Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Lt 211, 1902

Lane, Sands

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

December 24, 1902

Portions of this letter are published in 10MR 220-222.

Elder Sands Lane

My dear brother,—

Today I received and read your letter to me. Thank you for writing. You speak, my brother, as if I had heard all about the council meetings held in Battle Creek. But I have heard nothing at all in regard to these meetings. W. C. White has written me no particulars whatever regarding them. He has told me of his visit to Wright, and of seeing some of my old friends there. He said that while there he made his home with Brother and Sister Root, as my husband and I used to do. He said that they were as hospitable and courteous as ever, and that they made him very welcome. He wrote about his visit to Cedar Lake and Berrien Springs. He spoke about going to Nashville, and of returning to California after the meeting there, to help me with my work; but matters at Battle Creek seem to be as a sealed book. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 1

Brethren Knox and A. T. Jones called to see me after their return from the East. They told me that it had been decided to hold the next General Conference in California, and that the brethren here thought that Sacramento would be the best place. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 2

After they had gone, I remembered that I had not said a word to them in regard to the meetings at Battle Creek, and that they had said nothing to me in regard to them. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 3

I have carried a heavy burden in regard to these meetings. But I shall not write about discouraging things; for by beholding we become changed. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 4

Last Sabbath the Lord gave me strength to speak in the Sanitarium chapel. The room was well filled, with workers and patients from the Sanitarium, and with Sabbath-keepers living on the hillside. I spoke from the fifth chapter of Revelation. This chapter had been impressed on my mind, and I gave to the people what the Lord had given me. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 5

On Sunday morning I spoke to the workers in the bakery, and at the close of my talk I prayed with them. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 6

On Monday morning, at half past twelve, I spoke to the Sanitarium workers. The meeting was held in the classroom, which was well filled. The Lord gave me words to speak. After I had finished speaking, I was asked to offer prayer. The Lord Jesus came graciously near, and encouraged our hearts by increasing our faith. We can rely upon the promise, “Ask, and ye shall receive” [John 16:24]; for the love that God has shown in giving His Son to die for us is an assurance that He will hear and answer our petitions. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” [John 3:16]; and because of this, Christ’s intercession in our behalf will always prevail. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 7

As we knelt in prayer, we received the assurance that the Lord drew sacredly near to us. After the prayer, invitation was given to all who desired to speak in witness of Christ to rise to their feet. Almost immediately, a large number of those present were standing, and testimony after testimony was borne. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 8

My heart was made glad to see Dr. Zelinsky rising, and to hear him bearing an excellent testimony. He has taken his stand fully with us, to accept and live the truth. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 9

A patient at the Sanitarium, Mr. Stanton, bore a good testimony. He and his wife came to the Sanitarium some time ago. He was present when I spoke in the Sanitarium several weeks ago, and he was much pleased with the meeting. Soon after, he and his wife called to see me, and about three weeks after, his daughter called. Mr. Stanton bought fifteen copies of Steps to Christ to send to his friends. His wife and daughter have gone to San Francisco, but they expect to return to the Sanitarium. They are all very much pleased with the place. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 10

We are praying that this family will accept the truth. They are very much interested, and are searching the Bible and reading our books. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 11

On Tuesday I had a visit from Dr. T. J. Evans of Los Angeles, and Brother Boeker of the St. Helena Bakery. Dr. Evans wished to consult me in regard to the purchase of a certain property about twelve miles from Los Angeles. This property consists of a building of eighty rooms, furnished throughout, and seventy-five acres of orange grove. The buildings and the grounds are both in excellent order. The owner of this property has lately gone to Boston, and as he is not going to return to California, he is anxious to dispose of this property. He offers it for a very reasonable price. Could we purchase it, I think we could begin sanitarium work in it at once. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 12

At Paradise Valley, about five miles from San Diego, there is for sale a building well adapted for sanitarium work. It was built for a sanitarium, and the owner says that the house alone cost her twenty-five thousand dollars. It is a fine, three-story structure, built on a rise of ground, and commanding a view of a beautiful valley. The rooms are large and airy, and in each room there is a marble wash stand and a wardrobe. There is about the house nothing extravagant, but from cellar to attic, it is well finished. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 13

Besides this building, there are twenty acres of land, and the whole property is offered for eleven thousand dollars. I hope that arrangements can be made so that we can purchase it; for it is so well adapted for a sanitarium. It seems to have been kept for us in the providence of God. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 14

