Sarah Neves
My grandma, LaVona Gilgen (daughter of Joseph Gilgen, who was the cousin of Wilford's mother Lina), knew Wilford when they were teenagers and she often spoke of how he helped her finish college. I never met him but I heard many stories of him and his parents. I thought I would share this one that my grandma wrote down:
"Walter Ruf was a man who had studied the Bible and knew it was necessary for him to be baptized. Not knowing anyone who could baptize him, he went into the forest, found a stream of water, and baptized himself. Imagine his joy when he met Lina, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and learned that Christ’s church was back on earth and that he could be a member. So great was Walter’s faith that when his son Wilford was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was required to stay in an institution with other people who had the disease, Walter and Lina pleaded with the Lord to heal him so that he could come home and be brought up in the knowledge of the gospel. They then
went to the institution to get Wilford and bring him home. The institution said they could
not take him because of his TB. Walter told them Wilford did not have TB anymore.
The X-ray was taken and, sure enough, Wilford had been healed. The X-ray showed
only a scar where he had had TB. They had the tender mercy of being able to bring
their son back home. Walter was a branch president in Switzerland for many years. He
was promised by a General Authority that when it was time for him to come to America,
a way would be opened. My parents were asked to help a family emigrate to America,
but misunderstood who it was and instead signed papers for Walter and his family to
come. The Rufs were happy to come then as their children were approaching marriage
age and there were few members of the Church where they were, making it difficult for
them to find a mate in the Church. Happily, in America, their children were able to find
mates who shared their beliefs. Our family was close to the Ruf family and Wilford was
a good friend of mine during my college years."
