Life of the Widow, Sister Ann Krügelstein
by Maiden Name Gold of Moravia who departed in Herrnhut Apr. 30th 1778.
She has left the following remarkable Account of the Grace & Mercy the Lord bestowed upon her during her Life.
I was born July 10th 1713 at Zauchtenthal near Fulneck in Moravia. Already in my second Year I experienced a gracious Preservation of God. My Mother used to gather Grass for her Cattle, & generally took me along, & laying me once down near a Tree, a Wolf came, placed himself close by me, & smelt at me. My Mother felt at once very anxious, & turning about to look for me, she saw the ravenous Beast with me. She then run hastily towards me, and the Wolf went a few Steps back, so that she could take me. My Parents reveiwed [sic] me anew as a Gift of God, and thanked him with Tears for my Preservation, for they were both devout People; and having looked upon me from my Birth as a gracious Gift of God, they endeavoured to educate me
according to his Mind, wept & prayed often to God in my Behalf & took all possible Pains with me. In my 5th year I became much concerned about regaining a Fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, because I had heard my Father say, that we had lost it by the Fall of Adam, but that the second Adam Jesus Christ had procured it again through his Sufferings and Death. The Holy Ghost took
me upon this Occasion into a particular School , stirred up in my a Confidence to God, so that I could converse with him quite familiarly, & preserved me in many Dangers from Deviations, giving me an Admonition when I was not on the right Track. He at the same time wrought in me a Fear of falling into Sin, and granted me the Grace to speak uprightly with my Parents about every Thing. By which means I escaped many Temptations of the Enemy of my Soul.
In the Year 1724 there was a great Awakening among the Children in Moravia. I heard that we must get a new Heart if we will be saved, & that God alone was able to give it. This occasioned new Perplexity in me, seeing that I was deficient herein & I was much troubled. I at the same Time looked out for some Companions, to whom I would discover this my Concern, & our Saviour gave me eight who had the same Mind; we often went into hollow Roads and Bushes, where we were alone, & wept and prayed for the new Heart. A Hope was also kindled within me, that I should become a Partaker of it, tho’ I felt myself very unworthy.
In 1727 the Persecution in Moravia rose to that Pitch that Orders were given, that everyone should swear Allegiance to the roman catholic Religion. My Mother who had a faithful Heart to our Savior, would & could not do it, but
resolved
resolved rather to emigrate. She asked me whether I would accompany her? I
consented directly, & the Concern of our Heart to see our Souls saved, was so
great, that nothing could detain us.
While these Things were going on, my Mothers older Brother John Nitschman arrived with us from Herrnhut, who emigrated before us, to him we discovered our Intention , & he being willing to accompany us, my Father made directly secret Preparations for our Departure.
And thus we left our House & Mother Country June 23rd 1727, & set out for
Herrnhut My (her Mothers Brother Melchior Nitschman ) who was in Jail at
Kunewalde |(who at last died in Prison at Kremsir as a Martyr ) and to whom I brought from time to time what he stood in Need of; to him I had discovered our Intention, shortly before, & had taken a very moving Leave of him. He recommended us there to the Protection of the Lord, and said to me during a particular Sense of the Peace of God: ” I am sure I shall find thee once among the Number of those who are with the Lord ” On our Journey we were several times in Danger of our Lives, & besides this had to suffer much Distress, Hard ships & Anxiety. But our Savior helped us, so that we arrived safe, chearful and happy July 2nd. at Berthelsdorf to our unspeakable Joy. The next Day we went to Herrnhut, & were welcomed with much Affection by the little Congregation there. But we had to live yet for some Time in Berthelsdorf.
