[Teachldsseminary] Teach Lesson Pres. Woodruff

[Donna Glenn Collingridge]

I am teaching the presidents of the church periodically throughout the year.  Here is my lesson for Pres. Woodruff.  My class have enjoyed learning about Pres. Young and Taylor playing Seminary Square that in the files, however there was not one for Pres. Woodruff so I created one. 

I am teaching it tomorrow. Thanks for all your imput. It really helps in teaching and in studying the scriptures. 

Lesson is as follows: Hope it is helpful 
Donna Collingridge (Bristish Columbia)

Celebrating the Life of Pres. Wilford Woodruff (4th President of the Church)

Wilford Woodruff Seminary Squares: 

Same instructions as John Taylor and Brigham Young Seminary Squares 

We have with us several historians who have studied the lives of our beloved Latterday Saint Prophets. They are here today to answer questions. Some however have their facts confused, and you must decide which one are True or False. 

Round One 

1. Where and what year was Wilford Woodruff born? 

He was born March 1, 1807 in Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut, 

2. Tell us about one of his accidents that he survived. . He also suffered at divers times broken bones in his arms and legs. He split his foot with an ax, was bitten by a rabid dog, and was pinned under and crushed by falling trees. 

3. Besides these accidents he also experience evil spirits, could you tell us about one of them. 

On one occasion he was assaulted by an evil spirit that almost choked him to death. He was freed by "three personages dressed in white.

4. What was his profession? Wilford worked as a miller, 

5. What was one of his favorite past times: Fishing, Among his few leisure pursuits, Woodruff was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed fishing and hunting from his Connecticut days until his later years in the Great Basin. In August 1892 he wrote to Forest and Stream magazine about a fishing and hunting trip on the Weber River in the Uinta Mountains, where in four hours he caught twenty trout, four of which weighed over four pounds

6. What is the story behind his baptism and conversion? . While living in Oswego County, New York, he was visited by two Elders who were tracking the area. The Gospel's message resonated with Wilford, and after attending a meeting that night he was baptized December 31, 1833. At an early age he became concerned about religion and looked for a denomination whose doctrines and practices agreed with biblical Christianity. He spent much of his leisure time in reading, meditation, and prayer

7. What was he called immediately to do when he arrived in Kirkland Ohio? Scarcely had he arrived in Kirtland when he was recruited to serve in Zion's Camp, a military company called to help the Saints who had been driven from their homes in Missouri, 

8. Where did he serve his first mission? First mission in which he labored in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

9. What year was he called to be an apostle? While serving a to the Fox Islands off the coast of Maine. His mission there was ended when in 1838 he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His apostleship replaced William E. M'lellin, who had apostatized. Shortly after his ordination he began the first of two missions to England where he enjoyed considerable success.

10. How successful was his mission to England? During his first mission in England, some 1,800 people, including 200 ministers, were baptized under his direction. 



Round Two:

1. How many years after John Taylor died did Wilford Woodruff serve as President before being sustained the Prophet? Two: When John Taylor died in 1887, Wilford Woodruff began a two year period during which he led the Church as President of the Quorum of the Twelve. At the April Conference of 1889, Wilford Woodruff was sustained as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was eighty-two at the time. He had not expected to outlive his predecessor, who was younger, and saw his appointment as a case of the Almighty choosing "the weak things of the world" to perform his work ("Wilford Woodruff Diary," July 25, 1887). One observer noted that "he was not so learned, nor so eloquent a man as President John Taylor, but there was an earnest, honest zeal about him that convinced his hearers".

2. What revelation is Pres Wilford Woodruff known for? The Manifesto: He wrestled mightily with the Lord" before receiving a vision showing the consequences of preserving Plural Marriage. On September 24, 1890, he issued the famous "Manifesto" which announced the end of Plural Marriage as a practice of the Church. On September 25 he wrote in his diary, "I have arrived at a point in the history of my life as the president of the Church.where I am under the necessity of acting for the temporal salvation of the Church.. and after praying to the Lord and feeling inspired by his spirit I have issued the following Proclamation." He then declared his intention to submit to the laws of the land "and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise" ("Wilford Woodruff Diary," Sept. 25, 1890).

