I have received and read your letter with surprise. I cannot sleep past twelve o’clock p.m. I am inquiring what I ought to do or say that will change the condition of your mind. I have had the most intense interest in your behalf, and may the Lord guide my pen. The Lord has made you a man of His appointment, and angels of God have been your helpers. I have written that the Lord has placed you in the very position that you are in, not because you are infallible but because He would work your mind by His Holy Spirit. It is the Lord who has placed you where you are to impart the truth, present the truth as it is in Jesus, in this period of the earth’s history. I know the position you are in, where such great and momentous responsibilities are entrusted to you.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 1

On no account should you be entangled and woven up in any work that will endanger your influence with Seventh-day Adventists, for the Lord has appointed you to fill a place of His appointment, to stand before the medical profession, not to be molded, but to mold human minds. Every day you are to be under the supervision of God. He is your Maker, your Redeemer. He has a work for you to do, not separated from Seventh-day Adventists, but in unity and harmony with them, to be a great blessing to your brethren in giving to them that knowledge which God has given you.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 2

We are God’s great building. Every stroke, every stone put into the building, is only a part of the whole. Every worker is himself to become just what God designs he should be in building his own life with pure, noble, upright deeds, that at the end he may be a symmetrical structure, a fair temple, honored by God and man. God must be in this work. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Through you He has worked, and will work, to <do> honor <to His name> by trusting to you <these> great responsibilities. “We are laborers together with God,” and God would use you and me and each individual who engages in His service. Each is to stand upon his watchtower and listen attentively to that which the Spirit has to say to him, for every word and act leaves an impress not only on our characters, but upon the characters of others engaged in the work.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 3

The Lord would have you stand forth as Daniel, every phase of your character under His own ministration, that day by day you may grow into a structure that will stand forth not as a perfect whole in itself, but, connected with the work of other chosen workmen, as a beautiful temple for the Lord, a living witness to the value, stability, and mobility of the man who keeps his eye single to the glory of God.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 4

Your faculties are separate and distinct, yet each is dependent for its success upon the other. So each day God works with His building, stroke upon stroke, to perfect the structure, which thus grows into a holy temple for the Lord. One stone mislaid affects the whole building. This figure represents human character, which is to be wrought upon, point by point. There is not to be a flaw in it, for it is the Lord’s building. Every stone must be perfectly laid, that it may endure the pressure placed upon it. God warns you and every worker to take heed how you build, so that your building may bear the test of storm and tempest because it is riveted to the eternal Rock. Take heed how you build. Every hour may be spent in placing the stone on the sure foundation, ready for the day of test and revelation, when we shall be seen just as we are.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 5

This warning God presents to me as essential in your case. He loves you with a love that is immeasurable. He loves your brethren in the faith, and He works with them to the same end that He works with you. His church upon the earth is to assume divine proportions before the world, as a temple composed of living stones, every stone emitting light. This building is to be the light of the world, a city set on an hill, which cannot be hid. It is composed of stones laid close together, stone fitting to stone, making a solid building. All the stones are not of the same form or shape. Some are large, some are small, but each has its own crevice to fill. And the value of each stone is determined by the light it reflects to the world. This is God’s plan, and He would have all who profess to believe His Word fill their respective places in the great, grand work for this time.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 6

We are, dear and much-beloved brother, living amid the perils of the last days. Every mental and physical power is to be cultivated, for all the powers are essential to make the church a building which will represent the wisdom and character of the great Designer. We are to cultivate the talents given us by God. They are His gifts, and are to be used in their right relation to each other so as to make a perfect whole. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; man makes the character. The mind is the Lord’s garden, and man must cultivate it earnestly in order to form a character after the divine similitude.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 7

The Lord has wrought with you, my much-respected brother, enabling you to act your part as His workman; but there are other workmen who must act their part as God’s agents, His members, who help to compose the whole body. <Bear in mind,> all are to be united as parts of a great machine. The Lord’s church is composed of His living, working agencies, who derive their power to act from the Author and Finisher of their faith. The great work resting upon God’s individual workers is to be carried forward in symmetrical harmony. There is a work for you to do. God has appointed you to do your work, as a physician and your brethren to do their work. You and your wife have been noble workers and have set a right example to the world. But God has also other instrumentalities which He uses to do their work, that all may become, through sanctification of the truth, members of Christ’s body, of His flesh, and of His bones. Representing Christ, we act for time and for eternity, and men, even worldly men, take knowledge that we have been with Jesus and learned of Him.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 8

