Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Lt 10, 1909

McReynolds, C.

St. Helena, California

January 5, 1909

Previously unpublished. +^Note

Elder C. McReynolds

Dear Brother:

I have again read your letter, written at Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. I will write a few lines more. The particulars you give are very remarkable, and I believe the Lord is working in your behalf. I would encourage you to do what you can to bring to the people of neglected portions of the South a knowledge of the truth for this time. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 1

Light has been given me that in connection with our schools there should be land. This is in harmony with the instruction given regarding the Avondale School in Australia. Through the industry of man, the land is to be educated, as well as the children. Many of the southern people have lessons to learn in regard to the proper treatment of land. As our teachers and students care for the land intelligently, they have opportunities to teach lessons on land culture, and the grace of Christ will be with them in all their efforts. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 2

As matters have been presented before me, I know that most valuable lessons can be learned through contact with the real things of life in connection with a study of books. The acquirement of properties, such as the one mentioned in your letter, gives our people an opportunity to train the physical nature of children, as well as to develop the mental and the moral natures. The possession of land in connection with our schools brings most precious advantages to teachers and students—advantages that all our schools should have, in order to be prepared to give proper instruction. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 3

Where students are blessed with an opportunity to combine mental and moral training with the training of their physical being, the Lord’s plan, as instituted in Eden, may be carried out. In Genesis we read: “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ... And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” [Genesis 2:8, 9, 15.] 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 4

From this passage of Scripture we learn that suitable employment was given the first human beings that God formed on this earth. He gave them an opportunity to employ their physical powers in the work of dressing the garden and of keeping it. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 5

After their fall, through disobedience, the Lord sent Adam and Eve out from the garden of Eden; and Adam was instructed to till the ground from whence he had been taken. God wisely provided that a portion of their time and strength should be used in manual work. This was one of His appointed means of aiding them in recovering that which they had lost by their fall. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 6

“And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” [Genesis 4:2.] Read carefully the fourth chapter of Genesis. In this Scripture the whole story is told. And in the chapters that follow we are told of the work of God in destroying the world because of a departure from His plain commands, which resulted in the world’s being filled with transgression and sin. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 7

Thus we see that God provided for the healthful employment of the physical powers of man even in Eden; and that immediately after the fall, our first parents were given an industry—the tilling of the soil. After the earth was cursed, it brought forth thistles, and thus increased the work of those who till the soil. But the ground was to be tilled by our first parents, and thus one of the purposes of God in creating the earth was fulfilled—the wise employment of the physical powers of its occupants. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 8

The Lord would have the members of the human family today perform useful labor in the exercise of brain, bone, and muscle. The mind, the hands, the whole physical being must act their appointed part in the lifework. And so, in planning for the establishment of new schools along right lines, we must so arrange matters that the brain power of the students will be developed and strengthened by means of manual training. Thus the muscles and nerves of the body will be trained to obey the action of a healthful brain, and men and women will become workers together with God, the Maker of the world. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 9

I am very much pleased, my brother, in the presentation you have given regarding this opportunity in Virginia to establish an industrial school; and I sincerely hope that the Lord will guide you in every decision that may be made; and that if He indicates that you should engage in this enterprise, you may be prospered in planning wisely for its advancement. Yes; it does seem as if this opportunity may be one of the Lord’s opening providences. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 10

Be assured that if you, as workers together with God, follow on in the way of the Lord’s leadings, He will graciously bless you. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 11

Brother McReynolds, I believe that enterprises like the one you have outlined in your letter give us excellent opportunities for creating a sound, sensible influence in needy communities in the Southland. In establishing schools, we must study to qualify students for the highest possible efficiency in the Master’s service. We must seek to have them soundly converted to the idea of combining mental effort with physical training. Manual labor, properly brought into the daily life of the student, is one of the greatest of blessings that could come to a youth in training for field service. By this means, young men and young women are given an all-round experience and are qualified to become true, industrious missionaries in any place where they may be called to labor—whether in foreign fields or in fields nearer home. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 12

Those who have been trained in a practical way will be able to teach others how to build houses and how to educate properly the land so that it will produce its treasures. This is the reason that, in our search for a site suitable for our school in Northern California, we have been hunting diligently for land that can be worked, and for a place where houses—not costly, but neat—may be built to accommodate the humble people who are trying to do missionary work by sending their children to school. The students, who during their school life learn how to build houses that will accommodate other students, have acquired a most valuable experience. By all means, let us encourage students to learn how to build their own houses. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 13

I think I have said all I need to say. Today I am weary, and my eyes are in need of rest. 24LtMs, Lt 10, 1909, par. 14