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Teach, Teach, Teach...
Dear Elizabeth Cheney tiny, plump, copper haired was one of the first to answer
the call to pioneer in South America. Dedicated and radiant, she went forth to plant
the standard of Baha'u'llah, and from the first she was beset by difficulties. Everything in the world seemed to happen to her. She was ill, funds she had counted on failed
to materialize, the various methods of transportation that were scheduled were either
detoured or failed entirely - but. nothing daunted her. With determination and great courage, she continued to press on. Finally, she reached the last leg of her journey
- a river boat that was to take her to her destination. With relief and joy, she
boarded the boat, only to be awakened close to midnight - the boat had struck submerged rocks and was sinking. Elizabeth had only time to get out of her stateroom, run
on deck and, with the water rising nearly to her waist, plunge over the rail and
into the river. It was pitch dark, moon less, and no stars. The water was cold. Elizabeth
floundered, went under, rose, prayer on her lips and in her heart - and grasped a log
that was floating. A moment later she realized she was not alone grasping the log
- another woman spoke to her out of the darkness. And there, with muddy river water
smacking against her face, thick darkness pressing around her, the wrecked boat sinking
lower and lower and the cries of the drowning echoing around her, Elizabeth gave
the Message that she had come pioneering to give - and at the other end of the log
her first contact listened.
Told to me by Elizabeth Cheney
during the 1944 Convention at the Temple in Wilmette.
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