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Called By God
From her magazine Anna learned how she could receive free samples of catalogs,
papers, and even an occasional book. Delighted, she got a friend to write the necessary
letter of request. Before long she was receiving a great deal of mail. When a catalog had
some script print, Anna took it outside and earnestly practiced writing in the sand.
Anna received a sample copy of a little paper called Comfort. After reading it, she was
eager to subscribe. She knew there was no point in asking her mother for the 25-cent
subscription price, so she earned it by extra work picking cotton.
In one issue of Comfort Anna found a notice that seemed exactly to fit her needs. She
copied it verbatim, except for the substitution of her own name. Her request read, “Will
some of the cousins [readers] please send me some nice reading matter? I would like to
correspond with those of my own age.” Now the mailbox was busier than ever—Anna
received 40 responses.
Edith Embree, a Seventh-day Adventist young woman, saw Anna’s request. She
belonged to the Young People’s Literature Correspondence Band. The Holy Spirit
enabled Miss Embree to see in Anna’s notice an opportunity to bring someone to
Christ. She worked for the Signs of the Times and sent Anna copies of that journal as well
as various other tracts and doctrinal books. Over a period of time Edith not only sent
literature but also wrote letters, asking Anna to respond to certain articles, which the
girl was glad to do.
After Anna had been reading these Seventh-day Adventist publications and corresponding with Edith Embree for about six months, she decided she must live according
to the truths found in the papers. She had no idea what group published the materials
that she had been reading. Because the teachings were from the Bible, she complied.
Anna began to observe Saturday as the Sabbath, for that is what the Bible teaches.
When she explained to her family that she was now resting on the seventh day rather
than on the first, they were dreadfully upset. They suspected that much reading and
study had driven her “out of her mind.”
Anna had a form of savings. She and her brother, as the result of much hard work,
owned a bale of cotton between them. Anna used the proceeds from her half to move to
Chattanooga for further instruction.
It might seem odd that she would go all the way from Mississippi to Tennessee to be
taught. However, Seventh-day Adventist churches and members were few and widely scattered in the South at the end of the last century. There were no conferences; the entire area
of the southern states was at that time designated a “mission field” by the denomination.
Miss Embree helped Anna make contact with a loving Seventh-day Adventist family
with whom she could stay. The young convert received good instruction; she was
baptized a Seventh-day Adventist while in Chattanooga.
Aglow with her commitment to follow Christ, Anna returned home to Mississippi.
Immediately she ran into difficulties. For one thing, since Anna liked to guide the plow
do wn the rows, for years the family had depended on her to do the plowing. Now
believing that it was wrong to plow on Sabbath, Anna begged to be allowed to work on
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