Signs of the Times, Book 1 - Ellen G. White

Instead of the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 referring to the purifying of the
earth, it was now plain that it pointed to the closing work of our High Priest
in Heaven, the finishing of the atonement, and the preparing of the people to
abide the day of his coming.
I might give a more detailed explanation of the passing of the time as
considered in the light of prophecy, but it is not in the legitimate province of
these articles to do so. I merely designed to give as brief an account as
possible of these important events with which my life was so closely
interwoven that they cannot consistently be omitted from these pages. I
would, however, refer those readers who desire further information, to works
on this subject, published at the Signs Office.
I now return to my personal history from which I have necessarily
digressed:
After the passing of the time in 1844, my health rapidly failed, I could
only speak in a whisper or broken tone of voice. One physician stated that
my disease was dropsical consumption, he pronounced my right lung
decayed and the left one considerably diseased, while the heart was seriously
affected. He thought that I could live but a short time, and might die
suddenly at any time. It was very difficult for me to breathe when lying
down, and at night I was bolstered in almost a sitting posture, and was
frequently wakened by coughing and bleeding at the lungs.
About this time, while visiting a dear sister in Christ, whose heart was
knit with mine, the first vision was given to me. There were but five of us, all
women, kneeling quietly in the morning at the family altar, when this event
transpired. Space forbids me from entering into a detailed account of the
wonders of these visions, which would of themselves, fill volumes; but when
the book is published, of which these hasty articles will be the basis, it will
contain a full relation of the views that God has seen fit to reveal to me. In
116