E V EN AND MORRIS OGDEN WHITE to again we received a number of letters from richfield Rich fidd elders laboring in mission fields and at least two of them are interesting enough to submit them to our readers for their perusal the first of the two came from Fri fridland gland bioni th the pen of elder morris ogden son of mr and mis joseph ogden who says in part it is just like meeting an old friend when I 1 meet the postman at the door and lie he hands me the reaper as I 1 can call sit down and read of the home news that is so interesting to me and I 1 appreciate your kindness in in sending it to me to a land so far away england is a very beautiful country with its ils old ruins ancient castles and old fashioned buildings building everything is is green and beautiful beautiful fui is so much moisture mois tuie that grass grows even everywhere where grows on the trees and rocks so that everything is green and beautiful just right for a picnic on a good summer day the country is made up of small hills and it is very covered with grass and flowers that are ver beautiful in the tr tinie time the customs of england lare are very much different aiom american and not so far advanced in the latest improvements prove ments rients they still use the old style one horse dump caits anti and wagons that were used in the olden days the people are very polite and always willing to ask your pardon if they to do any harm or giong to you and they never forget to say thanks when you give them any ni assistance stance or help them in any way I 1 have been laboring in the leeds district for the past nine months month during that time I 1 have spent months doing country work and the rest in tile the large cities I 1 am enjoying my labors hele heie an l it gets moie inte interesting lesting every week I 1 am ain liere here thanking you again for sending mi the reaper each week and I 1 wish you all may have a feiry christmas ind and a happy and prosperous ne new year k sincerely your friend elder morris D ogden A remarkably lemar kably fine letter comes f from rom the far oft society islands it is dated december 8 showing that it took more than three weeks to 1 reach each us and is written by elder ellis nr son of mr air and mis C IP P christensen of our city we give this letter in full it iea leads as my tear dear dr markus I 1 some one has said that time moves on wings of light and it certainly seems that way to me for I 1 hardly realize that it has been a year since I 1 lat last had the pleasure of writing to you VOU it seems that lays days just merge into one Ii another nother here in tahiti until xe e are hardly able to keep keel track of the time without the winter and snow which are heralds of another season in in utah I 1 am just reminded that the cai is dr drawing aNing to a close b by the fact that there aie numerous erous christmas toys on oil display and although it seem like the yuletide I 1 used to enjoy at home in the mountains mountain still I 1 remember the date as being that on which we ne celebrate our lords advent into the this chiq being the fourth christmas I 1 have been in the wands islands I 1 stop and think of some of the things which have happened in that time and because 1 of seeing being so many new and strange things I 1 sometimes feel that it is more of a dream than a reality every day decalb something lie new to me ine and still it is so diffrient from atlie the hurry and bustle of our american cities that I 1 am constrained to san sa that it must be a fairy tale and I 1 will soon wake up to reality i 31 my companion and m myself just recently bently returned fro feromone fr omone meone of the pearl living diving islands where we e were sent to 0 conduct our semiannual semi annual conference while there we were treated well h hv v both natives and whites who have gathered to that island for the pearl living diving season and in spite of some difficulties experienced we were able to told hold a very successful conference there we 0 izo o took a day olt off an and went out with tile the natives in their canoes to watch one of tile ill most zt in ill Ite tei esting lesting occupation in the woid which is that of coarl diving in tile the early morning all the canoes are arc together and are towed on to their various d diving places place bv means means of ga gasoline oline launches which are maintained by the traders trader for that purpose pur nose when a i native sees a 1 kelv looking place though how th they y tell is belond me lie he si signals g bials the launch and is iq dropped drooped off in his canoe to continued on page sight eight J Y V christensen AND MORRIS OGDEN WRITE TO THE REAPER 4 ass continued bioni aiom page one juriane his diving until evening when wey th ey are again gathered up for the return urn trip to the village usually there are two natives in a vaa or canoe one to dive and the ther other 0 to pull pall rope ind and clean the pearl shell upon coming to the desired spot they the arp a lead anchor and then strip p down ddn to a pair of trunks and a pair of living diving glasses to keep the salt water out of the eyes then after a word of prayer and some prelim 15 or 20 0 P pound aund lead iad which is fastened to a light aig h t rope and jump off letting the weight eight take them down as fist fast as it will the usual depth is to feet anti and it takes about a minute to make the descent he then swims a round around on the bottom and looks for pearl ahll which lie puts in a netting basket which has been let aown aown on the other side of the vaa he usually spends about a minute and a half 1 looking fol and gathering shell arid then comes up tip on the basket rope a bich takes about half a minute iiii nute chii making a total of about three minutes es ie be i is under water nater the weight eight is recovered r by means of the attached rope after a rest of a feu minutes lie he ic i again ready to go under this being bein g kept up it p until the baskot basket is full wile i it is hauled aboard and rne cue dirt and prongs prong broken off of the shell on the way back to the village aney open the shell and foal fm cor pearls pearis anzi and thell thea throw away the muscle which vilich they have not daiel to throw adv away ay at the diving grounds for fear of ii attracting f tr sharks of course the diving add missionary leitoi s T s done fol foi the ali pul pose of obtaining shell and any any pearls found are counted as extra anoney money which Ili cli they usually squander upon rum or some other othe r foolish thing thin in a very short tinte time it is indeed a risky game and not a few loose their lives at it every even ear car because of the great pressure sure it is thard to calculate the amount of breath bit nn the body by the action or of the he bart 11 art and sometimes chev j u st sy I a little atle tooling and so dont quite make it to 0 o the top before their blood runs out of oxygen I 1 have greatly enjoyed in my labors among the people of these islands and an believe that I 1 have been sent to ome of tile the chosen house of israel our ou work wark here has progressed greatly in ill the past year and we now have many friends here where we forn rl bad ener enemies nies and opposition which givus all added zest and pleasure an fn in our 0 ur work I 1 till remain remain one of your brother painters ni enters inters and so take this opportunity to aisil you a merry christmas and a it vi v ay iy v happy and prosperous new year I 1 II 11 ilso 10 wish to thank you for your re h of me during the past r because I 1 certainly do appreciate TIA TUO reaper and never tire of mading leading bews yews from the best little valley ItA ewId world miff sincerely yours E r V christensen