My Concern for my Salvation increased here more & more. I yet remember that I felt something extraordinary during the
great Comunion Aug. 13th. 1727, and I begged the Lord Jesus, attended with many Tears to think also of me. I went here to School to Mr. Krumpa, who
often told us that he loved the Lord Jesus, because he had shed his Blood for us. This excited in me a Confidence to our Savior that he probably had also shed his Blood for me, & would have Mercy upon me. At the Time when in
Herrnhut the great Awakening among the Children began, he asked once his Scholars: Whether they also would love our Savior & give him their Hearts, so that He might wash them wih his Blood? With those who expressed a Desire for it, he made a Covenant, to love Him above all Things who loved us first. Upon which Occasion He in whose Eyes we were precious walked certainly in
our Midst, & none of us knew what had hap, pened unto us. It occasioned a great Joy in Herrnhut, that our Savior had also graciously visited the Children in Berthelsdorf. We wept & prayed together during an inexpressible Feeling of the Nearness of Jesus.
My Parents moved soon after to Herrnhut, where we had it outwardly very pinching & hard. But I must say to the Praise of our Savior, that I could suit myself pretty well into poor Circumstances, for I had left my Mother Country with no other Intention, than to be satisfied with Bread and Water. But the H. Ghost begun a new Work in me. I learned to know our Savior as the Friend of poor Sinners; he forgave me the Sin of Not believing in Him and His
Merit, & showed me my
Name
Name engraven into his Hands. Now happy did my Heart feel when he cleared it up to me, that His Sufferings, his Death & Bloodshedding had also happened for my sake, & that I was his Property. I could not sufficiently contemplate our
Savior in his Sufferings Beauty, whereby all external Troubles & Difficulties
were made quite easy to me. In January 1729 I was to my inexpressible Joy admitted to the H. Communion with the Congrn. I then made (as it was the
Custom at that Time) a public Confession before the Cogrn. that I would be, long with Soul & Body to my Redeemer & devote to Him Life & All. In this
blessed Enjoyment of our Savior, I went on during a particular Care of the never to be forgotten Dis- ciple of the Lord, Count Zinzendorf, who took much Care & Pain with me, till 1732 when i came to Ebersdorf, to take Care of some young Countesses. Here I was to my Heart somewhat removed from the Simplicity in Christ Jesus. But our Savior, according to his great Faithfulness, did not suffer me to be plucked out of his Hand, but renewed in me that Mind to devote myself to him , & to look upon it as my destined Share to follow him, in Poverty & Reproach. By Occasion that I was joined in H. Matrimony Sept. 8th. 1733 with that Servent of Jesus my late Husband David Kriegelstein, I re-
newed the Covenant with our Savior to be his with Soul and Body, and begged Him to be with me, & lead me by his Hand, till he would happily take me home. He did not last long, before we had to
experience Poverty & Reproach of various Kinds. Till 1736 we had
the Care of the Girls in Herrnhut, & assisted in the Work of the Lord & the Congrn. and particularly the married Choir. In June the same Year we went to Ronneburg in Wetteravia, & from there to Frankfort upon Mayn, & with these Journies we made the Beginning of a poor Pilgrim Life, having often at our Nights Lodgings neither Bed Clothes above nor under us; and in the latter Place, there arose soon a Persecution against the Brethren, so that we were obliged to leave the City. We then stayed with the Pilgrim Congrn. at Berlin, &
afterwards in Wetteravia till in Oct. 1738 when we set out on our Journey from Marienborn to Livonia with a Visa to go, agreable to our Call, through Russia to Persia. Our Savior blessed our Abode in Livonia to many Souls, & granted us the Grace to testify with a hearful Heart to People in high & low Rank what Jesus Blood each do on Sinners base. I shall never forget it, what a powerful Grace ruled at that Time among the Estonians & Lettonians.
In 1740 we returned to Marienborn, where I enjoyed a very blessed Time. The Year following (1741) we resided with the Pilgrim Congrn. at Geneva and Montmirail and in May 1742 we went with Count Zinzendorfs Family the second Time to Livonia. But we found it this time very different from the Time we had been there before; because a great Enmity had arisen against the Brethren & which increased more & more, and in April 1747 the Beginning was made to put the Brethren in Prison.
