In our first video, we explored the first British mission and how the church grew
rapidly in England. It was a message full of rich blessings to a people poor in heart. But it gets
even better. Join me as I head to southern England to finish up the rest of the story. After a year
in England, Heber C. Kimball returned home and reported on his mission to Joseph Smith and the
other leaders of the church. It was around this time that a revelation was received calling the
entire Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to come back to the British Isles to cross the Great
Waters and there promulgate the gospel. In this revelation, the Lord told the Apostles
to depart from Far West, Missouri on April 26, 1839. However, just before this time,
disaster struck the Saints. Persecution abounded and the saints were forced out of Missouri with
violence and destruction, even an Extermination Order by the governor legalizing the killing of
Latter-day Saints. Furthermore, around this time, Heber and Brigham also became very ill. It must
have took them enormous faith to leave their families and the Saints during such a time,
but the Lord had specific plans for them in England. With faith in the Lord, as Heber
and Brigham left, they stood up to cheer their families and yelled, "Hoorah! Hoorah for Israel!"
And that launches the second great mission in the British Isles, where almost all of the Quorum of
the Twelve come together. After the missionaries arrived, they spread out among the British
Isles with a number of different assignments. So Wilford Woodruff was sent south, John Taylor went
to the Isle of Man, Orson Pratt traveled north to Edinburgh, and Brigham Young, who's the presiding
elder, circulates among all the areas overseeing the work as they gather together new converts.
For this video, we'll follow the story of Apostle Wilford Woodruff. We'll follow his journey to the
south, where he converted hundreds, and see the historic Gadfield Elm Chapel,
the oldest Latter-day Saint chapel in existence, and learn about the amazing
stories behind its creation. But first, we're stopping by a couple locations. I'm going to
make a quick stop to a church here in England to get an idea of church life during that time.
I'm here at the Tewkesbury Abbey, which is a 900-year-old
church not far away from Gadfield Elm. The Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin,
commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey, used to be a former Catholic monk monastery
until it became part of the Church of England. It includes tombs and
memorials. It also hosts the largest Romanesque crossing tower in Europe.
You can see how big and open, and grand and majestic the structure is, and it presents quite a
contrast to the humble setting of the Gadfield Elm Chapel. The first Christian missionaries arrived
in this area around AD 715. A few hundred years later, the abbey was built, and today it's almost
900 years old. Originally, the Christian church in this area was established to help the poor,
to make sure that everybody had a roof over their head, a place to worship, and food to eat. But by
the 19th century, when the first Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived, that system had very much
changed. By then, it was being used to keep the rich in their place and the poor in their place.
And the contrast between a structure like this and a church like Gadfield Elm is really striking.
The gospel resonated with the poor, or those who felt disenfranchised by the church and government
in England. And Wilford found many of these people in the south. One of the first things that struck
Wilford when he arrived was the poor condition the people lived in. He recorded in his journal,
"About 3,000 souls [are] flung out of employ...they are standing in every corner
of the street in groups...thousands of souls are almost in a state of utter starvation."
Before we visit the Gadfield Elm Chapel, we stop at the Benbow Farm to meet Bernard Haw, a local
scholar, who's going to help us understand Wilford Woodruff's mission. Bernard, hi. Hi. Nice to meet
you. Nice to meet you too. Thank you so much for meeting with us. Tell us where we're at right now.
Well, we're at the Benbow Farm, which is the farm where John Benbow lived in the 1840s and where
Wilford Woodruff first came to preach the gospel. Wilford Woodruff was informed by William Benbow of
a group called the United Brethren, who were openly seeking a restoration of the gospel.
Wilford later recorded, "I went in secret before the Lord, and asked him what His
will was concerning me. The answer I got was that I should go to the south, for the Lord
had a great work for me to perform there, as many souls were waiting the word of the Lord."
Wilford made his way south and stayed with William's brother, John Benbow. John asked
him if he would the following day preach to a congregation here at the farm. Okay,
so first meeting is held in this building. That's right. Right here on the farm. Yeah.
