bit of losing the 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon and not retranslating them because the other copy would then resurface and be at odds with the correct translation. This would have been a huge blow to the Church, especially in what was such an important mission field and jumping off point for the work in the rest of Europe.
What did Wilford Woodruff tell Heber J. Grant about succession to the presidency?
When it became clear that John Taylor wouldn’t live much longer, in March 1887, Heber J. Grant, a junior apostle, asked Wilford, the president of the Quorum of the Twelve, if they could skip ahead and let Joseph F. Smith be the next president of the Church.
Wilford was surprised, obviously, but so patient and gracious. He wrote Elder Grant a ten-page letter explaining the earlier apostles’ 1844 meeting with Joseph Smith, in which the Prophet gave the keys of administering the Church to the Quorum of the Twelve. He explained to Elder Grant that since the keys of administering rested with the Quorum, the president of that Quorum—Wilford Woodruff—had the ultimate stewardship of those keys. He closed the letter by telling Elder Grant that he was happy to talk about the matter some more if that was necessary.
Elder Grant felt grateful for President Woodruff’s kind explanation. (I see parallels in President Woodruff’s generous response to that of Pahoran responding to Captain Moroni in Alma 61.)
Why did organizing a First Presidency after John Taylor’s death take so long?
Wilford Wilford wouldn’t allow himself—or his presidency—to be sustained after John Taylor’s death until a unique issue was resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
After President Woodruff’s experience with Heber J. Grant, he realized just how much opposition the Quorum had to his choice of George Q. Cannon as a counselor. Wilford valued unity, so he spent the next eighteen months or so allowing the Quorum to counsel together, and giving time for Cannon to defend himself until everyone agreed.
Wilford got the unity he wanted, but also knew the extensive delay caused problems. To prevent it from happening again, Wilford met with Lorenzo Snow before he died, counseling Snow to enact a speedy succession when it was his turn to organize a First Presidency.
To this day, the gap between John Taylor’s death and Wilford Woodruff’s succession was the last significant delay the Church experienced before sustaining a new prophet.
How does Wilford Woodruff inspire you?
I love how Wilford Woodruff was such a cheerful servant of the Lord. When his first mission companion left him alone in an alligator swamp in Tennessee because he wanted to go home to Kirtland, Wilford wrote that he picked himself up “and I went on my way rejoicing.” After spending hours trying to cross a series of streams in a storm in the middle of the night, he again went on his way rejoicing.
Wilford knew that his greatest insurance against the struggles of life was to do exactly what the Lord asked him to do. He expected the Lord to keep up His end of the bargain, and Wilford was proven right again and again.
He called it “getting the mind and will of God.”
Wilford knew that when you did that, you couldn’t go wrong. It gave him a lot of confidence, and he never needed to question how things were going to turn out because the Lord was steering the ship. He’s a wonderful example of discipleship.
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About the Scholar
Kristy Wheelwright Taylor is the author of Prepare Me for Thy Use: Lessons from Wilford Woodruff’s Mission Years and the board secretary for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation. She has also been closely involved with transcription and writing on the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project. Taylor has a master’s degree in humanities from Brigham Young University and has worked as an English instructor at Purdue University.
Further Reading
- How Did Wilford Woodruff Influence the Development of Temple Doctrine?
- Who Was Zerah Pulsipher?
- What Was Wilford Woodruff’s Vision of the Founding Fathers?
- How Does Agency Help to Fulfill Prophecy?
- What Was the Wagon Box Prophecy?
Wilford Woodruff Mission Years Resources
- Prepare Me for Thy Use: Lessons from Wilford Woodruff’s Mission Years (BYU Religious Studies Center)
- Wilford Woodruff’s Missionary Service: Preparation for a Future Prophet (Meridian Magazine)
- Wilford Woodruff: Missionary in Herefordshire (BYU Religious Studies Center)
- British Context of Wilford Woodruff’s Missions (Wilford Woodruff Papers)
- Men With a Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837-1841 (Deseret Book)
