Insights from the Papers: Bekah Marriott

Bekah Marriott, an intern for the Wilford Woodruff Papers, shares how learning from Wilford Woodruff has strengthened her testimony of and gratitude for the temple and the covenants and ordinances we have today.

By Craig Lindquist

We live in a day of confusion, even chaos. The world over, people are searching for truth on a host of subjects—but how can anyone know? It is not an easy search. Who do we trust? Where do we look? How do we know if something is in fact true? If the subject we seek to verify is purely secular, such as historical or even mathematical information, the search for the truth can be fairly easy given today’s technology.

Volunteer Spotlight: Peggy Chappell

By Lyndie Jackson

Miraculous—that’s how Peggy Chappell describes the gifts of Wilford Woodruff. “I have always loved Church history and have learned that our knowledge of many of the details of our Church’s history exists only because Wilford Woodruff kept a meticulous journal and had the wonderful gift of being able to remember entire sermons until they were recorded,” she notes. 

Peggy is a volunteer for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project who transcribes documents. She says, “I love reading about the lives of ordinary Saints who were trying hard to live the gospel.”

She learned about the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project through . . .

Thanks to our talented technology team and our partners at FamilySearch, you can log into the Wilford Woodruff Papers website using your FamilySearch account and see your relationship to the 12,000 people who have been identified in Wilford Woodruff’s records. Learn about your ancestors through the letters they wrote, their missionary service, and their role in Church history as recorded by Wilford Woodruff in his journal.

The Wilford Woodruff Papers + BYU Religious Studies Center

The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization. It is not officially sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it could not have accomplished all it has without the close cooperation and constant support of the Church History Department. The Church History Library (CHL) staff provides the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project access to President Woodruff’s documents in the CHL’s possession, along with technical know-how, research assistance, and experience. Additionally, several of the people who work on the Wilford Woodruff Papers gained expertise from their prior work on the Joseph Smith Papers Project. Moreover, Joseph Smith Papers scholars Matthew C. Godfrey, Andrew H. Hedges, R. Eric Smith, and Jordan T. Watkins serve as advisors to the Wilford Woodruff Papers editorial team.

Recently my family was preparing to send my brother off on his mission to preach the gospel for two years. He went through the struggles that probably all missionaries do, wondering if he could do what needed to be done. During this time, I was reminded of many of the discourses I had read from Wilford Woodruff in which he discussed how the Spirit will help us say and do what is needed. I briefly reminded my brother that the Spirit would help him. Not long after this, I came across a discourse given on June 12, 1863. Wilford Woodruff said:

When people attempt to preach the Gospel without the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they are under the necessity of studying or of writing their sermons, thus presenting the cogitations of their own hearts in support of the doctrines and tenets of their particular sects. When the Lord sets his hand to perform a work, and to build up his kingdom on the earth, his servants whom he calls to do this work are obliged to trust in the Lord their God and to lean upon his arm for strength, for no man can tell what the will of God is unless it is revealed to him by the revelations of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost.

As I read this, I was touched, not only because it gave me comfort in knowing my brother would have the help he needed as he relied on God and the Spirit, but also because of what it meant for me. God wants each of us to come to Him and He will show us the work He has for us to do. This doesn’t just apply to missionaries, but to all of us, whether it be . . .

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