President Wilford Woodruff wrote the following:

         Before starting on our missions to England, we were under the
necessity of settling our families.  A place called Commerce, afterwards
named Nauvoo, was selected as the place at which our people should
settle.

         I left Quincy, in company with Brother Brigham Young and our
families on the 15th of May, and arrived in Commerce on the 18th.
After an interview with Joseph we crossed the river at Montrose, Iowa.
President Brigham Young and myself, with our families, occupied one
room about fourteen feet square.  Finally Brother Young obtained
another room and moved his family into it.  Then Brother Orson Pratt
and family moved into the same room with myself and family...

         While I was living in this cabin in the old barracks, we experienced
a day of God's power with the Prophet Joseph. It was a very sickly time
and Joseph had given up his home in Commerce to the sick, and had a
tent pitched in his dooryard and was living in that himself.  The large
number of Saints who had been driven out of Missouri, were flocking
into Commerce; but had no homes to go into, and were living in wagons,
in tents, and on the ground.  Many, therefore, were sick through the
exposure they were subjected to.  Brother Joseph had waited on the
sick, until he was worn out and nearly sick himself.

         On the morning of the 22nd of July, 1839, he arose, reflecting
upon the situation of the Saints of God in their persecutions and
afflictions, and he called upon the Lord in prayer, and the power of
God rested upon him mightily, and as Jesus healed all the sick around
Him in His day, so Joseph, the Prophet of God, healed all around on
this occasion.

        He healed all in his house and door-yard, then, in  company with
Sidney Rigdon and several of the Twelve, he went among the sick lying
on the bank of the river and he commanded  them in a loud voice, in
the name of Jesus Christ, to come up and be made whole, and they
were all healed.

        When he healed all that were sick on the east side of the river,
they crossed the Mississippi river in a ferry-boat to the west side, to
Montrose, where we were.   The first house they went into was President
Brigham Young's.  He was sick on his bed at the time.  The Prophet
went into his house and healed him, and they all came out together.

        As they were passing by my door, Brother Joseph said:   "Brother
Woodruff, follow me."  These were the only words spoken by any of
the company from the time they left Brother Brigham's house till we
crossed the public square, and entered Brother Fordham's house.
Brother Fordham had been dying for an hour, and we expected each
minute would be his last.   I felt the power of God that was overwhelming
His Prophet.

         When we entered the house, Brother Joseph walked up to Brother
Fordham, and took him by the right hand; in his left hand he held his hat.
He saw that Brother Fordham's eyes were glazed, and that he was
speechless and unconscious.   After taking hold of his hand, he looked
down into the dying man's face and said:  "Brother Fordham, do you not
know me?"  At first he made no reply; but we could all see the effect of
the spirit of God resting upon him.

         He again said:  "Elijah, do you not know me?"

         With a low whisper, Brother Fordham answered, "Yes!"
 
        The Prophet then said, "Have you not faith to be healed?"

         The answer, which was a little plainer than before, was: "I am
afraid it is too late.  If you had come sooner, I think I might have been."
He had the appearance of a man waking from sleep.  It was the sleep
of death.

         Joseph then said:  "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ?"

        "I do, Brother Joseph," was the response.
 
        Then the Prophet of God spoke with a loud voice, as in the majesty
of the Godhead:  "Elijah, I command you, in the name of the Jesus of
Nazareth, to arise and be made whole!"

         The words of the Prophet were not like the words of man, but like
the voice of God.  It seemed to me that the house shook from its
foundation.

         Elijah Fordham leaped from his bed like a man raised from the
dead.  A healthy color came to his face, and life was manifested in
every act.     ...(He) then called for his clothes and put them on.  He
asked for a bowl of bread and milk, and ate it; then put on his hat and
followed us into the street, to visit others who were sick....

         As soon as we left Brother Fordham's house, we went into the
house of Joseph B. Noble, who was very low and dangerously sick.
When we entered the house, Brother Joseph took him by the hand,
and commanded him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to arise and be
made whole.  He did arise and was immediately healed....

         This case of Brother Noble's was the last one of healing upon
that day.  It was the greatest day for the manifestation of the power
of God through the gift of healing since the organization of the Church.

         When we left Brother Noble, the Prophet Joseph went with those
who accompanied him from the other side, to the banks of the river,
to return home.

         While waiting for the ferry-boat, a man of the world, knowing of
the miracles which had been performed, came to him and asked him
if he would not go and heal two twin children of his, about five months
old, who were both lying sick nigh unto death.   They were some two
miles from Montrose.

         The prophet said he could not go; but, after pausing some time,
he said he would send someone to heal them; and he turned to me
and said: "You go with the man and heal his children"....

         I went with the man, and did as the Prophet commanded me, and
the children were healed.

                                         ----------------------------

(Wilford Woodruff, Leaves from my Journal, in Three Mormom Classics,
comp. 1988),  (also reprinted inThe New Testament for Today--Biblical
Stories with Modern Parallels).