Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Lt 91, 1891

Olsen, O. A.

Steamer Alameda

November 27, 1891

Previously unpublished.

Dear Bro. Olsen:

We have reached Samoa Island, and here come the natives, five in number, bringing on board a pilot. We cannot bring the ship close into land, for there is no harbor. After bringing the ship as far as it is safe, then the heavy anchor is lowered into the sea and the anchor holds the ship. Now come the natives in all kinds of crafts, some very long and narrow, birch bark, canvas, and other boats of every variety, and there sits the man at the oars pulling for the ship. The natives are in all kinds of dress. Some are entirely naked with the exception of a couple of yards of calico pinned about their loins. Their limbs, arms, and body are elaborately tattooed. They are men of muscle, and live much in the water. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 1

In the canoes are the tropical fruits they bring to dispose of to the ship’s crew. There come boats with most beautiful white coral, and red coral. There are boats with melons and oranges green as grass. But remove the thick skin and the fruit within is a palatable orange. Abundance of bananas. And now comes up [a] broad boat, loaded with bags of coconut which have been purchased for the passengers and crew. Pineapples purchased cheap. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 2

All our party went on shore but Marian and I. The natives brought their boats alongside the steamer, and rowed them on shore. I am not very strong. I am in a wash of sweat all night long, and this does not make me strong. I have up to this time been much better than I expected. This, I say is the expression of the whole company. It is noon. The boat signal has been blowing strongly twice to call passengers from land on board to dinner. All came back with fruit and ferns—strange kind of fruit; [I] never saw or heard of the kind before. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 3

We have eaten our dinner—very poor chance for those who do not want flesh meats at every meal. I detest meat in every form, yet have been compelled to eat some little of this. They have tin-canned fruit, but I dare not taste it, for it poisons me. They have some oranges and apples and pears occasionally in their uncooked state. Rice I have eaten, a dish I never loved, but I must get down something. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 4

Three o’clock P. M., anchor hoisted, and we are again in motion. We have been favored with a remarkably smooth passage. It was indeed a blessing that we did not go on the Monowai, for there was a menagerie and circus on board. Only think of it—to be four weeks on the boat with tigers, bears, elephants, lions, and every fierce beast, and the character of the people who attended this terrible outfit! What a blessing that we were not able to get through to go on that boat! 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 5

All the officials from the captain down to the lowest worker are very kind, and do all they can to make us comfortable and happy. There are quite a number of ministers on board bound for New Zealand. There are some from Melbourne, a professor of the high school. Eld. Starr has talked only once. He came on board not very well, and he and his wife have been quite poorly. I have felt this is not the place for me to speak, and shall not unless requested to do so. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 6

It is not a very nice place to keep the Sabbath on shipboard. But we could not occupy our staterooms, and on deck there are those who talk constantly, and children keep up a big noise. There is no repressing them, and I feel sad as we are so situated we cannot honor God as we desire to do. Two Sabbaths we have spent on shipboard. The third Sabbath is drawing on. We shall, I hope, be in a better condition on the morrow than we have been physically. Most of the time we have been favored with a cool breeze. Sitting on deck we have not suffered much. We passed the equator last Thursday morning. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 7

Well, Eld. Olsen, I have read your letter—the last sent to W. C. and myself—with much interest. Be assured, with what power we have had to think we have thought of you, and, when unable to sleep nights, I have prayed earnestly that the Lord Jesus would help and bless His people. The greatest blessing He can give them is to exercise His power in setting things in order, for they are strangely mixed up of late years, and men are being tested and proved to see if they will be self-denying and self-sacrificing, men working upon the same pure principles as the world’s Redeemer worked, if they have the disposition or piety and devotion to give to the work that God has ever required of those who were laborers together with God. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 8

Character is being weighed. The spirit brought into the work determines the character of the work, and just what kind of spirit will be brought into the family of God above; and they will be sifted as in a sieve. If they are becoming more and more imbued with the spirit of the Master, they show they are sanctified through the truth, becoming more heavenly-minded. “I” will seem very small and unworthy; Jesus with fullness of joy, strength, beauty, loveliness. By beholding Him they will become more and more changed from glory to glory, from character to character, ever rising in reverence and awe of sacred and eternal things. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 9

The heavenly voice has said to me again and again [that] every true follower of Jesus Christ will have the spirit of a martyr. He will be, if he is indeed Christ’s, ready for any and every sacrifice, and will surrender life itself rather than surrender sacred and holy trust. Convictions must be deep wrought in the soul that heaven is so valuable a treasure you cannot afford to lose it. And looking to heaven to say, “I have set the Lord ever before me, because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” [Psalm 16:8.] 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 10