More than a year ago light was given me that our people in Southern California must watch for opportunities to purchase such properties. I told our brethren that they would find all ready for use, and for sale at reasonable prices, just the buildings that they would need for their work. And thus it has proved. In a most remarkable manner the Lord is opening up ways for the advancement of His work in Southern California. Twenty miles from Los Angeles, at Fernando, a town of about one thousand inhabitants, our brethren found for sale two large school buildings, which had been erected for use as a college. Our brethren were extremely desirous of establishing a school in Southern California, but they had no building, and when they found these buildings, which were just what they needed, they decided that the Lord must be leading them. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 15

The property consists of a three-story school building, a dormitory of two and a half stories, a cottage of five rooms, and ten acres of land. Our brethren paid ten thousand dollars for it. When I inquired how this price compared with the real value of the place, they told me that it was not more than one fifth of what the place was worth. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 16

I was present at the opening of this school, and it made my heart rejoice to see the company of promising, intelligent students gathered in the chapel. I thanked the Lord for providing such convenient buildings, in which school work could be begun without delay. God is our Helper and our Leader, and in Him we trust. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 17

The Lord is surely preparing our way. In Southern California, land is high and building expensive, and the brethren could not possibly have bought land and put up suitable buildings for ten thousand dollars. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 18

We knew that the school must be established away from the city, and that we must have land, so that the students could have opportunity to gain a knowledge of agriculture, and opportunity also to be self-supporting. The light given me is that we are to take our children away from the congested cities, and do all in our power to prepare them for the future life. The Fernando school is situated in an orange district. On every hand are to be seen beautiful orange groves. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 19

There was some question about the water supply, but a well has been dug, and an abundant supply of water obtained. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 20

When the brethren wrote to me about this place, I wrote back telling them to purchase it by all means. I went to see it when I was in Southern California a few months ago, and I also visited several other places of which the brethren had been writing to me. I did not think that I should do so much pioneer work after my husband’s death; but the brethren all want me to see the places that come to their notice. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 21

My interview with Dr. Evans was a long and important one, and I gave them the best counsel that I could. I know that the Lord blessed me in my effort to advise them. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 22

Dr. Evans is carrying on sanitarium work in Pasadena, a suburb of Los Angeles. He has rented two floors of a large building, and has fitted up the rooms for patients. But this is only a temporary arrangement, and the building will be given up as soon as we can secure a building for permanent use. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 23

I am weighed down by the thought that our people do not realize the responsibility resting on them to proclaim the truth in the unwarned cities of America. God says to them, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” [Isaiah 60:1.] Why are such cities as New York left unwarned? Do not those who know the truth understand the commission of Christ? Why then do they feel no burden to add new territory to the Lord’s kingdom, to plant the standard of truth in new places? Why do they not obey the word: “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.” [Luke 12:33.] Why do they not return to the Lord His own, to be invested in heavenly merchandise? 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 24

Why do not our people wake up to the peril threatening the men and women in the cities of America? Why are not our churches aroused, and why is there not an earnest call made for volunteers to enter the whitening harvest-field? 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 25

When I bear my testimony in person, I want to bear it where it will be appreciated, where it will be heeded; where I shall not be afflicted by those who are so spiritually backslidden that they make no effort to proclaim the truth for this time. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 26

We have no time to dwell on matters that are of no importance. Our time should be given to proclaiming the last message of mercy to a guilty world. Men are needed who move under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, men who will obey the words, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.” [Isaiah 58:1.] 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 27

The sermons preached by some of our ministers will have to be much more appropriate, and much more to the point, than they are now, else many backsliders will carry a tame, pointless message, that lulls people to sleep. Every discourse given should be given under a sense of the awful judgment soon to fall on our world. The message of truth is to be proclaimed by lips touched with a live coal from the divine altar. Christ refers to the lifeless, purposeless messages given in our churches, when He says, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” [Revelation 3:15-18.] 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 28

Night after night I get up at twelve and one o’clock, and walk the floor in intense anguish, because of the tame messages borne by our ministers, when they have a message of life and death to bear to the people. The ministers are asleep; the lay members are asleep; and a world is perishing in sin. Where are the evangelists who can go to the South and work for the people there? Where are the men who have encouraged Elder Haskell? He and his wife are doing a noble work. Not only are they proclaiming the truth; they are training other workers to proclaim the truth in the right way. Do you not think that God requires His people to help a man who is doing as much as Elder Haskell is doing? I know how the Lord regards this matter. It would be well pleasing to Him for His people to give of their means and their sympathy to those who are working for Him in the cities of America. God has instructed me that His people are neglecting a work that is close beside them. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 29

If our people would feel more of a burden for the men and women in our cities who have not heard the message of salvation, if they would labor for them with determined energy, they would have less time and thought to give to tearing down what has been accomplished. God is not pleased with the way that things are shaping, and unless more is done than has been done for the cities of America, ministers and people will have a heavy account to settle with the One who has appointed to every man his work. 17LtMs, Lt 211, 1902, par. 30