Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Lt 165, 1897

Farnsworth, Brother and Sister

Stanmore, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

December 6, 1897

Previously unpublished.

Dear Brother and Sister Farnsworth:

I thank you for your letter to me. I am hoping and praying that the Lord will work and bring souls to take a decided stand. We are praying that not less than one hundred souls shall stand under the banner of truth, the third angel’s message. Give us souls, give us souls is our plea. 12LtMs, Lt 165, 1897, par. 1

We left Cooranbong last Friday and came to this place. We find the work advancing. The tent was well filled on Sabbath all day. The Lord strengthened me to speak to the people, and then we had a most precious social meeting. Sunday morning the sweet, precious peace of Christ came into my heart. I felt the Holy Spirit’s influence. Strength came to me, and I was revived and felt special courage and joy in the Lord. 12LtMs, Lt 165, 1897, par. 2

[As] I [gave] the message in regard to the Sabbath and the coming of our Lord, the Holy Spirit was upon me. The people listened with the deepest interest, and my soul was free in the Lord. Oh how glad am I that the Day Star hath visited us! There has been most diligent working. Up to the present time meetings have been held every evening in the week with the exception of Monday night. Now they give up meetings Saturday evening, but they only transfer their labors that evening to visiting families to watch for their souls as they that must give an account. The chief workers have interested families that they can reach better by personal labor, speaking a word in season to help some minds over a perplexing point. 12LtMs, Lt 165, 1897, par. 3

There is now from henceforth to be a half hour’s season of prayer before the discourses. The workers will invite all to come one-half hour earlier, then will inquire if there are any points which they do not understand. If so, they explain the matter to them until they can comprehend it. They give them all the main features of our faith in discourses, that they will not fail to have an all-round experience. The families seeking for the truth seem hungry, longing for the light, and they grasp ideas eagerly. The Holy Spirit is in our meetings. Oh, the plan of redemption, what a truth, what a precious, glorious theme! “Thou shalt lay their sins,” said Christ, “upon me, and the believing souls shall have peace and rest. I will bear their sins and, my Father, Thou wilt be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities thou shalt remember no more. The merit of my righteousness shall be theirs, and for my sake thou shalt bless them in me, with all spiritual blessings.” 12LtMs, Lt 165, 1897, par. 4

December 12

I thought to respond to your good letter at once, but then I knew not where to address my letter and while waiting to get some clue to your whereabouts I learned you had left for New Zealand. Then I knew I should have to tarry until another boat should leave. I am very thankful to say that after a long trial with kidney and heart difficulties, since the camp meeting, I am now improving. Last Sabbath was rainy, and I did not go to Sydney although I intended to spend last Sabbath and Sunday in Stanmore. But the rain has come, commencing in Cooranbong Friday, in Sydney Monday, and continuing to rain every day—gentle showers, not violent at all, but seeming more like the dew of heaven. This rain is beyond any human estimate. We were praying for it, and we feel deeply grateful for the blessings which our God alone can give. 12LtMs, Lt 165, 1897, par. 5