First Tent Meetings in Sweden

Mrs. White spent almost a week in Stockholm, staying with the Matteson family in their rented apartment at 52 Upplandsgatan. On her first day in the city she hired a carriage and took a two-hour tour. The tent meetings began that evening, and the next day, Friday, a full schedule of four meetings was conducted.EGWE 304.2

This was the first evangelistic series Adventists had ever held in a tent in Sweden, and everyone was anxious to see whether it would be successful.EGWE 304.3

It was also the annual Midsummer's Day holiday, so the crowds were good, and when Ellen White's turn to speak came at five o'clock, every seat was filled and a solid wall of people stood around the edges. People were even crowded onto the platform itself. Though she had been kept awake the night before by the popping of firecrackers and the noisy celebration of the holiday, in the thrill of the successful tent effort she forgot her weariness.EGWE 304.4

Each day she shared the speaking duties with Elders Olsen, Matteson, and Ings, and as her stay in Stockholm ended on Monday, she wrote enthusiastically:EGWE 304.5

“Yesterday, Sunday, it was estimated that there were about one thousand people in and around the tent listening with deep interest. These meetings have made Elder Matteson and Brother Olsen so glad they do not know how to express their grateful thanks to God. The truth and work will stand higher in Sweden than it ever has before.”—The Signs of the Times, July 28, 1887.EGWE 305.1