I was but a Teacher, and it is not a Teacher's office to go abroad and preach. I dared not tell any of the authorities of the Church that I wanted to preach, lest they might think I was seeking for an office. I went into the woods where no one could see me, and I prayed to the Lord to open my way so that I could go and preach the gospel. While I was praying, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and told me my prayer was heard and that my request should be granted. I felt very happy, and got up and walked out of the woods into the traveled road, and there I met a High Priest who had lived in the same house with me some six months. He had not said a word to me about preaching the gospel; but now, as soon as I met him, he said, "the Lord has revealed to me that it is your privilege to be ordained, and to go and preach the gospel.”

Their is a differance between the spirit & office of Elias & Elijah it is the spirit of Elias I wish first to speak of. And in order to come at the subject I will bring some of the testimony from the scripture & give my own, in the first place suffice it to say I went into the woods to inq wire of the Lord by prayer his will concern- ing me, & I saw an angel & he laid his hands upon my head & ordained me to be a priest after the order of Aaron & to hold the keys of this priesthood which office was to preach repentance & Baptism for the remission of Sins & also to baptise but was informed that this office did not extend to the laying on of hands for the giving of the Holy Ghost that that office was a greater work & was to be given afterwards but that my ordination was a preparetory work or a going before which was the spirit of Elias

[gr]ace [page torn] for grace. when Brother Joseph received the Priesthood he did not recived all at once, but he was a prophet Seer & Revela[tor] [page torn] before he recieved the fulness of the Priesthood & keys of the kingd[om] [page torn] he first recieved the Aronick Priesthood & Keys from under the hand of John the Baptisk. He then had not power to lay on hands to confirm the Church but afterwards he recieved the Patriarchal or Melchisidick Priesthood from under the hands of Peter James & John who were of the Twelve Apostles & were the Presidency when the other Apostl[es] were absent, from those Apostles Joseph Smith recieved every key [FIGURE] power, blessing, & Privilege of the highest authority of the Melchezedick Priesthood ever committed to man on the earth

I attended the school of the Prophets many remarks were made upon the order of the Priesthood [FIGURE] President Young a man being ordained to the High Priesthood does not deprive him of any office which he held before. I have a right to officiate as a priest teacher or Deacon. Presidents of the seventies might act as Bishop councellors to the or act as High councillor without Being ordained a High Priest.

There is one thing I will here record in my Journal which I take great pleasure in I united with the Bishop & his counsel & ordained 1 Priest 2 Teachers & 2 deacons and the Priest which I ordained was my ownly son now living with me Wilford Woodruff Jr He is 13 years old He is now to begin to officiate in the Priest office of the lesser Priesthood And I thank the LORD that I have lived to see this day when I have a son who has received the Priesthood and is recogni- zed as such by the Church and is about to officiate in it I Pray the blessings of the God of Abram Isaac & Jacob may rest upon him that He may honour the Priesthood all the days of his life and do much good in bringing many souls into the Kingdom of God and always maintain the Kingdom of God with all its laws & principles which may the Lord grant for Christ sake Amen

Wilford in the name of Jesus Christ and by virtue of the Holy Priesthood I lay my hands upon your head and seal upon your head a Fathers blessing and seal upon ^you^ the priesthood of Aaron which you have received, and also to dedicate you unto God for the purpose of the ministry. I seal upon your head all the blessings of Abram Isaac & Jacob. I seal you up unto Eternal life and no power shall take your crown. And you shall live long upon the Earth and do great good and bring many souls into the kingdom of God. And you shall stand in the defence of Zion and if you will be faithful in keeping the Commandments of God you shall receive the fulness of the priesthood and the Apostleship and the keys thereof and shall follow the footsteps of thy father wherein he has been faithful in the Apostleship. and thou shalt live and not die. thy body shall not be laid in the grave but thou shalt live till the coming of Christ. then shall thy body be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to

the Aaronic priesthood hold the keys of administering of Angels & their has been but few men even High Priest or Apostles that have enjoyed all the blessings that belongs to the Lesser priesthood.

OFFICE OF The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. P.O. Box B. Salt Lake City, Utah March 23rd, 1896. ELDERS JAMES E. STEELE, ROBERT L. BYBEE, JOS. S. MULLINER, Presidency of the Bingham Stake. Dear Brethren: Your letter of the 13th inst., addressed to President George Q. Cannon, contains an enquiry concerning the correct language to be used in ordaining a man to the office of an Elder. You say some little difference of opinion exists among the brethren of your Stake on this point. We do not like to write out a form of ordination for the office of an Elder. But it is a very simple ceremony, as are all the ceremonies connected with the ordinances. This is beautifully illustra- ted in the form which the Lord gives, on page 609 of the Book of Mormon, concerning the ordination of Priests and Teachers. There are some people who seem to attach great importance to phraseology, and are very technical, and think things are not done right unless every word is spoken just as it should be. This is not right. A spirit of that kind leads to disputations as to forms; and we find considerable of that arising from time to time in theological clas- ses and among others That which is necessary in ordaining a man is to ordain him to the office in the Aaronic Priesthood or the Melchisedek Priesthood (whichever it may be) by the authority of the Holy Priesthood

First, I wish to say a few words regarding Priesthood. There is no mis- take about the Priesthood of God Almighty. The God of heaven Himself has created and redeemed this world by the power of that Priesthood; and no being that ever dwelt on this earth ever has or ever will be able to do or perform any work pertaining to salvation unless it is by that eternal and everlasting Priesthood.

I am a living witness to the testimony that Joseph gave to the Twelve Apostles when all of us received our endowments under his hands. I remember the last speech that he ever gave us before his death. It was before we started upon our mission to the East. He stood upon his feet some three hours. The room was filled as with con- suming fire, his face was as clear as amber, and he was clothed upon by the power of God. He laid before us our duty. He laid before us the fullness of this great work of God; and in his remarks to us he said: "I have had sealed upon my head every key, every power, every principle of life and salvation that God has ever given to any man who ever lived upon the face of the earth. And these principles and this Priesthood and power belong to this great and last dispensation which the God of heaven has set His hand to establish in the earth. Now," said he, addressing the Twelve, "I have sealed upon your heads every key, every power, and every principle which the Lord has sealed upon my head."