Anna V. Blough letter to Ida, Sept. 15, 1917

              Ping Ting Hsien, Shansi, China
15 September 1917

My Dear Sister Ida, -

I wonder if you get as anxious for my letters as I do for yours, and I wonder if you get a quarter as much delight from mine as I do from yours. Your big typewritten one came the other eve, and one from Elmer the same time. I saw it here at Four clock, but did not get to read it till half past eight. Then I took the letters after a long days work and went to bed and rested while I read.

I am glad for the details you write about your work. I am so far off from the home world that unless you tell me the details I will be such a stranger. I did enjoy �Fool�s Paradise� very much. How can you think up all that stuff. I am coming to believe more and more all the time that you must be a very much gifted person. Am sure you are doing a big work there with those young folks, for you seem to be able to adjust yourself to them and to have their confidence. I never could do it. And then you have so many other important things to do. When it comes to making out the program for District Meeting, that means they have some confidence in you. And your story and song writing too is not small matter. So I can say I am very proud of my little sister. As I think of the time you were considering domestic science or Mission work, somehow felt you could make good at this, and you have done so many times over. I am so often asked about �may may�, which is younger sister, whether she is married or has spoken for a mother-in-law or not. I am glad to tell them that she too is teaching the Doctrine as I do here.

By the reading of your article I suppose that includes your young folks. I am glad to know who they are. How glad I am to know that Eugene Davis is making good. Hope he gets cured of his stammering. It is quite amusing to us over here to think of one of our Mission Board sitting back of a Victrol making his gestres at the proper time. Tell him so.

I had not heard before of the evening of the Fourth being spent on the old home place, neither of the cousin party. I wonder how we would have felt about it in those Franklin club meetings if we could have seen into the future and found ourselves so widely scattered, and perhaps a few more years will be more so.

Last evening I wrote you quite a letter, but this eve tore it up. It is indeed a waste of time and paper to do such things, but mabe [sic] a greater waste of something else. It acted as a sort of a confessor for me and allowed me to give vent and by tearing it up has not hurt anyone and I feel better for having let out. The devil tries me so hard, and seems just now he tempts me especially hard in order to hinder my work of the year. Ida, pray for me that the True Spirit may may indeed bear fruit in my life, as stated in Gal. 4. I get so ashamed of myself, for my thots [sic] and and acts, and then for wanting to act that way. The desire to do right must get rooted into my heart, only after that can the fruit come. I think if I could have the inspiration of meetings as you get at home it would help me. Yet I know inspiration of meetings as you get at home it would help me. Yet I know God must have some way when that means is not at hand. I feel sure there are those who pray for me, and this helps me to hold on.

Now for school news. Ida, if you have any fears that I am not enjoying this school work, just lay them aside, for I have never before so enjoyed it. It is much easier to begin a term, than to follow another in the middle of the term. The girls have done so nicely in finding their places, and that has helped me. They seem to be doing good work and have a good spirit.

When school opened, we were having one of our many prolonged rains and that hindered some from getting here for awhile. Some could not get across rivers, and the like. First day there were fifteen, tonight there are twenty two, as many as at the end of last term. But there are three new ones and three old ones have not come back, sorry to say. I must still try to get one of them, tho there are obstacles in the way. There is one new one who promised she would come Monday. I will count her when she gets here.