While working in the journals recently, I was struck by how in tune Wilford Woodruff was to his family’s needs while he served as a missionary in England in 1840. Even though he was across the sea, his wife and children were often on his mind, especially, it seems, when they were going through trials that he was not even aware of.
On July 17, 1840, Wilford and Phebe’s daughter, Sarah Emma, died. However, Wilford did not hear news of her death until October 22—more than three months later. In that intervening time and even a few days before her death, he wrote about his family several times. In one entry, he pled, “May the Lord preserve my wife & children from sickness & Death until my return O Lord I commit them into thy hands. Feed clothe, & comfort them & thine shall be the glory.” A month later, he wrote, “I pray the Lord to give good health to my wife & children.”
Wilford also wrote multiple letters to Phebe during those months, one of which he wrote (unbeknownst to him) on the day of his daughter’s death. In this letter, he felt prompted to . . .
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