The Brn
The Brn. Gutslef and Helderhof were first brought as Prisoners to Petersburg, and in June following also Br. Fritshe and my Husband. Though there was a very strict Prohibition, that none of the Brn. & Srs. should be suffered either to leave the Country or come into it; I ventured it however to travel with my Son 31/2 Years old, whom our Savior had given me in Livonia, & a Foster Daughter
Mary Jacob, to Herrnhut. Having no Passport I could not travel on the public Roads, & as besides this 6000 Russians had formed a Line from the River Dina to the Boundaries (it being then War) there was according to all human Appearance no Probability to come through. But our Saviour who was so inexpressibly near to me at the time when my Husband was taken Prisoner so that it was as if he spoke personally with me, comforted and supported me powerfully. I simply followed his Leading, and he brought me at last through many Dangers, round about Ways, Wildernesses & Morasses to Angermünde in Curland to the Rev. M. Laskiell where I was richly strengthened & refreshed. They also cared for it that I safely arrived at Königsberg, from whence I was accompanied to Herrnhut, where I arrived in Aug. the same Year
(1747) For Joy that I was in my dear Herrnhut, I forgot for some Time all my Griefs & Sorrows, and Count Zinzendorf took a fatherly Care of me, so that I would speak fully with him about all my Circumstances. However the Grief about my dear Husband, of whom I would get no Account to be depended upon, returned soon, & besides this I had many laudy & heavy Hours, so that it was a Wonder that I was so safely delivered of my Son John Friederich
Jan. 29th. 1748. In Aug. the same Year I moved to Lindheim in Wetteravia to have the Care of the Childrens , where I had the Pleasure to recieve the first Account to be depended upon from my dear Husband, by a most affectionate Letter of his own Handwriting. In 1751Br. Risler came to Marienborn from
Petersburg, & brought me by Word of Mouth good Accounts of my dear Husband, & offered me to take me along with him. This Offer I received as out of the Hand of our Savior. And Aug. 1st. I sat out with him & his dear Wife thither with the Blessing of Count Zinzendorf and the Brn and Srs. My four Children I recomended to the faithful Heart of Jesus & the Congregation, & my Heart was then so disposed: I know that I am Jesus Pro- perty; of his Flesh & of his Bone, & shall remain his eternally tho’ I am very poor and wretched. I go with that Mind to my dear Husband to do that which our Savior would have me to do, and I shall continue sitting at the Feet of Jesus. The 29th. the same Month we arrived at Petersburg. But I had to keep myself at first very still
in Br. Koehlers House, till he had procured Leave for me to come to Petersburg. Besides this I grew so sick, that I could not think otherwise, but that I should depart this Life without having seen my Husband. Add to this that I could not even let my Husband know anything of my Trouble, because whatever I wrote to him I had to regulate so that all might read it, because Leave for my Journey to Petersburg was not yet procured. This was a very hard Trial
for me
for me, & yet but a small one in Comparison of those to come. I spent my sleepless Nights in Conversation with my only Friend, wetted my Pillows with
Tears; Jesus Perplexities, his merit- orious Tears, & nightly Prayers, were of great Service to me, they strengthened & comforted me, so that I could
childlikely resign myself to him, & believe that if I even should go home to
Him without having seen my Husband, that he however would be my most faithful & never failing Friend, who knows best for what Reason he has brought me hither. Br. & Sr Risler & Ferbers visited me as often as possible, &
refreshed my needy Soul, which I shall acknowledge with Gratitude as long as I
live. I however recovered again & Sept 8th. (1751) being our Wedding Day, Br. Koehler made me the Pleasure & led me incognito with his Family to the Brethren in Prison.
This was indeed a great Joy to see each other again after so long a Time. In Oct. 1751 I obtained at last Leave to move to my dear Husband, to whom Leave was granted to move with the Brn Helterhof & Fritshe (Gudslef was already gone to our Savior) into the hired House of Sr. Helterhof. This was a great Refreshment for my sick & weary Heart. But even this could not come to pass without Trouble, for there came soon Counter Order that I should not yet move to my Husband, & I had to live 6 Days with Br. and Sr Risler in a private Manner. However we had afterwards the Pleasure to live together for some Time, which was effected by the inexpressible Pain Br. Koehler took, who for our sake had to put up with much Vexation & Reproach.
