Earlier text: Words of Instruction to Physicians and NursesSanitarium, Cal., June 7, 1911. Stonewall Jackson Harris, San Francisco, Cal. Yesterday I received your letter dated May 30, and the little booklet containing the statements regarding the Harris Company, which you say you699 wrote for publication in the Signs of the Times and the Watchman. You say in your letter that you are getting out 35,000 copies of this statement to send out to our people, and you ask me to read the statement, and to ask the Lord to show me if this is His work. In answer to your questions, Brother Harris, I am instructed to say to you that God is not leading you in your large plans and speculations. I have been instructed that we should not accept your representations and plans and methods for obtaining money for the advancement of the work of the third angel’s message. That which you suppose to be light from the Lord is a device of the enemy of souls to lead you and others out of the way of the Lord. Your proposals should not be encouraged by our people. Again and again in the experience of the church, the servants of God have been called to meet deceptions in various forms that have crept in among the people to lead them astray and spoil their Christian experience. As we have sought the Lord for instruction concerning these delusions, I have been instructed that they were deceptions of the enemy by which he designed to lead men and women away from the sacred truth of the word of God, which must ever be their guide, into strange and forbidden paths. The enemy is well pleased when, by means of wonderful representations, he can mislead church-members and persuade them to receive impressions regarding their work that bring dishonor to the cause of God. You endeavor to reach correct decisions regarding religious duties, and to make decisions regarding business enterprises, by the tossing up of a coin, and letting the position in which it falls decide what course you shall pursue. I am instructed to say that we are not to give encouragement to any such methods. They are too common, too much like sleight-of-hand movements. They are not of the Lord, and those who depend upon them for direction will meet with failure and disappointment. Being nothing more than a matter of chance, the influence of adopting such tests regarding duty is calculated to lead the mind to depend on chance and guesswork, when all our work and plans for work should be established on the sure foundation of the word of God. The people of God can come to a correct understanding of their duty only through sincere prayer and earnest seeking for the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. When they seek aright for instruction concerning their course of action, these strange and unreliable methods will not be accepted by them. They will then be saved from haphazard work, and from the confusion that is ever the result of depending on human devisings. Brother Harris, the methods by which you design to raise means for the advancement of the cause of God, as set forth in your statement, do not bear the divine credentials, and therefore should not be accepted by the people. If you persist in carrying out your ideas, your work will have to be met by the message that God has given me. It is not by any such methods as you have adopted that God makes known701 His will to His children. These sleight-of-hand methods are the devices of the enemy to work on human hearts and lead them from God into deception and confusion. The work of God for this time is not to be supported by the results of wild speculation. God would have our energies drawn out, not in a speculative experience that will lead souls on to Satan’s ground, but in honest, hard work that produces beneficial results, and in earnestly seeking Him to know His will. Here we shall find certainty, and not guesswork. Those who seek the Lord with all the heart, will obtain a knowledge of their duty, and the assurance that the prayers of God’s faithful people are honored in heaven. Again and again testimonies of reproof have been given to the church to correct the spirit of speculation. Now I say to you, my brother, the Lord did not guide your mind when you were led to take up the work you are now doing. My testimony to you and to those who are united with you in your plans and speculations, is that you are pursuing a course which, if continued, will lead men and women away from obedience to God’s commandments. You and those associated with you need to learn to distinguish between the interposition of Providence and the workings of a deceived mind. Should the plan you are following for the raising of means be adopted by our people, a state of things would be brought in that would result in great confusion and loss of faith, and many souls would be702 hindered from reaching that sanctification of heart and purpose that God requires in His church. The spirit of venture that you are manifesting is not in accordance with the Spirit of the Lord. If persisted in, it will bring disappointment and confusion to those who are caught with the ideas you present. Again and again in the past experience of the church, men have led out in speculations similar to those you are now undertaking, led on by the hope of securing great gain for the