Letter from Bro. Bates.
By Joseph Bates
BRO. SMITH:—We reached Waldron, Eaton Co., Mich., the 14th inst., the day after the close of our Conference at B. Creek. If the friends here had not been so urgent for laborers in this region I should have been much pleased to tarry in B. Creek until our brethren and sisters had left for their respective homes. Our meeting was indeed blessed of the Lord. It was sweet and harmonious: a blessed foretaste of the future union and harmony with the saints of all ages and Jesus Christ our King, so long foretold by holy men of old. Thank God for the harmony of feeling and action at this last gathering of the remnant at B. Creek. I feel the effect of it yet. How evident it is, that God's blessing and peace flow into the hearts of his willing and obedient children who "keep his Sabbaths and reverence his Sanctuary." How cheering and manifest also was the oneness of feeling in our meetings for business; and the responses by letter, and in the meeting to the call for a power press, of $100 subscriptions, until $1600 were freely offered, five of the subscribers having but recently embraced the truth, two of them but a few weeks since. The calls also for tent, and other operations, so readily met, all indicate the oneness of feeling to carry out and finish the last work of God. What a startling and solemn thought! that the remnant of the saints are understandingly and cheerfully appropriating of their substance for a power press, to help move out the loud cry of the last message of mercy, to sound the last notes of warning to a fallen world! When the loud cry of the First Angel's Message was given in the Fall of 1844, it was indeed thrilling and soul-stirring. Two power presses were kept in continual operation in Boston night and day, until about 100,000 copies of the last number of the paper were finished, which closed up that prophecy forever. Judging from the past and present messages, how evident it is that we are now coming to the crisis. The Lord help the remnant to get ready for the closing scenes of mortality. The evening we reached here, six of our brethren, some of whom had traveled on foot from thirty-five to fifty miles to attend the conference, stopped at Bro. Campbell's. While praying the Spirit of the Lord came upon us, and Bro. C.'s daughter was converted, and declared that henceforward she would keep the commandments of God. We had a good time. Praise the Lord! The friends that invited us to come to Waldron the second time, opened the way in a district schoolhouse about three miles east of the former place. We preached nine times to interesting audiences, with increasing interest, from Wednesday evening till First-day evening. The major portion of our hearers admitted the truth; and many said, If any day was the Sabbath it was the seventh. Several declared their intentions to keep it henceforward. Four send for the weekly Review. At the close of one of our meetings one who had listened very attentively, cordially invited us to visit him at his home, about a mile and a half distant. On my way here I had a very pleasant interview and season of prayer with him and his family. He had professed to believe in Universalism. Said he, I never saw the Bible doctrine in this light before. Said he, I want the truth, and I believe the seventh day is the Sabbath, and gave his name for the paper. I have appointed to commence a series of meetings in East Windsor this evening. JOSEPH BATES. Windsor, Eaton Co., Mich., Apr. 22d, 1857.