The Story of Ellen G. White

1-DAYS AT SCHOOL

Ellen Harmon was a happy little girl. She had a kind father and mother.

She had a twin sister named Elizabeth. She had six other brothers and sisters, too.

They had such good times together! Little Ellen went to school. Elizabeth went to school, too. They liked school very much. They liked to read. They liked to write. They liked arithmetic and spelling.

One day Ellen, Elizabeth, and another little girl were on their way home from school. An older girl was walking behind them. She was not a kind girl. She wanted her own way. She was angry and said cross words.

Ellen and Elizabeth hurried as fast as they could, while the older girl followed behind.

 The three little girls hurried as fast as they could. Ellen turned to see how far the big girl was behind her.

Just then the big girl threw a stone. The stone hit little Ellen's nose.  She fell to the ground.

It made Ellen very sick. Elizabeth and the other little girl carried her home.  For many weeks she lay sick in her bed. Many people thought she would die. , Her thin face was no longer pretty. Her father had been away on a trip. When he came home he did not know his little girl.

He asked: "Where is Ellen?" Then he remembered about the accident. He felt sorry for his dear little girl.

When she was better she went to school again. She tried to read. She tried to write, but her hand shook. She could not see the letters on the page. Her teacher said: "Poor little Ellen. You are too sick to go to school." Ellen was sad, for she wanted so much to go to school.

She went back to school several times, but each time she had to stop. Many of Ellen's friends felt sorry for her. They were kind to her. They tried to help her. Other children said: "We do not like Ellen as much as we did. She is not pretty now." This made Ellen very sad. Often she felt lonely.

One day a minister came to the town where Ellen lived. His name was William Miller. He preached to the people.

Ellen went with some of her friends to hear him preach. He talked about the loving Jesus. Ellen's heart was happy as she heard the story of the loving Jesus. Ellen loved Jesus.

She said: "I'm glad Jesus loves me even though I am not pretty. He loves me even though I cannot go to school.

He knows all about me." The love of Jesus made little Ellen happy again.  

2 WORKING FOR OTHERS

Ellen' s heart was full of the love of Jesus. She wanted everyone to love Him. She talked to her playmates about Jesus. She prayed for them. She held little prayer meetings. Because of her work many of her friends learned to love Jesus.

They began to work for others, too. Ellen wanted to do more missionary work. She and her sisters said: "We must earn money. Then we can buy books and papers to give away." They knit stockings. They helped their father make hats. Ellen was not strong, but she worked all she could.

She earned twenty-five cents a day. With this money she bought books and papers. She gave them away. In this way she helped many people to hear of Jesus. Day by day Ellen learned more of Jesus and His love.

One of the ministers said: "I think the Lord is getting Ellen ready to do a great work for Him." She was a true Christian.

Think about the kinds of things you might be able to do to help people. Also think about ways that you might help people to learn about Jesus love for them.  

3- A BEAUTIFUL DREAM!

Jesus had a special work for Ellen. She was to be a prophet. A prophet is one by whom God sends messages to His people. Jesus spoke to Ellen in visions. A vision is much like a dream. Here is one of her visions.

She dreamed that she was sad. She said: "How I wish I could see Jesus. If He were only upon this earth I would go to Him. I would tell Him all my troubles. He would help me, and I would always love and serve Him."

In her dream she saw a door open.  An angel came in. He said: "Do you wish to see Jesus? He is here, and you may see Him if you wish. Take everything you have and follow me."

Ellen was happy. She gathered up her things and followed the angel. Soon they came to a steep stairway. As they started up the steps, the angel said: ' 'Keep your eyes looking upward. Others have climbed this stairway. Some of them looked down. They grew dizzy and fell."

When Ellen came to the last step, the angel said: "Leave all your things here." He opened the door and told her to go in.

In a moment she stood before Jesus. His face was more beautiful than any she had ever before seen! His kind eyes were full of love. She saw His loving smile. Ellen knew that He loved her. He put His hand on her head. He said to her: "Fear not."

The sound of His voice made her happy. She bowed before Him. When she arose, the eyes of Jesus were still upon her.

Then the angel opened the door. He said: "Now you may take your things again."

The angel also gave Ellen a green cord and said to keep it close to her heart and whenever she wanted to see Jesus, she should take the cord and stretch it out. He warned her to use it often or it would get knotted and hard to use. She put the cord close to her heart like the angel said. Then she went down the narrow stairs.