What happens during the meeting? Six people were immediately baptized in the pond. So six baptisms,
the first meeting that's held here. John and Jane Benbow, Jane was John's wife,
and four of the United Brethren preachers. The next day Wilford Woodruff decided the pond wasn't
quite good enough for baptisms and so he went and cleaned the pond out with the inspiration
that there should be many more baptisms here. And he was quite right because the following night,
he preached again and seven people were baptized in the pond. So 13 people baptized in the first 48
hours. Basically, yeah. And then what happens after that? And then he continued to preach
around the area and all-in-all he baptized 85 people in the pond here at the Benbow Farm.
Bernard offers to show me the pond and along the way he tells me how John Benbow dedicated
his life to the gospel. He funded the printing of the Book of Mormon in England. He would eventually
leave his farm in the green hills of England and immigrate to the Americas, settling in a modest
home in the Salt Lake Valley. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is actually a descendant of the Benbows,
and today in the church you'll find many descendants of these first people baptized
around this area from the United Brethren. And it all started here. So this is the pond? Yes,
this is the pond where Wilford Woodruff baptized the first converts in his mission here. Probably
looking a bit like when it was in Wilford Woodruff's day. The algae appears on the
top of the pond when the sun comes out a bit. Yeah. You can see why he'd have to clean it
out of algae. Yeah, he had to go down and clear it out because it probably had the same algae in
it as it's got today. The work was not without opposition. At one baptismal service conducted
by Wilford, a mob disrupted the proceedings by tossing a dog into the water. At another,
Wilford was pelted with stones as he entered the water, one hitting his head and nearly
knocking him unconscious. Persecutions came and went, but Wilford and the Twelve continued their
work steadily. And more baptisms would follow in other areas as well. Wilford later recorded,
“The first thirty days after my arrival in Herefordshire, I had baptized forty-five preachers
and one hundred and sixty members of the United Brethren, who put into my hands one chapel and
forty-five houses, which were licensed according to the law to preach in.” These preachers and new
converts were instrumental in bringing thousands more into the church over the next decade.
It's a place where people come because they know that their ancestors were baptized here
and it's just a historical site for the church in England along
with Gadfield Elm. They go together, it's all a part of Wilford Woodruff's mission.
As more members of the United Brethren listened to the message of the Restoration, their chapels and
homes became important places of learning. One of these was the Gadfield Elm Chapel,
where Bernard and I finally traveled to. This chapel was built by the United Brethren in
1836 and was an important meeting place for these early Saints. Now as I understand it,
this is the oldest Latter-day Saint building in the world, is that right? Yep, that's what we
say here in England. It's the oldest Latter-day Saint Chapel in the whole of the world. And this
is before the Kirtland Temple is built in America? This is before America, basically.
No, this is before the Kirtland Temple was built and before they went to Nauvoo, this chapel was
being built yeah. And tell us a little bit about the history behind it. Gadfield Elm Chapel was
built in 1836 by a group of people called the United Brethren. They were a group of people that
had borne away from the Methodist Church, and they formed their group called the United Brethren,
and by 1836 they'd grown to quite a number. And so they purchased this land here in Gadfield
Elm and built this chapel. So this is the headquarters of the United Brethren when
Wilford Woodruff comes into the area. Yeah, as he got to know more about the United Brethren,
he moved down here as well, and he attended this chapel a few times. And today it's a historic
site. Anybody can come to this. Yeah, this is a historical site now, owned by the Church.
It’s the only historical site outside of the United States, I believe, at the moment. We
have lots of members come and lots of non-members come. It's open to everybody to come and see.
Today this chapel is a hidden gem of Latter-day Saint history. During parts of the year, there are
missionaries here willing to greet visitors and offer a tour. But when there aren't missionaries,
there's still a laminated sheet with a set of questions that only people familiar with
Latter-day Saint culture can answer to give you the code to open the chapel. And you turn the top
knob. Turn the top knob to the right. And then, ah, now you've done it. Now I gotta do it again.