advancement of the cause of God. But after many trials, and the investment of time and money that brought in little returns, they were led to see that this is not the way of the Lord for His people. I have not time to tell of the many different ways in which men sought to obtain means by wrong methods, and whose course the Lord has corrected by testimonies of reproof and instruction. I was instructed that our conference presidents and those who hold responsible positions in the work should be careful to give no encouragement to the speculative plans for the securing of means, for by these plans Satan will work to confuse the judgment. I was shown that in these last days there will arise many deceptive doctrines. Those who stand as teachers in the cause of truth need to learn the way of the Lord, that they may not be easily deceived by the agencies of evil. The work that is so essential to be done in these last days calls for earnest effort, and lives consecrated to entire obedience to the will and ways of God. To our people I will say, Let none be led from the sound, sensible principles that God has laid down for the guidance of His people, to depend for direction on any such device as the tossing up of a coin. Such a course is well pleasing to the enemy of souls; for he works to control the coin, and through its agency works out his plans. Let none be so easily deceived as to place confidence in any such tests. Let none belittle their experience by resorting to cheap devices for direction in important matters connected with the work of God. The Lord works in no haphazard way. Seek Him most earnestly in prayer. He will impress the mind, and will give tongue and utterance. The people of God are to be educated not to trust in human inventions and uncertain tests as a means of learning God’s will concerning them. Satan and his agencies are always ready to step into any opening to be found that will lead souls away from the pure principles of the word of God. The people who are led and taught of God will give no place to devisings for which there is not a “Thus saith the Lord.” Let all who claim to be preparing for the coming of the Lord humbly seek Him for a knowledge of His will, and for a spirit that is willing to walk in all the light He sends. As a people we have had much instruction regarding our duty to depend upon God for wisdom and counsel. Let us go to the word of God for instruction. “Search the Scriptures,” the Saviour said; “for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.” We704 need to humble our hearts and purify our souls daily, learning at all times to walk by the faith of the Son of God. My brethren and sisters, leave all minor tests that you may be tempted to make, and test your spirit by the witness of the word of God. Study that word, that you may know the character and will of God. It is positively essential that every believer make the truths of the Bible his guide and safeguard. To every young man and woman, and to those of advanced years, I testify that the study of the Word is the only safeguard for the soul who would remain steadfast unto the end.
ELLEN G. WHITE. Sanitarium, Cal., June 15, 1911. To the Leading Men in Our California Conferences: Instruction has been given, warning our people against uniting in the least degree with those who advocate false theories. He who allows his sympathies and interests to be enlisted in a work that is opposed to the teachings of the word of God, is on dangerous ground, where he is surrounded by the agencies of evil. Satan is working with great determination to introduce among God’s peculiar people strange and forbidden things. Commercialism threatens to absorb energies and means that should be given to the work of God for this time. Of those who are advocating these enterprises, God declares,705 “I have not sent them.” Shall the people who have had great light, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little, yield to the temptations of the enemy on this point, and refuse to heed the warnings of God to them? So vast is the field, and so subtle and untiring are the efforts of the enemy of souls, that God’s people need to be very watchful, and to labor earnestly and unceasingly to counterwork evil in the church and in the world. Satan and his agencies are laying out special lines of labor for men who can be controlled by his power. Deceptions of every degree and kind are arising, so that if it were possible, Satan would deceive the very elect. There will be lords many, and gods many. The message will be heard, Lo, here is Christ, and lo there! With the same subtle power with which he plotted for the rebellion of holy beings in heaven before the fall, Satan is working to-day to operate through human beings for the fulfilment of his purposes of evil. I ask our people to study the 28th chapter of Ezekiel. The representation here made, while it refers primarily to Lucifer, the fallen angel, has a yet broader significance. Not one being, but a general movement, is described, and one that we shall witness. A faithful study of this chapter should lead those who are seeking for truth to walk in all the light that God has given to His people, lest they be deceived by the deceptions of these last days. The prophet Ezekiel writes: “The word of the706 Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God; behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee; with thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: by thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. “Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.” Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the707 garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Lucifer was created perfect, but there came a time when iniquity was found in him. The prophet declares: “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” “Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.” God is sending warnings to His people that they may be kept from strange and forbidden things. Commercial plans are often laid and presented that will, if accepted, lead to the deception and confusion of the church. They are presented as something which will prove a great blessing to the work. This effort to press commercialism into the work, as something that will be of great service, an instrument of divine provision for the rapid advancement of the work, is a deception which threatens to ensnare many souls. Even now many are in danger. There are few who realize the evil that is working; yet these plans are surely the temptations of the enemy, and will prove ruinous to the spiritual experience of those who accept and follow them. Their purpose is to divert the minds of men and women from present and essential duties. I warn our people to seek the Lord in earnest, humble prayer, that Satan may not triumph in this evil design. Let all who desire to honor God refuse to accept presentations that are so evidently opposed to the ways of the Lord. By such methods as Brother Harris has presented, the truth we hold so sacred is misrepresented before the world. It is as if they say, Believers could not find a “Thus saith the Lord” that would satisfactorily explain their duty, and they are compelled to accept the chance methods adopted in gambling to direct their course of action. I was shown that I must warn our people against the evil that would result to those who allowed their interests to be caught by the spirit of commercialism709 and chance. They are elements by which Satan will if possible deceive the very elect; and by giving place to them believers open the door to great temptation. As a people we are to be wide-awake to the devices of the enemy, and take a sensible course. We are not to allow ourselves to be caught by the spirit of the world, where every scheme is being laid for the making of money, and where life is counted of little value. Let our people at this time consecrate themselves wholly to the Lord, and walk humbly with Him. They are to unite with heavenly beings for the upbuilding of the kingdom of Christ in the earth. Every sanctified agency is to be pressed into the service as a peculiar providence of God, to counterwork the work of those who, while claiming to be helping the cause of truth, are placing their powers under tribute to the plans of the enemy. The Lord is working by His divine power to keep His people from being overcome by the powers of evil. He desires that they shall recognize His intervention in their behalf, and accept His ways instead of the ways of the enemy. Those who follow Him in meekness and in singleness of heart, seeking daily for the sanctification of His Spirit, will not be led, through Satan’s devisings, to dishonor Him. To Brother Harris I would say: I have been instructed that the ideas you are presenting do not bear the divine credentials; and I must warn our people not to accept and endorse your work. It is not the Spirit of the Lord that has placed this710 burden upon you, but another spirit; and therefore your work can not be accepted as a God-appointed one. God has not given you instruction to secure means in the way you propose; nor does He direct you by the tossing up of a piece of silver. He could not do this and honor the sacred truths of His word. By the course you adopt, the precious truth regarding God’s guidance of His people is cheapened, and the spiritual experience lowered to the level of common things. Those who follow man-made tests to decide their duty, will bring into their experience that which will destroy their pure faith in the Word, a practical knowledge of the teachings of which every soul must have who would perfect his Christian character. The Lord has shown me that your religious experience is becoming a matter of chance. It savors of gambling. I beseech you that you let this experience go no farther. You are educating church-members to think it a virtue to obtain money in a way that should not be admitted among us. The methods you are advocating for the raising of means should never come into our ranks at all, much less be carried to the lengths to which you and your associates have taken them. I have been instructed that the ideas you are advocating have in them the seeds of the sinful thing that destroyed Lucifer. The spirit that worked in Lucifer when he allowed ambition and selfish desire to rule, has been working to control you. If you continue to present these ideas before711 believers, you will be instructing them in the same way that led to the loss and ruin of heavenly beings. In all our churches there are souls of little experience