But our Joy did again not last long, for in May 1752 our Brn had to return again to the Catacombs |(subterranious Vaults) on account of the Misbehaviors of another Prisoner. We Sisters viz. Sr. Helderhof and I had however Leave to visit & to nurse them. Nov. 2nd. the same Year they and we came into great Distress by Water, the Neva swelling to such a Degree that the Water rose in the Catacombs up to the half of the Windows, & in our House so that I stood up to the Belly in Water, & thus had to retire to the upper Story of the House, without being able to put on dry Clothes. To my great Surprise I continued well & healthy & the next Morning I could go to the Prisoners, who to save themselves had got up on the Wall, where they had to continue 2 Nights & one Day in the open Air in great Cold, Snow & Rain.
We brought them & also to other Prisoners some Refreshments to make them warm; but we could not come to them without great Danger of our Lives, the Stream having torn the Bridge leading to the Fortress in such a Manner that scarce a Soldier ventured to cross it. Similar Inundations happened the 6th. and 11th. of Nov. but against which better Precautions were taken. Dec. 30th. we had again the Joy to obtain Leave to live together; Secretary Nabakof having procured free Lodgings for us in the Suburbs, in which we could live very comfortably.
Oct. 3rd. 1753 our Savior gave me a little Daughter, & this our little Fellow Prisoner was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Buzow Minister of the great lutheran Church in Petersburg, during a very blessed Feeling of the near Presence of our Lord. She was
called
called Johanna Christina. The Minister recomended her with particular Affection to the Preservation & Protection of our Savior here in this strange Country; Many Tears were shed upon this Occasion.
We lived yet sometime very chearful & in Sickness, & the various Frights, which never were wanting, were so much the easier to be born, because we
could still live together. But still in the same Year it pleased our dear Lord to take our faithful Friend Secretary Nabakof out of this World.
He believed in Jesus. During the Direction of his Successor, who did not know us, we were first more confined, and in the Night of the 28th. of Aug. my Husband and the Brn Helterhof & Fritshe were fetched & carried away, without knowing why & whither. I myself had to assist in putting my Husband who was sick unto Death into an open Boat, & see him thus carried away on the Water in Storm & Rain. We two Sisters spent the Night weeping, & when the next Morning Enquiry was made of those who had carried them away, whether they had been brought; we were still more frighted by fearful Accounts of their Fate. At last we received the joyful News, that they had been brought to their former Prison, & that we might visit them. We hastened directly to them, to bring them some Refreshments. This proved to be a great Joy to see those yet alive whom we believed dead. To my great Astonishment I found my Husband a little better, tho’ sometimes so weak, that I went away in the Evening with the Thought of having seen him the last Time. I spoke confidently with our Savior about there Circumstances, and He convinced me that it was according to His Heart
& Mind, that they were Prisoners here in Petersburg; my Husband was also convinced of it, & we encouraged each other often to be resigned to our Fate, & happy & chearful in the Near- ness of our dr. Lord, and to have all our Troubles sweetened by the Converse with Him. Leave was indeed given us to visit the Brethren in the Day Time as often as we pleased; but there were always People who made it very difficult, you often impossible for us, & thus we got one Fright after another. And besides this our Savr. took in 1755 Sr. Helterhof to himself, & thus I was quite alone in the House with my Child. Not understanding the russian Language, & being obliged to leave my Child alone in the House, when I had to go out, & being in continual Danger of a Surprise by Robbers; the Brn. & Srs. in Petersburg advised me to make Application to the Congrn for somebody to assist me, & I got Br. Grumberg who took a most faithful Care of me & my Child. I had also taken a russian Girl out of Compassion , who got a Love for our Savior, & when I went out (for I had to carry to the Brn. all their Necessaries) she entertained my Child with Singing Verses. Once in Winter 1757 when going over the River Neva, the Ice broke under me, & the Stream carried me a Piece along, so that I must have been drowned, if the Eye & Watchman of Israel had not so faithfully preserved me, But I became very sickly afterwards. In this Distress I prayed fervently to our Savior, to grant me the Satisfaction, to nurse the three Prisoners
