Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Wilford Woodruff Embellishments - July 22, 1839

Did Wilford Woodruff Embellish his journal?  

Journal Entry as written in 1839
22 Joseph was in Montrose & it was a day of Gods power. There was many Sick among  the Saints on [p.348] both sides of the river & Joseph went through the midst of them taking them by the hand & in a loud voice Commanding them in the name of Jesus Christ to arise from their beds & be made whole & they leaped from their beds made whole by the power of God. Elder Eligah Fordham was one among the number & he with the rest of the sick rose from his bed & followed Joseph from house to house & it was truly a time of rejoicing.
What Woodruff wrote in 1862 when preparing his Journal for publication:  
July 22.--I was with President Joseph Smith [Jr.] and his council and the Twelve; it was a day of God's power with the Prophet. He healed many who were sick nigh unto death, among whom were Elijah Fordham and Joseph B. Nobles [Noble]; even the wicked rabble followed to see the sick healed. As Joseph was about to cross the river, a man came to him and asked him if he would go about three miles and heal two of his small children, who were twins, about three months old, and were sick nigh unto death. He was a man of the world, he had never heard a sermon preached by a Latter-day Saint. Joseph said he could not go, but he would send a man. After hesitating a moment, he turned to me and said, "You go with this man and heal his children," at the same time giving me a red silk handkerchief, and said, "After you lay hands upon them, wipe their faces with it, and they shall be healed; and as long as you will keep that handkerchief, it shall ever remain as a league between you and me." I went and did as I was commanded, and the children were healed.

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