Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 91, 1898

Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.]

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

November 11, 1898

Portions of this letter are published in Ev 657-658; CD 95, 321, 333.

Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:

I feel very thankful that I am at home again. I am very much exhausted, and yet I have faith to believe that I shall improve if I have quiet and no perplexing thing to come in. I need rest, complete rest. I am weak as a child, but I am trusting in the Lord. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 1

I wish to give you some counsel for the benefit of yourselves and others. I was in conversation with several people who were ill. The malaria seemed to be upon them. I said, I cannot understand the matter. There is a great work to be done, and the Lord wants it to be done and yet one after another of our workers become feeble and suffer. God does not want any one of these laid in the grave. Satan is the destroyer, Christ is the Restorer. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 2

One was present who had said nothing. He arose, and every eye was upon Him. He then said, There is a God who saves to the uttermost all who come unto Him in faith believing. There is need of persevering faith. Satan is at work to destroy. He would lead the minds of those who love God and are preaching the gospel to be careless of their physical health, for this has a great deal to do with the general standard of virtue. Ministers give too much time to preaching, and exhaust their vital forces. If the discourse given were one half its usual length it would be better, far better for the hearers, and would preserve in a far better condition the life and the healthful piety of the speaker. Change the order of the meeting, and bring in evangelistic exercises. Study this, and have faith in God. It is the many long discourses that weary. One half of the gospel food presented would tell to much better advantage. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 3

In warm, heating climate, there should be given to the worker, in whatever line of work he is to do, less work than in a more bracing climate. The Lord remembers that we are but dust. The ideas presented should not be so numerous that one cannot take in the matter so valuable. There must be an awakening on this subject. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 4

The less sugar introduced into the food in its preparation, the less difficulty will be experienced because of the heat of the climate. The use of several articles of food at the same meal causes fermentation, and the food does not nourish the system. The making of home made bread requires strict attention, and when this is done you will have the real staff of life. It must be thoroughly cooked. Not a particle of sweet breads should be introduced into the stomach. This perpetuates indigestion and makes dyspeptics. Bread made without milk is more wholesome and digestible, but even this should never be eaten fresh or hot. This makes the best bread injurious. Sweet biscuits are unwholesome, and create diseased livers, diseased stomach, diseased kidneys. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 5

The ministers need not be sick and die. If they will come to the great Physician, He will say to them, “Be whole.” “According to your faith be it unto you.” [Mark 5:34; Matthew 9:29.] It is dishonoring to God to distrust Him, to doubt His willingness to save. All persons, teachers and pupils, by indulging appetite, are doing injury to themselves. The desserts that are taken in the form of custards are liable to do more harm than good. Fruit, if it can be obtained, is the best article of food. All wheat flour is not best for a continuous diet. A mixture of wheat, oatmeal, and rye would be more nutritious than the wheat with the nutrifying properties separated from it. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 6

The lessons given in recipes for sweet cakes had better be left out of the cook books, and dispensed with entirely in the preparation of food. People make themselves sick because they do not study into the science of cooking, but study the taste and the appetite. They do not reason from cause to effect. That which is once put into their stomach is beyond their control; therefore they need to be guarded as to what they introduce into the stomach. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 7

Ministers of the gospel are to put their trust in God, and walk intelligently. They are to subsist on simple food cooked with care. Meat eating is not safe. It is poisoning thousands to the death, thousands who do not know the cause of their death. The Lord would have you depend on Him. When you have faith, you will come to God in simple trust and ask the great Physician to undertake your case. Believe in the power of God to heal. There is little real genuine faith. The Lord is willing to show Himself as He did when He was upon the earth, a mighty Miracle Worker. Then let us not dishonor our God by thinking our case beyond His power. Have faith in God, trust in Him. Make decided advancement healthwise, because you believe in God. I cannot write more this morning. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 8

In love. 13LtMs, Lt 91, 1898, par. 9