My greatest desire for some time has been to tell through our literature of the many benefits that have come to me and mine through Christian Science. For years I was subject to colds in the fall, and they would continue through the winter, leaving me with a severe cough, which was most annoying not only to myself but to all around me. In September, 1907, the usual cold came, and it proved to be the worst I had ever experienced. I was also subject to acute stomach trouble; the least thing that I thought did not agree with me would bring on an attack so severe that recovery seemed impossible. Then too I was subject to chronic bowel disorder, for which material means had been used almost every day for thirty years. These ailments, combined with financial limitation, sorrow, and discord in the family, seemed more than I could bear. I felt that conditions were hopeless and life was not worth living, and had a strong inclination to end it all.
For many years I had been a member of an orthodox church, but it had long since failed to meet my needs, and I had given up seeking comfort from that source. I had studied deeply into other teachings but seemed reluctant to investigate Christian Science, though it had been presented to me a number of times by those in whom I had great confidence and who had received wonderful help. There was always a thought that it was not for me, but finally in desperation I turned to it. In November, 1907, I took my first treatment from a Christian Science practitioner, and to my great surprise received immediate help. Most of the physical ailments disappeared in four treatments, and from that time I knew that Christian Science was just what I had been searching for, and there was never a doubt in my mind that if rightly applied it would "meet every human need" (Science and Health, p. 494). So deeply was I impressed with the marvelous benefits obtained, that I immediately took up the study with great eagerness, and as I grew in understanding and learned how to demonstrate in a measure this truth as taught by Christ Jesus, I was enabled to work out all my other problems beautifully.
A brother had suffered for many years from chronic stomach and bowel trouble, also rheumatism. Seeing the wonderful change in me, he became very much interested in Christian Science and asked for treatment, with the result that he was healed and is now an earnest student. No literature enters our home which is antagonistic to Christian Science. My daughter and her family have also received untold blessings. Her little son, who was four and one half years old when I came into Science, was suffering from chronic convulsions. Every few weeks he would have a spell, usually from two to four, and would be ill for several days and afterward very weak. We had a number of doctors, but they gave us no hope that he would ever recover. He was healed in one week through Christian Science treatment, and there has never been a return of the trouble. He is now a strong, healthy boy thirteen years old, and unusually bright.
