50.


back to the days I spent here in my early youth

and to the characters who influenced my life

during those years.

     I must admit that had it not been for the

lessons they taught me then I might have never

become a missionary. The stern, just and honest

principles which I learned then helped me to con-

tinue the difficult tasks which I encountered in

that foreign land, at times the only American

in a statiOn.

      The faith which was germinated in my heart

then stood me in every storm.  The faith which I

saw put into practice here in the Welsh Settle-

ment and the sermons I heard, the verses of the

Bible I memorized, the faithfulness of parents

and Sunday School teachers, the hymns I memorized

and sang, as well as prayers and speeches we heard

and the lives of those who taught me, gave me a

theology that helped me meet life.

        The leaders among our pioneer parents

 and grandparents possessed an uncanny knowledge

 of the things that mattered most.They knew them,