Ellen knew that the green cord meant faith. We use our faith to let us see Jesus. We each can use that ‘green cord’ of faith. Try often to think about Jesus and learn from the Bible about him. Faith is when we believe that what the Bible tells us is true.

Ellen awoke from her dream. She thanked God for the beautiful dream. She prayed that Jesus would always smile upon her.  

4-SEEING HEAVEN WITH JESUS

When she was 17 years old, she was praying with a group of young ladies in a prayer meeting in a home. All at once she was given a vision by God. A vision is something like a dream but the person is not asleep.

There are some wonderful things about real visions from God. The person having the vision can see what God wants to show them, but the people who are there cannot see it but they always know that something wonderful is happening.

The person having a real vision from God, does not breath the whole time they are having the vision. Yes, you read right- they don’t breathe! And yet they may talk and walk around but no breath is there. This is one of God’s signs that the vision is from Him. Sometimes the vision takes many hours. You know that if you stop breathing for even a few minutes you will die. Ellen had visions lasting four hours or more, and one man, William Foy, had one in a church and it lasted 12 hours! And yet the person is alive and his heart beats but he doesn’t breathe!

The person having a vision doesn’t know what is going on around them, they seem to be going places and seeing things somewhere else as God shows it to them. We’ll learn more about real prophets and visions and some of Ellen’s visions that she wrote down for us in the weeks to come.

In this first vision, Ellen saw the people of God going to heaven. As Ellen grew older, she had many visions.

Jesus talked to her many times. He showed her many things. In one vision Jesus showed her the new earth. She saw many shining angels. She saw harps of gold and beautiful crowns. Some of the crowns had many stars. Others had only a few.

All the crowns were shining brightly. Jesus opened a beautiful gate. It was one of the gates to the New Jerusalem. Inside, Ellen saw the throne of God. She saw the river of life.

By the river stood the tree of life. It had many branches. These branches were full of fruit. -There were twelve kinds of fruit on this tree. The fruit looked like gold and silver. Ellen sat down under the tree. She touched one of the golden harps. How wonderful!

Outside the city she saw a field with many kinds of flowers. -She picked some of them. She said: "These flowers will never die." There were roses and lilies. There were many other kinds of flowers in the field.

The tall trees and the green grass made the new earth beautiful. The lion and the lamb walked side by side. All the animals were tame and peaceful.

Jesus said to Ellen: "In a little while you shall live here if you are faithful." Many other people will live here, too. They will eat of the tree of life. They will drink of the river of life. They will live with Jesus forever.

After this vision everything seemed changed to Ellen. This earth no longer seemed beautiful.  In fact she felt it was very dark here. She felt homesick for heaven.  She tried to tell others of the things she had seen. Then she said: "Heaven is far more beautiful than words can tell. Soon we shall enjoy its glories and be with Jesus."

Think about it boys and girls- if we really give our hearts to dear Jesus, that will someday be our home!  

5 – HOLDING UP THE BIBLE!

For this story, look around your house and see if you have a very large Bible, like a family Bible. If you don’t, you can use any large book. Take that large book and put it on the flat palm of your left hand, then try holding it up with your arm stretched out. You will not be able to hold it for long. Now read our story.

Ellen Harmon was not strong after her accident. She was often sick. She could not take long walks or carry heavy loads. In her visions Jesus gave her special strength. Sometimes she did things that even a strong man could not do.

She would move her arms gracefully and yet if even a strong man tried to hold her hand still, he could not. Like we said last week, when in vision she did not breathe but her heart kept beating just the same. She did not know what was happening in the room where she was, but saw and heard only the things Jesus was showing to her.

One of the reasons Jesus did these things was to show the people that Ellen’s visions were really from God and not just imaginary. You see, many people did not believe the visions were real, some thought they might be from the devil.

One time there was a man named Dr. Brown who had boasted that if she had a vision when he was there, he could make it stop. He was a spiritualist.  So at one meeting he was there and Ellen had a vision; the people told him- “OK, now show us you can make it stop.”

He went up and examined her, and then he went pale and began to shake. “She doesn’t breathe!” he cried. He ran to the door wanting to leave but the people wouldn’t let him out until they asked him, “What is it doctor?”

“God only knows”, he cried, “Let me out of here!” and he ran out the door.

One day she was in a room with other people. They were praying. While they were praying, Jesus gave her a vision.  On a table near Ellen lay a large Bible. It was very heavy. It weighed eighteen pounds.

