While I meet with the saints in this Tabernacle
and partake of the sacrament with them, es-
pecially with such a large body of people as there
are here in these valleys of the mountains, it
leads my mind in a train of reflec[t]ion and thought
concerning this work in which we are engaged,
and whether I think of it long or short I have
the same feelings and come to the same con-
clusions, and I say within myself it is the work of
God, and it is marvelous in my eyes.
There is a marked difference between the work
of God and the work of men, or the work of the
devil, and that difference is manifest in the es-
tablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints. There is one characteristic
connected with the work of God that has been
manifested in its establishment in these last days
as in all former periods, and that is that whenever
the Lord has attempted to establish his Church
and Kingdom upon the earth he always makes
use of instruments whose peculiar circumstances
in life will naturally lead them to acknowledge
the hand of God in all that is manifested unto
them. You have the example of all the Prophets
from the days of Adam, and as far as we have
any knowledge of them they were nearly all men
of low degree and of humble birth, and the Lord
has ever given them his Spirit to enlighten their
minds, and to qualify them for the work assigned
them. Men of this character have stepped forth
and obeyed the Lord in various ages of the world,
and they have given him the credit for what has
been accomplished. This has been very clearly
manifested in our own day.
Thirty years ago the 22nd day of last September,
the Angel of God delivered unto the hands of Joseph Smith the plates containing the record
from which the Book of Mormon was translated,
in which is recorded the history of the ancient in-
habitants of this country. Joseph Smith was a
man of humble birth, and in one sense of the
word he was poor and illiterate and, to look at
things naturally, it looked strange that the Lord
should undertake to build up his Church and
Kingdom with such a feeble instrument. To
some this may look a very small matter, but the
work was great, and here was an honest soul, and
the Lord made choice of that soul to give unto
him the knowledge, the blessings and the glory
associated with the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon which should lay the foundation of
the Church and Kingdom of God in these last
days.
What did that Angel tell Joseph Smith when
he gave him the plates? The vision of his mind
was opened, and the Angel showed unto him the
condition of the nations of the earth, and said
this r[e]cord which I now commit unto your hand
contains the words of life, the gospel of Jesus
Christ, and the Lord is now abou[t] to establish his
K[i]ngdom upon the earth. The world are in
darknes[s], the Gentiles have departed from the
gospel of Jesus Christ; they have forsaken the
light, the glory and the power of the priesthood
of the son of God, which was given to and en-
joyed by the Gentile nations when Israel was
cut off.
The Lord promised Joseph Smith at this early
age that if he would obey his commandments and
hearken to the voice of the Holy Spirit he would
make him an instrument of bringing about this
great work, that the Church may be brought out
of the wilderness of darkness and Error and my
name glor[i]fied among men.
The words that this record contains shall be
preached to every kingdom, tongue and people,
and whenever this doctrine is preached your name
shall be had in honorable remembrance among
the virtuous, the holy, the righteous and those
who desire to do good, but the ungodly will vilify
your character, hold up your name to ridicule and
scorn wherever the sound of this gospel goes,
even to all nations.
The Lord also told Joseph Smith in the com-
mencement of this work, as you will see by the
revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, that he was laying the foundation of
a great and mighty work and kingdom which
should be the kingdom of God and it should not
be thrown down but stand forever, but you can-
not now comprehend the extent of it. The mind
of the Prophet was opened by the Spirit of re-
velation so that he could see and comprehend a
gr[e]at deal, but he required the Spirit of the living
God, the inspiration of the Almighty to rest upon
him continually to qualify him for the great duties
that were constantly increasing upon him, and
the same Spirit is required by any man in this
kingdom, whether he be old or young, rich or
poor to enable him to bring about the work of
God, or to do anything that is of much con-
sequence as the upbuilding of this kingdom.
