Manuscript Releases, vol. 8 [Nos. 526-663]

Riding Out in the Country

I was weak as a child after bearing the plain testimony and felt unable to write. W. C. White saw my condition and he hired a team, and I rode out for the first time in four weeks. We rode several miles in the country and were much pleased with the city grounds and forests that were open to the poor and to all who wished to go out in the country. These extensive grounds are reserved for the city that they may have places near by to take their children. This is a blessing. 8MR 123.2

We saw an old church—Catholic—in the forest of _____. It is six hundred years old. We went through it. Whoever was the designer, it seems like a relic of the Dark Ages in every sense of the word. Close by was an old log house, hundreds of years old, in which were treasured old-fashioned dishes, platters, and every kind of cooking utensil and every odd, homely, curious article. 8MR 123.3

But we saw far greater beauty in the works of God in nature—the lofty trees, the waving grain, almost ready for the sickle, the hay ready for the scythe, the sweet scented red and white clover that perfumed the air. There are bathhouses built close by the water, one arranged for men, the other for women. Many people resort here on Sunday. We saw men, women, and children with baskets and baby carriages with the precious little ones, all hurrying to get into the country—blessed country. Precious are the forests and groves to the poor tried, weary ones who own no land of their own.—Manuscript 66, 1886, 7, 8. (“Second Visit to Norway,” July 11, 1886.) 8MR 123.4