Lunt, Sister; Winslow, Sister
St. Helena, California
February 23, 1906
Previously unpublished.
Dear Sister Lunt and Sister Winslow:
I should be so much pleased to see you and talk with you. I received your present of a shawl, and I assure you that I very much appreciate it. It is durable, and yet very pretty. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 1
I should be so pleased if you could come to California and make me a visit. But if I never see your faces again, I shall look forward to the reunion that we shall have in the city of God. There we shall be for a thousand years, and then the city will come down to the place prepared for it—this earth, cleansed by fire from all impurity. Then we shall see what God has done for His people. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 2
I want to see Jesus in the life to come, but I know that I never shall unless I see Him here by faith and here reflect His divine image. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 3
I greatly desire that your husband and children may obtain a genuine experience in the truth, an experience that will prepare them to enter the city that is to be the home of all who have accepted Christ and lived lives of obedience to the law of God. I want every member of your family to sing the song of redemption in the city of God. We see that the wicked are doing wickedly. I wish O so much that all the members of your family shall enter the pearly gates of the city of God. I earnestly hope that the father and mother may be able to say, “Here are we and the children that Thou hast given us.” [Hebrews 2:13.] The time left us in which to prepare is very short. Wickedness is increasing, just as the Lord Jesus declared that it would. As it was in the days of Noah, when the flood came and swept away the inhabitants of the earth, so it is today. Even the remarkable evidence of the dumb animals quietly entering the ark two and two, under the invisible leadership of God, failed to impress the hardened inhabitants of the Noachic world. They did not humble themselves before God, but made light of Noah and his family. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 4
After Noah had entered the ark, and the hand of God had closed the door, one week went by without rain; and during that time the people mocked and derided Noah. But at the end of the week, rain began falling, gently at first, but increasing in power, and continuing until every living thing on the earth was destroyed. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 5
There is to be another general destruction of the wicked. Steadily and surely has iniquity increased and is still increasing. God has said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” [Genesis 6:3.] Already the restraint of His Spirit is being withdrawn. “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord, which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” [Jeremiah 9:23, 24.] 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 6
You may have constant comfort and hope and courage. Let us all develop characters that will give us a fitness for a place in those mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him. If we purify our souls in obeying the truth, we shall know the meaning of the promise, “If I go away, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” [John 14:3.] Let us get all the comfort possible from the grand and blessed thought that where our Saviour is, there we shall be also. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 7
John writes, “In Him was life, and the light was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.” “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” [John 1:4, 5, 14.] If we would only receive the blessings that Christ would bestow on us, we would have a heaven here below to go to heaven in. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 8
“And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is pure.” [1 John 2:28; 3:1-3.] 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 9
Our time to prepare for heaven is short. Let us closely examine ourselves; for if any of us fail, it will be at the loss of the life that measures with the life of God. May God help us to make sure work for eternity. We cannot afford to make a mistake in this matter. Oh, when we meet in the city of God, saved, eternally saved, we shall fear never more. Never again will the enemy tempt us, and we shall forever do God’s will. I entreat every member of your family to stand wholly on the Lord’s side. Christ laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown and clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might become a partaker of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 10
May the Lord bless you and strengthen you as a family, is my prayer. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 11
March 29, 1906
I have recently been reading over the record of our experiences in the early years, when Brother Howland’s family and our family were so closely related. The scenes that then took place are still as clear in my mind as if they had but recently taken place. How few we were then and how deeply interested we were in one another. Do you remember how on one occasion several came on foot from North and South Paris, a distance of more than forty miles, to attend a meeting? How we did appreciate the meetings held then. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 12
How wonderfully the work has grown since then, and how marvelously the Lord has worked for us. I want to tell you some of our recent experiences in establishing and advancing the work in Southern California. In His wisdom the Lord has prepared the way for us to work this important field by enabling us to obtain buildings in which to carry on our work. At Glendale, eight miles from Los Angeles, we have a beautiful sanitarium. The building is an imposing looking structure, worth a great deal more than we paid for it. There are only five acres of land connected with it, but the property is in a rural district, away from the noise and confusion of the city. A fine streetcar line gives the sanitarium convenient access to Los Angeles. This institution has been successful from the first and is now filled with patients. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 13
Sixty miles from Los Angeles, we have another sanitarium, called the Loma Linda Sanitarium. This property is only a short distance from Redlands, Riverside, and San Bernardino. These are all beautiful new cities. When President Roosevelt, on a trip to California, first saw Redlands, he took off his hat, and said, “This is glorious. I never imagined anything so beautiful.” 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 14
Loma Linda is one of the most favorable locations for sanitarium work that I have ever seen. The property was purchased and the buildings erected by a company of physicians. They failed to make it a financial success, and not long ago the property was offered to us for forty thousand dollars. It cost the original investors one hundred and fifty thousand. There are seventy-six acres of land, one large main building, five cottages, and several other buildings. I will send you a booklet, which will more fully describe the place. We feel that the Lord has specially favored us in enabling us to obtain this property. 21LtMs, Lt 130, 1906, par. 15