The Prophet was repeatedly told of the im-
portance of the work in which he was engaged,
and was commanded to obey the voice of God in
all things, and then he was told that all that had
been promised should be fulfilled. The Prophet
saw the chains of darkness that were binding the
souls of men, and although at that time he had
not received the priesthood yet the Lord mani-
fested himself to him in various ways and at many
times before he was ordained, or before there
were any baptized into the Church. In process
of time, viz. on the 15th day of May 1829, he and Oliver Cowdery received the Aaronic Priesthood,
and according to commandment they baptized
each other. Then on the 6th day of April follow-
ing the Church was organized, and the work of
God established on the earth no more to be rooted
out of it.
What must have been the feelings of the
Prophet when, the moment he began to unbosom
his thoughts, and to tell what the Lord had done
for him, the Christian world began to mock and
deride him. The devil opposed him, wicked men
opposed him, and there was a spirit among the
people to kick against the work of God, and there
were whole communities that were opposed to the
doctrine of administration of Angels, and con-
sequently, his path was rugged and thorny.
Sometimes he would come across individuals who
would listen to his message, and would receive
his testimony. This made his soul rejoice to see
that there were some persons who would receive
the words of eternal life.
True, in the commencement this Church was
small, and I frequently reflect upon what has
come to pass in the world since God spake to
Joseph the Seer; I also look at what has taken
place with this people, and I can clearly see the
fulfillment of the word of God spoken by the
Angel to Joseph before the Church was organized;
the Angel foretold the very scenery that I behold
to-day, and from that time to the present this
people have been fulfilling what the Angel told
the Prophet would come to pass after he gave to
him the plates containing the record of the Book
of Mormon. We are daily working for the fulfill-
ment of those things that were predicted from twen-
ty five to thirty years ago; these very things that we
are now witnessing both in relation to our friends
and our enemies are in fulfillment of those
promises made in the commencement of this
work.
The Prophet's heart was made glad while he
lived among us in beholding the signs of the
times, and there are many here to-day who re-
member the early days of this Church and King-
dom. Some of the first Elders in this Church who
went up to Kirtland to see the Prophet were made
to rejoice in his society. The Saints who were
gathered together were so few that they might all
have been put in a small schoolhouse, but where-
ver the gospel had been preached some few had
been brought to a knowledge of its truth and
occasionally a few had been gathered up to
Kirtland, perhaps one of a family and two of
a city.
When br. Brigham and br. Jeseph Young
went up to see the Prophet they found him chop-
ping wood for he was a laboring man and gained
his bread by the sweat of his brow, they made
themselves acquainted with him; he received them
gladly, invited them to his house and they rejoiced
together in the go[s]pel of Christ and their hearts
were knitted together in the spirit and bond of
union.
Those of us who gathered to Kirtland in the
early days of the Church can remember the
scenes which happened in those days. I well re-
member the time when I first met the Saints
in Kirtland, it was in the Spring of 1834. I had
never joined any Church previous to hearing this
gospel, and the first sermon I ever heard was
preached by br. Zera Pulsipher, one of the senior
Presidents of the Seventies, and my heart was
made glad; I embraced the gospel, for I knew it
was the first gospel sermon that I had ever heard in
my life. I was baptized by brother Pulsipher,
and shortly afterwards bro. Parley P. Pratt came
along to gather up the warriors of the Lord to go
up and redeem Zion.
I was deeply engaged in business at the time,
but I felt that it was my duty to do all I could
for the cause of truth, and when br. Parley came
up I felt resolved to volunteer. We called a
meeting and when br. Parley got up and said he
was weary with traveling and did not want to say
much, but he would talk a few moments, and
when he got through it was about twelve o'clock
at night; in fact he had preached about half the
night—my feelings were such when he got
through that if all the gold in the world had been
presented to me I could not have been hired to
stay at home. I went with br. Parley through Jefferson County, to the North, and then im-
mediately prepared to go to Kirtland. I started
to Kirtland on the 11th day of April 1834, and
arrived in Kirtland on the 25th day of the same
month. I then for the first time had an interview
with the Prophet Joseph; he invited me to his
house. I rejoiced to behold his face and to hear
his voice. I was fully satisfied that Joseph was
a Prophet before I saw him. I had no pre-
judices on my mind against him, but I expected
to see a Prophet.
