Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Lt 86, 1891

Olsen, O. A.

Battle Creek, Michigan

March 20, 1891

Previously unpublished.

Dear Brother:

I have been thinking somewhat in regard to our conversation in regard to the advisability of Brother Dan Jones taking the Foreign Mission work, and I am sure he is not the man for such a place. He is so devoid of human sympathy. He has a rigid, iron kind of management which will freeze up the channel with foreign correspondence. I am sure you will make a mistake in this arrangement. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 1

Now I have been shown the inwardness of matters in the Office. Dan Jones is at the bottom of a dangerous plan of working. He will so manage that the management of things in that office shall become a controlling power. His head can devise and plan coolly, but to the swinging in wrong directions the work of God. If you wish to break up this ring at the office, you take Dan Jones away and send him to Walla Walla, Washington. They need just such an element there. He will do better than any man I can think of. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 2

He will cause difficulty. He will be so set, so hard to be entreated, that the office needs no man of this cast, who is so blind in spiritual eyesight. I see no way for a reformation in the office unless that ring is broken up. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 3

If you are not to be here in America, things should be left in as secure a situation as possible. They have, in their plans and councils, felt that W. C. White stood in their way from bringing about certain things, and they have talked the matter over to not open their matters to him because he is so closely connected with me. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 4

Dan Jones, Eldridge, and A. R. Henry do not believe in the testimonies. I know whereof I speak. They have a power, but Dan Jones is the great instigator. I have heard him talk in reference to W.C.W. They think he informs me of things going on among them. Very hard speeches have been made in reference to my work, for I have been made to hear them. Now, if you can set Dan Jones for his health in Walla Walla, Washington, to look after the interest of the school, you will make a decided change in [the] Battle Creek office. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 5

In regard to my talk with you in reference to W.C.W.’s giving his whole time to me, I think it not best for him to leave Battle Creek. When my writing on Life of Christ is pretty well advanced, as I mean it shall be, then he will be able to do a day’s work or two days’ work in examining the matter. Until my finances shall improve, I cannot pay anyone large wages, and W.C.W. has an interest in the work. He has a heart full of sympathy, and he brings tenderness into the letters which he writes, and he calls out letters of like character. But there is a determined effort on the part of this confederacy at the office to manage so that WCW’s voice shall not have influence. He voices his mother’s instructions from Heaven too closely to suit their ideas. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 6

Since I heard the speech of Dan Jones, I see it is of just the same character as the Lord revealed to me that was at the foundation of their devising and planning in their councils. To give him the Foreign Mission work would give him a better opportunity to work out his own wisdom in plans that would appear very fair, but I have been shown [that] God would be left out of the council. To give him greater swing would be perilous indeed. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 7

I can manage the coming year as I have done the past years, and will not call for W.C.W., for I know you need him. I have been shown [that] the design is to disconnect their work from me, and they think they will then be untrammeled to work on according to their plans. God forbid! God forbid! is my prayer. Not one of the men—Dan Jones, Eldridge, Henry—have the love of Jesus abiding in their hearts. Not one of these feel as men should who are handling large responsibilities. They do not seek God for counsel. They trust in their own wisdom, and have no use for anyone who shall not accept and voice their suggestions. There is need for God to work, and He will work like a mighty working God. Heavenly intelligences will be in our assemblies, and there must be human agents who will have a discerning eye to discern the dangers and to avert them if possible. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 8

Secure W.C.W. a good, efficient man to help him. He is devoted to the work. His heart and prayers and Christlike sympathies are interwoven with the work. And Satan is moving in a secret, underhanded manner to separate all who have connection with me and my work, from the great whole. They have no need of me. They think [that] if Sister White were only out of the way, they could do a wonderful thing. I write these things to you because you must know them and act in reference to them. The men in the office are not converted men. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 9

If they do not carry their plans to completion this time, they do not give them up by any means. They will try again. I know these men, and I have no confidence in them until they gain a religious experience. Then, in God, they can be guardians of the cause and work of God. I now commit this to you. Consider what I write, and place no more responsibilities on Dan Jones unless you want his mold and superscription on the work. 7LtMs, Lt 86, 1891, par. 10