Thursday afternoon, April 12, 1906, Mrs. White left her home to attend the annual meeting of the Southern California Conference, at Los Angeles, and the dedicatory exercises of two sanitariums—Paradise Valley, near San Diego, and Loma Linda, in the San Bernardino Valley. The first few days were spent in Loma Linda, and during this time she had a remarkable experience, which she has briefly described thus:
(LS 407.1)
MC
VC
“While at Loma Linda, Cal., April 16, 1906, there passed before me a most wonderful representation. During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified.”
(LS 407.2)
MC
VC
“The destroying angels of God were at work. One touch, and buildings so thoroughly constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place. I did not feel in any special peril, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to describe. It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted, and that the judgment day had come.”
(LS 407.3)
MC
VC
“The angel that stood by my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of the wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large cities. He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard of His law.”
(LS 407.4)
MC
VC
“Much more instruction regarding the long-sufferance of God and the necessity of arousing transgressors to a realization of their perilous position in His sight, was repeated to the people, as received from my instructor.” —Testimonies for the Church 9:92-94.
(LS 409.1)
MC
VC
“It has taken me many days to write out a portion of that which was revealed those two nights at Loma Linda and Glendale.” —The Review and Herald, July 5, 1906.
(LS 409.2)
MC
VC
“On April 18, two days after the scene of falling buildings had passed before me, I went to fill an appointment in the Carr Street church, Los Angeles. As we neared the church, we heard the newsboys crying, ‘San Francisco destroyed by an earthquake!’ With a heavy heart I read the first hastily printed news of the terrible disaster.” —Testimonies for the Church 9:94.
(LS 409.3)
MC
VC
In the course of her talk before the conference, Mrs. White exalted the sacredness of God’s law, and spoke decidedly regarding the necessity of prompt action and of acquainting the people with the meaning of the things coming upon the earth. She referred particularly to the advantages to be gained by working the cities from outpost centers.
(LS 409.4)
MC
VC
“Out of the cities, out of the cities!” she declared; “this is the message the Lord has been giving me. The earthquakes will come; the floods will come; and we are not to establish ourselves in the wicked cities, where the enemy is served in every way, and where God is so often forgotten. The Lord desires that we shall have clear spiritual eyesight. We must be quick to discern the peril that would attend the establishment of institutions in these wicked cities. We must make wise plans to warn the cities, and at the same time live where we can shield our children and ourselves from the contaminating and demoralizing influences so prevalent in these places.” —The Review and Herald, July 5, 1906.
(LS 409.5)
MC
VC