18 Ave Alladollah Teheran, Persia

My Dear Mrs Platt;

You deserve the best and longest kind of a letter but through the kindness of Mr Henselwood we can send a letter that we feel sure of its reaching you, altho. the mails seem to come sometimes, but very very little do we get. Your package of cards came a week ago, at that time Dr Moody was not very well and I took them over to show them to her. When she read one from Canajohane [sp?] mentioning Amsterdam she exclaimed “how interesting” that is my hometown “I know all that country well and I wonder what Mrs Platt’s maiden name was.” I divided the cards with Dr Moody and she will use them as prizes, the children are very pleased with a postcard from America and if it is written on it seems to them more valuable. The beautiful white cards are to be given as special prizes to the girls in [page 2, right side of image 68] which correspond to our Sunday Schools and some of the postcards Miss K. will use in teaching indeed those of New England she has already used in teaching history. I have resewed [?] half of the white cards to by given to some of those to whom I have promised.

I cannot burden this young man with a heavy letter but try to tell you all that in spite of the horrible trouble everywhere else I am sure we are better off than in any other country.

This is Christmas Day, we have been up to the Caldwells to dinner Mrs Caldwell’s mother died in the early part of October they are not going out or entertaining but we had an American Thanksgiving dinner & a lovely visit as well as today, with no one but their own family and the young man who takes this letter tomorrow they will all be here for afternoon tea.

[page 3, left side of image 68] We are having our first rain since last May and all last winter there was not a bit of snow and very little rain so that there was no winter weather. flowers bloomed all the time and in consequence of the lack of water a great scarcity of [“water” scribbled out] wheat and it is not only very expensive but impossible to get. The natives many of them live almost exclusively on bread and even if they have other food they eat a great deal of bread and this scarcity will keep up until after the next crop is harvested, but news comes that rain has fallen around about Teheran that may save the crop or rather raise it for it has already been planted.

We think many of our letters have been allowed to soak in the bottom of the ocean and we are not the only ones, all the foreigners here have the same [page 4, left side of image 67] complaint.

You cannot imagine how we enjoy The Ladies Home Journal every number has come & every body waiting for the next one. We hear no news from Acca but hope all is well.

Give love to everybody from the four of us.

Yours in El Baha

Sarah A. Clock.