Day in the Life

May 3, 1846

Journal Entry

May 03, 1846 ~ Sunday

^[FIGURE]^ 3rd May Sunday the Saints began to
gather at the Temple at an early hour And
by ten oclock the House was filled to a great
extent. My wife, Father, Mother, cousin &
others took A seat in front of the Melchez
idec Priesthood
I occupied the uper stand
in company with Br Hyde & Stratton. After
singing Elder J A Stratton opened the meet-
ing by Prayer. After which Elder Orson
Hyde Arose And Addressed the Assembly from
the following words. "what is man that thou
art mindful of him or the sun of man that
thou visits hism" [Hebrews 2:6] My object says the speaker
is to inquire what kind of A being man is.
Man is As Eternal as God himself And is
Just As much in Eternity now as he ever will
be after Death, the period called time is
ownly one portion of Eternity the same as
the outer wall of A building incloses many
rooms within or As the months Days, Hours
minutes or seconds in a year while in any portion
of them we are in the year still, while we exhist
before the world was, or in the flesh or after
Death, it is all in eternity. The world opposes
the principle of revelation And does not
wish man to obtain knowledge in that way, but
what Earthly Father that feels interested in
the welfare of his children but what desires
to teach his children & reveal to them
the knowledge He possesses And would
feel interested in there Advancement
so with the Lord He gives gifts & knowledge

to his children, and the more intelligence
men get the more refined are there feelings
the knowledge is great & so was his sympathy
in giving his Son Jesus Christ to save man
The world may oppose revelation but God does
not. we have recieved revelation & visions
& God hath shown us many things it is true
these blessings have cost us great sacrafizes
we have been oppressed all the day long And at
last are now driven to the wilderness, but
we will go & not stay with the world, And
when we go we remove the candle light
from there midst And take it to the sons
of Nature who have not shed the blood of
Prophets. I will leave my testimony with
you, though it should be like A Harpoon.
As respects the finishing of this House I will ask
why have we laboured to complete it when
we were not expecting to stay. there is two
sides to every thing but Mormonism as to that
there is but one side on earth the other is in
Heaven. If we moved forward & finished
this House we should be recieved a& accepted
as A church with our dead but if not we
should be rejected with our dead. these things
have inspired And stimulated us to Action
in the finishing of it which through the
blessing of God we have been enabled to
accomplish And prepared it for dedication
In doing this we have ownly been saved as
it were by the skin of our teeth. The enemy
Prophesyed we should not get the roof on
but we have finished it And on Thursday
night we met in this temple Arayed in our
white robes & dedicated it unto God And truly

An interesting season we enjoyed. I am willing
to live And Die for the cause, you may wish
to know what we have been doing in this
house I will tell you. We have been anointing And ordaining Kings And Priest unto God. I have been Anointed A king & Priest unto God. If any one wishes to kill me for it let them do it We have laboured hard to ordain kings & Priest unto God to reign here on the earth but not now, but I will tell you when it will be.
when the LORD JESUS CHRIST comes to
reign and recieve his crown And sit upon
his Throne. The Twelve Apostles will sit
upon there Thrones & Judge the Twelve tribes
of Israel
then is the time we expect to recieve
our crown And inherit this earth. We look
forward for A new Heaven & earth but it will
be the old concern made gloriously And renewed
those who have been ordained unto this
office will be born at the resurrection in the
royal linage. If this religion Gospel & Priest-
hood
has not power to bind on earth and in
heaven, it is good for nothing when A man
has recieved this gospel Anointing And endow-
ments
let him go to the dust but He will
arise And take his place on his throne, then
will the Nations serve And obey us. They are
now Persecuting us And there Persecutions
Are bringing gray hairs upon the Saints but
the Heads of the persecutors will be coverd
with blackness. Men may have been ordained
from before the foundation of the world to have
performed certain works, there are different
stations in the next world And men will
be delt with here according to the deeds
done in the body A man ought to be good

