Anna V. Blough letter to father and mother, July 7, 1918

              Le Ping Hsien, Shansi, China
July 7, 1918

Dear Father and Mother,
Last week I wrote a letter from this place, first sending it to Jennie. This time I�ll send it direct to you. Am still at this place and don�t know yet when I�ll go home, perhaps toward the last of this week and perhaps not for one or two weeks. They say it is so hot at Ping Ting, but it is quite comfortable here and I feel no hurry about going back. 

This week I did some visiting about the city, found some very encouraging things and some not so much so. It is always that way. One afternoon I went out to Bro. Chao Fu Cheng�s home. Have been there a number of times before and his mother has always treated me with openheartedness. I soon saw something was wrong this time. It had hailed the day before and she thot [sic] God was anything but merciful to send such calamity to their fields. Then the neighbors had told her that the Christians take out peoples eyes and hearts. She was just about done with all that pertains to Christianity. I don�t know what I said or how much she got, but her attitude was quite different when we left, she seemed much calmed down. I told her the neighbors did not understand the purpose of the church and hereafter she should not listen to them but it was hers to enlighten the rest. 

Then there is the next door people. They have proved very kind and seem to have some interest. So I�ve been taking my knitting (am knitting a Red Cross sweater) and go over and sit on the kang with her the woman while she makes shoes.  Had been teaching the young girls some songs from a sheet. Yesterday she began to sing the song. I gave her a printed sheet and she got to work on the characters. She would read awhile and lay it aside,