“But there is in Chicago a home of which you have heard.  And the occupants of this home are people who try to serve God in spirit and in truth, who share all things in common, and watch over each other’s lives.

“We who live in this home read something in a newspaper about these ‘lunatics’ who had come back from Jerusalem, and said among ourselves, ’These people are of our faith; they are banded together to work for righteousness, the same as ourselves.  We would like to meet these persons who share our ideals.’

“And we wrote and asked them to come to see us, and those who had come back from Jerusalem accepted the invitation and called; and we compared our teachings with theirs, and found that our principles of faith were the same.  ’It is by the grace of God that we have found each other,’ we said.

“They told us of the glories of the Holy City, that city which lies resplendent on its white mountain, and we deemed them fortunate in that they had been privileged to tread the paths our Saviour had trod.

“Then one of our own brethren said:  ’Why shouldn’t we go along with you to Jerusalem?’

“They answered:  ’You must not accompany us thither, for God’s Holy City is full of strife and dissension, of want and sickness, of hate and poverty.’

“Instantly another of our brethren cried:  ’Mayhap God has sent you to us because it is His meaning that we shall go with you to that far country, to help you fight all this?’

“Then one and all of us heard the voice of the Spirit in our hearts say, ‘Yea, this is My will!’

“Then we asked them whether they would be willing to receive us into their fold, although we were poor and unlettered.  And they answered that they would.

“Then we determined to become brethren in the fullest sense.  And they accepted our faith, and we theirs—­and all the while the Spirit was upon us, and we were filled with a great gladness.  And we said:  ’Now we know that God loves us, since He sends us to that land where once He sent His own Son.  And now we know that our teaching is the right teaching, inasmuch as God wants it proclaimed from his holy mountain Zion.’

“And then a third member of our own household said:  ’And there are our brothers and sisters at home in Sweden.’  So we told the brethren from Jerusalem that there were more of us than they saw here; that we also had some brothers and sisters in Sweden.  We said:  ’They are being sorely tried in their fight for righteousness, many of them have fallen away, and the few who have remained steadfast are obliged to live among unbelievers.’

“Then the travellers from Jerusalem answered:  ’Let your brothers and sisters in Sweden follow us to Jerusalem, and share our holy work.’

“At first we were pleased at the thought of your following us, and living with us at Jerusalem, in peace and harmony.  But afterward we began to feel troubled, and said:  ’They will never leave their fine farms and old occupations.’