in 1877, gordon met frances e. willard at a dwight l. moody revival meeting, in the building where willard was holding temperance meetings. gordon's younger brother arthur had died just days before, a traumatic event which had, as willard later wrote, driven gordon "godward". the two became close friends, with gordon continuing to play organ for willard's meetings. gordon eventually moved into willard's residence as her personal secretary. gordon subsequently followed her employer on her travels through the united states, canada and europe, spending a year in england, mostly as the guests of lady henry somerset.