heavy blow which fell upon the inexperienced young couples 

 before their work was fairly begun : 



"As soon as we had unloaded our goods, and made our- 

 selves comfortable, the Brethren Weinland and Torgersen 

 proceeded with a boat-load of lumber to Mumtrekhlaga- 

 mute, in the vicinity of which we had determined to estab- 

 lish our first Mission. In due time the brethren returned, 

 and we loaded all our provisions, and on the evening of 

 July 3, we all started upon the last stage of our journey. 

 Delayed by storms and calms, we did not reach our desti- 

 nation until July 13. We were heartily welcomed by Mr. 

 Lind, the trader at this post, and most hospitably enter- 

 tained, until we were able to provide suitable accommoda- 

 tions for ourselves. On the evening of the 14th we selected 

 the site for Bethel, which was a gentle rise about one half- 

 mile west of the trading post. The place was chosen in 

 the evening; and we knelt upon the tundra, led by Brother 

 Torgersen, dedicated in prayer that spot unto the service of 

 the Lord, and committed our plans and whole future into 

 His hand. The remainder of the week was spent in un- 

 loading our boat, storing our goods, erecting our tent and 

 a small frame building, 12x14 feet, which now serves as a 

 work-shop and store-house. 



A difficulty now presented itself, which caused us much 

 thought and anxiety : we found our lumber to be very wet, 

 and we well knew that we could not hope to build a Avarm 

 house with material in that condition. It was a serious 

 question, how to proceed ; whether we should abandon the 

 idea of building a frame house, and proceed, at once, to 

 gather logs, and erect a log building large enough for com- 

 fort, or endeavor to make the best possible use of the 

 material on hand, and not run the risk of being without 

 good shelter, when Winter sets in. The Lord guided us in 

 adopting the latter alternative. For Mr. Lind offered us 

 the use of the Kashima, belonging to the post, for drying 

 our lumber. We gladly accepted the offer, and set to work 

 piling in the Kashima what lumber we had here. Quick 

 hot fires were made morning and evening, and after the fire 

 was put out, the building was entirely closed. In this way 

 we hoped to get the lumber reasonably dry. With the help 