Yeah, you gotta do that and then open the door. Turn the knob to the right and then we're in.
There you go, you got in. We made it in, wow. This picture here tells us the total story of
the mission of Wilford Woodruff. He came down to Worcestershire, he came to the Benbow farm,
he was baptized in the Benbow Pond. He converted people using the Gadfield Elm Chapel,
and they came across the ocean on ships and the wagon trains to Salt Lake City.
A lovely picture depicting basically the mission of Wilford Woodruff in this area.
Bernard shows me other exhibits and I can't help but notice how influential the United
Brethren were in the growth of the church. An important name here is Thomas Kington,
who led the United Brethren and helped pave the way for hundreds in his group to join the church.
They were a group ready to hear the restored gospel. They helped fund church printings, donated
their buildings to the church, and hundreds ended up immigrating to the United States and Utah.
Okay, so you come in here, and then, in here is the chapel. This is where the meetings would have
been held. That's correct. So this is the chapel. This is where they would sing hymns, bless babies,
perform confirmations. This is the headquarters of the Church in this area. And the United Brethren
eventually deed the building over to the church. They did. They disbanded the United Brethren and
formed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And the church was deeded a few months
later to the Church. And we were in Tewkesbury Abbey a little bit earlier today and there's
quite a contrast between a building like that and a... a building like this. Tewkesbury is big,
and you know as a medieval church, there's huge high ceilings and really ornate walls. This is
fairly simple. This is small and simple and cozy, I guess is the word. Was this made you know,
sort of simple on purpose or simple because of the conditions they lived in? Well that's what the
United Brethren and Methodists are, they're simple people. These are all farm people, so they built a
simple building. Yeah, so even having a wood floor here right now might be an addition. The floor is
probably dirt. When the building would start to be renovated it was a dirt floor, with no furniture
at all. It's such a beautiful, humble setting for the Saints to meet in, and this is a real gem.
Thank you. You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to Gadfield Elm Chapel. It's beautiful.
Many people can come. Everybody can come. This is truly one of the gems of Latter-day Saint history,
especially for the Saints here in England. Its humble bricks and stories stand out as
a reminder of the faith of the early Saints and what they had for the restored gospel.
To build upon our story of the Second British Mission, I head to one final location,
and I meet local historian and guide, Peter Fag. How's your trip been going? Wonderful,
wonderful. Good, good. Before you disappear across the ocean, I want to take you up to one
more little spot on top of this hill. This is the Melbourne Hill. All right. Ready to go? Let's go.
So this is a pretty spectacular view. Isn't it amazing? What is this place? Where are we at?
Where we're standing right here, this is called Herefordshire Beacon. And what you're looking
at from here, this wonderful 360-degree view is basically United Brethren country. Around
this hill lived pockets of the United Brethren. Wilford would have been able to look out towards
the places we've just visited, such as Benbow Farm or the Gadfield Elm Chapel. It would have
been a special location for him, reminding him of the great work the Lord had led him to do.
When Wilford Woodruff arrives in 1840, those 42 or so congregations of the United Brethren
are scattered across these three counties. So very ripe and ready to harvest set of land.
