LOS ANGELES AND SAN DIEGO COUNTIES.
By S. N. Haskell
ELDER WAGGONER and myself arrived in San Diego on the morning of Aug. 24. There are a few keeping the Sabbath in the city of San Diego as the result of Eld. Wood's meetings last spring. After a dreary ride of thirty miles through a very mountainous district we arrived at San Pasqual valley. Here is the home of Bro. Judson, and there is but one other family that observes the Sabbath in the valley. They meet regularly on the Sabbath and have their Sabbath-school. About twelve miles distant is another valley where there are a few more who observe the Sabbath. We held meetings on Sabbath in Bro. Judson's neighborhood, and on first-day with the friends in Bear Valley. Arrangements were made for monthly meetings at the latter place, and Sister Striplin, who teaches school, opens a Sunday-school for the children. Bro. Judson meets with the small company at San Diego once a month. On Monday Bro. Judson took us through the country to Bro. Brown's in Santa Ana. This was a two days' ride. As it was not consistent to hold a public meeting with these scattered friends we therefore visited them at their homes. Quite a number embraced the truth and signed the covenant here about a year ago. But many have moved away and their regular meetings have been broken up. Arrangements were made417however for weekly meetings and a Sabbath-school. On Thursday Bro. Brown took us to Eld. Wood's in Los Angeles. Here we met with the few who had lately embraced the truth under Bro. Wood's labors, and some who had kept the Sabbath for many years. We also met Sister Williams from Arizona who had embraced the Sabbath from reading, this being the first religious meeting of Seventh-day Adventists she had ever attended. We became deeply interested in many of these scattered Sabbath-keepers, and never more fully realized the utility of our missionary work. The Judgment alone will reveal the good accomplished by sending our reading matter, and especially THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, into those portions of the world where the truth has never been preached. The seed of truth once sown in honest hearts will bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some an hundred fold; and each additional recruit to the Lord's army becomes a worker to enlighten others. Thus it can readily be seen that to properly prosecute the missionary work where the publications are sent, requires a correspondence to further instruct those who become interested, and in no way can this feature of the work be done more successfully than by a well organized Vigilant Missionary Society. We secured pledges for between two and three hundred dollars for the Tract and Missionary Society, besides influencing some of the brethren to adopt the tithing system. We felt in our hearts to pray for our missionary workers, and the scattered Sabbath-keepers.