My first introduction to him was rather singular.
I saw him out in the field with his br. Hyrum;
he had on a very old hat, and was engaged shoot-
ing at a mark. I was introduced to him and he
invited me home with him.
I accepted the invitation and I watched him
pretty closely, to see what I could learn. He re-
marked, while passing to his house, that this was
the first hour he had spent in recreation for a long
time.
Shortly after we arrived at his house he went
into an adjoining room and brought out a wolf-
skin, and said, 'br. Woodruff, I want you to help
me to tan this,' so I pulled off my coat, went to
work and helped him, and felt honored in so doing.
He was about going up with the brethren to re-
deem Zion, and he wanted this wolf's skin to put
upon his wagon seat as he had no buffalo robe.
This was my first introduction to the Prophet
Joseph Smith, the great Seer of this last dispen-
sation.
I was not there long before I heard him talk
about going to Zion, and it did my soul good to
hear him speak of many things concerning Zion,
the gathering of Israel and the great latter day
work, and I felt truly satisfied with what I saw
and heard.
I recollect that in the evening after I got there,
several of the brethren came in and talked with
br. Joseph, and asked what they should do, for
they had not means to bear their expenses from
there to Missouri. Br. Joseph said, 'I am going
to have some money soon,' and the next morning
he received a letter containing a hundred and fifty
dollars, sent to him by sister Voce of Boston; I
don't know but she is in the congregation to-day.
I have felt to rejoice exceedingly in what I saw
of br. Joseph, for in his public and private career
he carried with him the Spirit of the Almighty,
and he manifested a greatness of soul which I had
never seen in any other man.
The reason I speak of these things is because I
want to refer to this congregation, and to this peo-
ple generally as they have passed along, for truly,
it has required a stretch of faith to be enabled to
comprehend the accomplishment of all that has
been done for the last twenty-five years. The
Lord said by revelation in an early day, 'The har-
vest is ripe, and any man that desires in his heart
to preach the gospel and will thrust in his sickle,
he is called of God.' [Doctrine and Covenants 6:3-4]
The Elders that are called in this church, you
can notice in them the spirit and disposition to
preach the gospel and redeem the people from sin,
tradition and error. At the commencement of the
church, the Lord gave revelations to the church
and to individuals, through the Prophet, to
tell them what to do, be baptized, ordained, go on
missions and anything that was required at their
hands, and hence you can see in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants revelations given to Mar-
tin Harris, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, the
Whitmers, and many others, calling them to go
forth and preach the gospel to the world. In
those revelations are promised many great and
glorious things, and the pattern is given and the
foundation laid for a great and mighty work—a
work not to be accomplished in ten, twenty, thir-
ty, forty, nor fifty years, but a work that em-
braces the gathering together of all things which
are to be saved both in heaven and on earth, and
the establishing of the kingdom of God to remain
for ever; and the Lord said, you are laying the
foundation for a great and mighty work, but we
did not understand nor comprehend its extent.
He called upon us to go forth and warn the world
of the judgments to come, and to call upon them
to learn the ways of righteousness and to walk
therein, and what has been the result?
Every man that has embraced it, whose heart
was honest before God, has been inspired by the
Spirit of God; he has been ready to engage in
the work, to shoulder their knapsack and go forth
and preach this gospel to all people whenever an
opportunity presented itself, and the first Elders
of this Church did preach diligently and faith-
fully, and many received the word with gladness
and rejoiced in the truth.
Finally br. Heber C. Kimball was called to go
to England, as you learn by the Church History,
and he laid the foundation of a great work, as the
Angel declared to Joseph should be the case.