I have had quite an experience since I left Michigan. Never did I so fully see the spirit which attends unholy ambition as in the case of Dr. Burke at St. Helena. I hope you will make it a special matter of consideration—the health retreat, how it shall be managed. The spirit which has been working for the supremacy has lost all respect for God or sacred things. I have sent some things to Dr. Kellogg, which I wish you to see. Everything I have sent him I wish you to read, for I cannot rewrite them. Dr. Burke sent me a letter, of which I will try to send you a copy before this shall go, that speaks the spirit of the man. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 11

He has been seeking to work out Eld. Fulton and wife, Sister Ings, and thus cut away from the retreat. He worked into the bathroom a Catholic girl to be head, or matron, of the bathroom. He has worked out one who has had long experience in the bathroom to give place to this Catholic. He is working into different positions unbelievers and these have a controlling influence. They would, after the Sabbath [began], order the girls to clean the floors and thus lead them to either to refuse to obey or to break the Sabbath. Then when Sabbath came they would work all day the sewing machine or in any work they chose in the rooms. Unbelieving patients would order chickens cooked on the Sabbath. Dr. Burke confided to these his plans that he would do this and that and the other, but the board was so narrow he was bound about so that he had no liberty to work. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 12

The patients would make complaints about Sr. Ings or the bathroom girls, and Dr. Burke, without making one word of inquiry to see if these things were so and talk as a Christian should with these in the faith, would dismiss them without their knowing of what they were [accused], and place an unbeliever in the place of the one discharged. Satan was playing his game high. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 13

Dr. Burke has concealed his spirit, and Sr. Gates has taken in everything he proposed. She has linked up with him so that words spoken by me to her to show her the wrong principle of action that was leavening the institution would surely demoralize it because it was in direct opposition to the words of Christ and His plainest injunction, [had no effect]. When I talked with her it was not the woman I had to meet, but it was Satan revealed in her. My words had no more effect on her than on Dr. Burke. She is completely transformed and what will save her remains to be seen. She went to Dr. Burke and accused me just as Satan accuses those who are doing the work of the Lord. So Dr. Burke refused to see me, and has written the productions you will see in these short letters to me. He is a man of falsehood. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 14

He writes as though E. P. Daniels was about to institute a suit against me at once if I did not make, as he calls it, my wrongs right in publishing the pamphlet I did in regard to Eld. Daniels. My answer I send in this letter. You can see what obstructions were placed in my way to going to Australia. I moved along perfectly indifferent to them. We sent up to Stockholm Eld. Wilcox and Bro. Glen to hold a meeting with the church there and then make it in their way to call on E. P. Daniels, for he had lately written a letter to Eld. Wilcox pleading for sympathy. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 15

In the conversation with E. P. Daniels he broached the subject of the suit Walling had instituted against me, and spoke of it as the most cruel business he ever heard of after I had done for the children as I had. The way was opened and Bro. Wilcox stated the reports he had heard (but did not mention Dr. Burke) that he was about to issue a suit against me before I should sail for Australia. Eld. Daniels said such a thing had not entered his mind, to institute a suit against Sr. White. And afterward Bro. Wilcox has the statement from him in writing. So you can see the dragon spirit, the accusing spirit, the lying spirit in Dr. Burke. How the institute will come out I know not. May the Lord work in behalf of the Retreat is my prayer. Well, this letter is long enough. I will envelop it and send it when we get to Auckland. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 16

Now, Eld. Olsen, I have a few words to address to you. Be not over anxious, because this shows distrust, and you take the burden on your own soul that you must leave in assurance and faith with the great Manager, the Great I AM. I have worried too much. It does not pay. I will not trust in my own finite strength. If God says to bear a testimony to those who do evil, I will do it, and then leave the burden with the ones who should bear it. Whether they will hear or forbear, I must speak the words the Lord bids me, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. Men did refuse to hear the words of Christ. He says, if they will not hear My words, neither will they hear your words; if they reject your words, they will reject My words also. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 17

When men once open the door to doubt and unbelief, they are more inclined to repeat the same. Such is our constitution that repetition of doubt and resistance become habit. It is a regular practice to doubt, because sowing doubts we reap that which we sow. Men and women travel in the same beaten path. The elements of thought and action are worn deeper and deeper and broader. By the very process of existence we are constantly tending to fixedness of character. They breathe in the atmosphere of death. It springs to life in an instant. But as we see these things more and more, we will be inclined to feel them deeper and deeper. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 18

Now, let us stop, Eld. Olsen. Do your level best and be cheerful and have peace—the peace of Christ. You nor I can’t disappoint the enemy any better than to be determined Christ shall bear our burden. Be free in the Lord, talk hope, talk courage, and oh, how the enemy will be prostrated, how disappointed. Now, do not feel the load is on you. Do your best, and then do not try to do impossible things. Those things you cannot cure tell the Lord about. Roll it on Him; He will carry every load. He is close by your side to help you. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 19

