Ellen White’s letter to Smith and Amadon saying they are controlled by evil angels!

Letter 3, 1869

To: Smith, Brother; Amadon, Brother

Greenville, Michigan

April 23, 1869

Portions of this letter are published in 5MR 164-168; 2Bio 267-268.

Dear Brethren Smith and Amadon:

I will write to you a faint expression of my feelings at this time as I review the past. Lt3-1869.1

At the camp meeting at Wright, the Lord was with His people. There solemn pledges were made by the brethren of Battle Creek that they would stand by us, and not permit burdens to come upon us. My husband has been so ready to receive any manifestation of confidence and love from those in Battle Creek, and to blot out of his memory the things which transpired in the past (which were cruelly wrong upon the part of those from whom we ought to expect better things), that he was ready to believe all things and to hope all things. With his heart all cheered and softened by the bright view he had of the future, he consented to locate in Battle Creek, and thus comply with the earnest invitation of his brethren and sisters. He fully believed that the lessons of the past had not been learned in vain. Lt3-1869.2

I was reluctant to locate in Battle Creek. I had, as it were, fled to Greenville for quietude of mind and freedom from the harassing trials brought upon us unnecessarily by those who should have stood by us. I had never felt the least dissatisfaction with my home at Greenville. I needed a good copyist, and help that could do my sewing and save me from embarrassment in that line. The Lord blessed us in coming to this place. Lt3-1869.3

I pled with my husband not to comply with the wishes of our brethren in regard to locating in Battle Creek until we should have clear light from God that it was His will that we should move from this place. My husband urged that our trials in Battle Creek were over, and that we could in the hands of God be a blessing to the Office, Institute and church. Lt3-1869.4

When I went to look at the site for the house, I felt as though going to a funeral. I finally put these feelings away, for I saw that they made my husband very unhappy. I yielded my objections, and yet I felt fearful that the burdens we would have to bear in Battle Creek would be too heavy, that my husband could not let alone the business and cares of the Office, and that he would come down again through over-labor, as he had before done. I had suffered so much and seen how little knowledge even those of experience had of the mind and will of God concerning us, while we were passing through the heaviest trials we ever bore, that I did not feel like placing ourselves where there was the least possibility of the same breakdown, fearing the same heartless, cruel work would be acted over again. I am frank to say, I could not feel so cheerful and happy as did my husband to get again among our brethren at Battle Creek. Lt3-1869.5