who are ready to receive new ideas from those who come in among them. Many times there have arisen among us those who have presented human devisings which have belittled the sacred truth we hold and worked harm to the experience of many souls. Should the fallacies that you are following be accepted as coming from the Lord, many honest souls would be deceived and drawn into temptation, because they are led away from trusting in the Lord’s plan for the assurance of eternal life. By continuing in your present course, you will not only endanger your own soul, but will sow seeds in other lives that will spoil their hope of everlasting life. My brother, I earnestly appeal to you to study the word of God, and let His light come into your mind. I am intensely anxious that our people shall not be corrupted by your commercial spirit and by your representations regarding the Lord’s methods of guidance. God condemns the spirit of chance that is revealed in your work. He forbids that we give such a lesson, by precept or example, to any souls, believers or unbelievers; for it is an evil that will spoil the experience of all who allow its principles to rule. It is dishonoring to God for men to make such radical movements as you have made without any higher direction than you have had. You rejoice at the outlook as if you knew that the Lord stood712 by your side to guide your hand as you make your test. But this is not the method by which matters of eternal interest are to be decided. Rather it is one of Satan’s schemes for binding about the work of God. Let not the idea be entertained that any form of chance work is the dictation of the Holy Spirit; I know it is not. I can speak decidedly regarding this, for I know whereof I speak. The act of tossing up a piece of silver to gain a knowledge of duty, shows the judgment of a man who needs to come to God in confession, and in simplicity and faith to seek the Lord for true guidance. . . . A right acceptance of the principles of truth will always result in transformation of character. Christians need to study well the character of Christ, that their lives may be cleansed from sin, and fashioned after the perfect life of Christ. In the home and in the church the converting power of God is needed. The Lord requires that every professing Christian shall be self-denying and self-sacrificing. It is not possible to receive and obey the words of Christ without having the character conformed to the likeness of Christ. If we are wearing Christ’s yoke, we shall be meek and lowly as Christ was. The grace of Christ will refine the soul, establish faith, and give clear judgment, that the life of the believer may be brought into harmony with the divine. Men and women have been bought with a price, even the precious blood of Christ. Those who accept Christ are to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, remembering that it is God that worketh713 in them to will and to do of His good pleasure. Thus they are laborers together with God. Think of the position we occupy in the sight of heaven. How does it appear, think you, to Christ and heavenly beings, for those who have divine power at their command to resort for guidance to the chance result of the tossing up of a piece of silver? Satan works to control such actions to carry out his purposes, and he rejoices when he is given opportunity of doing so. Let us as a people break every yoke. The Spirit of the Lord must work decidedly to refine and cleanse and sanctify, that every human obstruction may be removed. Human judgment must be brought into perfect accord with a “Thus saith the Lord.” There is no chance work with God in the directing of His people. Let us never forget that His providences guide in every circumstance of life, and that in the determination of important questions regarding His work and people there is no uncertainty. Remembering this, God’s people will estimate at their true value such movements as this in which Brother Harris is now engaged. Let our people reason from cause to effect, and place their true value upon human devisings for which there is not a “Thus saith the Lord.” Our faith in Christ is not to be exchanged for any human device or plan. Those who have faith in Him who came to the world to give men a perfect example, will never resort to a game of chance for an understanding of their duty. God is not714 glorified by such experiments. His perfect way is to be studied and understood by a prayerful searching of the word of God. Christ came to the world to be our example. He lived and suffered and died that we might be perfect in every condition of life and under every circumstance. It is to be our first consideration, how we may express the character of Christ in our lives. It is because of sin that men can not offer to God the sacrifice of a holy life; but in Christ we have a perfect pattern as well as a sin-pardoning Saviour. Let the men and women who are entrusted with sacred responsibilities show forth the meekness and wisdom of Christ. In the study of the Word will be found that which will bring blessing and hope to old and young, teaching them how to perfect holiness in the fear of God. Let none question or underestimate the precious privileges which the children of God possess as members of the body of Christ.
