# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1925_S76 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 76 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER. As a people the Chinese are without God and without hope in this world. They live only to die eternally. How terrible! Oh, that the love of God which He has revealed to us in Christ Jesus would move us to more zealous efforts for the salvation of the Chinese! St. Louis, Mo. FREDERICK BRAND. On Their Way to the Mission-Field. Early in January of this year the Rev. L. Meyer and wife and Miss Martha Baden left for their field of labor in China. The Meyers returned to that country after their first furlough. Miss Baden, a trained nurse, went out for the first time. In a personal letter Mrs. Meyer describes part At Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, January 10, 1925. Missionary and Mrs. Meyer in the center. of the trip. I shall take the liberty to communicate some sections of it to our friends. Says Mrs. Meyer: “Our trip across the con- tinent was very beautiful. It was pleasant to have a few hours’ wait in Kansas City and again in Denver, where we visited the Wheat Ridge Sani- tarium. Snow, fresh and pure, covered the prairies of Nebraska and the mountains and valleys of Colo- rado, Utah, and Nevada. It is so much prettier seeing the country in winter than in the heat and dust of summer. “A balmy, sunny New Year’s Day saw us arrive in the handsome station at Oakland, Cal. Mr. J. G. Theiss, the father of Missionary H. A. Theiss, of Ichang, China, was there to meet us, and we spent most pleasant hours in his hospitable home. We ‘could even attend New Year’s services that morn- "ing, which, we had feared, might be impossible be- ‘cause of the lateness of the hour. In the evening ‘we met the young people of the city, who were ex- tremely pleasant. Mr. Meyer addressed them on our mission-work. ... Everybody was just lovely to us at San Francisco, for which we can never thank them enough. “Our steamer is not nearly so palatial as some of the boats on other trans-Pacifie lines, but what it lacks in fittings it makes up in seaworthiness. The sea has been simply wonderful. I’ve never seen it so constantly saucy and in such high spirits. Mr. Meyer has not been quite well. Some food — it was fish—did not appear to agree with him. This morning, however, I am happy to state, he is feeling much better. “In Honolulu we spent a glorious day. We had wirelessed Pastor A. Hoermann of the Wisconsin Synod: ‘May three Missourians lunch with you to-morrow?’ Both Rev. and Mrs. Hoermann were at the docks to mect us. The day was sunny and warm, and as the Hoermanns have a car, we soon were off seeing the tropic beauties of Hawaii. This is the most beautiful spot I have ever seen. After dinner we drove to the beach and the wonderful aquarium, did some shopping, and, above all, were delighted to see such a pretty Lutheran church in Honolulu. From the high spots of the island the views are exceptionally grand — over there the beautiful sugar and pineapple plantations and, at a distance, the dreamy waters of the Pacific lapping the shores of the island. “We left again at ten o’clock sharp, and the next morning, when we made our first round on the deck, the last of the farthermost islands was just disappearing from view. “For days we-could walk about in our summer clothes and were out almost all the time playing deck games of some sort. “Last night our genial captain, a Norwegian, looked into the social hall where we were sitting and said, ‘Land!’ It was like a word of magic, and we all rushed out on deck to see the black out- lines of an island not far away. We were nearing our destination. Columbus could not have been happier when he first saw San Salvador peeping out on the distant horizon. “Now we have again crossed the Pacific and are on ‘the other side.” How many thousand miles from our loved ones at home! But whether here or there, we are all in the care of the Lord, and that is our comfort. That thought sustains us when we crave to see the faces we love most. “We are truly glad to get back to our work and ask the Lord to be with us and to bless us.”