Page 60 - Berg_Mortuary_Bishops_Guide

60 BISHOP’S GUIDE

knowledge the Lord‘s will, he added, “O Lord, I commit them into thy hands; feed, clothe, and
comfort them, and thine shall be the glory.” Three days later, little Sarah Emma died.

Elder Woodruff did not learn of his daughter’s death until October 22, 1840, when he read
the news in a letter sent to one of his brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve. Four days later he
finally received the news from Phoebe, in a letter dated July l8. He copied part of her letter in
his journal:
“My dear Wilford, what will be your feelings when I say that yesterday l was called to witness

the departure of our little Sarah Emma from this world? Yes, she is gone. The relentless hand of
death has snatched her from my
embrace…. When looking on her, I have often thought how I should feel to part with her. I
thought I could not live without her, especially in the absence of my companion. But she has
gone. The Lord hath taken her home to Himself for some wise purpose.

“It is a trial to me, but the Lord hath stood by me in a wonderful manner. I can see and feel
that He has taken her home and will take better care of her than I possibly could for a little
while until I shall go and meet her. Yes, Wilford, we have one little angel in heaven, and I think
it likely her spirit has visited you before this time.

“It is hard living without her…. She left a kiss for her papa with me just before she died….
The elders laid hands upon her and anointed her a number of limes, but the next day her spirit
took its flight from this to another world without a groan.
“Today Wilford [Jr.] and I, with quite a number of friends accompanying us, came over to
Commerce, [lllinois,] to pay our last respects to our little darling in seeing her decently bur-

ied. She had no relative to follow her to the grave or to shed a tear for her but her ma and little
Wilford…. I have just been to take a pleasing, melancholy walk to Sarah’s grave. She lies alone
in peace. I can say that the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of
the Lord [see Job 1:21].”
Other than copying Phoebe‘s letter. Elder Woodruff wrote very little about his daughter’s
passing. He merely said that Sarah Emma had been “taken from time” and that she was “gone
to be seen no more in this life.”

In his 9l years, Wilford Woodruff endured the deaths of many loved ones, including a number
of family members and all the Apostles with whom he served under the direction of the Proph-
et Joseph Smith. At these solemn times, he found comfort in his testimony of the restored gos-
pel and in the “eternal reality” of the resurrection. He often taught that the death of a righteous
Latter-day Saint is both a trying time and a time to rejoice. In fact, toward the end of his life

he wrote the following instructions concerning his own funeral: “l do not wish my family or