Dec 9, 2024

Meet Helen Mar Williamson, a volunteer on the Transcription Team of the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project. Helen Mar’s favorite documents to transcribe are letters written to Wilford. Her goal is to transcribe one page a day. 

She says, “I love that I can make a small contribution when I cannot devote long hours to transcribing. It is doable for me to do one page, feel like I have made a small difference, and then not feel bad that I cannot do more until a day or two later.” She mentioned that though she “can’t do a lot . . . ‘small and simple things’ bring about all kinds of large blessings.”

Helen Mar was first drawn to the Project after she read Wilford Woodruff's Witness: The Development of Temple Doctrine by Jennifer Ann Mackley. She shares, “The book enveloped me in gratitude for living prophets, for restored temple ordinances and for Wilford Woodruff's dogged determination, in a time of immense difficulty, to make temple ordinances available to each of us.” 

Working on the Project has been a great blessing to both Helen Mar and her family. She feels a great connection to Wilford Woodruff because he was a close friend of her great-grandfather, John D. T. McAllister. Starting in 1877, Wilford and John worked together in the St. George Utah Temple presidency to help all Church members participate in temple ordinances for themselves and their ancestors. 

Helen Mar says, “Each time I transcribe a page I feel gratitude for brave covenant keepers. I am very grateful for this beautiful opportunity to make a very small contribution to such a significant project.” 

We know that every contribution is significant, and we appreciate Helen Mar’s dedication and persistence. In the past five years, 1,033 individuals have contributed to the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project and helped transcribe more than 13,000 documents, a total of 41,400 pages. It is an incredible resource that will benefit generations to come . . . and thanks to Helen Mar, today we are one page closer to completing the Project!

We were recently granted access to four thousand additional pages of Wilford Woodruff’s records and are recruiting new volunteer transcribers. If you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about this opportunity to help bring history to life, please visit: https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/volunteer.