Ellen picked up the Bible. She held it out on her left hand. The other people watched. They said: "She cannot hold the Bible long. It is very heavy!”

Her mother said: “When Ellen is not in vision she cannot even lift that Bible. Jesus must be giving her special strength."

Everyone was looking at Ellen. She was still holding the heavy Bible. She was walking around with the Bible on her left hand. For more than a half hour she held the Bible. She was also reading the texts without looking at them and with no breath coming from her mouth! Only God can do something like that. This was her third vision.

The people said: “This is wonderful, A strong man could not hold that Bible on his hand like that for more than two minutes. Surely the Lord is giving Ellen special strength."

The Holy Bible was always a very precious book to Ellen. At another time while in vision Ellen held another Bible. It, too, was a large Bible. It weighed many pounds.

She held it on one hand high over her head. With the other hand she turned the pages.

 She pointed to many verses. She was not looking at the Bible. She was looking toward heaven. All this time she was saying verses. The people listened.

They said: "She is not reading, for she is looking toward heaven. Does she know to which verse she is pointing?" Ellen was still holding the heavy Bible. Her sister stood on a chair so she could watch as Ellen pointed.

She looked toward heaven all this time. She pointed to the verses and said each one right. We have a list of 50 verses she read and pointed out one time. You can find the list in the book ‘Early Writings’.

 After the vision Ellen told the people what Jesus had said to her. She told them of the things, that she had seen. Anyone, who ever saw Ellen in vision, never forgot how wonderful it was. They knew it was from Jesus! 

6- FIRST VISION

As you remember, little Ellen was a very weak and sick girl. She had a bad cough and the doctors said she would soon die. She was only 17 years old. She was visiting a dear friend who loved Jesus just like Ellen did. There were five ladies in all. They were all together having morning prayer.

All at once Ellen felt she had light all around her and she was going up higher from the earth. She turned to see the church members but she could not find them until an angel told her, “Look a little higher.”

She looked up and saw a straight and narrow path high above the earth and the Advent people were on the path going to the heavenly city. There was a bright light at the start of the path and it shone all alone the path so they would not trip and fall off. It was the special Advent message of 1844.

Jesus was in front of the people leading the way and if they kept their eyes on Him they were safe. But some got tired. They said the way was too long. But Jesus would raise His arm and a bright light would wave over the people. That made them feel better and they would shout Hallelujah!

But some began to say the light behind them wasn’t real. And then the light for them went out. They were not seeing Jesus and were in the dark and they fell off down into the wicked world.

Soon God’s voice told them when Jesus was going to come. He gave the Holy Spirit to the people too and it made their faces shine with joy. They had a name written on their foreheads- it was almost like an address to say that they were going to heaven and that they all belonged to Jesus.

Then she saw what it is going to be like when Jesus comes. Just before He came, the people who hated Jesus tried to put His people in prison, but they could not hurt Jesus’ people.

Then they saw a small black cloud half as large as a man’s hand. They knew it was Jesus coming to take them home. As it came closer it got bright and shiny and there was a rainbow over it. The rainbow tells us of God’s love and His promise to us.

The angels were singing. Jesus was on the cloud. He had a sickle in one hand and a shiny trumpet in the other. He looked at His people. Then they felt afraid. They were afraid there might still be some sins in their hearts. The angels stopped singing and everything was quiet for an awful minute.

Then Jesus said, “My grace is enough for you!”

Then everybody was so happy. The angels sang then Jesus blew His trumpet and told all the dead people that loved Him to wake up. Then all the people went up together to meet Jesus on the cloud and they traveled to heaven with Him.

In heaven Jesus gave them harps of gold to sing with and bright crowns. Jesus opened up the pearly gate to the heavenly city and they all went in together. They saw the tree of Life and the river of Life. They were all so happy they took their harps and sang songs of praise to Jesus.

When the vision was over, Ellen said “Oh how dark this world looked to me!”

I want to give my heart to Jesus so I can go there too, don’t you?

7- THE CHILD AND THE PARASOL

    In March, 1840, Elder Wm. Miller visited Portland, Me., and gave his first course of lectures on the second coming of Christ.  Ellen and her brother who were children at the time were going to the meetings.

Elder Miller was telling the people to get ready for Jesus was soon going to come. (This is our message today also.) Ellen wanted to give her heart to Jesus and she was afraid Jesus would not accept her. Finally she remembered the words of Queen Esther, “I will go in unto the king,' 'and if I perish,' I perish.”

