The Los Angeles Meeting In Simpson Auditorium

Elder Andross, president of the Southern California Conference, had pressed Ellen White to speak a second time in Los Angeles, on this occasion in a public hall to the people who could not possibly crowd into a small meetinghouse—people who would count it a privilege to hear her. “I was then suffering—sick upon my bed in Loma Linda,” she wrote to W. C., “but I consented.”—Letter 151, 1910. She then told of how the Lord had healed her to fill the appointment. Commenting further on such situations, she said:6BIO 296.1

I have my sick and suffering times, but whenever a call is made I get right up. I saw the Lord knows; He will strengthen me for the work. I am not feeling well, but when any calls come like this one, I shall be on my feet ready to speak.— Ibid.6BIO 296.2

So, regardless of her feelings, in response to the urgent invitation she planned to fill the appointment. But as the week wore on and the time to go to Los Angeles neared, she felt it would be presumptuous to leave Loma Linda. Communication with the conference president led her to send word that if it was at all reasonable, she would come. Friday morning, April 22, she went to Los Angeles, stayed at Glendale Sanitarium Friday night, and was driven to the hall on Sabbath morning. When she arrived, the hall was filled, and 200 people stood outside. “I could not tell what to do,” she wrote later.— Ibid. It was proposed that a few blocks away was a larger hall—the Simpson Auditorium. Hasty arrangements were made for its use, and the crowd flocked to the new location. The large number of people standing on the street at the first hall, and then 1,500 people walking the few blocks to the larger hall, must have made quite an impression on the people of Los Angeles. Soon the main floor and gallery were filled.6BIO 296.3

“The Lord gave me voice and clearness of mind,” wrote Ellen White of the experience, “as I spoke from the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy with portions from the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters.” For more than an hour she addressed the attentive audience. “The Lord gave me the freedom of His Holy Spirit, and many in the audience were deeply affected,” she reported.—Letter 146, 1910.6BIO 296.4

She commented concerning the actions of the conference president, “Elder Andross has done his part nobly.” She also thought of the man who with his automobile had taken her from one place to another. “I will send you a book,” she promised as they parted, “for you have waited upon us right attentively.” “Oh,” said he, “if you only knew what this occasion has been to me! It is the greatest blessing of my life.”—Letter 151, 1910.6BIO 296.5