ELLEN G. WHITE. The Purchase of Land at Loma Linda
AND
Letters from Mrs. E. G. White
“Here we have our school, and here many important interests are centered. We must not permit elements to come in that will tend to hinder and retard the work. It will be pleasing to the Lord if we keep our eyes wide open, and are fully awake, ready to take advantage of every circumstance that will place us in right relation to the work we have to do. It would be a grievous error for us to allow to pass an opportunity to secure this property, for we might never again have such an opportunity. I advise you to secure it before it becomes so expensive that you could not afford to buy it.” The College Press, Loma Linda, California, 1912 In order that the legal constituency of the College of Medical Evangelists and also our brethren in general might have a clear and correct knowledge of the real estate owned and controlled by the corporation and under lease and contract of sale to the same, as well as the instruction and successive actions that have led up to such purchases, contracts, and leases, we have compiled this leaflet from the numerous Testimonies and documents on file in the business manager’s office. A careful perusal and study of the leaflet will help to an understanding of the motives that have controlled the brethren in what they have done, and will also aid in our effort to determine what policy to pursue in the further purchase or control of lands adjacent to the institution.
GEO. A. IRWIN,
President, Board of Trustees
College of Medical Evangelists
March, 1912. The Purchase of Land at Loma Linda
At the time of the original purchase of Loma Linda, there were seventy-six acres in the tract. The hill contained twenty-three acres. About one-half of this was occupied by the buildings, walks, carriage drives, lawns, ornamental shrubbery, and beautiful shade trees; and the other half was orchard and garden. There were eight or ten acres of thrifty orange trees about eight years old, and two or more acres of other fruit,—apricots, plums, figs, apples, pears, and peaches. The remaining fifty-three acres, a strip of fertile valley land of varying width, and about three-fifths of a mile in length, lay to the north of the hill and south of the railway line. Of this, three acres was apricot orchard, fifteen acres was in alfalfa, three or four acres were devoted to the stables, barns, chicken run, and vegetable gardens, and the remainder was grain land. No sooner was it decided by the conference to go forward with the purchase of the place, than a plan was suggested of selling off a portion of the acreage to help pay for the balance. By those immediately connected with the institution, it was felt that the future development of the work would require all the land we had and more. Regarding this, Mrs. E. G. White, in a letter written from San Jose July 5, 1905, expressed her views in very positive terms, as follows: “I just thought to write you a few lines to assure you that not one foot of that land is to be sold to raise money. We will hire money at the bank rather than that this shall be done.” At this time a few small pieces aggregating about719 three and one-half acres, which were necessary to square out the property, we purchased for $700. A number of valuable properties near the Sanitarium could have been purchased at that time at forty per cent of their present values. About a year later a Mr. Bell, who owned the thirty acres lying just east of the Loma Linda tract and south of the railway, offered it to us at what we thought was a very low price. The brethren considered the matter and felt favorable to its purchase. As Sister White also favored it, the land was purchased at less than $100 an acre. Since that time we have several times been offered $300 an acre for a portion of it. Shortly afterward, Sister White visited Loma Linda and asked to see the piece of property we had purchased. As she viewed it from the top of the Sanitarium building for some little time, she said, “Well, we are thankful we have it,” but turning and looking north she waved her hand in front of the building and said, “The angel said, ‘Get all of it’.” On remarking to Sister White how difficult it had been to secure what we already had, she simply said, “Well, we shall be thankful for what we have,” and turned and went to her room. We did not know how much was included in her remark, “Get all of it,” but supposed she referred to the Kelly tracts in front of the Sanitarium on which we had secured prices when we first purchased Loma Linda, and on which we had really held an option for a time, thinking possibly the brethren might consider purchasing a portion of these tracts. One tract of one hundred and fifty acres lying west of Pepper Drive (Loma Linda avenue), between the Southern Pacific Railway and Colton720 avenue, was held at $18,000. Another tract of fifty-five acres, lying east of Pepper Drive from the railroad to the bridge, including the orange orchard and house, was held at $20,000. The next tract, twenty-seven acres, lying east of Pepper Drive, running from