Following the telegram sent to Elder J. A. Burden from Washington, D. C., asking him to secure the property at Loma Linda “without delay,” Sister White wrote:
(PH061 2.4)
“Your letter has just been read. I had no sooner finished reading it than I said, ‘I will consult no one; for I have no question at all about the matter.’ I advised Willie to send you a telegram without spending time to ask the advice of 3the brethren. Secure the property by all means, so that it can be held, and then obtain all the money you can and make sufficient payment to hold the place. This is the very property that we ought to have. Do not delay; for it is just what is needed. As soon as it is secured, a working force can begin operations in it. I think that sufficient help can be secured to carry this matter through. I want you to be sure to lose no time in securing the right to purchase the property. We will do our utmost to help you raise the money. I know that Redlands and Riverside are to be worked, and I pray that the Lord may be gracious, and not allow any one else to get this property instead of us.”
(PH061 2.5)
The letter from which the foregoing paragraph is quoted was written May 14, 1905. “Be assured, my brother,” Sister White wrote in a letter dated May 28, “that I never advise anything unless I have a decided impression that it should be carried out, and unless I am firmly resolved to assist.... By all means secure the property if you can; for I believe it to be the very place the Lord desires us to have.”
(PH061 3.1)
In a letter written from Glendale, June 23, 1905, to a brother in the South, she wrote regarding the property:
(PH061 4.1)
“Until this recent visit, I had never before seen such a place with my natural eyes, but four years ago such a place was presented before me as one of those that would come into our possession if we moved wisely. It is a wonderful place in which to begin our work for Redlands and Riverside. We must make decided efforts to secure helpers who will do most faithful missionary work. If God will bless the treatments given, and Christ will let His healing power be felt, a wonderful work will be accomplished.”
(PH061 4.2)
On another occasion Sister White wrote: “The buildings are all ready, and work must be begun as soon as we can secure the necessary physicians and nurses. I am anxious to see the work started. For some time I have been looking for just such a place as this, with buildings all ready for occupancy, surrounded by shade-trees and orchards. When I saw Loma Linda, I said, Thank the Lord. This is the very place we have been hoping to find.
(PH061 4.3)
“The character of the buildings, the terraced hill covered by graceful pepper trees, the profusion of flowers and shrubs, the tall shade-trees, the orchards and fields,—all combine to make this place meet fully the descriptions that I have given in the past of the place presented to me as the most perfect for sanitarium work. Everything at Loma Linda is fresh and wholesome and attractive.”
(PH061 4.4)
In a letter written to Elder Haskell, inviting him to labor in Southern California, she said:
(PH061 5.1)
“We must soon start a nurses’ training school at Loma Linda. This place will become an important center, and we need the efforts of yourself and your wife to give the right mould to the work in this new educational center.”
(PH061 5.2)
The following, written November 1, 1905, is also to the point:
(PH061 5.3)
“A school will be established as soon as possible, and the Lord will open the way.... With all the buildings in connection with the main building, we have great advantages. If we will walk humbly with God, and do according to that which He hath prospered us, we will have Christ as our friend and our helper. ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’ These are the terms of our discipleship. Will we comply with them?”
(PH061 5.4)
Sister White, in a talk given October 30, spoke thus of the educational work at Loma Linda:
(PH061 6.1)
“Here we have ideal advantages for a school and for a sanitarium. Here are advantages for the students and great advantages for the patients. I have been instructed that here we should have a school conducted on the principles of the ancient schools of the prophets. It may not be carried on in every respect as are schools of the world, but it is to be especially adapted for those who desire to devote their lives, not to commercial pursuits, but to unselfish service for the Master.
(PH061 6.2)
“We want a school of the highest order,—a school where the word of God will be regarded as essential, and where obedience to its teachings will be taught. For the carrying forward of such a school, we must have carefully selected educators. Our young people are not to be wholly dependent on the schools where they are told, ‘If you wish to complete our course of instruction, you must take this study, or some other study,’—studies that perhaps would be of no practical benefit to those whose only desire is to give to the world God’s message of health and peace. In the education that many receive there are not only subjects that are non-essential, but much that is decidedly objectionable. We should endeavor to give instruction that will prepare 7students quickly for service to their fellow-men.
(PH061 6.3)
“We are to seek for students who will plow deep into the word of God, and who will conform the life-practice to the truths of the Word. Let the education given be such as will qualify consecrated young men and young women to go forth in harmony with the great commission, ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.’”
(PH061 7.1)