The words of life that were engraven upon
those plates have been preached to almost all na-
tions, and have not the people had an opportuni-
ty of hearing? They have in a great degree, for
the servants of the Lord have been inspired to
DISCOURSE
By Elder Wilford Woodruff. Tabernacle, Sunday Afternoon Jan. 10, 1858
----------
[REPORTED BY J. V. LONG ]
-----------
While I meet with the Saints in this Tabernacle
and partake of the sacrament with them, especially with such a large body of people as there
are here in these valleys of the mountains, it
leads my mind in a train of reflection and thought
concerning this work in which we are engaged,
and whether I think of it long or short, I have
the same feelings and come to the same conclusions, and I say within myself, it is the work of
God, and it is marvellous in my eyes.
There is a marked difference between the work
of God and the work of men, or the work of the
devil, and that difference is manifest in the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints. There is one characteristic
connected with the work of God that has been
manifested in its establishment in these last days
as in all former periods, and that is that whenever
the Lord has attempted to establish his Church
and Kingdom upon the earth he always makes
use of instruments whose peculiar circumstances
in life will naturally lead them to acknowledge
the hand of God in all that is manifested unto
them. You have the example of all the Prophets
from the days of Adam, and as far as we have
any knowledge of them they were nearly all men
of low degree and of humble birth, and the Lord
has ever given them his Spirit to enlighten their
minds, and to qualify them for the work assigned
them. Men of this character have stepped forth
and obeyed the Lord in various ages of the world,
and they have given him the credit for what has
been accomplished. This has been very clearly
manifested in our own day.
Thirty years ago the 22nd day of last September,
the Angel of God delivered unto the hands of
Joseph Smith the plates containing the record
from which the Book of Mormon was translated,
in which is recorded the history of the ancient inhabitants of this country. Joseph Smith was a
man of humble birth, and in one sense of the
word he was poor and illiterate, and to look at
things naturally, it looked strange that the Lord
should undertake to build up his Church and
Kingdom with such a feeble instrument. To
some this may look a very small matter, but the
work was great, and here was an honest soul, and
the Lord made choice of that soul to give unto
him the knowledge, the blessings and the glory
associated with the coming forth of the Book of
Mormon which should lay the foundation of
the Church and Kingdom of God in these last days.
What did that angel tell Joseph Smith when
he gave him the plates? The vision of his mind
was opened, and the Angel showed unto him the
condition of the nations of the earth, and said
this record which I now commit unto your hand
contains the words of life, the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, and the Lord is now about to establish his
Kingdom upon the earth. The world are in
darkness, the Gentiles have departed from the
gospel of Jesus Christ; they have forsaken the
light, the glory and the power of the priesthood
of the son of God, which was given to and enjoyed by the Gentile nations when Israel was
cut off.
The Lord promised Joseph Smith at this early
age that if he would obey his commandments and
hearken to the voice of the Holy Spirit he would
make him an instrument of bringing about this
great work, that the Church may be brought out
of the wilderness of darkness and Error and my
name glorified among men.
The words that this record contains shall be
preached to every kingdom, tongue and people,
and whenever this doctrine is preached your name
shall be had in honorable remembrance among
the virtuous, the holy, the righteous and those
who desire to do good, but the ungodly will vilify
your character, hold up your name to ridicule
and scorn wherever the sound of this gospel goes,
even to all nations.
The Lord also told Joseph Smith, in the commencement of this work, as you will see by the
revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and
Covenants, that he was laying the foundation of
a great and mighty work and kingdom which
should be the kingdom of God and it should not
be thrown down but stand for ever, but you cannot now comprehend the extent of it. The mind
of the Prophet was opened by the Spirit of revelation, so that he could see and comprehend a
great deal but he required the Spirit of the living
God, the inspiration of the Almighty to rest upon
him continually to qualify him for the great duties
that were constantly increasing upon him, and
the same Spirit is required by any man in this
kingdom, whether he be old or young, rich or
poor to enable him to bring about the work of
God, or to do anything that is of much consequence as the upbuilding of this kingdom.
