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Show With Our iMissionaries August 3, 1936. American Fork Citizen, American Fork, Utah, TJ. S. A. My dear friends, and fellow Citizens: From this far -distant land of South Africa come the greetings of one whose head is high and heart is happy in the service of his Master. May I take this opportunity of expressing my sincere appreciation for my weekly copy of the Citizen. It is one splendid means of keeping me in close contact with all the fine people of our stakes. It is a welcome wel-come guest long before it arrives. Thanks for making it possible and for the joy and happiness it adds to my missionary life. If we, as members of the church, could but realize the blessings we are losing by not fully keeping the commandments com-mandments of the Lord, how much harder we would strive to do His Will! For if we keep His commandments, command-ments, He is BOUND to bless us. God has not awarded a single nook in His kingdom for the shirker. Let us thank Him for the splendor of WORK. The more we do, the more there is to do. And in this, why not emulate the teakettle "though up to its neck in water, still it sings ." I sincerely appreciate my opportunity opportuni-ty and all that the many Saints and friends have done for me. Africa to me is no longer a dark, strange, unexplored land filled with wild beasts and jungles, but is a land of indescribable beauty, where, dur- say "Come unto me, all ye that labour la-bour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upoa you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." We find our greatest problem among people here is "indifference." However, with various activities such as baseball, radio work, entertainments entertain-ments before strangers, etc., we are able to more easily contact the people; peo-ple; and our long-standing enemy, "prejudice," is fast being removed. Nevertheless, we often find people who are still of the opinion that we are out in the mission field to collect all the women we can find, shipping them mysteriously on their way to that ten-acre plot of ground with a huge concrete wall around it, located locat-ed in that horrible spot called Salt Lake City. The people are a combination of Dutch and English. They are by-lingual, by-lingual, speaking both English and Afrikaans, the latter being a form after high Dutch. There is a class of people known as "Cape Colored," ranging in complexion from the usual us-ual white to black, brought about by intermarriage. We have ' members of this class, but of the higher types. The majority, however, axe good, clean, respectable people. My work, therefore, is not among the blacks or natives. In the South African Mission we axe wonderfully blessed with outstanding out-standing leadership comprising President and Sister LeGrand P. Backman. Incidentally, they are intimate friends of Bishop J. Mark Clark now of Hollywood ward. I have been fortunate so far in being called to labor with them. They give one the encouragement ana enthusiasm that it takes to be successful, suc-cessful, making one feci that with the Lord on our side, no task however how-ever large, is too great. I very much regret that time will not permit me to write to many of you individually, but as Elder Melvin J. Ballard says, we axe not in the mission field to spend our time in correspondence, but to do the work of the Lord. May the choicest blessings of our Heavenly Father be yours and upon all the members and friends in all three stakes. The eyes of all nations are now upon us. May God help us to be true leaders. Very appreciatively, Elder Ray F. Marsh P. S. May I also send my best regards through the Citizen to all my fellow missionaries, both far and near. mg tne creation, uoa lingered just a little longer to leave His handiwork handi-work painted on the priceless pictures pic-tures of the ages. Towering up from "Cumorah," our headquarters just four miles from Cape Town, there is a lofty peak, j Its base is heavily clad with robes of green; its top forms a silhouette against the painted sky of ever-changing ever-changing blue and gray. Strangely enough, a second glance changes the silhouette into the face of Mephis-topheles, Mephis-topheles, our friendly enemy, the Devil. And so it is known as "Devel's Peak." So there, at the feet of the Devil and right up to his very face, are the clothes of God adorning his person. per-son. Truly enough, he has disguised himself with the handiwork of our Maker; his stature, tall and stately, does Command respect and admiration; admira-tion; the paths leading up to his head are easy to follow, they axe strewn for the most part with leafy trees whose outstretched arms offer shade and rest. But the higher we climb to rach the Devil himself, the fewer axe the trees. The way is still easy but the joy and comfort are gone. Instead of trees with helping help-ing hands we see cold, bare rocks; even the refreshing songs of the birds are stilled, fading into the clinking, clattering noise of pebbles under foot. And truly this is the way of life. Those who follow the foot-paths of the Devil can find no comforting rest at the end. What a contrast with that which Christ offers; His pahs are narrow, but they are straight; the trees o'er-shadowlng them soften the heat of the day, 'then- branches are leaning in our way filled with fruits of joy and happiness! Why not reach out and pick our share. For did not Jesus v wmaij i'mwwiiiwwilil II |