THE WISCONSIN CORNER OF THE MINNESOTA CONFERENCE.
By John Olive
This corner comprises the St. Croix Valley, and part of Dunn county. There have been a few Sabbath-keepers in this section for some time; but during the past year nearly fifty have been added to our numbers under the labors of Eld. Samuel Fulton, and his wife, who has rendered him valuable assistance. In the summer of 1877, Eld. Fulton assisted in bringing out a company of ten or twelve in Beldenville. About a year ago he returned with his wife, and they have labored here most of the time since; and by the Lord’s blessing they have brought out small, but seemingly very promising, bands of believers at New Centerville, Lucas, Weston, and Eau Galle, besides laboring at Rock Elm and Beldenville. As I was desirous of visiting all the churches in this district as T. and M. director, Eld. Fulton and myself met by appointment at Beldenville, Oct. 5, and held four meetings besides one in which the interests of Sabbath-schools were discussed, and, we hope, some new life added to the school. On Sunday Sister Fulton spoke in the church at Ellsworth on Bible hygiene, and all the friends, and also those not of our faith, pronounced the discourse one of the best they had ever heard. May the Lord bless her, and keep her humble and devoted. Monday we went to New Centerville, where there are now, I believe, twelve keeping the Sabbath, besides seven who live at some distance, but who can meet with them on the Sabbath. Leaving Sister Fulton to hold the interest here, we proceeded to visit Lucas, Weston, Eau Galle, Rock Elm, and Warrentown, Wis., and Lake City, Minn., where we closed our labors. We started out in much fear and weakness, both of us leaving home with difficulty. But duty seemed to call us, so we cast our care on the Lord, and we believe he heard us, and helped our weakness. Wherever we went, we found most of the brethren active and interested; though I am sorry to say in two or three places the enemy had crept in, and a few seemed to be out of the way. This was very distressing. We had good, attentive audiences. Eld. Fulton preached almost every day, and also in the evening, though sometimes we had social or T. and M. meetings in place of preaching. We tried to bring up all the interests of the cause. We also organized Sabbath-schools and T. and M. societies wherever there were none, supplied the societies with tracts, sold about a dozen Bibles, and as many copies of the “Bible from Heaven,” obtained about fifteen new subscribers to our papers, and sixty dollars on camp-meeting pledges and as S. S. and T. and M. money. It is fair to state that most of this money came from Lake City, as that is the largest and nearly the oldest church in the district. May the Lord bless these liberal brethren, and help them to remove every root of bitterness, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. Wherever we went, we met kindness, and most of the brethren seemed ready to be instructed in every good work, though a few seemed puffed up, contentious, and grumbling. As usual, the grumblers were not workers. We were much pleased with the brethren in the new churches. They seemed to be persons of intelligence and moral worth. May the blessing of the Lord rest upon them. JOHN OLIVE. Prescott, Wis., Nov. 11, 1878.