Waterloo, Ont.,
Jan’y 11, 1919.
Dear Mother:
I have just got back from Kitchener where the boys and I went down to hear Pastor Baese of St. Paul’s (Mo.) Lutheran Church. There was no service in St. John’s to-night owing to the annual congregational meeting’s being held there this afternoon. As I had never heard Pastor Baese I thought this would be a good opportunity. He has the reputation of being a good preacher and I was not disappointed in him. He is a large man of fine physique and has an excellent voice and a splendid delivery. The Church has a beautiful altar and pulpit both done in white and gold. The high altar contains a life size statue of Christ in the attitude of pronouncing the benediction in imitation of the Thorwaldson statue. The subject of the pastor’s sermon to-night was matrimony and the subject was well handled. It was the first time I had heard Pastor Baese. This morning Bonnie and I attended German service
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at St. John’s. Pastor Bockelmann preached a very fine sermon on Jesus the true Friend of the people. He is always thoroughly homilitical and makes his theme and his divisions very prominent and is noted for his practical application. I like him very much and especially enjoy his German sermons. He uses very simple but at the same time very beautiful German and has a fine accent. He is not so good in English, but always interesting and instructive. We had a big snow storm last week and since then the sleighing has been very fine. The weather also has been considerably colder and we had our water-pipes frozen up a couple times last week but managed to thaw them out without a plumber by lighting our oil stove in the basement. Carolus and Herman kept after me to go skating with them. So yesterday I invested in a pair of shoes to fit the skates (No. 7’s my other shoes being too small) and went with them down to the lake in the park. At first I felt some-what shaky on them and they could out do me, but I soon got on to it and surprised them by my skill.
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So now they have a wholesome respect for my skating. I didn’t much care about spending the money for an extra pair of shoes, but concluded it would be worth while to keep in touch with the boys and so hold my influence over them. This afternoon we went down again and had a couple hours good skating. We also took Marion and Arthur with us on the toboggan and after we finished skating had some fine rides down the park hill and half way across the lake on the toboggan. It was fine sport and I enjoyed it perhaps as much as the children did. I do not, of course, have much time for such recreation through the week, but when I am not preaching I can manage to spare a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays. It has a good influence on the children, I think, to have their father take part in their sports and raises him in their estimation. The old student whom I mentioned in my last letter is likely to reenter the College arrived early last week and is now again a regular student of the College. The Board at its last meeting authorized us to prepare a Catalogue of the College
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and Seminary and to have the [?] ready for their examination at their next regular meeting around Easter. This will give us some extra work to do. I have a lot of work to do also on the House Committee and on the Building Committee, but still I find the work comparatively easy and have nothing to complain of in connection with it. We haven’t our piano back yet and Bonnie misses it very much. We also hoped to start the boys off in music this winter, but it may be just as well for them to wait awhile yet. I am waiting on First English to pay me up before making inquiries about the piano. And they seem to have their hands full keeping their present pastor paid up. However, I hope they will get around to me before long. They are as slow as the peace conference, but I hope both will succeed in time. But I must close as to-morrow is wash day and we want to get on early start in the morning. If I keep on I’m afraid it will be late before I get my furnace attended to and get to bed and I might “sleep in”. That’s the expression universally used around here for “over sleep”. With all good wishes and much love to all, I am
Most Sincerely yours,
[signed] Carroll H. Little.
