Paris Henry County Tenn -
Brother Asahel. H. Woodruff. Honor.d Sir
Having Some leasure time
amid the Multiplicity of business, I concluded to appr[o]priate
A portion of it in writing to you 1st ly I would inform you
that I receieved your letter under Date of Sept 9th 1835
& I esteemed ^it^ a great pleasur[e] once more to read from your
pen & hear from you. You remarked their was some chanc[e]
of your visiting Tenn" or Paris I never more desired An
interview with you & the rest of my relatives than of late
& when I first come to this country I expected to hav[e]
seen them ere this But there has been more & more
resting upon me ever since I first set my foot into this
country I have enjoyed the best of health since I have
been in this country for which I feel thankful to God
their has been much sickness in this country for late
season frost it as at precant hath I feel that Nothing
But the goodness of God both preserved my health for I have
been exposed to all we^a^ther–& travled at at times wet or
dry cold or hot. I have travled on hors back since I have
been in this country my circuit if circuit it might be calle[d]
is about 130 miles in length which I travel through in every
two weeks my meetings generally are as often as every day &
sometimes oftener Brother Warren Parrish Left me & w[ent]
to Kirtland Ohio the 23rd. of July since I have been alone
untill A few days since Elder. Elias. F Wells called on me &
I think will Labour with me awhile however he has left me
now in per[s]uit of his hors which was stolen or let out to stray
on the night of the 8th of Dec while we wer holding a meeting
in the court house in Paris if he finds his horse he will travel
with me I have many waters to cross in my travels & it
is freequently the case after rains that I cannot cross them
without swiming my horse & at one time in attempting to swim
Bloody River the stream being rapid my horse got into
difficulty among the brush &c. I was obliged to Leeve my
hors & swim out by myself however we both got out unharmed
I have been much opposed by the
Priests of the day in this south country as is the case with all
all the Elders whare ever they travel if they preach the gospel
in truth & purity they have generally worked behind my
Back more than to my face some few however have public
opposed me face to face such I have publicly answered &
not in one instance has the Lord suffered me to be confounded
we have Baptized 115 persons on my circuit 24 I have
Baptized since Elder W Parish left & I still have more
calls on the right & left than I can attend to & the [stand]
rolls & the Kingdom grows whether it is observed or not
& it will will continue to grow whether untill Christ comes
You remarked that if you was expecting A letter
from Brother Azmon I should be pleased to have
you write to me from time to time while I ame
here & should you do so give me the news from
Brother Azmon & his family & our Parents or any other friends
that you should hear from. I have not herd from Brother
Azmon (except a few words from Mother) since I left Liberty, Mo.
Brother Azmon has much changed his religious principles
since I saw & left him what they now are I know not
I receieve a letter while at Missouri from him stating that
he had Left the Church of Latter Day Saints & advised me
to do so. I do not exactly se[e] through his object or meaning
I have nothing against Brother Azmon I wish him well
Soul & Body & all his family I parted with them all in
peace & do not know that he has any thing against me
I left all my property in his hands & gave him power
of Atturney to make use of my name in selling resting
&C. that our creditors might be paid & satisfied I have had no
evil intention in leeving that country I did not run away
nor go away secretly all my neighbours in Richland knew it
I laboured hard before I left & settled with all in that ^country^ or nearly
so except our friends in Connecticut & one would naturally
suppose that $2,000 dollars worth of property out to pay $5.00
[do]llars of debts I am perfectly willing that Br Azmon &
every other man should enjoy his own opinion as to religious
subjects or any other. When Brother Azmon Joined the Church
of Latter Day Saints he was vary strong in the cause in
Believing the Book of Mormon & bearing testimony to the
truth of it & professed to receiev great blessings which I
do not doubt But as respects myself I cannot leeve the
Church & Cause which I have espoused No I to[o] highly prise
those Eternal & Immortal glories to sacrafice them for the
the things of this world which will perish with there using No
Brother Asahel the Church of Latter Day Saints is not a fiction
I have had somthing of a chance to know I have travled
about 1,000 miles with the Prophet & Seer of the Church I have
attended the conferences & been acquainted with the first
Elders of the Church I have herd their teachings & beheld the
the spirit they were of & the gifts & graces which Christ said
should follow the believer (or Signs) are manifest in the
Church for what a person has experianced he knows I have
been made partaker of some of the blessings myself such
as the gifts of healing Tongues & interpetations of tongues for
which I feell to thank God (not wishing to bo^a^st) but acknowledge
that every good & perfect gift cometh from God which is the
same yesterday to day & forever & his Gospel gifts & graces the same
& the same causes produces the same affects to day as Anciently
Wilford Woodruff
Dec 11th 1835
Let Asahel look at
this flood of words
25
Mr Asahel H Woodruff
Cincinnati
Ohio.
