Quandary over the Next Move

Returning from Paris to Topsham, James and Ellen were perplexed to know how to plan for the work during the coming summer. Wrote Ellen, “We had been expecting God to teach in such a way that we could not mistake duty, but we were disappointed, and as we had no light to go elsewhere, concluded to go to New York [State].” James wrote a letter to brethren in Utica requesting someone to meet them on their arrival there, and both James and Ellen signed the letter. In the experience immediately ensuing, we discover the unique way God then led them:1BIO 161.5

Soon I began to feel distressed and burdened. It seemed that I should be driven to distraction. I found relief by weeping when in my distress. James was afraid I would die and he threw the letter in the stove, as he told me afterwards, then knelt down by my bedside and prayed God to roll off the burden, and I was relieved.1BIO 162.1

The next morning I awoke perfectly free and clear; all my distress was gone and I felt assured God would open the way before us. James went to the [post] office and brought in a letter from Brother Belden, of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, giving us a strong invitation to come there and live with them; [they] said they should consider it a privilege to administer to our wants. We felt clear to go and felt that it was the way the Lord had opened.—Letter 5, 1849.1BIO 162.2

The invitation was backed up with money to buy tickets, so leaving little Henry with the Howlands, they were soon on their way to Middletown, Connecticut, en route to Rocky Hill. They stopped off in Dorchester at the Nichols home, and while there Ellen continued her letter to Leonard and Elvira Hastings, joyfully declaring to them that the brethren in the Boston area were “steadfast in the faith, and strong in all the present truth” (Ibid.). She also learned that “the work is still going on in Connecticut.” She added, “The Lord has shown me in vision He was at work there and that what He was doing for His people was only a few drops before a more plentiful shower.”1BIO 162.3

James White added a postscript that gives a bit of atmosphere:1BIO 162.4

Here we are on our way to Connecticut. Ellen is very well or she could not have written so much. Brother Bates has returned from Vermont. He had a hard time, but God was with him and much good was done. He found or left quite a number in the Sabbath.

Now I want you to have a conference in New Hampshire as soon as June. I think there will be one in Paris, Maine, in June, and I think Brother Bates and I could attend both, and then another in Vermont. The people must have line upon line. The cause requires an effort by all of us in this way.— Ibid.1BIO 162.5