Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886)

Lt 21, 1885

Waggoner, Sister

Great Grimsby, England

August 20, 1885

Previously unpublished.

Dear Sister Waggoner:

Before I left California I tried to write you, but I was not able. I will write now the things which I feel urged upon me. 4LtMs, Lt 21, 1885, par. 1

I have been shown your case, my sister, and there are serious defects in your character which you need to see and overcome. You are selfish, thinking and planning for yourself. You are not doing your duty to your father Elder Waggoner. He needs the sympathy, the love, and the affection of his children which he has not had as he deserves. Had you felt as a daughter should, you would not have felt peace or rest or any way excusable until you had planned a home for your father. Ellet is at fault here. He should have made this one of the objects of his life, to have made a pleasant home for his father. His father has helped you and planned and worked for you, and he should have in return love, sympathy, and attention from you both. His life has been a disappointment, and you have not tried, as it was your duty, to make up for this lack. You have thought and planned for yourselves and calculated for yourselves, and you might have been doing your duty to your father and would have been blessed in so doing. God will not bless such neglect and indifference on your part. It is your privilege to make a home for your father and to be kind and tender to your father. 4LtMs, Lt 21, 1885, par. 2

I want to say, my sister, in your present state of supreme self-love, selfish plans, all you do is mingled with self. Now if you do not overcome this and make every effort to work to overcome your peevish, irritable spirit, you will never be an overcomer. The Lord would have you to be a truly converted woman, patient, kind, and tender. The grace of Christ is needed daily in your heart and overcoming grace to be seen in your deportment. May the Lord help you now to make most thorough efforts to overcome. 4LtMs, Lt 21, 1885, par. 3

You have a work to do for yourselves which no others can do for you. Will you take hold of this work and be just as determined to succeed here as you have been to succeed in having your own way and carrying out your own will? There are now golden moments for you to improve. Make the most of them for Christ’s sake. Bring all the happiness, light, peace, and love you can into your home life. Let Jesus be a treasured guest in your home. Do not, I beg of you, neglect to do the very duties that are left for you to do. Be wholly and entirely the Lord’s. You may develop Christian characters which will stand the test of the judgment. 4LtMs, Lt 21, 1885, par. 4

Yours with respect. 4LtMs, Lt 21, 1885, par. 5