Wilford Woodruff Journal 7: Revelation in the St. George Temple — 'Let the Saints Do the Work for Each Other' (February 23, 1877)

On February 23, 1877, Wilford Woodruff was kneeling at an altar in the St. George Temple when he received a revelation that changed the nature of temple work for the entire Church.

Woodruff had been wrestling with a practical problem: he had obtained the names of over 3,000 of his ancestors and wanted to perform their temple ordinances. But the ordinances required work to be done by both men and women separately — and Woodruff, as a man, could only do the work for men. He could not do the temple work for the women of his family lineage.

What could be done about this? He took the question to the Lord at the altar.

Woodruff later testified: 'The Lord told me to call upon the Saints in St. George and let them officiate for me in that temple and it would be acceptable.'

This revelation — that proxy ordinance work could be done by others on behalf of members' relatives — was described by Woodruff as transformative:

'Light burst upon my understanding. I saw an effectual door open to me for the redemption of my dead.'

To modern Latter-day Saints who understand temple work, this seems self-evident. But in 1877, with the St. George Temple being the first fully operational LDS temple in 30 years, this revelation was radical and foundational. It opened the door to the systematic, organized, cooperative redemption of the dead that now characterizes temple worship across the Church worldwide.

This revelation, combined with the subsequent appearance of the Founding Fathers and eminent spirits to Woodruff that same year, made 1877 in the St. George Temple one of the most revelatory periods in LDS history.