Wilford Woodruff: The Prophet Who Cheated Death A LOT

This is Wilford Woodruff, who would later become the 4th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is actor Joel Edgerton, who’d better be playing Wilford Woodruff if there’s ever a movie about him. But if there is a movie, I can’t help but think it’s going to have kind of a Final Destination vibe because Wilford’s life was just one close call with death after the next.

Wilford was born in Connecticut in 1807, to Aphek and Bulah Woodruff. As a toddler, he fell into a cauldron of boiling water. In 1812, he fell down some stairs and broke his arm. In the same year, he fell off his uncle’s porch and broke his other arm. In 1814, he broke his leg in a sawmill accident. In 1816, his cousin thought he was dead after falling 15 feet from a tree. In 1819, he nearly drowned but was saved by a guy named Bacon. 1820: Almost froze to death in a blizzard. 1821: Accidentally split open his foot with an ax. 1823: Thrown from a runaway horse, breaking his leg and dislocating his ankles. 1827: Almost crushed by a water wheel. 1831: Almost crushed by a flour mill. 1841: Survived a shipwreck. 1843: Survived a train wreck. 1846: Crushed by a falling tree which broke 3 ribs, his breast bone, and caused internal injuries.

Guys, he’s not even 40 years old yet, and I’m giving you the abridged version. 1848: Survives another shipwreck. 1856: Poisoned by an infected animal. 1859: Severe lung fever. You get the point. The poor guy had a rough time, but at the end of the day, he credited divine providence for having survived and recovered from his various misfortunes. Now, let’s back up, but stay tuned because I’ve got a surprise for you at the end.

On December 29th, 1833, 26-year-old Wilford attended a public meeting where two Latter-day Saint missionaries were preaching. Wilford was what missionaries in my day would call a golden investigator. He later wrote, “I had been looking, praying, hungering and thirsting to find some man on the face of the earth who had the Priesthood, and who could teach me the Gospel. When I heard this sermon, I knew the voice; I knew the shepherd; I knew it was true.” He was baptized a couple of days later. He wrote, “The snow was about three feet deep, the day was cold, and the water was mixed with ice and snow, yet I did not feel the cold.”

In April of 1834, he moved to Kirtland, and in May, he was already trekking to relieve the persecuted Saints in Missouri as part of Zion’s Camp. In 1837 he married Phebe Carter in Kirtland. By the end of his life, Wilford will have had 10 wives (not all at the same time) and 34 children (12 of whom did not live past childhood). In 1838 Wilford received a call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which you can read about in D&C 118. Wilford was a powerful missionary. One book notes that “Ten of Wilford Woodruff’s first fifteen years in the Church were spent almost exclusively serving missions.”

One of my favorite stories from his life occurred in 1840 while Wilford was preaching in England. His meetings were drawing a significantly larger audience than the local parish, so the local clergyman sent the constable to one of the meetings to have Wilford arrested. After the meeting, instead of the constable arresting Wilford, Wilford was baptizing the constable. Wilford wrote,

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