In Southern California
317
given me that now is our opportunity to reach the invalids flocking to
the health resorts of southern California, and that a work may be done
also in behalf of their attendants....
“Instead of investing in one medical institution all the means ob-
tainable, we ought to establish smaller sanitariums in many places.
Soon the reputation of the health resorts in southern California will
stand even higher than it stands at present. Now is our time to enter that
field for the purpose of carrying forward medical missionary work.”
Ms. as Published in the
Medical Evangelist, Vol. 1 No. 2.
During the years when such counsels as these were being given,
Mrs. White visited southern California on several occasions, in the
hope of encouraging the brethren to persevere in their search for prop-
erties suitable for use as medical institutions. At times, in visions of
the night there were given her flash-light pictures of sanitariums in
running order. These representations she endeavored to write out and
pass on to the brethren in responsibility. At other times there was
brought vividly before her mind instruction given in past years as to
the aim and object of medical missionary work, and as to the pattern
that should be followed in establishing and maintaining sanitarium
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enterprises in different parts of the world.
While the eyes of some of the brethren were turned toward the
cities, Mrs. White called attention to the advantages of country loca-
tions, and the benefits that would come to patients far removed from
the distracting influences of modern city life. Considerable portions
of this instruction were published in “Testimonies for the Church,”
Volume 7. [
See Section Entitled “Our Sanitarium Work,” pp. 57-109,
in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 7.
] Among the presentations set
forth were the following:
“In the night season I was given a view of a sanitarium in the
country. The institution was not large, but it was complete. It was sur-
rounded by beautiful trees and shrubbery, beyond which were orchards
and groves. Connected with the place were gardens, in which the lady
patients, when they chose, could cultivate flowers of every description,
each patient selecting a special plot for which to care. Outdoor exercise
in these gardens was prescribed as a part of the regular treatment.
“Scene after scene passed before me. In one scene a number of
suffering patients had just come to one of our country sanitariums.
In another I saw the same company, but, oh, how transformed their