as
as long as they stood in Need of Care & Nursing in this Vale of Tears &
Trouble, though it should even be done in ever so great Weakness. And this He has done graciously & helped me so, that through it seemed sometimes as if theTabernacle would break, the Brn. suffered however no Want. At this Time I had a particular Confidence in conversing with our Savior. One of these Conversations in Oct. 1758 was very imppressive to me, when I spoke fully with him about my whole Course of Life, & was richly comforted about all my Mistakes. In Febr. 1759 we were at last set at Liberty, but ordered to go to Casan. We were 5 in Number, viz. my Husband, the Brn. Helterhof & Fritshe & I & my Child. On this Journey new Trials came upon us. The Brethren could not bear the violent Shaking of the Waggons, on the bad Roads & Causeways, made of round Wood, after sitting so long in Prison, & they had to suffer much, particularly my Husband, who had always been weak. Add to this the Fright of being attacked by Robbers on the other side of Moscovia, who most cruelly beat our Guards; he became quite enervated, & a mortal Sickness befel him, so that he lost his Speech. His Mouth was at were burnt up, & his Tongue withered, I had not even as much as a Drop of Water to refresh him. I often begged our Savior to comfort him with his Thirst. Besides this we saw nothing but inexpressible Difficulties before us. The People did not like to have any Dealings with us, because we had Soldiers with us, so that we often did not know, where to get a Morsel to eat, particularly as it was Lent Season, wherein the Russians are very
strict. At last we arrived at Maram upon the River Ocke, where we met with more friendly People, who looked upon & loved as particular good Christians & Children of God, & served as as well as they could. We felt well among these People, & I believe they will be counted among those to whom Jesus will say: I was sick and ye have come to the highest Pitch, for he could not even move his Tongue, & lay quite speech & senseless. The Creature begun now to plead with the Creator, & I was quite at a Loss what to think or say, when I considered that the Departure of my Husband was so near at Hand. But then in my greatest Trouble, & when I was at the Brink of Despair, the loving Heart of Jesus interfered, & set Bounds to the raging Waves; for our Savior gave Strength to my Husband that he in some Measure recovered, so that, to my great Surprise he spoke fully with me about our Course hither to, & particularly about this Journey, whereas he could not speak one Word before. He
said among the rest: Be not discouraged about these Circumstances; thou knowest that our Savior already in 1738 gave Directions, that we through Russia should go to , but the Enemy has thrown some Obstacles in the Way, so that it was stopt, about which I never could be satisfied, but now our Savr., with whom I have kept up on un, interrupted Conexion, amidst my Weaknesses of Soul & Body has satisfied me about it, by this that the russian Government itself sends us now thither, so that we however shall see Asia, & sojourn in it. My great Weakness is a natural Consequence of the great & sudden
Alteration
Alteration of my Way of Life hitherto, & belongs to the final Completion of my Sufferings. And it is a Grace to me, that also in Sufferings I am made conformable to my best Friend. Our Savior well certainly restore my Health so that I shall reach the Place of our Destination. In Casan I shall probably go home to our Savior but thou wilt go again to the Congrn. with thy Child, & with all our Children enjoy there much Goodness & Mercy from our Savr. We then pursued our Journey & my Husband recovered more & more, yet I had to care for & nurse him like a Child. At last Apr 27th 1759 we arrived at Casan, having been three times in evident Danger of our Lives, after we had entered the Borders of Asia. In Casan we found it better, than we expected. The People
there showed much Love & Respect to us, and even the Governor himself behaved very friendly towards us. I often begged our Savior to give us at least one Soul, where our Testimony of him might find Entrance, & it was not a small
Satisfaction to us, that we could brave the Labour of the H. Ghost, with some
Russians and Turks. I wept & prayed much both on the Journey & particu-
larly here in behalf of the Inhabitants of this Country, & I must own, that
when I spoke right confidently with our Savior about it, he gave me a very
