Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 166, 1901

Settling in America

“Sanitarium,” St. Helena, California

February 10, 1901

Previously unpublished.

I have been examining my writings and my diary. I was instructed while upon the steamer en route from Sydney that the Lord had a refuge for me. I did not know what this meant. 16LtMs, Ms 166, 1901, par. 1

We had intended to settle in some rural district about ten or fifteen miles from Oakland, that we might have easy access to the press, where my books would be published within a short distance from my home. But after spending four days in East Oakland searching for a suitable location without success, I was urged to attend the camp-meeting at Napa. I decided to consent to this request, and I spent some days at the Sanitarium. 16LtMs, Ms 166, 1901, par. 2

I said to a number who were present as I was preparing to go to Napa, “I shall hunt no more for a place in or near Oakland, or anywhere else.” The light given me was that the Lord had prepared a refuge for me which was away from cities and away from the centers where our work was to be carried. 16LtMs, Ms 166, 1901, par. 3

After this, on several occasions I was instructed that it was not for me to take the burden of attending meetings whenever I was called to help them out of difficult places. This burden was not to come upon me unless the Lord had given me some special light. I must not consider that any voice beside the Lord’s should draw me into general conference meetings and council meetings. Meetings where there are difficulties to be adjusted are to be avoided. The deep, intense feeling of the soul over misunderstandings among believers is altogether too much of a burden for me to carry. Every church should understand that they have united together by a most sacred, solemn covenant. 16LtMs, Ms 166, 1901, par. 4

(Luke 10:25): “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Said Christ, “this do, and thou shalt live.” [Verses 25-28.] The churches in every conference are to understand what this means by bringing the vital principles of love into action. Let every member carry this principle, divested of every thread of selfishness, into their daily lives. 16LtMs, Ms 166, 1901, par. 5