The Summer Work

She was invited to attend the Los Angeles camp meeting in mid-August. Writing to the president of the Pacific Union Conference she explained: “I would say that unless the Lord gives me clear evidence that it is my duty to attend the Los Angeles camp meeting, I shall not venture to leave my home.”6BIO 132.7

And then with a veiled reference as to one reason she felt this way—situations that would intensify during the next few months and reach their climax at the turn of the year—she wrote:6BIO 133.1

In the meetings I would be called upon to meet that which is not in harmony with the work of the Lord in these last days, and which is contrary to the light God has given me. These experiences always cause me great suffering of mind. Yet if the Lord reveals to me that it is my duty to attend this meeting, I am willing to go.—Letter 224, 1907.6BIO 133.2

What she referred to here was what she at times denominated as “kingly power” exercised by some called to executive positions in the work of God. Contending with both the stress of this growing peril and the many burdens as the Lord's messenger, together with her physical infirmities, Ellen White remained close to her comfortable Elmshaven home through the rest of the summer months.6BIO 133.3