I RECENTLY talked with some of the members of a Protestant family about the Sabbath. After starting on, a woman from the other side of the street called me back, and asked if I had good books. I said “Yes,” and showed her a Testament, and read some to her. The old lady got a large Catholic volume to show me. I then showed her a Bible, and called her attention to the third of Genesis, which records the first sin, also to the prayer Christ gave to his disciples; she offered me seventy-five cents for a forty-cent Bible. In this city, two poor women gave their rosaries, and another her finger-ring, in exchange for a Testament.
A COUNTRY VILLAGE
Yesterday a Protestant lady teacher, when I showed her El Mensajero, containing the pictures of the beasts referred to in Daniel 7, wanted the paper very much. At one house the woman said: “We have the Bible, and are Christians.” I asked which day the Bible teaches us to keep as the Lord’s day. At first they said Sunday, and afterward they said Sabbath. I read and quoted texts, and told them how the day had been changed, and asked them who had a right to change the Bible, and they said, “No one.” One of them was moved to tears; she wished her people in another part of the republic could be told about the true Sabbath. Another woman said, “I will repent and keep the Sabbath.” I might mention many other interesting experiences. When I see the people eager to hear what I have to say, I feel anxious to give my whole time to proclaiming the third angel’s message.
Yesterday morning a woman came to my room and wanted the paper, El Mensajero, containing the explanation of the beasts; she said she would bring money for a subscription. Later, while canvassing, I had a long talk with an old lady (a Baptist) who thought the law had been abolished, but after reading with her she seemed anxious to know the truth. An English-speaking man told me that the authorities were looking for me, and that I had better go to see them and pay a license; for if I did not, and if he caught me again, he would put me in jail. But I went on selling books.
To-day I sold twenty Testaments, and traded two for rosaries. One woman, after buying a Testament, tore it up and threw it at my feet, near the door of another house; she then stepped into that house and talked as if she was angry, and of course spoiled my sale there. But at the next house I stopped and read to two well-dressed women standing in the door. They liked the book, but said they had no money, and asked me to come again. So I related the parable of the ten virgins, and told them that they were like the five foolish ones; and they immediately bought a Testament for twenty-five cents (it is almost the universal custom to lie). I had quite a talk with an elderly man who was much interested. He has a Bible, but subscribed for the paper. He does not attend any of the Protestant missions.
I went into a store kept by a Presbyterian, and had a long talk with the owner and his wife and children. He said he had been taking the paper for a year. I visited the young men’s boarding-school of the Methodist mission, and was invited to talk to the students.
I feel it my duty to leave a Testament wherever possible, for the people need the Bible. This will prepare their hearts for the reception of the closing message. The darkness here is intense, but God’s Word can penetrate it.
