Ellen G. White in Europe 1885-1887

Contacts With Carl Ottosen

A young medical student from Copenhagen, Carl Ottosen, particularly attracted Mrs. White's attention. She sensed the caliber and potential of this dedicated youth and in several interviews gave valuable counsel and guidance to him. “He is a promising young man,” she noted in her diary, “and has fully decided to give himself to the work of the Lord.” His parents were not Adventists, but his father was supporting him financially through his studies. A few years later he founded the Skodsborg Sanitarium outside Copenhagen, one of the important Seventh-day Adventist institutions in Europe today. EGWE 303.2

What a variety of tasks the Lord had entrusted to Ellen White, His servant! There were evangelistic messages presented to the public in tents and halls, large and small; pastoral sermons preached to church members; rich pioneer experiences shared with fellow workers; counsel offered in business meetings; spiritual guidance published in books and articles and sent out in letters. At these important meetings in Norway she had opportunity to function in all these roles. EGWE 303.3

And her work at Moss was not over yet. On Sabbath, June 18, she and Mrs. Ings took a walk out into the forest. Finding a quiet place, they spread a fur blanket on the grass, and Mrs. White sat down to write a ten-page letter of counsel and encouragement to Elders D. A. Robinson and C. L. Boyd, who were present at the Moss camp meeting, as they left for their work in Africa. The letter was so rich in encouragement and practical counsel that great portions of it have been reprinted in the book Evangelism, 89-91, 94, 97, 132, 142, 248, 553, as well as in other books. EGWE 303.4

Finally, on Sunday, June 19, Mrs. White left Moss for Christiania. There she parted with W. C. White, as well as Elders Conradi, Whitney, and Haskell. The latter was on his way to England, the others to Germany. The Ingses and O. A. Olsen would stay with Ellen White for two days in Christiania, then, on Wednesday, June 22, they all would journey on to Stockholm, where Matteson was about to begin a series of tent meetings for the public. EGWE 304.1