missionary barrel

We had written for a family to care for, and having notified the minister, we received a letter, that gave us a peep into the family, and into the father’s heart. So we set to work, and having out own ideas about the matter, we carefully instructed the young ladies that they must be sure and put in the stitching lovingly and nicely, just as they would like it themselves, if ever the Lord should honor them sufficiently to let them work for Him on the frontier. They were ready to do that very thing, and rather resented the suggestion that it could be otherwise. I have always kept a quiet corner, where I put such things as I think will be useful in a missionary’s family,and I went and examined it, and found quite a number of articles, which—etc. But I told Mrs. Smith I could not wait for the barrel to go. I must send, at once, something to let the missionary know we were thinking about him, so I found books for each member of the family, and sent them by post, and my daughter Fanny wrote a letter to Willie, and received such a reply that she was quite interested. Out ladies were so eager in the work, that when we got the things together, there was more that one barrel would hold, so I took most of mine out, and said: “Why, you can fill that barrel yourselves; and I think I and my family can fill another.” You see, we had become so interested, that we could do almost anything we wanted to. But I am not going to write about that now, and I have got on too fast.

We wanted to be sure and made the things so that they would suit, and pleasure be taken in them, so we wrote the missionary again, and while we were working we made fresh inquiries, and these brought letters giving us new insight, and then they sent us papers of the town, so that we became well acquainted with the field of labor, the missionary’s family, their characteristics, names, ages, and descriptions, and as we worked for each one, we called them by name. We wanted them to express their wants, and their askings were so reasonable that the family grew upon us, and it seemed as if they had always been a part of our lives, and in a trouble in their family all of us largely shared. They were as relatives, in our thoughts.

When Mrs. S. bought a wrapper for herself, she bought another, just like it, for our missionary’s wife, and when Mrs. G. was buying a dress for her little girl, she bought material enough to make little Susie one, just like her own daughter’s.

Our young people became so much interested, that they got up a “Musical and Literary Entertainment.” The result was sufficient to purchase a good black cloth suit for the parson, and a cashmere dress for his wife, with gloves and handkerchiefs to match.

My little twin girls, Emily and Millie, were quite eager. They sent a little toy bedstead, and two boxes of candy. Mabel Anderson put in a box of toys, with her own pretty little picture in it. There had been self-denial, on the part of some, to have a share in it. Paralytic grandmother Millikan went without her tea part of the time, to purchase wool, and knit with it a pair of socks. Willie Jones had just two good handkerchiefs, and he put in one. Aunt Hannah, in her characteristic way, came to me very late one evening to give me something extra, that she did not want any one to know she put in. There were some laughable incidents too. There was one little boy wanted to put in his overcoat, saying quaintly, “Then father will buy me a new one.” One young lady would like to put in a velvet sacque, because then she knew she would get the sealskin one on which her heart was set. We had really enjoyed out meetings, and the labor and expense to each one of us had been a mere trifle; yet in the aggregate we had more than we ladies could crowd into the receptacle. But one of our carpenters, coming in while we were in this dilemma, said he could put them all in, and so with an extemporized crowding apparatus, he squeezed them in, and said: “They will ride all the better, for being tight.” But I wish you could have seen the disappointment on the faces of some little folks, who brought two dozen oranges, that could not possibly go in. We could not help crying, as we saw those things being packed, and knew what comfort they would take to that Western family, our hearts and prayers went out with our gifts. We did want to be there, unseen, when the gifts should come. We do know that it is blessed to give, and ever since we received word how well our work fitted into that family’s arrangements, we have felt a greater interest in Home Missions, and have been glad that, through our Brother in X, we are co-laborers in the great Home Missionary work. -R.O.C. — The Home Missionary (November 1877), 162-163.