And when Wilford comes, he loves this spot. He comes here on a number of occasions. So first off,
he climbs that hill over there. He'd been in this community down here called Colwall, climbs the
hill, looks down on the city of Worcester. While he's up there, suddenly this storm starts and he's
above the clouds. There's a thunderstorm going on beneath him and he actually sees lightning,
flashes of lightning coming down. Wilford recorded of this event, “The solemnity and grandeur of the
scene was impressive as I stood upon the hill above the clouds, surveying the beautiful works
of the Creator, and His majesty in the storm.” And then two days later he climbs this one. This is
called Herefordshire Beacon and he loves this. He's been reading Orson Pratt’s. words about
eternity and he got quite poetical up here. You know, he talks about the Malvern Hills,
he talks about these trenches, the rise and fall and progress of man. Wilford would record at this
location, "O! Malvern thou hast been the Ark or refuge for thousands in the time of trouble or
war, yet Willford is the ownly solitary soul that treads thy soil this day & he alone bends his knee
upon on the height of thy summit in the midst of the clouds to offer up the gratitude of his heart
unto that God who will soon level all hills and exalt all valleys […] & prepare it for the abode
of the Saints of the MOST HIGH." So he'd had those real good personal experiences. Then nine
days later, he decides to bring Brigham Young and Willard Richards up here. In fact, they would meet
here often, where they could discuss important topics for building God's kingdom here. So if
you can imagine the three of them somewhere, they actually state that it's here on the
Herefordshire Beacon. So if you can imagine them here, and they're going to make a few decisions,
and they said we're going to print an English hymn book, an English hymnal, and start the Millennial
Star. How do you fund that? Where do you get the money from? Well they came down here and
right over there is John and Jane Benbow's Hill Farm. That's where they first come into the area
and they give them between £200 to £250. Over here, Thomas and Hannah Kington give £100. That's
respectively probably about £8,000 today, probably like £19,000 coming from them. And that's a huge
amount of money. They've only known him for a few weeks, and they're basically giving this
to forward the work. With that money in their pockets, they decide here, let Brigham Young
go north, let him go to Manchester, let him start that printing immediately. So, this is another one
of those hills where revelation flows, where the spirit comes to them and where they get guidance.
What was it about this area that made it so that the gospel message appealed to so many people?
Preparation, forerunners. You have a number of forerunners here, and when I talk about
forerunners, it goes through the centuries, but particularly in this area, it's the likes of a
Thomas Kington and the work he had done since 1832, founding the United Brethren. And they,
like the primitive Methodists before them, and the Wesleyan and the Methodists before them,
they wanted a more pure sort of Christianity. And part of that was divine connection with heavens.
You're not relying upon somebody else to give you instruction and making you see the light.
You can pray in your own words, and you can feel the promptings of the Holy Spirit. That was a key
thing that when Wilford turns up, they kind of go, oh, that's what we've been talking about.
Now, what a beautiful, wonderful place. Place of revelation for Wilford and for the people
from this area. Peter really took me to a sacred location, and I can't help but see how all these
sacred locations have comparison to the sacred sites in America. Just as Americans have the
Hill Cumorah, British Saints are blessed with the Malvern Hills and the Herefordshire Beacon,
where prophets gathered and began the work of sending forth sacred texts to the people.
Just as Sidney Rigdon was a forerunner with his congregation of 60 that converted to the Gospel
in Ohio. Thomas Kington, with his congregation of hundreds, accepted the gospel and ignited the
growth of the church here. Just as we have sacred rivers in America, such as the Susquehanna River,
where the priesthood authority was restored, so do the British Isles have the River Ribble,
where priesthood power was used to baptize the first Saints in England and ignite this
influential work. And just as Americans have sacred buildings like the Kirtland Temple,
England has the humble Gadfield Elm Chapel, the first and oldest chapel of the church,
where humble and poor Saints gathered to hear the rich message of the restored gospel.
To finish up this video, I make one final stop at a modern and sacred place. Behind me is the
Preston England Temple, which was dedicated in 1998 by President Gordon B. Hinckley,
who served here as a young missionary. Nearby is a chapel, a Missionary Training Center,
and a Family History Center. And this is very much an important place in the church
as it progresses and grows today. The church in England continues to grow today, built upon the
foundation of forerunners prepared to hear and preach the gospel. These sites help us remember
these faithful Saints and missionaries. There were miracles among the early missionaries and members
who served here in Preston, and there continue to be miracles among the Latter-day Saints as
they worked to move things forward at our time. Tens of thousands left this beautiful location to
ignite the growth of the church in the Americas and Utah. They were poor in life, but found
something rich in spirit. They prepared themselves to hear and receive the restored gospel. And they
left behind a legacy of faith that only pushes us to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.