She prayed to the Lord and knew that Jesus had forgiven her sins. She felt very happy then. In one of the meetings where many people were praying and weeping asking Jesus to forgive their sins, she saw a little girl who seemed to be in great distress. Her face would go pale and then blush red by turns, as though she were passing through a severe conflict.

      Tightly clasped in her arms was a pretty little parasol, (Umbrella) occasionally she would loosen her hold of it for a moment as if about to let it fall, then her grasp would tighten upon it again; all the time she seemed to be regarding it with a peculiar fascination.

At last she cried out, 'Dear Jesus, I want to love thee and go to Heaven! Take away my sins! I give myself to thee, parasol and all.' She threw herself into her mother's arms weeping and exclaiming, 'Ma, I am so happy, for Jesus loves me and I love him better than my parasol or anything else!'

      The little girl’s face was so happy, she had surrendered her little all. Young as she was, she had fought the battle and won the victory. There was much weeping and rejoicing in the tent. The mother was deeply moved and very joyful that the Lord had added her dear child as a lamb to his fold. She told the people there that her little daughter had received the parasol as a present not long before. She liked it so much, and had kept it in her hands most of the time, even taking it to bed with her.

      During the meeting her tender heart had been moved to seek the Saviour, she had heard that nothing must be withheld from Jesus, that nothing short of an entire surrender of ourselves and all we have would be acceptable with him. The little parasol was the child's earthly treasure upon which her heart was set, and, in the struggle to give it up to the Lord, she had passed through a trial keener perhaps than that of the mature Christian, who sacrifices this world's treasures for the sake of Christ.

      It was afterwards explained to the little girl, that since she had given her parasol to Jesus, and it no longer stood between herself and her love for him, it was alright for her to keep it and use it in a proper manner.

  Ellen said, "Many times in after life that little incident has been brought to my mind. When I saw men and women holding desperately to the riches and vanity of earth, yet anxiously praying for the love of Christ, I would think, 'How hard it is to give up the parasol!' Yet Jesus gave up Heaven for our sake, and became poor that we, through his poverty and humiliation, might secure eternal riches.”

Let’s be willing to give up all for Him!  

8- WHISPERING FOR JESUS

Satan tried many times to discourage Ellen Harmon.  He tried to keep her from telling the messages that Jesus gave her.  He knew that they would help more people to believe in Jesus so he tried to stop her.

But Ellen trusted Jesus. She prayed that He would give her strength to do all that He asked her to do. She was still a very weak girl but Jesus always gave her just enough strength to do what she needed to do.

One time Ellen had a sore throat. It lasted for many days. She was so hoarse that she could not talk out loud. She could only whisper. How could she tell the message now?

 Soon there was a meeting. Ellen went to the meeting. The people wanted to hear her speak. She believed that Jesus would help her, so she began to whisper the message. In about five minutes her voice became clear and strong.

In those days they didn’t have microphones. When some one talked to a group of people they had to speak clear and loud so everyone could hear and as Jesus helped her, Ellen could do that.

Her throat was not sore. She was not hoarse. She spoke to the people for nearly two hours. How glad they were to hear the message. Ellen Harmon was now a young lady. She traveled to many places giving messages to the people.

At one of these places she met a minister named James White. Jesus knew she needed a good husband to help take care of her as she worked for Him. Elder White was a man who loved Jesus and His work just like she did. She became his wife. Then people did not call her Ellen Harmon. They called her Mrs. White. Elder and Mrs. White worked together. They traveled from place to place teaching and preaching.

I want to tell you a wonderful secret. Back in the Bible, all the prophets had names that meant something; they told something about their work. Ellen’s name means something too:

Ellen means “Bright eyes”;

Gould (Her middle name) means Gold;

Harmon means Harmony or peace;

White of course means what it says.

Now in our Bible we have a verse where Jesus says to Buy from Him, Gold, White raiment (clothes), and eyesalve- (to give us bright eyes) Then we can have Peace in our hearts.  

9- WHEN A COLT BOWED ITS HEAD

One day Elder and Mrs. White were riding in a wagon. A minister named Elder Bates was with them. Elder White was driving. He had to hold the lines tightly, for the young horse he was driving was hard to manage.

If the lines touched the horse, he would kick wildly. Unless the lines were held tight, he would run away. Before this, two men had been killed while trying to drive him. Elder White tried to drive carefully.

