Dear Brethren:-

I received your welcome letter, and am very thankful for the tracts you have sent me. As the country about here seems to be desolate of God's people, I made good use of the tracts, with God's help, and I must tell you about the way the Lord has guided rue.

As bro. J. wrote you, I was a registrant of the National Draft Army, and for fear of having to bear arms, I joined the Aviation Signal Corps, and was sent on to the Pacific Coast from Va. In general, the men are thoughtless as to God; the fear of the Lord is not before their eyes.

I was converted to God through Mr. J.'s preaching, and have ever since sought to keep close to the Lord. Through the Scripture and Mr. J.'s teaching, I have received much blessing, but the difficulties which confronted me here were many. I felt very sick at heart the first three or four weeks. I felt lonely and forsaken, for how could I enjoy fellowship with worldly men?

Then I was stricken with pneumonia, and was sent to the base hospital for treatment. I stayed in the hospital for two and a half weeks, and not a pastor nor minister came to visit the ward I was in.

We are nine or ten men to each tent; and at night, after drilling and our regular duties were finished for the day, some would throw dice, and others tell stories, whilst I would sit on my bunk, and try to read God's Word. But some would use such horrible language, and talk so loudly, that I could hardly understand what I was reading.

One night, as I was engaged in reading, some of the fellows, who for many days had seen me go through the same performance before going to bed, made some ugly remarks, calling me "sissy" and "goody-goody," etc., but I paid no attention to them. Then one fellow spoke up and said, " Well, boys, I guess it ain't so bad after all to be a Christian." That gave me strength, and I told them that I was saved by grace, and that I had something good to read to them. So I went to my suit-case and took out some tracts, and in less than two minutes every man in that tent was reading what I had given them. It was a pleasure to see them read of the dying love of our dear Lord. After that I had several opportunities to give tracts to different men, and found much joy in serving the Master.

I was assigned to the Provisional Aero Construction Squadron, and am working at present in a big sawmill near the Columbia River, where we cut spruce for airplanes, and lumber for ships. I have been well taken care of by the Lord, and He has watched over me in time of trouble, and given me a fuller revelation of His love than I ever before enjoyed; for it is joy to watch the ways of the Lord, and in some feeble way set an example before the world. Though many times we stumble and fall, He is always ready and willing to help us to gain our feet and to lean on His everlasting arm. We soldiers in camp life seem to be more in a position to notice this than when we are in civil life.

Our work is hard, for besides our work, we drill from six to seven every evening. But I praise God for being peso here instead of to a training camp, learning to take life which we cannot give. Praise God for His wondrous care. W. C. V.