June 5, 1863, I was shown that my husband should preserve his strength and health, for God had yet a great work for us to do. In His providence we had obtained an experience in this work from its very commencement, and thus our labors would be of greater account to His cause. I saw that my husband’s constant and excessive labor was exhausting his fund of strength, which God would have him preserve; that if he continued to overtask his physical and mental energies as he had been doing, he would be using up his future resources of strength and exhausting the capital, and would break down prematurely, and the cause of God would be deprived of his labor. Much of the time he was performing labor connected with the office which others might do, or was engaged in business transactions which he should avoid. God would have us both reserve our strength to be used when specially required to do that work which others could not do, and for which He has raised us up, preserved our lives, and given us a valuable experience; in this way we could be a benefit to His people. (1T 517.1) MC VC

She need not linger along as she does, always sick, if you will all as a family heed the instructions given of the Lord. “He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” 1 Peter 3:10-12. A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul. Nothing is so fruitful a cause of disease as depression, gloominess, and sadness. Mental depression is terrible. You all suffer from it. The daughter is fretful, partaking of the spirit of the father; and then the heated, oppressed atmosphere, deprived of vitality, benumbs the sensitive brain. The lungs contract, the liver is inactive. (1T 702.1) MC VC

Air, air, the precious boon of heaven which all may have, will bless you with its invigorating influence if you will not refuse it entrance. Welcome it, cultivate a love for it, and it will prove a precious soother of the nerves. Air must be in constant circulation to be kept pure. The influence of pure, fresh air is to cause the blood to circulate healthfully through the system. It refreshes the body and tends to render it strong and healthy, while at the same time its influence is decidedly felt upon the mind, imparting a degree of composure and serenity. It excites the appetite, and renders the digestion of food more perfect, and induces sound and sweet sleep. (1T 702.2) 1 I MC VC

The effects produced by living in close, ill-ventilated rooms are these: The system becomes weak and unhealthy, the circulation is depressed, the blood moves sluggishly through the system because it is not purified and vitalized by the pure, invigorating air of heaven. The mind becomes depressed and gloomy, while the whole system is enervated; and fevers and other acute diseases are liable to be generated. Your careful exclusion of external air and fear of free ventilation leave you to breathe the corrupt, unwholesome air which is exhaled from the lungs of those staying in these rooms, and which is poisonous, unfit for the support of life. The body becomes relaxed, the skin becomes sallow, digestion is retarded, and the system is peculiarly sensitive to the influence of cold. A slight exposure produces serious diseases. Great care should be exercised not to sit in a draft or in a cold room when weary, or when in a perspiration. You should so accustom yourself to the air that you will not be under the necessity of having the mercury higher than sixty-five degrees. (1T 702.3) MC VC