Suddenly Mrs. White shouted: "Glory." The colt stopped and bowed his head. Mrs. White was having a vision. She started to get out of the wagon. " As she stepped down from the wagon Elder Bates cried out:

“If she puts her hand on the colt, that colt will kick her to death." But the colt did not kick. He stood quietly with bowed head. Mrs. White walked back and forth by the side of the road while Jesus talked to her.

All this time the colt stood as gentle as an old horse.

Elder White said: "I will test him to see if he is really tame." He touched the colt lightly with a whip. But the colt did not kick. Then he hit him hard with the whip. But the colt did not run.

As Mrs. White stepped back into the wagon, she put her hand on the colt again. He did not move. His head was still bowed.

When Mrs. White sat down, the vision was over. Then the colt started without even a word from Elder White. Now he was as hard to manage as ever. Elder White had to hold the lines tight.

The angels who had closed the lions' mouths for Daniel had made the colt tame while Jesus gave a vision to His prophet.   

10- A TRAIN WRECK

One day Elder and Mrs. White were getting ready for a long trip. They were going to another city to preach. This time they were going on the train.

 They packed their suitcases. They packed a large trunk. In this trunk they put many books. Soon they were ready to go. It was nearly time for the train.

Before going to the station they had worship. They prayed that God would send the angels with them on their trip. That night they got on the train. They went into one car that had seats with high backs.

They sat down, but they did not feel safe. Mrs. White said: "We must not stay in this car." They went into the last car on the train. The train started. Elder and Mrs. White felt much happier after they had moved into the lost car of the train.

They had gone only three miles, when the car jerked back and forth and there was a terrible wreck. The engine was thrown from the track. Two cars were broken in pieces.

The seat in which Elder and Mrs. White first sat was crushed. The only car unharmed was the last one. It was not broken. The only car unharmed was the one in which Elder and Mrs. White had been riding. It was still on the track.

Everyone in the last car hurried outside. They saw the terrible wreck. They heard the groans of the people who were dying. They heard the screams of those who were hurt.  They saw the engine lying on its side.

The baggage car was off the track, too; but it was not broken. The box of books was safe. Many people came to see the wreck.

They looked at the engine and the broken cars. They saw the last car still on the track. "How can this be?" the people asked. "This car was fastened to the others with bolt and chain."

They looked on the platform of the car. There lay the bolt and chain as though placed there by a careful hand.

 "How can this be?" said the brakeman. "I did not unfasten the car. No one was on the platform at the time of the wreck."

Elder and Mrs. White said : "It must have been an angel who unfastened the car." They thanked the Lord for keeping them safe.   

11- SAFE IN A STORM ON THE OCEAN

Elder and Mrs. White worked hard to give the message to the people. They had to travel many miles. They went from church to church. Many times they traveled by horse and buggy, for there were no automobiles then. Often they took long rides on the train. Sometimes they traveled in a boat on the ocean.

One time when they were on a boat a great storm arose. The wind blew hard and waves dashed high. The terrible storm rolled the boat from side to side. Many of the people were greatly frightened and prayed for God to save them.

The boat rolled from side to side. The waves dashed into the windows of the boat. The people were in great danger. They said: "The boat is going to sink. We shall never reach the land again." Some began to cry.

One lady cried out, “O God, if you will save us from death, I will serve you forever!”

Others fell on their knees and prayed. They prayed that God would save them. As the boat was rocking, a lady turned to Mrs. White and said: "Are you not afraid? Do you not know that we may never reach land?"

"I am not afraid," she answered. "God knows about the storm. He knows what is best. He can bring us safely to land." She tried to comfort the other ladies on the boat. God did bring the boat safely to land. How thankful the people were. How thankful the captain was. Elder and Mrs. White thanked God.

As they stepped off, Mrs. White heard a woman exclaim mockingly, “Glory to God! I’m glad to step on land again!”

It was the lady who had made the promise. Mrs. White said earnestly to her, “Remember your vows!” But the woman turned away with a sneer. How sad.  

12- TRAVELING AND WRITING

For many years Elder and Mrs. White traveled from place to place. Often they were tired, but they preached to the people anyway. They helped the people in many ways and taught them to love Jesus.

Jesus gave Mrs. White many messages for the people. Many of these messages she wrote in books. She wrote many books.

Mrs. White loved the children. They were glad when she came to camp meeting. They were glad when she came to their church. Often she visited in their homes.