God’s people are not to be in confusion, lacking order and harmony, consistency and beauty. The Lord is greatly dishonored when unity does not exist among His people. I have been sensibly impressed with the strife, discord, and emulation in society. Those who believe the truth for this time must know that truth is a unit. Spasms of feeling are not inspiration. The unity that God requires must be cultivated day by day. <The lips must be sanctified, the tongue, the voice, must be trained to do the right kind of service> if we would answer the prayer of Christ. The disunion that has existed among those who claim to believe the last message of mercy to be given to our world is a great hindrance to the advancement of our work. All are to be united in one as Christ is one with the Father, their powers, illuminated, inspired, and sanctified, making a complete whole. God is dishonored by the variance existing among His people. Those who love God and keep His commandments are not to draw apart but press together. <Philippians 2:1-4.>14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 9

The Lord does not forsake you, my brother. Bear in mind that this world is but the pilgrimage through which we are passing, that the future world is the home to which we are going. Have faith in God. If my words have wounded and bruised your soul, I am sorry, for I am wounded and bruised also. Our work, a strange work, a great work, given us by God, links us heart and soul together. You dare not throw off your armor. You must wear it till the end. When the Lord releases you, then it will be time for you to lay your armor at His feet. You have enlisted to the very close of the battle, and you would not disgrace yourself and dishonor God by deserting from the army. May the Lord open to you many matters which He has opened to me. Satan is watching his opportunity to dishonor the cause of God. I have been shown your peril, and your guardian angel preserving you again and again from yourself, keeping you from making shipwreck of faith. Lift up the standard, lift it up, and be not faint-hearted or discouraged.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 10

I cannot think that I have written anything to you that should make you write me such a letter. I know that at times I have greatly wondered how my brethren in America could think we could possibly make headway with nothing to create even a foundation for work. The providence of God has been opening the way, the people have been turning to us for light and knowledge, but we were not prepared to educate them.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 11

I have a letter written to you January 15, but find none written January 25. I shall look again carefully. In the letter written January 15 I refer to the publishing house and the working of men in that office. There were two articles I did not send, which were written in January. I read them, and thought that there might be a possibility of Dr. Kellogg or some one thinking I meant the sanitarium, when I did not refer to it at all, but to the dishonest measures which have been clearly specified again and again. I said, I have not strength to read those articles for this mail. I will read them and send them next week. I thought I would make their application definite. Is it possible that these articles went to you? I know not, unless you send me the original.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 12

Did I not send you a letter stating how the Lord had kept you from dishonoring Him in the time of test and trial, when so many failed? I certainly thought those letters went to you. The Lord would not send matters to you which were not true. Have not letters reached you, telling you how God had been leading you step by step, and that, as you looked to God in your critical operations, angels of God were standing by your side, and their hands were seen as your hand? Was not the statement made that God had put you in a position of trust, of wonderful responsibility, that through you He had wrought to remove prejudice from the minds of physicians and people of all countries, because your religion was respected and elevated, and God was honored? What you have applied to yourself regarding scheming and underhand work belongs where you know as well as I it belongs.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 13

The light given me by God, which I have written to Brother Moon and to Brother Irwin, and which they can show you, was that they should have helped you, that you should counsel together; that in the place of holding themselves aloof, they should have been your fellow helpers; that you were ordained by God to stand in a position of trust, that as you used your talents, God increased them, and that you needed help instead of censure.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 14

Please send me the letter which had led you to suppose that I have not confidence in you, for I cannot find it. In my intensity of desire that you should make straight paths for your feet, I have written earnest words, but never, never to denounce or condemn you. I thank the Lord every day for the Saviour’s keeping power. O that God would let you understand that I have not changed in the least in my faith or deep interest in you. I have had only an intense desire that you should stand in God, firm, tried, and true, for your own good and for the glory of God. I know that the Lord wants you to have the crown of victory. I thought to send you a cablegram this morning, but decided that the Lord could speak His word to you much better than a human agent could.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 15

The Lord loves you, the Lord upholds you. In God you can triumph. I have appreciated the confidence you have ever maintained in my humble self, as the Lord’s servant, who speaks and works His will. You have ever shown me respect. In return you have my sincere appreciation of the same. I would not wound or bruise your soul, but restore and heal. If I have spoken plainly to you, Dr. Kellogg, it is because I have seen dangers that you have not seen, and which I wished you to guard against.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 16

