Nov 8, 2024

Meet Sister Cammie Garner, a service missionary who volunteers for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project. Sister Garner helps share the gems from the Papers by writing articles relating to Come, Follow Me and writing responses to questions relevant to the rising generation. 

Sister Garner first heard about the Project from her brother-in-law, who also volunteers. She shares, “In recent years I’ve been drawn to writing about religious topics as a way to work through my own thoughts and questions. As part of my service mission I've been looking for ways to serve from home, so the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project seemed like a great fit.”

Sister Garner has particularly enjoyed diving into the writings of Wilford Woodruff. “I didn't know very much about him before. Reading his letters and thoughts is expanding my understanding of Church history.” 

One meaningful experience she recently had was as she prepared to write two articles, one about consecration and the other about living after the manner of happiness. She recalls, “As I pulled quotes from the Wilford Woodruff Papers and the scriptures, I realized I’d never directly connected those two concepts [consecration and happiness] before, but they fit together so seamlessly. From the early days, the Church seemed to have captured this secret ingredient to a better life and true happiness, and Wilford Woodruff’s ‘unfiltered’ journals show the perspective of a real individual living that experience. Writing these articles helped me reflect on my own consecration and happiness efforts.”

Sister Garner would like everyone to know more about the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project, whether they’d like to volunteer or just read more about it. She says, “The more I read about the history of these Church members, the more I’m happy to be counted among them.”

We are always looking for more volunteers to help with various aspects of the Project. We were recently granted access to hundreds of letters and need volunteer transcribers and translators. In addition to English, Wilford Woodruff received letters written in Swedish, Danish, Turkish, Armenian, Maori, and Samoan. If you or someone you know is a native speaker or a qualified translator of any of those languages, please visit our website for more information on how to volunteer: https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/volunteer.