p. 14 | Notes of Travel by Ellen G. White

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 5, 1908

Notes of Travel

By Ellen G. White

We have just returned from a visit to Southern California, where we spent four weeks attending the Los Angeles camp-meeting, and visiting the sanitariums at Glendale, Paradise Valley, and Loma Linda. The camp-meeting was an important one, and there were able workers present all through the meeting.

We reached Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, August 7, after a long and trying journey, made unusually wearisome on account of accidents to other trains on the road. Twice we were delayed because of freight trains ahead of us whose machinery had broken down,—once during the night, and again at 6:30 A. M. This time we were compelled to wait for nearly seven hours, while a wrecking-train went ahead to clear the line.

The heat in the cars was intense, so at breakfast time we took our lunch-basket to a hillside near by, and ate in the shade of a large water-tank. We had plenty of fresh fruit, for which we were thankful. After eating breakfast we returned to the car, and waited for the time when we could move on. We had a compartment to ourselves, but it was impossible to keep out the hot, dust-laden air while crossing the Mojave desert in the heat of the day.

At Los Angeles we found a small, furnished cottage placed at the disposal of my family, and another close by in which Elders A. G. Daniells and W. C. White and Brother Clarence Crisler stayed. We were very thankful for this accommodation.

The next morning, Sabbath, August 8, I spoke to an immense crowd gathered in the large tent. My voice had not its usual strength, but the Lord blessed me with freedom, and I received the testimony from several who sat on the outskirts of the crowd, that they heard every word I spoke.

Our brethren thought that at this meeting it would be a wise thing to give the W. C. T. U. workers an opportunity to address the congregation in the large tent, and time was given them on the first Sunday of the camp-meeting. An excellent meeting was held, and the W. C. T. U. workers expressed their appreciation of the consideration they had thus received. We are seeking to help these people, and I know that such experiences will have an influence.

The meetings throughout the camp were excellent, and a deep interest prevailed. I spoke to the ministers gathered in one of the smaller tents, presenting to them the advantages to be gained by having the meeting continue another week. There were many W. C. T. U. workers in Los Angeles who were interested in our work, and some were attending the meetings. I was anxious that everything possible should be done to become acquainted with these women. By extending the meeting one week the workers would have an opportunity to become more intimately acquainted with these people, who, though not of our faith, were in many respects working in right lines.

It was decided to extend the meeting over the third Sunday. On that day I spoke to a very large congregation upon the importance of the seventh-day Sabbath. I spoke for one hour, presenting before the people the evidence that God has given in his Word regarding the sanctity of the seventh day. As I ceased speaking, a lady, a member of the W. C. T. U., came up to me, and throwing her arms around me, said, with tears: “I accept the seventh day Sabbath because the Word of God declares it to be his day. He sanctified the seventh day. I am fully converted.”

On Sabbath, August 22, I spoke to the patients and helpers at Glendale, and to the neighbors, who gathered in the two large parlors on the first floor. The Lord gave me freedom in speaking to those assembled. As I spoke to all from the Word of life, and especially to those who were afflicted, I felt the Holy Spirit come into my own heart. I could see that the hearers were blessed, for their faces beamed with hope.

On Monday afternoon, August 24, we took the train for National City. At the station we met Brother Harmon W. Lindsay, who is now the business manager of the Paradise Valley Sanitarium. He had two teams waiting for our party, and we were taken quickly to the sanitarium.

At the sanitarium, we found that the physician, the matron, and the manager are working heartily and unitedly to make the institution a cheerful home for the afflicted. On Wednesday morning I spoke to the patients and helpers in the parlors. These are beautiful rooms, and are calculated to accommodate a large or small company, as the need may be. I could not help thinking how much these pleasant rooms must be appreciated by the sick ones.

After this I was asked to join a company in praying for Sister W. H. McKee, the mother of Mrs. R. S. Cummings, our matron. For years Sister McKee has labored for unfortunate young women, a work that is often neglected. She felt that she was in need of healing, for her nervous system was run down, and she feared a breakdown. She specified her desire that I should unite my prayers with those whom she had invited to join in this season of seeking God. I knelt down close by the side of this sister, and pleaded with God that he would heal her.

For some time I myself had been afflicted with pain in my right hip. As I prayed for Sister McKee, I did not mention myself as in need of healing. But when I claimed the promise for her, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;” I felt, as I have felt many times when praying for the sick, the rich blessing of God came upon me. The stiffness and pain left my limb, and I was blessed as verily as was Sister

McKee, for whom our prayers were offered.

The next morning, August 27, we left Paradise Valley for Loma Linda. At Colton a carriage from the sanitarium was waiting for us, and we were soon at this sanitarium, which we have all appreciated so much. I have sometimes wished that I might meet those who first owned this property, and who gave it over to us with all its beautiful furnishings. I should like to tell them of our gratitude. Grateful thanks arise in my heart whenever I think of what God has wrought for us in this place. And I know that much good has been done through this institution, and that souls have been converted through its instrumentality. MRS. E. G. WHITE.