Here as he grows older. A man that does
his duty And obtaines the Priesthood and
honers it will have his reward. His exhaltation
thrones & dominions according to his faithful-
ness. we like our Master have desended
below all things so shall we arise above all
things I have seen this by vision we shall
be connected with the kingdom of Jesus
Christ. To the vary place And station will
A man arise in the resurrection to which He
Has been sealed & anointed on earth
It is said that God will judge the world
so will the Saints On earth Presidents & Govornors
do not Judge, but Judges Apointed for the purpose
so in Heaven we shall Judge the world Holding
the keys of the kingdom And will rise in
judgment against our enemies who are heaping
there persecutions upon our heads, so with the
Ancient Twelve they will judge Israel for they
brought evil upon them I see the thousands
of poor Saints going out to the wilderness in there
oppressions drove out by wicked men, such
men I will not bless but testify against them
they may kill me but I will speak my mind
that man that has the Priesthood and
honors it, is God Himself as much as
Moses was to the People we are sons of God
And Saviors on Mt Zion. If ye are the sons
of God ye shall have all things. He that
over cometh shall inherit all things, sit down
upon my throne &c The Lord owns all
the Thrones & will give us some. A man in
the Priesthood has persons sealed to him
in his kingdom And is subject to him in the

dominions of God worlds And dominions are
continually being formed which adds to the
glory of God. Blessed is he who escapes the
second death, evry Saint has A guardian
Angel with him so death cannot kill him
the Angels accompanied the Ancients so they
do us. The Angels of the waters & there
was 4 on the cornors of the earth [Revelation 7:1]. when
the guardian Angel is called away we are
left to grapple with death. So with Jesus
He said my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me [Matthew 27:46]. In three days the Angel
returned rolled back the stone And raised
the Lord the Angels will [not] stay away forever
but will all come with Jesus Christ to raise
all the bodies every man in his own order
this is the way the resurrection is brought
about. Jesus Christ was slain And buried yet
Arose, assended on high And was crowned
Lord of all. So with the Prophets martered
in Carthage Jail they must come forth
And be crowned And sit upon there thrones
And Judge there persecutors If ye were
of the world the world would love its own
but because I have chosen you out of the
world there fore they hate you, but they must
be judged of you at last [John 15:19]. Man is destined
to occupy A great place to increase in dominion
And Power And this is the secret spring of our
Action. I have A word of caution to all for
one I feel to resign my citizenship because
I cannot enjoy it. I would Advise all the Saints
that they cast not another vote in this state
but resign all offices that they hold And all
our friends to do the same I do not say they
shall do it but advise them to. There is a

foundation in this that may serve us in days
to come As our father And Mother or the
Nation that has bourn us has rejected us
And driven us out there is A National
calamity At the door. All things are not
known at once, this Temple was built
for A certain purpose that is gained will
we now sell, A vote was taken last fall not
to sell it, but A key that will not open
a door And shut it again is not A good one
so if we have to sell the Temple to
remove the Poor the People that make
us do it must pay the bill & meet the
consequences. All who are in favor of
selling this House if it meets with the council
of the Twelve manifest it by raising the right
hand it was A unanimous vote save one
Elder Hyde closed his remarks And was followed
by Elder W. Woodruff

who backed up the testimony of Elder Hyde
And in speaking of the martydom of the
Smiths said they would rise in Judgment
against Against this Nation, the state of Illinois
Hancock ^Co^ And esspecially Carthage And the
murderers it contains, they are the most
suitable persons to rise in judgment against
them, for they were martered by them
yes the mob of Hancock Co had not yet
got through with Joseph Smith for He was
in the Presence of God and the Lamb in
company with Abram Isaac & Jacob And was
our senator in the court of Heaven And would
plead our cause And his own And knowing
the cause to be a just will do sumthing
that will have effect

The Saints had laboured faithfully & finished
the Temple & were now recieved as A church
with our dead this is glory enough for building
the Temple And thousands of the Saints
have recieved there endowment in it And
the light will not go out many other remar-
ks were made by Elder Woodruff when
the meeting & dedication of the Temple
closed.

People

Browse people Wilford Woodruff mentioned on this day in his journal. Click on the person's name to view a short bio and other pages they are mentioned on or click on "View in Family Search" to view their FamilySearch profile.

240 mentions
Scriptural Figure
Woodruff, Aphek, b. 1779
11 Nov 1779 - 28 May 1861
580 mentions
Family
Woodruff, Azubah Hart
31 Jul 1792 - 21 Mar 1851
269 mentions
Family
99 mentions
Scriptural Figure
167 mentions
Scriptural Figure
Stratton, Joseph Albert
11 Sep 1821 - 28 Oct 1850
Smith, Joseph (Jr.)
23 Dec 1805 - 27 Jun 1844
210 mentions
Scriptural Figure
Hyde, Orson
8 Jan 1805 - 28 Nov 1878
693 mentions
Apostle
Woodruff, Phebe Whittemore Carter
8 Mar 1807 - 10 Nov 1885
1582 mentions
Family

