Wilford Woodruff Journal 1: Mary Pitt — Lame for Eleven Years — Rose and Walked After Woodruff Laid Hands on Her (1840)

Among the most frequently cited healing miracles in Wilford Woodruff's journals is the case of Mary Pitt, recorded during his mission in England in 1840.

Mary Pitt had been lame for eleven years — confined to a chair and unable to walk. When Wilford Woodruff came to Herefordshire, England, as part of the mission of the Twelve Apostles, she had heard of the restored gospel and the gifts of healing.

Woodruff and the missionaries visited her. After anointing and laying hands upon her in the name of Jesus Christ, she was healed. She rose from her chair and walked.

Woodruff later wrote of her: 'One case I will mention: Mary Pitt, who died in Nauvoo, had not walked for eleven years. She was healed and walked after we had administered to her.'

Mary Pitt subsequently joined the Church, emigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, with the gathering Saints, and died there — a convert and witness to the healing power of the priesthood.

Woodruff's summary of his extraordinary England mission was equally remarkable. In describing his labors in Herefordshire in 1840, he recorded: 'The sick were healed, devils were cast out, and the lame were made to walk.' The mission of the Twelve to England — particularly Woodruff's work among the United Brethren — was described in Woodruff's own lifetime as perhaps the single greatest missionary harvest in the history of the Restoration.