The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-02-14

: with a Male Quartet Of ,MankatO
boys, and bookkeeping. 1t was while
I engaged in the office OF the Cream
i cry Package Manufacturing company
| of Mankato, Minnesota that the turn
! ing point of my life was reached and
decision was made which entirely
changed my plans for the future.
"A few words in regard to this, by
way of explanation. might not be
without interest to the readers OF
this paper, some of whom may re-
member the sudden and unexpected.
/, and, as it seemed to many, unac-
countable transformation which oe-
Cured
I The Seventh Day Adventists.
in the city Of Mankato there was
small company Of Christians known
as Seventh Day Adventists. l was
quite we'll acquainted with num-
Der of them, all of whom / had
found to be especially earnest adher-
ents to the teachings of the Scrip
lures, and consistently following
| what they believed to be the true
way of salvation. | could not help
but admire their supreme courage in
obeying their convictions of truth
! and duty, and their willingness to
sacrifice the pleasures of this world
to walk i'll what seemed to me very
straight and narrow way ! was ac-
quainted with their faith. and though
| was compelled to admit that it
was not contrary to the teachings
OF Apostles and Prophets, | prefer
red to get as much as possible out
! of this present world and take my
+ chances for the future with other
| Christians who were not so particu-
lar about matters of doctrine.
| Noted Evangelist Came.
/ "One winter Mankato was favored
with a visit from noted evangelist,
DR.. Manhall, assisted by Mr. Birch.
The city was greatly stirred, and
many nominal Christians; myself
! among them, were spiritually reviv-
| ed. / became dissatisfied with my
present condition, and began to search
for greater light in regard to the
way to the Celestial City. 1t was at
this time that | was led to investi-
gate the tenets of the Seventh Day
Adventists. ! had some misgivings
lest they might be right, but hoped
by a thorough investigation to be
able to prove that they were with
out foundation and thus set my mind
at rest. l found to my surprise that
the more carefully and prayerfully
| studied their teachings from the
Scriptures the more / became con-
WINGED of their soundness. Here
was the very thing for which de-
sire had been awakened in those re-
vival meetings. ! gladly accepted
what l believed to be the truth and
peculiar people. ".-,
CAS- soon as | had decided the
matter j went to Mr.. Higgs, the SUI
perintendent of the Creamery Pack
age Manufacturing company, for
; whom / was working. and laid the
matter before him. We had a long
talk together, in which he tried to
persuade me that ] was running my
worldly prospects, and that would
better reconsider the step | was
: taking. Finding that my mind was
made up, we arrived at comprom-
Use by which l was allowed to be
absent from the office on Saturday
and to make up the time on Sun
day, thus enabling me to rest the
seventh day as | believed the Lord
had commanded. continued in my
position there but short time, as
! l had a desire to enter the evangeli-
cal line Of work for which the way
i soon opened.
Answered the Call.
| after spending about three years
. in mission work in the home land,
a call came for me to connect with
the work in India, to help in giving
the message to the needy people OF
that land. / gladly responded, and
disposing of all my earthly belong
ings with the exception of my over
coat and what things | could pack
in a suit case, | took passage from
New York and set sail for this far
, off heather land, arriving here in
! June, 1901. 1t is now about eleven
years since ! awoke one hot June
morning to find myself off the har
Dor in sight of the great city of
Bombay. A native canoe soon land
/ ed me safely on shore among strange
sights and sounds, such as you
might imagine belonged to an entire
ly different world. India is indeed a
sort of fairy land, the people, their
manners and customs are so differ
ent that it takes a person from the
west a number of months or years
| to adapt himself to his new en-.
vironments so as to feel entirely at
home. About eleven years have
passed. and ! now feel more at home
here than ] would were | to return
to Minnesota. A brief description OF
the native of India, his religion and
| customs would perhaps be of inter-
est to those who have not had the
pleasure of becoming acquainted
with them personally. | will try
; to write something in regard to this
/ in the near future.
From Mondays Daily.
! q r