and he felt impressed to say, "Walk in,
gentlemen."
There is probably no other chapter in
the whole book that would have the same
influence in causing any one to feed a
person who professed to be a servant of
God and asked for bread.
After becoming acquainted with his
circumstances I thought it providential
that we were led to his house, for al-
though he was a professor of religion and
a Methodist, he was in a state of despair,
believing that he had committed the un-
pardonable sin.
However, I told him what the unpar-
donable sin was, and that he had not
committed it, but that it was a trick of
the devil to make him think so, in order
to torment him. He then acknowledged
that he went down to the wharf a few
evenings before, with the intention of
drowning himself, but when he looked
into the cold, dark water, he desisted
and returned home, and had said nothing
previous to anyone about it.
I taught him the principles of the
gospel, which proved a comfort to him.
We spent the following day in visiting
the people of Belfast, and in the evening
preached in a brick school house, pro-
vided by Mr. Teppley, and many wished
to hear more from us.
We next visited Northport and Frank-
fort, holding meetings at both places,
and on the , we en-
tered Bangor, which at that time had a
population of ten thousand. This was
my birthday, I being thirty-one years of
age.
I visited some of the leading men of
Bangor, and they granted me the use of
the City Hall, where I preached to good
audiences for two successive evenings.
This was the first time a Latter-day
Saint Elder had preached in that town.
Many were anxious to learn more about
our principles, but our visits through all
the towns from Thomaston to Bangor
were necessarily brief, owing to our ap-
pointments upon the Islands. It was
like casting our bread upon the waters
and trusting in God for the result.
On the we sailed from Penobscot for the Isle of Holt, where I
held a meeting on the following evening.
The next day I took passage on the
mail boat for the North Island, where I
again had the privilege of meeting with
the Saints for prayer and praise before
the Lord.
On my arrival I received a package of
letters from friends abroad. One was
from Kirtland, and gave an account of
the apostasy and tribulations which the
Saints were passing through. Joseph
the Prophet and others, with their fam-
ilies, had gone to Far West, and the
Saints were following him.
Brother Townsend returned home and
I was again left alone in the ministry.
On the afternoon of the ,
Brother Sterrett and I, accompanied by
our wives, went several hundred yards
from the shore to a sand-bar (it being
now low tide), to dig clams. The
ground near the shore was much lower
than the bar we were on, and while we
were all busy digging clams and talking
Mormonism, the dashing of the waves
of the incoming tide against the shore
suddenly made us conscious that we had
fifty yards of water between us and the
shore.
The surf waves also added to our diffi-
culty, and as we had no boat, our only
alternattve was to cross our four arms,
thus forming a kind of arm chair for our
wives to sit upon, and carry them in
turn to the shore, wading through two
and a half feet of water.
By the time that we got our wives and
clams safely landed, the truth of the
old saying was firmly impressed upon our
minds, that "Time and tide wait for no
man," not even for a preacher of the
gospel.
On the I received a
letter from Zion, requesting me to coun-
sel the Saints I had baptized to sell their
property and gather up to Zion.
About this time the Lord was mani-
festing himself upon the islands in vari-
ous ways, by dreams, visions, healings,
signs and wonders. I will relate one
peculiar circumstance of this kind that
occurred.
Mr. Ebenezer Carver had been inves-
tigating our doctrines for quite a length
of time, and, having a great desire to
know the truth of our religion, he walked
to the sea shore, wishing that he might
have some manifestation in proof of its
truth.
The passage of Scripture came to his
mind that there would be no sign given
"but the sign of the prophet Jonas[Matthew 12:39]."
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILFORD WOODRUFF.
Column 1
and he felt impressed to say, "Walk in,
gentlemen."
There is probably no other chapter in
the whole book that would have the same
influence in causing any one to feed a
person who professed to be a servant of
God and asked for bread.
After becoming acquainted with his
circumstances I thought it providential
that we were led to his house, for although he was a professor of religion and
a Methodist, he was in a state of despair,
believing that he had committed the unpardonable sin.
However, I told him what the unpardonable sin was, and that he had not
committed it, but that it was a trick of
the devil to make him think so, in order
to torment him. He then acknowledged
that he went down to the wharf a few
evenings before, with the intention of
drowning himself, but when he looked
into the cold, dark water, he desisted
and returned home, and had said nothing
previous to anyone about it.
I taught him the principles of the
gospel, which proved a comfort to him.
We spent the following day in visiting
the people of Belfast, and in the evening
preached in a brick school house, provided by Mr. Teppley, and many wished
to hear more from us.
We next visited Northport and Frankfort, holding meetings at both places,
and on the , we entered Bangor, which at that time had a
population of ten thousand. This was
my birthday, I being thirty-one years of
age.
I visited some of the leading men of
Bangor, and they granted me the use of
the City Hall, where I preached to good
audiences for two successive evenings.
This was the first time a Latter-day
Saint Elder had preached in that town.
Many were anxious to learn more about
our principles, but our visits through all
the towns from Thomaston to Bangor
were necessarily brief, owing to our appointments upon the Islands. It was
like casting our bread upon the waters
and trusting in God for the result.
On the we sailed from
Penobscot for the Isle of Holt, where I
held a meeting on the following evening.
The next day I took passage on the
mail boat for the North Island, where I
again had the privilege of meeting with
Column 2
the Saints for prayer and praise before
the Lord.
On my arrival I received a package of
letters from friends abroad. One was
from Kirtland, and gave an account of
the apostasy and tribulations which the
Saints were passing through. Joseph
the Prophet and others, with their families, had gone to Far West, and the
Saints were following him.
Brother Townsend returned home and
I was again left alone in the ministry.
On the afternoon of the ,
Brother Sterrett and I, accompanied by
ourwives, went several hundred yards
from the shore to a sand-bar (it being
now low tide), to dig clams. The
ground near the shore was much lower
than the bar we were on, and while we
were all busy digging clams and talking
Mormonism, the dashing of the waves
of the incoming tide against the shore
suddenly made us conscious that we had
fifty yards of water between us and the
shore.
The surf waves also added to our difficulty, and as we had no boat, our only
alternattve was to cross our four arms,
thus forming a kind of arm chair for our
wives to sit upon, and carry them in
turn to the shore, wading through two
and a half feet of water.
By the time that we got our wives and
clams safely landed, the truth of the
old saying was firmly impressed upon our
minds, that "Time and tide wait for no
man," not even for a preacher of the
gospel.
On the I received a
letter from Zion, requesting me to counsel the Saints I had baptized to sell their
property and gather up to Zion.
About this time the Lord was manifesting himself upon the islands in various ways, by dreams, visions, healings,
signs and wonders. I will relate one
peculiar circumstance of this kind that
occurred.
Mr. Ebenezer Carver had been investigating our doctrines for quite a length
of time, and, having a great desire to
know the truth of our religion, he walked
to the sea shore, wishing that he might
have some manifestation in proof of its
truth.
The passage of Scripture came to his
mind that there would be no sign given
"but the sign of the prophet Jonas."