gracious Look, & the Assurance into my Heart that a Light will yet spring up
in this Country. Nov. 23rd. 1760Br. Fritche departed this Life happily, & on the
9th. of the following Month of Dec. my Husband followed him in the 63rd Year of his Age, & entered into the Joy of his Lord, & everlasting Freedom & Peace
after a Captivity of more than 13 Years. I mentioned it directly to the
Com-
Commander Plaisin, who out of Love to my Husband, procured a Passport for me from Petersburg, that so I might safely come thither. And though the Roads were very unsafe, & much was heard of robbing & murdering, I nevertheless ventured it on our Savior, to whose Care & Protection I had quite anew surrendered myself; and it did not come into my Mind that any Evil could happen unto me. And my Eyes flow with Tears of Gratitude & Abasement, when i consider how evidently our Savior has cared for me, & what Wonders of Grace & Mercy he has shewn unto me. Just when I was going to set out on my Journey & had called upon to accompany me , it was ordered so, that a Libonian Captain Durnstern had to travel the same Way; he took me gladly into his Company & we set out Jan. 21st. 1761 from Casan. My taking Leave of Br. Helterhof who of the three captive Brn alone was left, is known to our Savior, & not to be expressed in Words. The Captain shewed in expressible Love &
Faithfulness to me & my Child, & more than once ventured his Life for our
sakes particularly Jan. 29th. when it had the Appearance as if we should find our Graves in the River Wolga; for the Ice begun to sink, & to get Holes, & some of the first Sleds fell already in the Water. We could not think of turning or evading it, for on one Side was already upon Water above the Ice & on the
other was a very steep high Shore. In this Distress came the Captain through the Water to us, broke off Branches from the Bushes which grew along the Shore, & covered the Holes with them, & himself led our Horses over them. And thus with the Help of God, we were delivered out of this Distress, in which we had been from Noon till towards
Midnight
Midnight. The Captain cared for me & my Child throughout the whole Journey
like a Father, did not only pay all Expences, but let always one of his Servants
stay with us, & when distressing Circumstances occurred he himself with some others hastened to our Assistance. He everywhere gave us out to be his Relations, & took Care of our Things in the best Manner. I brought my Child very sick of the small Pox to Mascovia; but as the Captain would take me with him as far as Novograd. I set out with my Child sick as it was, & our Savior prevented all ill Consequences. But in Novograd where our Road parted, the Captain was very un, easy about me, particularly as he had heard of his Servants, that my Drivers had evil Designs against me, as soon as we should be alone. But in this Perplexity, we met quite unexpectedly, & to our Joy, as russian Lieutenant of the Guard Milkanoth, who was a good Friend of the Captain, & also knew Br. Koehler in Petersburg very well, who was also travelling thither. I took Leave of my Bene, factor with a thankful Heart, and he delivered me to the Lieutenant as his Relation, & begged him to pay strict Attention to our Things & Drivers, & not suffer them to stay behind with me, saying: All you do unto her I shall look upon as done unto myself. The Lieutenant executed also his Commission in the best Manner, and our Savr. brought us safe & well to Petersburg Febr. 24th 1761. O how glad & thankful was I to be again among Brn. and Srs. But I met again with Difficulties on account of my farther Journey, everybody representing it to me as impossible to get a Passport. But according to my Custom I re- comended also this Affair to my dear Lord, & begged him to take it in Hand himself & execute it. And this he did also to my great Joy & Abasement, for he directed Matters so, that I got a Passport under
the Name of the Ambassador of Saxony. Having now rested here a little after so many sleepless Nights, Dangers, Troubles & Distress, I sat out from Petersburg by Water, with my little Daughter, whom I had preserved as a particular Gift with all possible Care & Faithfulness, accompanied by Br. Kryman, May 18th. 1761. The taking Leave of the Brn. & Srs. here was very painful on both Sides. Towards Evening we set Sail, but we soon got a Storm, which was against us, & a total Eclipse of the Moon rendered it quite dark, so that we saw nothing before us but our Destruction, particularly as our Vessel was too deeply laden, & the Neva being in that Place full of Sand Banks.
