TULLIDGE'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
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CHAPTER III.
CONTINUATION OF MY MISSION TO . ORGANIZATION OF THE CONFERENCE. I BID FAREWELL
TO THE SAINTS.
RETURN TO AMERICA.
On the 6th of October, 1840, a
general conference of the British mission
was held at . There were
present of the Twelve Apostles, , , , , and
Wilford Woodruff. The presiding officers
of the mission represented twenty-seven
conferences, besides other churches not
yet organized into conferences. The
number of membership was 3,621, being
an increase since the last general con-
ference of 1,113 members.
The next evening we attended a dis-
cussion held between a sectarian minister
and Elder on the subject
of the Book of Mormon. There were
present 1,500 people. This was the first
discussion of any note on Mormonism
held in .
I left Manchester on the 14th of October
to return to my labors in London; and
on my way, with Elder Alfred Cordon,
I visited the and
. On the 17th I arrived in
London, where I found Elder George A.
Smith, and we were glad to meet each
other once again.
We hired lodgings, board and sitting
room at No. 40 Ironmonger Row, St.
Luke's. Everything was dear, and we
found with the greatest economy we
could not do with much less than a pound
per week each. What few Saints there
were in London were very poor and
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unable to assist us. Most of the means
used in my labors in London was sup-
plied by my converts of Herefordshire.
The prospect in London at that time
was the darkest I had ever been in since
entering the vineyard, but the Lord was
with us and we were not discouraged.
Sunday we met with the Saints at
Brother three times, read in the
Book of Mormon, gave instruction and
broke bread unto them. We had a good
time, though there was only about half
a dozen present. I felt the spirit bear
testimony that there would be a work
done in London.
I fell asleep, having retired to rest in
good season, and slept until midnight,
when I awoke and meditated upon the
things of God until 3 o'clock in the morn-
ing, and while forming a determination
to warn the people in London and over-
come the power of darkness by the assist-
ance of God, a person appeared unto me
whom I consider was the prince of dark-
ness. He made war upon me and at-
tempted to take my life. He caught me by
the throat and nearly choked me to death.
He wounded me in my forehead and I
also wounded him in a number of places
in the head. As he was about to over-
come me I prayed to the Father in the
name of Jesus Christ for help. I then
had power over him and he left me,
though much wounded. Afterwards
three persons dressed in white came to
me and prayed with me and I was im-
mediately healed of all my wounds and
delivered of all my troubles.
During the following week we visited
the and other notable
places, and also attended a Wesleyan
Methodist mission meeting over which
the Lord Mayor presided; while in the