Beerman, Marie
St. Helena, California
December 16, 1906
Portions of this letter are published in 6Bio 117.
My dear Sister:
I cannot express to you my heartfelt thankfulness to our heavenly Father that you can write such a beautiful letter, telling of your gratitude to God for your restoration. I praise the Lord with you for this blessed change—a miracle of the Lord’s loving-kindness. What a blessing your restoration to health will be to your family. The Lord will use you as His missionary. 21LtMs, Lt 392, 1906, par. 1
I should be pleased to know how you are situated as a family. Have you comfortable accommodations? I never want to feel again such sorrow as I have felt in your behalf. It seems to me that the Lord would have you in a field where you could use your capabilities and your knowledge of the truth in teaching the Bible to those who are ignorant. May the Lord guide you. I do not want to be your guide, because you have a higher Guide. 21LtMs, Lt 392, 1906, par. 2
I cannot write much. I have been sick, and am still sick, from the effects of colds caught while speaking in unventilated churches. Several weeks ago I went to San Francisco and spoke three times in our meetinghouse. While there I caught a very severe cold and was sick for a month. I had barely recovered from this attack when I consented to go to Oakland to spend Sabbath and Sunday. While there I spoke in the Congregational church, which our people are using for the present. I spoke in the afternoon. In the morning, Sabbath school and church service had been held, and the room had not been ventilated in the meantime. There were afterwards four hundred people present in the afternoon. I thought I could speak for only thirty minutes, but I spoke for an hour and a quarter. The Lord strengthened me wonderfully. But after a few days I began to suffer as I had after the trip to San Francisco, and I saw that I had again been poisoned by the unhealthful atmosphere. I have been sick for a week, but I am not suffering so much as I should if I did not have most thorough treatment every day. 21LtMs, Lt 392, 1906, par. 3
I am not discouraged. The Lord is my helper. The people in Oakland needed that which I gave them. Many bore testimony that the instruction was just what they needed. 21LtMs, Lt 392, 1906, par. 4
My sister, I have a desire to help you bear your burdens. Have you all my books? Tell me those that you have, so that I can send you those you have not. And which of our papers are you taking? Do you get the Review and Herald, the Signs of the Times, and the Youth’s Instructor? Let me hear from you soon after you receive this letter. Be of good courage in the Lord, and be joyful in God. 21LtMs, Lt 392, 1906, par. 5
Your sister. 21LtMs, Lt 392, 1906, par. 6