Anna V. Blough letter to dear ones at home, Nov. 22, 1914

              Ping Ting Hsien, Shansi, China
22 November 1914

Dear Ones At Home;

Today is my birthday. Last eve Mr. and Mrs. Beckner were here for supper and they all got the 
idea my birthday was yesterday, so they gave mebirthday wishes and I did not correct them, but 
they looked the matter up and came around again today with good wishes. Then this eve I 
recieved a half dozen letters and a card, so that I feel well remembered. Now I can tell the 
Chinese that I am thirty years old, tho to Americans it is one year less.

Had a letter from Ida saying she just got a letter written in July. So according to that you have 
not recieved all regularily and I may have asked some things againwhen you had not recieved the 
other letters. Wednesday of this week we got last weeks mail and for we three girls there were 
over thirty pieces. The carrier always brings all the foreign mail here and we must sort it out. That 
day it was a big lot to assort.  

Tomorrow the Beckners leave us. The Crumpackers are going with them to Peking. There they 
will visit the Florys and Vanimans and take in the sights. They had planned to go home by way 
of India and Palestine. But it is likely now that they will go straight across the Pacific. We have 
certainly enjoyed them here. Our visitors are so few that we appreciate them. Then they are such 
nice folks to have around. I want to say that if you ever have a chance be sure to see them and 
get them to visit at home if possible. They would like to meet you and could tell you a great deal 
about us here.

Cold weather has set in and lots of people here are suffering because they are too poor to get 
wadded clothes. One woman from a village two miles out and who has heart trouble very badly, 
has been coming in to Sunday service every Sunday for six months. Seems very much interested 
in the Gospel and is trying to learn to read. For several times now that she came in she had such 
scant clothing that she was far from comfortable. Today she came in with a good new coat on. 
When I looked closer I saw it was made from the old blue dress I had worn several winters and 
gave to her because it was so riddled and thot she could use it to line something perhaps. But she 
pieced it together in a way that it looks pretty good. And with the cotton padding and other 
lining it keeps her warm. There are so many poor people here and we would like to help them, but 
it is hard to know how to be helpful to them for they wilnot only thank you for it but come for 
more, not really trying to do all they can. We do not want to lead them to come to the church for 
the sake of food and clothing, yet at the same time it is hard to see them suffer.

This week Minerva expects a new girl to come to school. She says �seeing is believing�. So many 
talk about sending their girls but when it comes to taking the bandages off the girls feet, the 
greater number of them back out.

Last week I said that we were invited to a feast on Monday. Well here we wait till someone 
comes and escorts us. So that day we waited and waited and no one came at all. So we had no 
dinner. Word was sent later that her mother was sick and she could not have us. But this we take 
as the Chinese polite way of saying they did not expect to come for us.

Yesterday was also a feast day. We girls were invited to eat with a woman who recently broke 
off opium. Minerva and I went. In going we had to miss a wedding feast. The wedding had 
taken place several monthsago over near TaiYuan Fu. The bride was left there with the mother-
in-law, as is the custom and the husband came home here. He works at Bro. Crumpackers. So he 
made a feast fo his friends here. The guests each contributed their gift of money, so that they 
really furnished the feast themselves.

During the week our cook came home again. He had been gone for about six weeks to his home 
three days west. He and his brothers divided their their propertywhile gone and took quite 
awhile. He said that his brothers child was sick while he was there and they thot it was beyond 
all hopes. But he prayed for it and it got well. He was feeling very happy about it, for his 
brothers do not believe in Jesus. He himself has not been baptized