Places

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Quotes

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The world opposes the principle of Revelation And does not wish man to obtain knowledge in that way, but what Earthly Father that feels interested in the welfare of his children but what desires to teach his children & reveal to them the knowledge He possesses And would feel interested in there Advancement so with the Lord He gives gifts & knowledge
~ Orson Hyde
to his children, and the more intelligence men get the more refined are there feelings the knowledge is great & so was his sympathy in giving his Son Jesus Christ to save man The world may oppose Revelation but God does not. we have recieved Revelation & visions & God hath shown us many things it is true
~ Orson Hyde
I am willing to live And Die for the cause, you may wish to know what we have been doing in this house I will tell you. We have been anointing And ordaining Kings And Priest unto God. I have been Anointed A king & Priest unto God. If any one wishes to kill me for it let them do it We have laboured hard to ordain kings & Priest unto God to reign here on the earth but not now, but I will tell you when it will be. when the LORD JESUS CHRIST comes to reign and recieve his Crown And sit upon his Throne, The Twelve Apostles will sit upon there Thrones & Judge the Twelve tribes of Israel then is the time we expect to recieve our crown And inherit this earth.
~ Wilford Woodruff
If this religion Gospel & Priest- hood has not power to bind on earth and in heaven, it is good for nothing
~ Wilford Woodruff
A man that does his duty And obtaines the Priesthood and honors it will have his reward. His exhaltation thrones & dominions according to his faithful- ness. we like our Master have desended below all things so shall we arise above all things I have seen this by vision we shall be connected with the kingdom of Jesus Christ. To the vary place And station will A man arise in the resurrection to which He Has been sealed & anointed on earth It is said that God will judge the world
~ Wilford Woodruff

Related Documents

Browse other documents with this same date. These could include pages from Wilford Woodruff's autobiographies, daybooks, letters, histories, and personal papers. Click on the document titles to view the full document.

Discourse 1846-05-03
W. Woodruff wished to express his feelings. I consider it to be my duty to bear in a few words my test[imony] this da[y]. while I have heard the remarks of my bro[ther] this morn[ing] this is what Jesus s[ai]d anciently can not ye discern the signs of the times [Matthew 16:3]. if [yo]u cannot it it is bec[ause] they walk in darkness. it [h]as sometimes been a mystery how the LDS have been gov[erne]d, even when the P[rophet] was living. when they [h]av[e] taken awa[y] your illegible tell us why they heed your counsel. it is not bec[ause] the P[rophet], S[eer] , & R[evelator] was here or gov[erne]d by a Rod of Iron
Discourse 1846-05-03
W. Woodruff called the att[entio]n of our friends while I r[ea]d a few of the words from 15 ch[apter] of St John "ye r [are] my friends &c w[ith] [me] from the beginning" the words which struck me were "ye r my friends (so I made known unto [yo]u" it affords me no small consol[atio]n & realize that I do that I stand in the midst of the friends of the L[or]d Ive my reasons for bel[ieving] this, as that the S[ain]ts of God av [have] lived in the da[y]s of Noah &c bec[ause] they held the commands of God. says the Sav[io]r ye r my friends if u do what I command u. the Sa[i]nts no not what the L[or]d doeth & Jes[us] s[ai]d what my Fa[the]r hath told me even av I told u. one thing is clear in the cha[racte]r of the S[ain]ts in their labor work &c in a God of rev[elatio]n however diff[icult] or great that work mi[gh]t be, that God was powerful enough to sust[ai]n them in it rev[elatio]n apirs [appears] to have been the foundat[io]n. if any man [h]as a command to do work & is not able to complete it he can go to his Mas[te]r & ask to know [h]ow to complete it rev[elatio]n appears to be a thing which the world generally opposes – the L[or]d co[ul]d raise up a riteous man in the da[y]s of Abel Noah &c
Autobiography Volume 2 circa 1865
On the dedication was continued. The Saints began to assemble at an early hour and at ten o'clock the house was well filled. Orson Hyde myself and Elder Stratton occupied the upper stand. After ^the^ singing Elder Stratton opened the service by prayer and then Elder Orson Hyde arose and addressed the congregation from the passage of scripture: "What is man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of man that thou visiteth^est^ him" [Hebrews 2:6] After Elder Hyde had closed I addressed the assembly and the meeting desmissed and the dedication of the Temple ended.

Events

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May 3, 1846