New Egypt, New Jersey,
My Dear Phebe
I once more sit down to write a letter to you, this is the
fourth letter I have written you since we last parted, but whether you get
my letters or not I do not know know. I have not recieved but one letter
from you but I was truly thankful to hear from you once, and I have
been sorry that I did not request you to write immediately to New York
as soon as you recievied my letter under date of 23rd of Oct, I could
then have had another letter by this time but I would now say, that I wish
you would write to me as soon as you get this & direct it to me at
New York City & I may get it before I leave for England. I will write
you again before I leave the City & tell you whare to direct to me in
England. I feel more ankxious to hear from you & Sarah because of your
sickness. I wrote a letter to Brother Luther Scamnon's & Sister Foss a short
time since. I recieved a letter from Sister Eunice a few days since
the friends all well Mother’s health good. I see Ilus freequently he is
well. When you write me give me an account of the sickness in Mont-
rose & Commerce name ^those^ that have died since you last wrote if any there
are, tell me (all about it) how you & Sarah get along in your Sickness
give me any sick bed reflections or meditations that you may have
had, & give me all information you have concerning the presidency
or Twelve or any of the church whether they are sick or well, tell me why the
paper is not printed & sent to the subscribers, are the Editors still sick. On
the 2nd of Nov I wrote a letter to N. Thomas Rochester Ill, & on the 9th Oct to Milton
Holmes. On the night of the 8th of Nov I saw you in a dream & thought you was
still in affliction but did not see Sarah Emma & on the 11th I also had an interview
with you & did not see little Sarah…. I also saw the same night S. Ridgdon
E. Higby, & David Patten. Tell me when you wright how you get along with your
temporal matters, what is your condition are you in want of food or help, how
do you get along with the cow, shall I send you a few dollars in money I will
try to do so next letter, & while I am making enquiries concerning you I
expect you wish to hear sumthing concerning me how I get along &c; I
shall say nothing concerning my travels &c. before the date of my last
letter for I hope you have recieved it before this time. I took a severe cold
a few days after I last wrote & it settled upon my longues & I had a dreadful cough
for several days & it left me. I had the last chill & fever on the 26th day of Oct. On
the 1st day of Nov I accompanied three Elder viz Clark, Wright, & S. Mullener on board
the Ship Tarolinta, capt Smith bound for Liverpool, they took steerage passage & looked quite
comfortable fare $12 & find themselves & after committing those Dear Saints of God
into his care, I took the parting hand with them, may the Lord go with them
& bless them I pray. Nov 5th I went to long Island & for the first time since
I left you I was able in body to take a regular course of preaching I preached
every other night & three times on the Sabbath. & on the 13th Elder O. Pratt came down
to the Island & joined me in labour before we left, we had large congregations
we left many believing & their was rising of 30 baptized by other Elders when we went
there, the last meeting we held, the friends gave us a collection of $25 dollars to
assist us in our travels. We returned to New York on the 18th inst, & on the 19th
We held a conference in the City, P. & O. Pratt, W. Woodruff S. James, B, Winchester
S. Brown & a number of other Elders were present, & after sitting in conference
^The following Page is for your Private perusal^
Phebe I know you have made sacrafices, & great ones to, you have made
them for Jesus Christ & his cause, & you have made them for me: some of
them have been of such a nature that it hath required all the powers of the
soul to pass through them, & those sacrifces still continue, even our seperation
is required for a season in order to do the will of God, but I think you are
sensible that no worldly honour or Earthly gain would cause this our seperation
No nothing but the commandment of God. Notwithstanding the gate is strait
& the way is narrow O! do not shun it, walk in it, yes walk in it for my sake, & seek
not death, but livie, yes live for me. Our sorrows, our trials, our sacrafices soon
will end, & in that rest that remains for the people of God thou shalt be comforted.
Stand by me & maintain thine integrity untill we enter those glories that are
to be revealed at the comeing of Christ & thy joy shall be full. O! the glories of
a celestial Kingdom I long for thee, for thee I pay my sacrafice. O! kind hearer
seal my prayer, grant my request, give me an enterence with my rib my child
within thy gates, & glorify our souls with Eternal light & truth & united pow-
ers inseperable. Ah Phebe I have had to much of a taste of those Eternal &
Almighty truths appertaining to the Celestial Kingdom of God, to let go my grasp
I have put my hand to the plough I cannot look back, I must
finish my work that My father hath given me to do, & I have confidence
to believe that I shall have your assistance unto the End. I know I have
my imperfections, & it is with a degree of sorrow that I reflect upon some
past hours of my life that I might have spent to better advantage & more to
the happiness of myself & others, but my determination is to spend the future
according to the best light the Lord giveth me, [loft] me up by your prayers and
confidence you have mine. I will try to prevail with the hear [page damaged]
your behalf that the Lord may comfort & heal you & support yo[u] [page damaged] On
the deepest wounds of affliction & sorrow & enable you to be res [page damaged]
to the will of God in all things, & wait patiently for my return. Should it
be our lot to enjoy a long Eternity together in that society whare tears are
wiped from all faces & sorrow & sighing are known no more, we should
not regret having passed through trials here in the flesh. All the ancient
Saints & Jesus Christ not excepted had their trials to pass through but they
are now glorified, & as it is now our turn & we are living in this last dispensat
ion & have a great work to do, then should we not act nobly, walk by faith &
do our work in patience untill we can say it is finished. We are not alone
in this great cause, the Heavens are deeply interested in our welfare, our
cause, & our work. It is true we have a great warfare to accomplish in order to over-
come, the power of the enemy is greater than some suppose. It has already required
God with the armies of heaven to wage war with him that Satan might be cast
down with his influence. If so then we have strong powers [to] contend with
but with the assistance of God we likewise will overcome. I feel not at
all discouraged my way is onward. I am detemined to run the race (by the help of God)
that I may win the prize for myself & family. When I meditate upon the dealings
of providence with us both since our connexion, the manner in which
he has delivered us from the power of the Enemy, & saved us from the jaws of
Death, & supported us in the midst of trials of the keenest nature, I still feel
disposed to trust in his name, rely upon his word & [seorve] serve him unto
the end. O! may the Lord bless thee, comfort & support thy soul untill thou art
perfected in Christ Jesus; (do not fail to write me as soon as you get this, tell me all the news. are
you in your new house & comfortable. has Sister Taylor herd from Brother Taylor if so whare is he, give my respets to her
But while all nature is wraped in midnight darkness I lay down my pen & retire to rest & think of thee. Good night Phebe
Willford
I enclose $1 dollar in this sheet will send more next time
New Egypt NJ
Nov 27.
^25^
Mrs Phebe W. Woodruff
Montrose, Lee County
Ioway Territory
Willford Woodruff (To Phebe)
New Egypt New Jersey Nov 29 1839