Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 61, 1901

Diary/“I praise the Lord this morning ...”

Battle Creek, Michigan

April 28, 1901

Previously unpublished.

I praise the Lord this morning! I rested well last night. I spoke in the Tabernacle yesterday and was afraid that I should not rest. After breakfast I called on my children and my nephew and family. I was invited to ride out with Edson, Brother Kilgore, and Brother Palmer in Brother Palmer’s easy carriage. We drove to Bedford, and it was about noon when we returned. 16LtMs, Ms 61, 1901, par. 1

In the afternoon Sister Haskell called on me and told me that Sister Breed was very sick, that she seemed almost beside herself, for fear that the Lord had left her, and that she thought that she and her husband were being transferred to Walla Walla because they had done something wrong. 16LtMs, Ms 61, 1901, par. 2

On Friday Sister Breed came to see me. She was very nervous. I assured her that she and her husband were not being transferred because they had done wrong; but she would not be pacified. On Friday I wrote her a letter of courage, to inspire her with hope. Sara read her this letter, and then I went to her room and prayed with her. She and her husband then went for a drive with Sister Peck while I went to the Sanitarium and spoke to the patients. I had freedom in speaking words of encouragement and in presenting Christ as our hope and joy and salvation. All seemed to listen with interest, and when I finished speaking, many came forward to introduce themselves to me—one a minister from Boulder, and another a minister from Chicago. As I shook hands with those to whom I was introduced, they told me they had received great help in listening to the words spoken. 16LtMs, Ms 61, 1901, par. 3

Sister Breed was so thankful for the ride. Her husband was almost broken-hearted over her condition, but we hope that she is now relieved, and that the blessing of the Lord is felt by them both. 16LtMs, Ms 61, 1901, par. 4

April 29

Last night I slept only one hour, and I very much fear for my health and strength. I was instructed during the night that certain contracts which have been presented to be signed are not after the Lord’s order. When I was in Australia cautions were given me that no confederacy was to be entered into. These contracts are supposed by Dr. Kellogg to be a necessity, but they are not. The future is to be adjusted by God. If these agreements are signed, they will in the future be felt as a yoke of bondage, which God does not require His people to wear. 16LtMs, Ms 61, 1901, par. 5

This is to be a time of breaking yokes, not of manufacturing them. God alone is to be our guide. He is to direct as to what shall be done with His property. He has ordered and directed His work in the past, and He will do so in the future. 16LtMs, Ms 61, 1901, par. 6

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? ... Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.” [Isaiah 58:6, 8-10.] 16LtMs, Ms 61, 1901, par. 7