24th February:
We spent [the day] mostly quietly. In the evening we were visited by a few children and then by the recently married John Holder and his wife. We spoke heartily with him and he wept much. Finally he asked us if there would not soon be another Synod. I answered that I could give them no news about that and asked him if it were important to him. So he replied very softly and like a sinner that he and his wife would like to be in the [Moravian Brethren’s] Church and that she was not yet baptized. They both wanted to offer themselves to the concern of the Church. They would have already traveled to Bethlehem if the bad weather had permitted. They both wanted to surrender themselves to the Savior and to the [Moravian Brethren’s] Church and to be content with whatever they would do with them. He declared himself so well, honestly and heartily that it really touched us. We spoke to them again and directed them again to the Savior, that would be what would bring abut their reception. They must only be patient. We felt that this came from their hearts.
25th February:
About 10 o’clock I preached emphatically and with true feeling and a burning of
my heart on the Gospel Lesson of the day. Nowhere have I seen more joy than was here today. It was a large gathering. My heart was quite open. One perceived clearly and felt that it was very blessed. In the afternoon I also held the Communion Quarter Hour Devotion spoke on the Text for the Day.
Brother Bader's Diary
of his Journey and Visit to the Schools in the Country from
16th November 1752 to
28th February 1753
Translated by Pastor Roy Ledbetter
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