New life for Life Sketches of Ellen White Get a more personal glimpse into the life of God’s messenger in Life Sketches of Ellen White. In these pages Ellen White recounts; in her own words; a brief account of her childhood days; and her early Christian experience in connection with the great second advent movement of 1840 to 1844. She vividly recalls the sorrows and joys of youthful ministry in the years following the Great Disappointment. She pictures the struggles and successes that attended the efforts of the small band of earnest souls who built up the work that would eventually become the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She goes on to tell of the extended labors of herself and her husband from their marriage until his death in 1881.