=2.= Enjoyed my visit very much with this lovely family. Received many useful hints from Brother B. concerning the West and the great missionary work. =3.= Daylight found us at Creston. From there to Red Oak the country is a beautiful rolling prairie. Very little is cultivated, all grass. At Red Oak took branch road southwest to Nebraska City through a beautiful prairie valley. Beautiful corn. At Hamburg, eleven miles from Nebraska City, we came to a peculiarly formed bluff, high and sharp, from which we can see the city. Crossed the Missouri River at Nebraska City on the steamer Lizzie Campbell. The river was high and ran swiftly. =4.= This is a proud day for Americans, the anniversary of American independence. There was quite an interesting celebration in Nebraska City. Free dinner, band, thirty-seven young ladies dressed in white with badges bearing the names of the thirty-seven states, also the goddess of liberty. Judge Kinney delivered a good speech on the occasion. A great crowd of people were in attendance. The whole matter displayed skill and ingenuity in its design and execution. Arrived at Seward at 9:30 P. M. Walked out through the prairie two miles to Bro. William Anderson's. =5.= Visited Brother James Anderson. Walked across the country. How sublime and beautiful the rolling prairie! There is a strong breeze here nearly all the time, which makes the summer pleasant and agreeable. The wind is from the east; a good part of the time it is from the southeast. =6.= Sabbath. At 4 P. M. I preached my first sermon in Nebraska, in the Anderson Schoolhouse. Text, Isa. 62:6. Here we have to pass over a period of eight months. It is unfortunate that we do not have all of the books, forming a continuous diary account. His notes written during his first winter on the Western plain would have been interesting. As it is, we have to pass over the fall and winter of 1873 and begin again in March, 1874.[3] By this time it seems that he had taken up a claim at Wayland, Polk County. The Advocate he refers to was the church paper, published at Harrisburg, of which he was a correspondent. This chapter includes a temporary absence from the State, occasioned by his marriage and visit in Ohio, after which he returns with his help-meet to his Western field. His reference to Sarah, his bride-to-be, are, of course, full of tenderness. We shall give but brevities from the diary, omitting many of the details of sermons and texts, number converted, etc. The meetings first mentioned were held near Seward. =Mar. 14, 1874.= This is a rainy day, the first of any account since the 22nd of November. Wrote two articles for the Advocate and some letters.