One hundred years ago, on April 7, 1889, Wilford Woodruff was sustained as the fourth president of the Church and subsequently guided it through a nine-year period of transition and tribulation.

President Woodruff was an unassuming man. In 1834, he was single and living in Clay County, Mo. He wanted to serve a mission but dared not say so, for fear of aspiring to position. However, one day, a prominent elder met him and said, "It is the will of the Lord that you should be ordained a priest and go on a mission.""I am ready," Woodruff replied.

In fall 1834 he embarked on a mission to Arkansas and Tennessee. He suffered much deprivation and persecution, but the Lord was with him. On one occasion, an apostate, intending to harm him, charged savagely at him, only to fall dead at the missionary's feet. Later, he was stranded with a sharp pain in is knee in an "alligator swamp." He prayed and was healed.

In April 1835, he was joined by Elder Warren Parrish, and they traveled 700 miles in less than four months, baptizing 20 people. Elder Parrish ordained Wilford an elder and placed him in charge of supervising branches in Tennessee. During 1835, Elder Woodruff traveled 3,248 miles, baptized 43 people, created three branches and held 170 meetings. In fall 1836, he was released and went to Kirtland, Ohio.

Less than a year later, he received a prompting to go to the Fox Islands off of Maine. On the way, he baptized many members of his family in his native Connecticut. On the Fox Islands, he baptized 100 more.

He returned West with 50 converts late in 1838. The next April, he was ordained an apostle by Brigham Young in Far West, Mo. A little more than four months later, Elder Woodruff, weakened from illness, departed for Great Britain, where his legendary missionary efforts would bring thousands into the Church.

Elder Woodruff was known as "Wilford the Faithful" for his unwavering devotion to the gospel and the Prophet Joseph Smith. Whether the call was to preach or preside over the Church, President Woodruff's reply was "I am ready." At general conference in April 1891, shortly before his death, the 91-year-old prophet said, "All the way from my boyhood I have been governed and controlled by theT Spirit. My missions have been by that spirit of revelation."

No wonder he was ready.