The Prophet was repeatedly told of the importance of the work in which he was engaged,
and was commanded to obey the voice of God in
all things, and then he was told that all that had
been promised should be fulfilled. The Prophet
saw the chains of darkness that were binding the
souls of men, and although at that time he had
not received the priesthood, yet the Lord manifested himself to him in various ways and at many
times before he was ordained, or before there
were any baptized into the Church. In process
of time, viz. on the 15th day of May, 1829, he and
Oliver Cowdery received the Aaronic Priesthood,
and according to commandment they baptized
each other. Then on the 6th day of April following the Church was organized, and the work of
God established on the earth no more to be rooted
out of it.
What must have been the feelings of the
Prophet when, the moment he began to unbosom
his thoughts, and to tell what the Lord had done
for him, the Christian world began to mock and
deride him. The devil opposed him, wicked men
opposed him, and there was a spirit among the
people to kick against the work of God, and there
were whole communities that were opposed to the
doctrine of administration of Angels, and consequently, his path was rugged and thorny.—
Sometimes he would come across individuals who
would listen to his message, and would receive
his testimony. This made his soul rejoice to see
that there were some persons who would receive
the words of eternal life.
True, in the commencement this Church was
small, and I frequently reflect upon what has
come to pass in the world since God spake to
Joseph the Seer; I also look at what has taken
place with this people, and I can clearly see the
fulfilment of the word of God spoken by the
Angel to Joseph before the Church was organized;
the Angel fore told the very scenery that I behold
to-day, and from that time to the present this
people have been fulfilling what the Angel told
the Prophet would come to pass after he gave to
him the plates containing the record of the Book
of Mormon. We are daily working for the fulfilment of those things that were predicted from twenty-five to thirty years ago; these very things that we
are now witnessing both in relation to our friends
and our enemies are in fulfilment of those
promises made in the commencement of this
work.
The Prophet's heart was made glad while he
lived among us in beholding the signs of the
times, and there are many here to-day who remember the early days of this Church and Kingdom. Some of the first Elders in this Church who
went up to Kirtland to see the Prophet were made
to rejoice in his society. The Saints who were
gathered together were so few that they might all
have been put in a small schoolhouse, but wherever the gospel had been preached some few had
been brought to a knowledge of its truth and
occasionally a few had been gathered up to
Kirtland, perhaps one of a family and two of
a city.
When brother Brigham and br. Jeseph Young
went up to see the Prophet they found him chopping wood for he was a laboring man and gained
his bread by the sweat of his brow, they made
themselves acquainted with him; he received them
gladly, invited them to his house and they rejoiced
together in the gospel of Christ and their hearts
were knitted together in the spirit and bond of
union.
Those of us who gathered to Kirtland in the
early days of the Church can remember the scenes which happened in those days. I well remember the time when I first met the Saints
in Kirtland, it was in the spring of 1834. I had
never joined any Church previous to hearing this
gospel, and the first sermon I ever heard was
preached by br. Zera Pulsipher, one of the senior
Presidents of the Seventies, and my heart was
made glad; I embraced the gospel for I knew it
was the first gospel sermon that I had ever heard in
my life. I was baptized by brother Pulsipher,
and shortly afterwards bro. Parley P. Pratt came
along to gather up the warriors of the Lord to go
up and redeem Zion.
I was deeply engaged in business at the time,
but I felt that it was my duty to do all I could
for the cause of truth, and when br. Parley came
up I felt resolved to volunteer. We called a
meeting and when br. Parley got up and said he
was weary with traveling and did not want to say
much, but he would talk a few moments, and
when he got through it was about twelve o'clock
at night; in fact he had preached about half the
night:—my feelings were such, when he got
through, that if all the gold in the world had been
presented to me I could not have been hired to
stay at home. I went with br. Parley through
Jefferson County, to the North, and then immediately prepared to go to Kirtland. I started
to Kirtland on the 11th day of April 1834, and
arrived in Kirtland on the 25th day of the same
month. I then for the first time had an interview
with the Prophet Joseph; he invited me to his
house. I rejoiced to behold his face and to hear
his voice. I was fully satisfied that Joseph was
a Prophet before I saw him. I had no prejudices on my mind against him, but I expected
to see a Prophet.