3. What did Pres Wilford Woodruff enjoy doing in his freetime? He kept journal, or diaries: One of Woodruff's most enduring legacies is his diary, a meticulous multivolume work covering nearly the entire History of the Church in the nineteenth century: "I have been inspired and moved upon to keep a Journal and write the affairs of this Church as far as I can.. You may say that this is a great deal of trouble. Very well it has been.. It has occupied nearly every leisure moment of my time.. But what of it? I have never spent any of my time more profitably for the benefit of mankind than in my journal writing" ("Wilford Woodruff Diary," Mar. 17, 1857, HDC). His diary contains the only record of many events and speeches of Church leaders. 

4. How many wives and children did he have? Woodruff cared for a large family. Living during the years when plural marriage was an authorized practice among the Latter-day Saints, he married five women: Phoebe Whittemore Carter, Mary Ann Jackson, Emma Smoot Smith, Sarah Brown, and Sarah Delight Stocking. They bore him thirty-three children.

5. What church sponsor program did he start in 1890? He inaugurated weekday religious education classes, a precursor to the later seminary and institute programs of the Church.

6. What day did the Saints observe the Fast before Wilford Woodruff changed it to the first Sunday of the month? Fast Day, formerly held on the first Thursday of each month, was changed to the first Sunday. 

7. What temple was completed and dedicated by him? Salt Lake Temple: He supervised the completion of the Salt Lake Temple and presided at its dedication in 1893. 

8. Before Pres Woodruff made Bishops and State Presidents responsible for Temple recommends, who did them? 

President of the Church: He placed temple recommends, which certify a Latter-day Saint's worthiness to enter the Church's temples, formerly issued only by the President of the Church, under the responsibility of bishops and stake presidents. 

9. What city did Pres Woodruff die in? He died in San Francisco on September 2, 1898. 



Close lesson with famous quotes of Pres. Woodruff and his testimony DVD "Presidents of the Church" 

A statement written while he was presiding over the Saints in England is a fitting epitaph to his life: "I am overwhelmed as it were in Mormonism for it is my life, meat, and drink and I do not expect to be anything else but a Mormon either in life or death.. It certainly looks like a marvelous work and a wonder that an obscure unlearned miller should stand.at the head of ten thousand saints" (letter to Aphek Woodruff, Apr. 18, 1845).

Wilford Woodruff escaped numerous accidents and assaults by demonic powers. On one occasion he was assaulted by an evil spirit that almost choked him to death. He was freed by "three personages dressed in white." He also suffered at divers times broken bones in his arms and legs. He split his foot with an ax, was bitten by a rabid dog, and was pinned under and crushed by falling trees. He suffered from blood poisoning occasioned while skinning an ox that had been killed with poison. He survived a train wreck, He was nearly drowned, was frozen and scalded. Truly the hand of the Lord is visible in preserving Wilford's lifeServed Cherry Nut Cake (Recipe on following page:)

Class Answer Sheet: 

Round One: 

1. He was born March 1, 1807 in Farmington, Hartford County, Connecticut.

2. He also suffered at divers times broken bones in his arms and legs. He split his foot with an ax, was bitten by a rabid dog, and was pinned under and crushed by falling trees.

3. On one occasion he was assaulted by an evil spirit that almost choked him to death. He was freed by "three personages dressed in white.

4. Wilford worked as a miller, 

5. Fishing, 

6. . Was living in Oswego County, New York, he was visited by two Elders who were tracking the area. He had been looking for a church the practiced what was taught in the Bible. After attending a meeting that night he was baptized December 31, 1833. 

7. Serve in Zion's Camp, a military company called to help the Saints who had been driven from their homes in Missouri. 

8. First mission in which he labored in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

9. 1838 

10. Some 1,800 people, including 200 ministers, were baptized under his direction.

Round Two. 

1. Served as president of the Quorum for two years. 

2. The Manifesto

3. Kept journals, diaries

4. Had five wives Phoebe, Mary Ann, Emma, Sarah, and Sarah and 33 children 

5. He inaugurated weekday religious education classes, a precursor to the later seminary and institute programs of the Church.

6. First Thursday

7. Salt Lake Temple was completed in 1893

8. Church President 

9. He died in San Francisco on September 2, 1898.