the creek to Colton avenue, was held at $2,250. Another three-corner tract of about twenty acres, lying north of the Southern Pacific Railway, extending to the eastern line of the thirty acres that we purchased on the south side of the railway, was offered us for $750. This twenty-acre piece I urged one of our brethren to purchase and hold for us, but because of the criticisms and misgivings regarding what had already been done in securing the place, nothing was done. And so far as considering the purchase of the other pieces of property, it seemed entirely out of the question. Nothing more was said concerning the purchase of these properties until a few weeks before the Loma Linda property was taken over by the Union and General Conferences at a meeting held at Loma Linda in May, 1910. In the meantime, the twenty-seven acres which could have been bought for $2,250, or nearly $85 an acre, had been sold, re-sold, sub-divided, and laid out into lots, many of which have changed hands at $200 and $250 a lot, or $800 to $1000 an acre. Our brethren who have desired to be near the Sanitarium have purchased most of these lots and built more than thirty cottages. The twenty-acre tract that we could have purchased for $750 has changed hands, and to protect ourselves from having a number of shanties built just opposite the depot, we were obliged to pay $300 for a little over an acre of the land. The balance I do not think could be purchased at less than $200 an acre, or $3,600. Mr. Hazen Kelly, owner of the fifty-five acres lying on the east side of Pepper Drive, north of the railway, once offered us at $20,000, sold off eight acres, lying along the east side of Pepper Drive, at $400 an acre, to a number of our brethren. These eight acres have been divided and sub-divided and built on until there are now on this portion of land twenty-two cottages occupied by physicians and workers of the Sanitarium. On the west side of Pepper Drive, just north of the railway, the Kelly brothers sold off some ten acres to our brethren at from $200 to $400 an acre. The Sanitarium has since purchased back most of these small tracts at from $500 to $1,000 an acre. Just before the general meeting at Loma Linda held in May, 1910, when Sister White was again with us, she expressed the conviction that we should secure the property in front of the Sanitarium. We told her it had nearly doubled in value since we purchased Loma Linda. Nevertheless she expressed her anxiety that we should secure these lands so close to the institution. We then obtained an option on the one hundred and fifty acres lying west of Pepper Drive, or that portion that remained unsold, at $250 an acre. While waiting for the general meeting to convene in May, the parties were about to back out on their option, so the local Board took the matter under advisement and compromised by securing thirty-six acres of the property lying north of the railway, at $225 an acre, and purchased most of the acreage that had been sold off in front of this piece along Pepper Drive, paying $500 and $600 an acre for it. Early in 1911 the remainder of the Kelly tract, comprising eighty-six acres lying west of Pepper Drive and south of Colton avenue, was offered to722 us at $300 an acre. This was an advance of $50 an acre. At the annual meeting of the constituency held late in March, 1911, the importance of securing this property was presented. A number looked over the tract, but no action was taken. At the close of this meeting Sister White visited Paradise Valley. Within a few days she returned, saying that her work at Loma Linda was not yet finished. Soon after her return she took up the matter of the purchase of the balance of the Kelly tract of eighty-six acres west of Pepper Drive. Three or four times she rode over and around the property, each time stating she had been instructed that we should secure the land adjoining the Sanitarium, and urging that we ask the brethren to pray over the matter, so that we might have light to know what to do. She mentioned that we needed the property, and emphasized particularly the troubles that would come to us if others were allowed to secure the land and sell it to unbelievers who would crowd in about us. On one occasion she mentioned a scene that had passed before her of a village located in the valley, and serious difficulties coming to the work. At another time she mentioned that some of our aged people would want to make their home here, and she suggested that suitable ones might be permitted to build with the understanding that the buildings would be left to the institution. A number of the Board remaining at Loma Linda took counsel together, and felt they could do nothing then, as the constituency had considered the matter and had thought best not to purchase. Still Sister White urged that we pray over the matter and see if we could not get light. Finally, the day723 before she was leaving she called some of the leading brethren together, and although she was talking on other themes, her mind constantly referred to the land. From her remarks we quote the following: