Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Lt 99, 1902

Prescott, W. W.

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

July 10, 1902

Portions of this letter are published in 5Bio 174.

Dear brother Prescott,—

I have recently started several letters to you, but before they could be finished, I have had to leave them; and there have been so many things to think of that they are still unfinished. I shall now try to write you a few lines and shall go straight to the point that I wish to speak about. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 1

In a letter to W. C. White, you speak of the amplifications in testimonies recently sent you. I suppose that the question you asked regarding this matter was not so much for your own sake as that you might have a statement with which to meet the questions of others. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 2

I had a large amount of matter written regarding the dangers of some, and especially regarding the work of Dr. Kellogg. But I suppose that after the experience at the last General Conference, this matter would not be needed. Soon after the new year, many things were presented to me that I knew must sometime be brought before the managers of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Because of the presentation of these matters, I felt that the time had come for some of the testimonies in my diaries to be written out. I made a selection and had some of the matters copied. Some things, that were very close and definite, I did not have copied. I thought that it would not be best to present every particular now, because the temptation might come to take exception to the wording and thus the testimony fail of achieving the object for which God sent it. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 3

On reading the matter that was prepared, I saw that I should have to say something more definite, and I made many additions with my pen. This was my last reading of the matter, and some copies had already been sent out. Therefore the word “amplified” was placed on the copies to which I made additions in my last reading. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 4

And all is not yet spoken. As matters are presented to me, I dare not even now tell all the truth given. There are many things that I forbear tracing on paper. There are many things that I feel I must leave unsaid until I can speak them before the whole congregation. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 5

Dr. Kellogg has not accepted the testimony given in regard to gathering all the means that he could for the advancement of his plans of work. Because of this, he does not see things as they are, and he is in danger of continuing to work on his own lines. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 6

It is a great wrong for those who have command of the disposition of means to make large outlays for the work in which they are engaged, irrespective of the destitution of unworked fields. Large sums of money, given and loaned to the work, have been absorbed in favored localities, while other parts of the great field have had nothing done for them. Why is it that the leaders of our work cannot lift up their eyes and see the fields ripe for the harvest. In presenting to Dr. Kellogg the message given me again and again in regard to his relation to the truth for this time, I have endeavored to place the matter before him in the most carefully chosen language; for I was intensely anxious that he should not reject the message. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 7

There are times when I refrain from stating at first all that is presented to me. I do this in the hope that a partial statement will be sufficient to lead those who are reproved to see their danger. Then, when the heart is softened, and prepared to hear more, I can state the whole message. But when I see that things are being done that will imperil the cause, I state the whole matter, whatever the consequence may be. This may seem strange to you, but this is the way in which I have to do. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 8

I hope that this letter will be a sufficient explanation in regard to the amplification of the testimonies, and that it will help you to understand matters in the future, if the copies of the testimonies sent out are not exactly the same as the copies first sent out. 17LtMs, Lt 99, 1902, par. 9