Chapter 22—A Christmas Long to be Remembered

“A special burden rests upon me for the young people,” Ellen White said to her husband. “I long to see them choose Christ for their Saviour. Let us especially work for them during these meetings that we shall hold.”HMes 122.1

Appointments had been made for meetings to be held with several churches and companies of Sabbathkeepers. Mrs. White was sick with a severe cold, and as it was winter, some thought she should not go.HMes 122.2

“I dare not consult my own feelings,” she told these friends. “Our appointments are out, and if it is possible, we must go.”HMes 122.3

The first day they traveled fifty miles with their horse and buggy to Monterey, Michigan, and they were blessed and strengthened as they went on their journey. The next day they began to hold meetings which were especially for the children and young people. Mrs. White spoke to them on the subject “What Shall I Do to Be Saved?” and all those who wanted to be Christians and desired the prayers of God’s people were invited to occupy the front seats.HMes 122.4

This was hard for the boys and girls to do. Mrs. White knew that it would be hard for them to rise while everyone was looking at them, and walk down to those front seats.HMes 122.5

“If they can only take this first step they will gain strength to take the next,” Mrs. White said to her husband as they planned the meeting. “For by so doing they testify to all present that they choose to leave sin and the service of Satan and become Christ’s followers.”HMes 122.6

One after another came forward until nearly the whole Sabbath school who were old enough to know what sin was had filled the front seats. James and Ellen White were so happy that they felt like taking those dear children in their arms and carrying them to the feet of Jesus.HMes 123.1

“We feel sure that Jesus would say, ‘Son, daughter, thy sins be forgiven thee,’” she said to the children.HMes 123.2

When the meeting was over, the boys and girls did not forget that they had promised to follow Jesus. They wanted to be sure that their sins were confessed and forgiven. All those who could, went to the home of one of the believers and held a meeting of their own, where they prayed for one another and for themselves. Later Mr. White spoke to these children on the subject of baptism. Each child rose and with tears gave his testimony that he wished to be a Christian and be baptized. Mrs. White listened with gladness to these testimonies. She felt that the long hard trip they had taken to meet with these people was well worth while. “I believe angels of God bore those short, broken testimonies to heaven, and they were recorded in the books of God’s remembrance,” she wrote in her diary.HMes 123.3

In a few days arrangements were made for a baptism, and ten girls stood ready to enter the water to receive baptism. One of these girls had been so afraid of the water all her life that she could not make herself even come near it. Now she stood with her face turned away from the stream, too frightened to look at the water or watch her friends receive baptism.HMes 123.4

All had been baptized except the poor frightened girl, and she turned away, giving up to her terror of the water. Mrs. White felt that this was the way Satan had of keeping her from giving herself to Christ, and that if the girl left without being baptized she would never have strength to follow the example of her Saviour. She gently urged the girl to come to the edge of the water. Still she hesitated.HMes 123.5

Mr. and Mrs. White walked beside the girl and led her toward the stream while their hearts were lifted up to God to take away her fear of water. Finally the girl stepped to the edge of the stream and dipped her hands into the water. “In the name of the Lord, move forward,” said Mr. White. The girl calmly went into the water and was baptized. Calmly she came out of the water, happy that she had overcome her dread.HMes 125.1

The next morning the girl came running over to the house where Mr. and Mrs. White were staying. Her face was lighted up with happiness. “I am so glad that you didn’t leave me alone, just because I was afraid,” she said. “I am happy that I have done this for Jesus.” Mr. and Mrs. White were happy, too, that she had won a precious victory over her fears, and had obeyed the Lord’s command.HMes 125.2

The meetings for young people continued, and the next day five young men were baptized. “It was an interesting sight,” Ellen White wrote, “to see these young men as they stood side by side all about of the same age and size, and professing their faith in Christ and taking the solemn vow upon them to leave sin and the world, from henceforth to tread the narrow path to heaven.”HMes 125.3

Mr. and Mrs. White went on from this place to others, and at each little church where they held meetings especially for the young people many were converted and baptized. When they returned home again they felt that this was indeed a journey never to be forgotten.HMes 125.4

Some time after this, Mr. and Mrs. White went to New Hampshire and visited the little church at Washington. At this place there were a number of children and young people, but none of them were really converted. One strong young man had not given his heart to Jesus because he had seen many faults in the older church members. He knew that his own father, who was the choir leader, had a sin which he thought no one knew anything about. As the young man worked with him in the woods he saw the telltale brown stain in the snow, which his father had tried to cover up; so he knew that he was secretly using tobacco.HMes 125.5

At the Sabbath morning meeting Mrs. White spoke to a number of persons that she previously had seen in vision and for whom she had messages of reproof or counsel. While she was speaking, a thought suddenly flashed into the young man’s mind. “I wish she would speak to my father and tell him about his sin. I would be sure that no one had told her.”HMes 126.1

As if in answer to this unspoken wish Mrs. White turned to the father. “Brother,” she said, “I was shown your case. You are a slave to tobacco.” Then she told of his use of tobacco and of how he was hiding this sin and thought no one knew. She described his feelings and actions even better than he himself could have described them.HMes 126.2

The face of the young man lighted up. “Only an angel could have told her that,” he thought. “Indeed this message is from God.”HMes 126.3

Among the older members of the church there was a turning to God. They confessed their sins to God and to one another. “Now,” said Mrs. White, “we must work especially for the young people. They need our help.”HMes 126.4

As the meetings were held, one after another the young people gave their hearts to God. At a meeting on Christmas Day thirteen of the children and young men and women rose and expressed the desire to be followers of Christ.HMes 126.5

One of the young men who had had no interest in religion was Fred Mead. He had been what the neighbors called a wild boy. Now he took his stand for Christ in the meeting, and he was eager that others should do as he had done. When his cousin, Orville Farnsworth, the son of William Farnsworth, came to his home to bring Christmas presents for the family, Fred invited him into his room. There he made an earnest appeal to Orville to serve Christ. The boys knelt together by Fred’s bed, and while Fred prayed, Orville Farnsworth gave his heart to God.HMes 126.6

It was a Christmas long to be remembered, not only by those boys but by the whole church. Before the meetings closed eighteen young men and women and children asked to be baptized and to become members of the church.HMes 127.1

Although it was a cold winter, twelve of these young people felt that they wanted to be baptized at once. A river was near, but it was covered with two feet of ice. Not to be discouraged, the young men cut the ice, exposing a little pool of open water. They cut steps in the ice so they could walk down into the water. Then, although the temperature was 10° below zero, those twelve young people were baptized. As soon as they left the water they were wrapped in robes and hurried to a warm home nearby. No one suffered any ill effects from this exposure. In the spring the remaining six were baptized.HMes 127.2

What new life this group of earnest young people put into the church as they followed on in their Christian experience, doing what they could in the cause of God!HMes 127.3

As these young people became older they took an active part in carrying the message of truth to the world. Three of the young men became presidents of conferences; Fred Mead was a missionary in Africa and died there; two other young men became church elders, and three of the young women were Bible instructors, both in America and in foreign lands. Others have filled more humble places in the work of God. For several years it was my privilege to have one of these faithful workers, Orville O. Farnsworth, as a neighbor. All have now been laid away to rest and wait until Jesus comes, but their children are carrying the gospel message, and now the grandchildren are serving God as ministers, teachers, Bible workers, and missionaries.HMes 127.4