I see this is the only [way], Eld. Olsen. Do not over-weary yourself; just do that part which you know you can do, but do not venture to do impossible things; that is Christ’s part of the work, not yours. Work in simplicity; work in Jesus Christ. Take Him with you everywhere. “Thy presence must go before me” [Exodus 33:15]; let it be your cry; and believe that Jesus is with you. Talk with Him as you would with a tender, sympathizing friend. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 20

Do not think that you are good for nothing because you can’t do everything. There are workers all around you, heavenly agencies to combine divine power with your human effort. Do not be afraid you will offend some one of these hard-set, ironsides men. Do your duty. Speak firmly what you know to be right and then do not worry about the outcome of the matters. Be true to God and you have the whole universe of heaven to cooperate with you. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 21

Do not dwell on your weakness. You may feel it all you please, and, because you know it, trust in Jesus. Lean your whole weight upon His arm. That will ever bear your whole weight and every burden of your soul. But never let the enemy hear you speaking one discouraging word. Let him understand you are strong in the strength of the Mighty One, the Lord God of Hosts. Magnify Him, Eld. Olsen. Frame your mind to look upon Jesus at all times and in all places, and say “He is my Helper, my strong Tower, my Rock, and my Fortress.” [Psalm 18:2.] The Lord Jesus will make you strong in His strength. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 22

Jesus, precious Jesus; I recommend Him to you as a safe, infallible Counselor. He will give you wisdom. He will walk by your side, He will talk with you, He will shut you in with Himself. But don’t feel that the burden of all reforms rests upon you. No, no. Just believe in Jesus as the great and successful Worker, and yourself an agent. And if your words apparently have no weight, don’t, don’t get despondent. Be cheerful and let everybody know that Christ is doing the work. Christ will not fail nor be discouraged. You just say, “Lord, now I have done my very best; Thou must do the work. I am not able.” Will you hide your soul in perfect quietude in the peace of Christ? It is the worrying that kills, not the work. Lift up thine eyes to heaven and say, “There is my home. I have the heavenly intelligences to help me in my God-given responsibilities. I am but an atom. Jesus and all heaven is in the army. The work is the Lord’s. The souls are His, purchased by His own blood. He will gird me for the conflict. I will not expend my strength needlessly. I will not talk of the giants in the way. I will talk of a mighty Savior.” 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 23

You will have great perplexities. You will have a disposition at times to move rashly under the things which will develop. But, Eld. Olsen, the eyes of God never slumber nor sleep. Just work reasonably. Do not think it your duty to attend every camp meeting, one following another. God does not require this. You must have a reserve power to draw upon. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 24

This has been spoken to me for my husband and again and again. I repeat it to you. You are not immortal. You have to care for the body. I charge you in the name of the Lord, do not undertake to do too much. Be wise, and do trust in Jesus to do these things you cannot do with your mortal strength. You must have time to commune with God. And trust Him just as a child trusts its parents. He loves you. He wants you to expand in Him, to go lifted up with Him. Do not talk of the terrible condition of things to anyone. Tell it to Jesus, and then, oh, then believe, trust, and be not discouraged. God will give you victory upon victory, if you believe. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 25

Dec. 3, 1891

Auckland, New Zealand

Dear Bro. Olsen:

I left my letter unfinished. The water became very rough, as, after leaving Samoa, a few days I could not write. We arrived at Auckland at 2 P.M. today. Several Brn. living in N. Z. came on the boat to meet us. We have, in the home of Edward Hare, just taken a lunch of oranges, bananas, and delicious strawberries. The contrast to the fare on the boat is very refreshing. It was meat, meat, prepared in every form, [and] fruit canned in tin, which I cannot eat. And aside from this, it left me but very little I could eat. But my rolls, which I obtained from the Sanitarium when I left Battle Creek, although ancient are sweet and good, better than all the variety of meats that they can furnish us on the steamer. I have purposed, as did Daniel, I will not eat their meat nor drink of their wine. I was some sick for the last two days, but I have not yet thrown up or discharged my cargo once. Is not that good for a three-weeks sail upon the water? 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 26

They have an appointment out for me to speak this evening. Our boat leaves at 6 o’clock A. M. We have just received letters from Eld. Daniells making an urgent request for us to lay over two weeks at Sydney which we think we will do. Willie will remain here to see Bro. Gates who is expected to meet us here today, but he has not yet arrived. It is not finally settled whether we will go on to Sydney and leave him or he will go on with us to Sydney. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 27

I must now go to meeting. I intended to write Edson from here but a ride was planned for us and I could not well decline. Be sure and let Edson see this letter if possible, for I cannot write him. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 28

Much love to you and your family. Love to Edson, Emma, my grandchildren, and Mary. 7LtMs, Lt 91, 1891, par. 29