We returned in great Danger & sailed again the next Day for Cronstadt. Here I had again new Troubles, but our Savior helped me thro’, & we could now pursue our Voyage without any Hindrance. I now looked once more at the Land of my Troubles with Tears in my Eyes, & recomended it to the faithful Heart of Jesus. So as the faithful Eye & Watchman of Israel watched hitherto over me on my Journies, so I experienced it also on my farther Travels by Sea & Land. It was as if the Arms of my dear Savior enclosed me around, especially at Lüneburg on the rest of my Journey. During the Time of our Abode at Lüneburg which lasted 10 Days there were every Day such violent Storms of Thunder & Lightning as no, body remembered ever to have seen, but when we sat out the Weather was fair & pleasant. And tho’ that whole District was then sur- rounded with War, we saw nothing of it, & arrived at last July 5th. safe & well at Herrnhut to our inexpressible Joy. Ah! what Tears of Joy
and
and Thankfulness trickled down my Cheeks that my faithful Savior brought both me & my Children to the Congrn. I devoted it, & myself anew to Him as his “Property.” Thus far her own Relation. Her Heart was filled with Thanks & Praise, that our Savior had accomplished her ardent Desire to be again in the Congrn at Herrnhut, so that she now would enjoy a happy Sabbath in the Congrn, & with her Children. July 21st. she moved into the Widows House & was made Use of as an Assistant, till 1764 when she moved to Marienborn, & 1766 to Zeyst with the then Directory. In 1768 she went to England with Br. & Sr. Boeler & Count Dohnas, & the Year following again to Herrnhut. In 1770 she got a Call to go with Br. and Sr. de Treyden to Curland, & though she found it hard to leave Herrnhut, she however accepted it with a willing Heart. Sr. de Treyden gives the following Account of the Abode & Service of our late Sister with them: “We were very thankful to our Savior that he would give us this, through many heavy Trials approved of Hand Maid of his to go along with us; both to be a Partaker of our Joy & of the Troubles which befel us. She assisted us faithfully with good Advice and actual Help, & proved particularly a real Comfort & Benefit to me after the Departure of my dear Husband. Her cordial & confident Connection with our Savior, alleviated all Difficulties to us both. She took a very near & affectionate Share in all my Circumstances. She experienced also here in Curland various Trials, but her Endeavours for the Good of the Souls were attended with Blessing, the Fruits of which will shew themselves in Time to come. Both high
& low had a particular Love, Confidence & Esteem for her. She has shewn inexpressible Faithfulness to me & my Child till to her End. May our Savior reward her now richly for it. He alone can comfort me about the Loss of this venerable Mother, & in- timate Friend of mine. Sept. 29th. 1773 she returned with me & my Child to Herrnhut, glad & thankful for all the Proofs of Grace & Merry shewn to us all, by our dear Lord.”
April 26th. in this 1778th. year she grew very weak; she said directly, that she had spoken fully with our Savior about her whole Course of Life, & had got the Assurance, that he would soon take her to himself. She added: Ah how sweetly will it sound, when I shall be with my dear Savior & sing Praises unto Him; Yet I shall ne’er o’er my Happiness, joy otherwise that with ablushing Face. I have not to shew any great Actions or Deeds all is covered with Faults, so that I have nothing to say, but: Lord forgive me my Tresspasses. The Weakness & Straitness in her Breast increased more & more, & Apr. 30th. this Hand Maid of Jesus entered into the Joy of her Lord after a remarkable Course thro’ this Time. Her Age was 64 Years 9 Months and 19 Days.