BYU professors introduced their work with the manuscript of Eli Wiggil, the first recorded convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the continent of Africa, on Oct. 3.
Their work takes the original manuscript of Wiggil’s diary and adds annotations and insights to make it more accessible to modern readers.
The book, "The Life and Adventures of Eli Wiggill: South African 1820 Settler, Wesleyan Missionary, and Latter-day Saint," became available in April 2024. Last week, Jay H. Buckley and Fred E. Woods introduced the publication to a room full of BYU students and faculty.
The publication with the professors’ additions is “true to the source but provides meaningful annotations,” Buckley, an associate professor of history, said.
Woods and Buckley’s publication “vividly portrays their steadfast faith, missionary efforts and the challenges they faced as pioneers in establishing communities of South African Saints,” the description on the back cover of the book said.
The two professors took turns introducing African history for the background of Wiggil’s story and walking the audience through a brief summary of Wiggil’s life.
Woods, a professor of Church history and doctrine, expressed the impact the story would have on students and faculty at the presentation. One word to describe the Wiggils’ journey is “transplanted,” Woods said.
“Get the book, read it, and you’ll find that eating and sleeping will be a burden for you,” Woods said.
Four generations of Wiggil’s descendants were in attendance at the presentation. Kristi Mendenhall, one of Wiggil’s fourth great-granddaughters, is a student at BYU.
“It was really fun to see everybody there and to see people kind of come together to hear about our ancestors,” Mendenhall said. “I kind of just knew the basics, like he lived in South Africa, and eventually his family moved over here to the United States, but hearing about his mission work over there was really cool for me.”
Woods drew attention to all of the contributors to the project, including the Redd Center and Harold B. Lee Library as sponsors.
“Any great project is always teamwork,” Woods said.
Students mentored by Buckley and Woods were able to contribute to the project. Hunter T. Hallows co-authored the book, and Joshua Rust worked with Buckley on an article about Wiggil and his wife.
Both professors are “big believers in student mentoring,” Buckley said. Buckley has won two awards within the past month related to his work with students: the Family, Home and Social Sciences Achievement in Mentoring Award and the Frank W. Fox Award for Excellence in Teaching.
“I get a lot of joy sharing that with them,” Buckley said. “Sometimes you don’t get some of the accolades or promotions or other things if you would have just done it yourself, but I think it fits the mission of what we’re trying to be about, and that’s doing good in the world, right?”
People who learned about Eli Wiggil shared their testimonies about his example.
“My witness is that the gathering is something that we should be about,” Woods said. “If we’re about our father’s business, we can be filled with a lot of joy.”
Mendenhall was inspired by her ancestor’s example of faith.
“I really felt the Spirit testifying to me of how blessed I am to have the gospel in my life when many others don’t and how cool that was that my ancestor was able to find the gospel back when the church was just starting,” Mendenhall said.
Buckley shared what Wiggil’s example of perseverance taught him about approaching difficulty in his life.
“All of us have an individualized curriculum that’s preparing us to return to our heavenly parents and to have eternal lives,” Buckley said. “In order to pass through the sorrows and the temptations and all those things and prove ourselves so that we’re worthy, we’re gonna have difficulties. That’s part of the experience.”
Wiggil’s story is “about family, and it is about faith, and it is about the journey,” Buckley said. “You never know where you’re gonna land sometimes or why certain things happen that take you in certain ways.”
The Wiggils’ descendants being in attendance at the presentation showed the influence that family can have on future generations. Mendenhall shared her thoughts about how her family has impacted her.
“The term family can be used in a really broad sense sometimes,” Mendenhall said. “I guess family’s just an example to me, a support system to grow and move forward in the world, but always have something that you can fall back on when you need help and support.”
The original manuscript of Wiggil’s diary can be accessed through the L. Tom Perry Special Collection in the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU.