Dear Georgia:

I am transported 20 years back in my experience as I start out this morning to the farthest point on my territory.¹ I have traveled by “ricksha” every day walked 5 to 10 miles besides, for many places the roads will not be wide enough for rickshas. This morning I’m in an old-fashioned native chair, a box-shaped affair with curtains on 4 sides and poles underneath. I sit cross legged and when they let me down to rest I write a few lines to you. I do not know if you can make much out of it, but I really have no other times to write. Yesterday I went to two places. We had a great time getting home. I was away in the valley & it got dark at 6 o’clock. We had about 3 miles to follow the trail to get to where my faithful ricksha man was waiting. I brought him from Seoul & he is always devotion itself to me. It was late & dark & he was anxious so came to hunt us, my Bible-woman and me. I said, “Where is my bag?”—I had left it in his care in the ricksha. He said the “Mapoo”² came by & was waiting at the ricksha with his horse. He is the man who furnishes the pack pony for my load. He had his horse grazing out on one of the hills several miles away and happened along our road. Can anything ever just happen to us? His coming could not have been more timely for we had no light and a rough unknown road to travel. We found him waiting and as he walked behind leading his pony he pushed, pulled back, or steadied the ricksha as the need required. At the ferry we were able after much begging to buy a lantern from a man and so got home safely. My cook had waited my dinner three hours. You would laugh if you could see him cooking on the door step. A basket of supplies & a few kitchen utensils & dishes, and a burned charcoal fire pot are the outfit. These, excepting the latter, with my bed, bedding & clothes are the pack the pony takes from place to place.

After a nice rest under a big tree we are off again. I have three men and my ricksha man. Two with strops over their shoulders walk in front and behind & carry the chair. Every once in a while they call out “rest” and then the other Page 245 →two men run a pole sideways under the chair and suddenly raise me into the air and rest the two chair bearers. It is a decidedly unpleasant experience. They seem to get a lot of fun out of my ricksha coolie who doesn’t know how to do his part as he has never tried chair carrying before. They are anxiously looking for the man with the pack pony who is coming somewhere behind, yet quite out of sight. They hope he will take the place of the coolie and let him lead the pony. He is much stronger. Now I’m in the little “Wayside Inn” such as we have all over Korea. The little 8 x 8 room is fairly clean and I am comfortably waiting for the cook who had not quite finished my lunch so I did not wait for it—(Ran out of ink at this point.) Here it is so I’ll be hungry no longer. I do get so tired of lunches. In fact there isn’t much to fix. I’ve chicken today however, and deviled eggs and an apple and it all tastes good. My cook is not the one I had last year. He is Mr. Burdick’s³ and has traveled this district many years with him. Mr. B is now in America on furlough. If I find him satisfactory I’ll keep him as Mr. B. has been District Superintendent on the district 6 years & will probably be transferred to some other district.

I could have come all the way here by Auto, tho’ it is a three day’s journey for the pony. I sent my load on ahead and then I went to Chemulpo to see Miss Hillman. She is sick and has gone to Japan for a good rest and osteopathic treatment. She has had to give up her work on the Won Ju Dist. and go back to Chemulpo to live with Miss Miller. She left on Wednesday and I went down the Friday night before. The next morning I took the train for Suwon and got the Auto there. On the train was my doctor who operated on me. He said he thought it very courageous of me to go country itinerating—“very ... well I’ll say only, courageous.” He doubtless meant fool-hardy, but you see I get along fine. God gives me special strength I think. I never was much of a walker but when necessity requires I can walk very well. In the mornings quite well—at night I might be taken for a drunken man. The Koreans take good care of me. That is what my grey hair does for me. I came by Auto to Yechun and changed for another to Chang Ho Won. There some of the faithful women awaited my coming. I traveled that circuit and the adjoining one and then came by ricksha on here making two stops on the way. I took a dreadful cold before starting for Chang Ho Won and when I got way up in the mountains a day either way by ricksha till I could get an Auto for home, I was quite sick. I had held a little meeting with the women—the men listening through the open door in the adjoining room. In the night I found myself gasping for breath and my breath gone. I remembered last year when I was a week in bed without any relief, with the same kind of a cold. I knew I could teach no more in this state, but I Page 246 →resolved to go on as I had planned [to] make one more church on the way to Choong Ju instead of going back, and then if when I got to Choong Ju I was no better, I’d go home. I knew it was the Lord’s errand I was on and if he wanted me to go on he could make it possible. I used my voice as little as possible on the way, visiting one church, spent a quiet Sunday in Choong Ju, and yesterday I was quite comfortable and as I say visited two village churches, and am on my way up the mountain as I had planned. I’ve never visited this place before but if the people are as nice as the mountains are beautiful I’ll feel repaid for the long trip. The mountain streams and the winding path up the valley between the mountain peaks, and the golden rice fields terraced up the mountain sides, and many colours of flowers & autumn leaves make it all a wonderful sight and as I look down from the heights on the little villages so beautiful in the distance (tho’ in reality they are very dirty) I think of a verse in the Song of Solomon which says, “Look from the top”⁴—If we could always get above everything that is coarse, common & low in life & look at it from the height, see it all as our spirits rise above these things, even trials & troubles would be beautiful.

I must be on my journey again: To think I’ve written all this and haven’t said a word about that new nephew of mine.⁵ I feel quite rich to have another one. I’d like to have my mail but must wait till I get back to civilization again.

The men have stopped and are puffing their pipes contentedly as they sit on their haunches. As I was starting from the Inn the people gathered around the chair one woman said, “Have you any sons?”—I said “No but I have many daughters and she said ‘Dakhara!’”⁶ (What a calamity!) It is no use telling them I’m not married etc. for they can’t understand it at all, I meant the school girls. When I think of their custom I do not wonder they want sons for the sons bring their brides to their father’s house, but the daughters go into other homes. It is very strange to them that the young people in our country start homes of their own.

Back in Choong Ju after three days’ trip in the chair. It is a great thing to go up into the mountains and see the little groups of believers. It seems as tho’ there is so little I can do for them. We have a “Home Study Course” and I inspire them to study and examine them in it, give passing cards to them each year. The first year is the hardest because I find so few who have learned to read & of course that has to be learned before anything else. They commit the Lord’s Prayer, Apostle’s Creed and ten commandments and know how to read their Bibles & write their names. The second year they study Mark’s gospel & a little book Page 247 →“Advice to Mothers” on the care of children and recite the 23[rd] Psalm. Each year is a little more difficult.

Tomorrow I am taking the Auto to Kong Ju⁷ and will spend Sunday there while my load gets to my next destination.

Kong Ju, October 20

I had a very nice trip yesterday. Made good connection on three auto lines leaving at 1:30 and reaching Kong Ju at 8:30. Their auto lines are most convenient. I think Mr. Ford would blush however if he could see some of them after they have undergone changes at the hands of the Japanese. A hand rest is put in the middle so that the space is enough to just to squeeze in, knees touching the seat in front. To get in the back seat one must climb over the wheel. The cover of one yesterday was white canvas and the whole thing rattles like a threshing machine, but we get there just the same & much appreciate this mode of travel in our work. I presume they are all second-hand machines. The roads are fine—winding up over our mountains make the rides most interesting.

Another auto ride and a train ride gets me to my next point. My load is slowly coming today over the mountains a two & half day’s journey. My cook is going to Seoul Monday for fresh supplies of food and will be back by the time I get there Monday evening. This is a rather long & disconnected letter and only you who are used to my scratching can read it, but it may be interesting to your N.E. ladies⁸ as they give me 25 dollars a year itinerating money, which I much appreciate.

I am enclosing a few letters I’ve received since I left the school. You can see what is going on there while I’m away. They are too private I fear for any eyes except yours.

I thought of your birthday as it passed & was sorry I’d not sent you a present. My love in an unlimited supply is always yours. Kiss the babies all around for me. Myra must be a big girl. Can’t you send me some more snap-shots just to keep up with the progress of the family.

With much love—

Lulu E. Frey