Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Lt 29, 1904

Burden, Brother and Sister [J. A.]

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

January 17, 1904

Portions of this letter are published in SD 191; 8MR 351. +^Note

Dear Brother and Sister Burden,—

I should be so pleased to see you and hope that some day I may. I am so sorry that the temptations of the enemy have come to you. I entreat you to dismiss Satan. Close the door against his temptations. My dear and much-respected brother, I find that the enemy is robbing you of your courage. The Lord desires you to be of good courage. Brace up. You can be a help and a blessing to the cause in Australia in connection with the Sanitarium. But, my dear brother, do not mark out a course of your own, which you are determined to follow. The Lord does not want you to do this. 19LtMs, Lt 29, 1904, par. 1

You take a gloomy view of things. All the time Satan is working on every hand to destroy faith and to make people unhappy. He has been and still is working on the mind of Dr. Kellogg. So long has the doctor given the enemy encouragement that he has lost his bearings. The message to the Laodicean church is a faithful description of his case. I have hoped that he would right himself up. He has made some moves in the right direction, but it is like plucking out the right eye or cutting off the right hand for him to admit any mistakes he has made. 19LtMs, Lt 29, 1904, par. 2

Brother Burden, I advised you not to take the burden of the inside management of the Sanitarium, because the light given me for you was that your health would be greatly improved by outdoor work. I have been instructed that your stomach trouble is aggravated by your dietetic habits. You need to make a decided change in some respects, else you will not improve in health. I was instructed that if you would change your dietetic habits, and keep your mind free from worry, you would be a new man. May God help you, Brother Burden, to do this. Give your digestive organs the most favorable opportunity to do their appointed work. 19LtMs, Lt 29, 1904, par. 3

Do not think that you must leave the Sanitarium because differences have arisen. Take up the work in a way that seems best until you have assurance that it is your duty to disconnect from the institution. Blend in Christian love with your fellow workers, and do not allow yourself to be easily wounded. When you become interested in the salvation of perishing souls, you will not mind the little differences that are so common in the association of human beings with one another. 19LtMs, Lt 29, 1904, par. 4

I had to learn my lesson when much younger than I am now. When my husband and I were living in Rochester, New York, carrying on the publication of the Review and Herald, there were twenty-two who every day gathered round our family board. These workers were of different temperaments and dispositions. We had much to try us and many perplexing problems to solve. Under great difficulties and with little money, we were endeavoring to carry forward the proclamation of present truth. 19LtMs, Lt 29, 1904, par. 5

I purposed in my heart that no word or act of mine should cause irritation. When others were irritated, I would say, “We are all Christ’s little children, members of His family. Let us bring all the sunshine that we can into our home. Do not speak one word that would hurt the feelings of another. When you are tempted to speak or act unadvisedly, look to Jesus, and remember that when the feelings are stirred, silence is eloquence.” 19LtMs, Lt 29, 1904, par. 6