My first introduction to him was rather singular,
I saw him out in the field with his br. Hyrum;
he had on a very old hat and was engaged shooting at a mark. I was introduced to him and he
invited me home with him.
I accepted the invitation, and I watched him
pretty closely, to see what I could learn. He remarked, while passing to his house, that this was
the first hour he had spent in recreation for a long
time.
Shortly after we arrived at his house he went
into an adjoining room and brought out a wolfskin, and said, 'br. Woodruff, I want you to help
me to tan this,' so I pulled off my coat, went to
work and helped him, and felt honored in so doing.
He was about going up with the brethren to redeem Zion, and he wanted this wolf's skin to put
upon his wagon seat, as he had no buffalo robe.
This was my first introduction to the Prophet
Joseph Smith, the great Seer of this last dispensation.
I was not there long before I heard him talk
about going to Zion, and it did my soul good to
hear him speak of many things concerning Zion,
the gathering of Israel and the great latter-day
work, and I felt truly satisfied with what I saw
and heard.
I recollect that in the evening after I got there,
several of the brethren came in and talked with
br. Joseph, and asked what they should do, for
they had not means to bear their expenses from
there to Missouri. Br. Joseph said, 'I am going
to have some money soon,' and the next morning
he received a letter containing a hundred and fifty
dollars, sent to him by sister Voce of Boston; I
don't know but she is in the congregation to-day.
I have felt to rejoice exceedingly in what I saw
of br. Joseph, for in his public and private career
he carried with him the Spirit of the Almighty,
and he manifested a greatness of soul which I had
never seen in any other man.
The reason I speak of these things is because I
want to refer to this congregation, and to this people generally as they have passed along, for truly,
it has required a stretch of faith to be enabled to
comprehend the accomplishment of all that has
been done for the last twenty-five years. The
Lord said by revelation in an early day, 'The harvest is ripe, and any man that desires in his heart
to preach the Gospel and will thrust in his sickle,
he is called of God.'
The Elders that are called in this church, you
can notice in them the spirit and disposition to
preach the Gospel and redeem the people from sin,
tradition and error. At the commencement of the
church, the Lord gave revelations to the church
and to individuals, through the Prophet, to
tell them what to do, be baptized, ordained, go on
missions and anything that was required at their
hands, and hence you can see in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants revelations given to Martin Harris, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, the
Whitmers, and many others, calling them to go
forth and preach the Gospel to the world. In
those revelations are promised many great and
glorious things, and the pattern is given and the
foundation laid for a great and mighty work—a
work not to be accomplished in ten, twenty, thirty, forty, nor fifty years, but a work that embraces the gathering together of all things which
are to be saved, both in heaven and on earth, and
the establishing of the kingdom of God, to remain
for ever; and the Lord said, you are laying the
foundation for a great and mighty work. But we
did not understand or comprehend its extent.
He called upon us to go forth and warn the world
of the judgments to come, and to call upon them
to learn the ways of righteousness, and to walk
therein, and what has been the result?
Every man that has embraced it, whose heart
was honest before God, has been inspired by
the Spirit of God; he has been ready to engage in
the work, to shoulder their knapsack, and go forth
and preach this gospel to all people whenever an
opportunity presented itself; and the first Elders
of this Church did preach diligently and faithfully, and many received the word with gladness
and rejoiced in the truth.
Finally brother Heber C. Kimball was called to go
to England, as you learn by the Church History,
and he laid the foundation of a great work, as the
Angel declared to Joseph should be the case.
The words of life that were engraven upon
those plates have been preached to almost all nations; and have not the people had an opportunity of hearing? They have in a great degree,
for the servants of the Lord have been inspired to
