Traveling For God

In December, 1856, James and Ellen White, with two others, traveled to Waukon, Iowa, to offer spiritual help to the believers. Severe winter snowdrifts blocked the roads. Few would have considered traveling those 200 miles in an open sleigh. Upon arrival at the Mississippi River, a violent rain had covered the river ice with about a foot of water. Several teams of horses had already broken through the ice.CS-SG 34.1

At the edge of the river, Brother Hart asked, “Is it Iowa, or back to Illinois? We have come to the Red Sea: shall we cross?” Mrs. White answered, “Go forward, trusting in Israel’s God.” (See A. W. Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventists, vol. 1, pp. 284, 285.)CS-SG 34.2

The following Sunday they continued on their way through bitterly cold weather. From Volney, Iowa, December 24, 1856, Ellen White wrote the following words to her three sons:CS-SG 34.3

“We are all quite well. Have had rather a tedious time getting thus far. Yesterday for miles there was no track. Our horses had to plough through snow, very deep, but on we came. O such fare as we have had on this journey. Last Monday we could get no decent food and tasted not a morsel with the exception of a small apple from morn until night. . . .CS-SG 34.4

“Last night we slept in an unfinished chamber, where there was an opening for the stovepipe running through the top of the house—a large space, big enough for a couple cats to jump out of.”—Letter 4, 1856.CS-SG 34.5