^136 yrs old ^
[sideways text]
Brother Asahel excuse the corsness of
my paper & writing. Also pardon me for
not paying the postage I am freequently
are without purs or scrip as is now the case
I have many things I would like to say had I room
& tim[e] I view it to be a momentious day & interesting
period & age of the world in which we live what if [the]
gentiles do disbelieve the word of God spoke [by the]
[p]rophet & Apostles which is pointing to [this] [illegible]
[illegible] [illegible] their un-believing does not
make the truth God without affect
[end of sideways text]
[sideways text]
their has been twelve & Seventy Elders chosen
in the Church of Latter Day Saints for a special purpose
to both Jew & gentile the twelve have of late visited
the New England states they have vary good
success there. the work is progressing rapidly
in the East there is but few of the honest who investigate
but what [illegible] notwithstanding all the opposition
the work will roll on & mighty truth will
triumph untill the Church of Christ becomes
fair as the sun clear as the moon & prep[ared]
as a Bride: adorned for her Husband
WW
[end of sideways text]
give my respects to all inquring
friends if you should see or
call & see me if you
have an opportunty
as I have continued
my writing untill
the inhabitants of the
earth are wrap'd in
sleep liturally as
well as spiritually
will lay
down
my
Pen
{dear brother hark the bridegroom soon will call}
{for so great Babylon at length will fall}
{for} God {praise unto him smart and vain}
{and at his will they will be slain}
{then who can stand in the day}
then who can stand in the day
{when the weak [2 words illegible]}
when the weak shall [illegible] pra[y]
{all will fall beneath that rod}
all will fall beneath that rod
{that do not stand for Israel’s}
that do not stand for Israels God
{Asahel H Woodruff}
asahel. h Woodruff
{from}
from
{Wilford}
Willford
{Woodruff}
Woodruff
I made mention to you respecting the Church in Cincinnati
I have since learned that that Church principly had mo[ved]
to Missouri. But as I feel a great interest for your prosperyts [prosperity]
Salvation & Eternal interest of all my relatives I wish you
would read the Messenger & Advocate the paper published at
Kirtland Ohio inasmuch as you have time & opportunity by that
you will in some degree have if a chance of investigating the
subject. I send our Parents the paper Brother Asahel
when we take into consideration the Ancient order of [God]
& compare it with the presant generation on what ground
do they stand whare is that principelds Holiness. Order gifts graces,
Church, faith & gospel & its affects which were among the Ancients
has God or his gospel changed, they have not see 1st Cor 12:13, 14 chapter
Ethe. 4 ch 11, 12, 13, vs Gal. 1 ch. 8, 9, Vs Let a man now Preach the same gospel [an]d
that Paul & the rest of the Apostles taught & his name at once will be cast out
as evil among men Let him now contend for that faith once delivered
to the Saints before this unbelieving generation & who would receieve him not
the mithey, the rich, the noble, the wise of the day whare is the honest enquirer after
truth that cannot see the faith the Ancients Saints possessed it was by faith
that the worlds were framed God spake chaos herd. & worlds came into order by reason of
the faith their was in HIM. So with man al^s^o—he spake by faith in the name of God, and the
sun stood still, the moon obeyed, mountains removed, prisons fell, lions mouths were closed,
the human heart lost its enmity, fire its violence, armies their power, the sword its terror,
and death its dominion, and all this by reason of the faith which was in them. Had it not be[en] [page torn]
for the faith which was in man, they might have spoken to the sun, the moon, the mo [page torn]
prisons, lions, the human heart, fire, armies, the sword, or to death in vain. This is th[e] fait[h] [page torn]
the Ancient saints. Now look around upon the religions of the day with all their mishionai[ries]
and societies bible societies tract societies sundy school unions and printing esstablishments
&c &c. yea go through all the sects in christendom which have been striving for power
during the last fifty years like so many ferocious beasts and whare will you find a man
of God whare can you find a servent of the Lord who can prevail by prayer and faith
and unstop the bottles of heaven in a droth whare will you find a mighty man that can
chase a thousand or two put ten thousand to flight. Whare will you find a man that
can say to a Dorcas In the name Jesus of Nazareth arise—and have her spirit return
and she again live Not among the catholies, not among the episcopalians, not amon[g]
the presbyterians, not among the quakers, not among the baptist, not methodists not
christians nor campbellites nor universalist no not among sect any sect for they have
ownly a form of godliness and deny the power thereof. In fact the faith of the Church
of Christ of latter day saints has not ben sufficient amid such a world of unbelief
to perform many great miracles The sick have been healed & speaking and interpeting
other tongues are common but thanks be to God if the Church continues to go from
grace to grace and from faith to faith it will soon lack no good gift and as the
Lord is the same in time and in eternity yesterday to day & forever if we as saints
are pure before him what Enoch saw we can see what Moses did we can do what
Peter had we can have what the saints endured, we can endure and what
the righteous receieve we shall receieve. Glorious prospect What Joy to come O I wan[t]
a world of words—a univers of praise & an eternity of gratitude to thank the Lord for
what he has done and will do for those who love and serve him faithfully unto the end
I want the earth deluged in prayer the heavens lit with songs and eternity filled with
Praise. We plough not the ocean for wealth we visit not foreign climes for gold we
risk not our lives among all manner of men for fame:—no the servents of Jesus Christ
go whithersoever he commands them to carry glad tidings to proclaim salvation to all
that will accept fit according to the conditions of the gospel that the kingdom of heaven
^[2 illegibles words]^ may come: yea the joyful day be usherd in when Israel shall be gatherd from the
four quarters of the earth to meet their Redeemer and have their ungodliness turn[ed]
away [FIGURE] brd [FIGURE] O that the Gentiles were wise that they understood this that they
would consider their latter end. [Deuteronomy 32:29] the Bridegroom is at the door yea the signs are puttin[g]
war on in the heavens and earth of the second advent of Chris[t] which will appear in thi[s]
generation O Brother for Jesus Christ ^sake^ open your eyes and see and understand wha[t]
you read it is a day of warning and not many words for as it was in the days of Noah
it will be when Christ comes he most assuredly will overtake this world as a thief in
the night so that no man take thy crown. [Moses 8:16-26] [1 Thessalonians 5:4] Asahel H Woodruff Willford Woodruff