Cutting Garments
After we had reached our home, and ceased to feel the inspiring influence of journeying and laboring, we felt most sensibly the wearing labors of our eastern tour. Many were urging me by letters to write what I had related to them of what the Lord had shown me concerning them. And there were many others to whom I had not spoken whose cases were as important and urgent. But in my weary condition the task of so much writing seemed more than I could endure. A feeling of discouragement came over me, and I sank into a feeble state and remained so several days, frequently fainting. In this state of body and mind I called in question my duty to write so much, to so many persons, some of them very unworthy. It seemed to me that there was certainly a mistake in this matter somewhere.
On the evening of February 5 Brother Andrews spoke to the people in our house of worship. But most of that evening I was in a fainting, breathless condition, supported by my husband. When Brother Andrews returned from the meeting, they had a special season of prayer for me, and I found some relief. That night I slept well, and in the morning, though feeble, felt wonderfully relieved and encouraged. I had dreamed that a person brought to me a web of white cloth, and bade me cut it into garments for persons of all sizes and all descriptions of character and circumstances in life. I was told to cut them out and hang them up all ready to be made when called for. I had the impression that many for whom I was required to cut garments were unworthy. I inquired if that was the last piece of cloth I should have to cut, and was told that it was not; that as soon as I had finished this one, there were others for me to take hold of. I felt discouraged at the amount of work before me, and stated that I had been engaged in cutting garments for others for more than twenty years, and my labors had not been appreciated, neither did I see that my work had accomplished much good. I spoke to the person who brought the cloth to me, of one woman in particular, for whom he had told me to cut a garment. I stated that she would not prize the garment, and that it would be a loss of time and material to present it to her. She was very poor, of inferior intellect, and untidy in her habits, and would soon soil it.
The person replied: "Cut out the garments. That is your duty. The loss is not yours, but mine. God sees not as man sees. He lays out the work that He would have done, and you do not know which will prosper, this or that. It will be found that many such poor souls will go into the kingdom, while others, who are favored with all the blessings of life, having good intellects and pleasant surroundings, giving them all the advantages of improvement, will be left out. It will be seen that these poor souls have lived up to the feeble light which they had, and have improved by the limited means within their reach, and lived much more acceptably than some others who have enjoyed full light and ample means for improvement."
I then held up my hands, calloused as they were with long use of the shears, and stated that I could but shrink at the thought of pursuing this kind of labor. The person again repeated:
"Cut out the garments. Your release has not yet come."
With feelings of great weariness I arose to engage in the work. Before me lay new, polished shears, which I commenced using. At once my feelings of weariness and discouragement left me; the shears seemed to cut with hardly an effort on my part, and I cut out garment after garment with comparative ease.
With the encouragement which this dream gave me, I at once decided to accompany my husband and Brother Andrews to Gratiot, Saginaw, and Tuscola Counties, and trust in the Lord to give me strength to labor. So, on the 7th of February, we left home, and rode fifty-five miles to our appointment at Alma. Here I labored as usual, with a comfortable degree of freedom and strength. The friends in Gratiot County seemed interested to hear, but many of them are far behind on the health reform and in the work of preparation generally.
2T 11
