“We have walked and lived by faith, precisely the same as the Apostles, prophets and Saints have done in every dispensation and age of the world.” — Wilford Woodruff1
Wilford Woodruff was born on March 1, 1807, in Farmington, Connecticut, to Aphek Woodruff and Beulah Thompson. On December 31, 1833, Woodruff was baptized into the Church by Zera Pulsipher, and he was ordained a teacher on January 2, 1834.2
In April 1834, inspired by Parley Pratt's recount of a revelation calling for a march to Missouri, Wilford decided to join, despite financial obligations. He quickly got his affairs in order and moved to Kirtland, Ohio, in April 1834 to prepare for the expedition. That same year, he was ordained a priest on November 5.3,4
Woodruff then embarked on a mission to Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky from 1834 to 1836. Upon Woodruff's return to Kirtland, he was appointed a member of the Seventy on May 31, 1836. He also became a stockholder in the Kirtland Safety Society.3,4
