Founding Fathers and the St. George Temple

Art by Glen Hopkinson

Have you heard the amazing story of the Founding Fathers appearing to Wilford Woodruff, the fourth prophet, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and asking to have their temple work done?  

To watch on YouTube click here: https://youtu.be/Z7YWr5sEOI0

To listen on Spotify click here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/krystine-stephenson/episodes/Founding-Fathers-in-St--George-Temple-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints-e2inqhp

Wilford Woodruff said, for two nights the Signers of the Declaration of Independence appeared to him.  They asked President Woodruff why he has had access to the temple for a couple months and has not done the work for them? At this point in history the early saints were only doing temple work for themselves and the people in their own families that had passed away. This vision that Wilford Woodruff had started a whole new chapter in temple work.

Wilford Woodruff had to work to find all the names of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, it was not an easy task in the 1800's. Then, after finding the names of the signers Woodruff found the names of more historical individuals in an effort to make it an even 100 men he was to baptized for. (One name was repeated, so it only ended up being 99 men that the work was done for that night).

President Woodruff spoke about what happened that night in his conference talk a couple months later.  It is a very powerful experience!

Here is a snippet from his talk:  

“I am going to bear my testimony to this assembly, if I never do it again in my life, that those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord.

Another thing I am going to say here, because I have a right to say it.  Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them.  Men are here, I believe, that know of this, Brother John D. T. McAllister, David H. Cannon and James S. Bleak.  Brother McAllister baptized me for all those men, and then I told these brethren that it was their duty to go into the Temple and labor until they had got endowments for all of them.  They did it.  Would those spirits have called up on me, as an Elder in Israel to perform that work if they had not been noble spirits before God?  They would not. “(Wilford Woodruff, Conference Report, April 1889, pp. 89-90.)

References:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2014-01-0105-may-2014-evening-at-the-museum-bruce-c-hafen?lang=eng