I thank you for your liberality in proposing to send means from yourself and your kind brother Willie, whom I have ever loved since he was a babe in his mother’s arms. The Lord loves him, and He would claim him as His own beloved son. He would have him take his position as His witness. By the Review of March 14, you will see that your words to me were not idle tales, that there was money in the Sabbathkeeping churches that could be invested in the work in Australia. This makes your donation, for which we thank you in behalf of the sanitarium. If you could now visit Australia, and give us the benefit of your talks for a short time, we would be so very, very glad. How would it do for you to undertake this journey. I would be so glad, and many others who know you have said the same. But do not send your gift, wait until there is a positive necessity. You are in debt yourself.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 17

And Willie—what shall I say? I appreciate his offer more than the value of the money, because he thus testifies he has confidence in the work we are seeking to advance. But I would not take your means. I never thought of such a thing as Willie or you making a personal donation. The light given me was that your influence would place the work where it would give speech and power to the medical missionary work in this country. Over and over again I have laid out our necessities quite distinctly to the General Conference, without one favorable response. Then light came to me to make an appeal to the managers of the sanitarium, because the Lord’s money was to come to us in Australia and England, that we might build humble houses of worship, a health home in Cooranbong, and a sanitarium near Sydney. We are now thinking of building a house of worship at Hamilton, Newcastle, one at Dora Creek, and one at Martinsville, six miles from here in the bush. The two last will be very humble houses.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 18

As yet we have received only two hundred and fifty pounds from you. Special direction was given in regard to the manufacturing of health foods, but lately we have not had money to invest in peanuts for our own family. We eat no meat or butter, and use very little milk in cooking. There is no fresh fruit at this season. We have a good yield of tomatoes, but our family think much of the nuts prepared in a variety of ways. <We use one fifth as much as the recipe specifies.> For many months my food has been uncooked tomatoes and bread.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 19

I cannot eat a great variety of food in the vegetable line. Sometimes I venture to go a little farther in taking dried peas, prepared as I had them prepared at the sanitarium. But it costs me too much. Gas accumulates and crowds my heart. We have nice string beans, but these I do not eat. I do not use potatoes. But I am so thankful that the Lord has given us enough to eat. There are poor families who do not have enough to satisfy hunger. I am thankful that I can eat my two meals, and feel in every way comfortable. Apples here are high, and of an inferior quality, but we shall soon have fresh oranges and lemons.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 20

We have a prospect of financial relief, but do not send our money to the Echo office, for they cannot relieve our necessities. They had to overdraw on their own account in the bank in order to get the last money sent us. Sara McEnterfer has had no pay for her last year’s work. We have had to dole out a few shillings at a time to our workmen. Brother Palmer, with whom we have just been talking, said he managed to keep one shilling now, whereas for many days he had only sixpence, while five hundred pounds were to be paid to the workmen on the main school building.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 21

We thank the Lord that now the sanitarium will be built. You know something of what that will cost. The hospital must go right up, else we fear we shall bury Sara. She is supposed to be the most successful physician in treating the sick. She has been working over the sick night and day, and she is very much worn. Last Sabbath she had an exhaustive sleep that nearly cost her her life. She slept fourteen hours, and could not be awakened. Her breath was almost gone. She has not appeared like herself since. We want that hospital so much.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 22

I would say again, I have had no thought of you taking from your personal funds for me to use in the work here, and I am not now compelled to do this. I am so glad. The word comes that means has been sent to us, but as yet nothing has come except what you have sent. We live in prospect of some financial help. If we once become established, I think we shall get along nicely. In our keen necessity and almost despair, I may have written too strongly, and not as guardedly as I should have written. But I have felt for the suffering cause of God. We are trying to bring souls into the truth, and the representation they see of our work is so hopeless, as though the Lord did not favor His commandment-keeping people. When the pictures of our poverty and inability to do what ought to be done was presented before me, and the instruction was given me to call for means to cultivate the Lord’s vineyard in this new world, I felt ashamed, and yet I knew I could and must press the matter; for the Lord would move upon hearts to do this.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 23

I am pleased that you can dispose of my place in Battle Creek. The mortgage will cut out quite a slice, but I will probably have fifteen hundred dollars. Five hundred of this must go to build a small cottage for Brother and Sister Belden. Both are quite incapacitated <as far as means is concerned> by their stay in Norfolk Island. We support them. The money I receive will allow me to build them a comfortable house. Brother Belden works a little, but he had been very sick and is yet far from well. He has nothing at all to depend on. But they want for nothing, and shall be cared for as long as I and they shall live.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 24

I have received no letter from Edson for some time. I know not where he is. I see him in my dreams very busy getting out a book, but this is all I know. Forgive me for taking up so much of your time to read this letter. I will not write as much as I have done. I shall only write when I am charged to write.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 25

In much love and sorrow because I have caused you sorrow.14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, par. 26

Lt 72, 1899

Lt 73a, 1899