Of the thoughts that sustained and comforted me during my hours of restful retirement was the realization, never dismissed from my mind, that in the German friends the Master will surely find loyal and grateful children who will repay the tender love and paternal care which He had for them with a devotion and service, so profound and lasting that will prove worthy of the many blessings that have been theirs in the past. The news of your most spiritual gatherings, since the Great Plan of the Master as revealed in His Testament has been unfolded to our eyes; the formation and functioning of the National Body with efficiency and harmony; the extension of your activities; the widening of your correspondence; the generous and spontaneous help you have extended us in connection with our difficulties in the Holy Land and above all the spirit of ready devotion and ever-increasing zeal which is back of it all—these are sweet thoughts that cheer the bereaved Ladies of the Holy Household and encourage here and abroad the many friends who look forward to the hour when all the Master has promised His friends in Germany will come to be fulfilled. Having returned to the Holy Land with a renewed vigour and a refreshed spirit, I shall not fail with the help of the Master to do my part in enabling you to carry on further and still further the Glorious Standard of Bahá to the very heart and uttermost confines of Germany and thus hasten the Day when the Spirit of Faith and Peace as revealed in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh will fill the world and the darkness of strife be no more. In sweet remembrance at the Three Holy Shrines of your labours of love for His Cause, I am and remain your brother and coworker in His service. LETTER OF 19 JANUARY 1923 19 January 1923 The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout Germany, Care of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly. My dearly-beloved friends! Ever since I have resumed my work in the Holy Land I have been awaiting with eager and particular interest the detailed letters, individual as well as collective, of my loved ones in Germany, who, I am sure are arduously, devotedly and efficiently carrying on the Great Work which the Master has destined for them in this world. Much as I desire to correspond individually with every one of you, yet I find that in view of the marvellously rapid extension of the Movement all over the world to start and maintain individual correspondence with the vast and ever-increasing number of Bahá’ís in the East and the West would entail so much time and energy on my part as to prevent me from paying adequate attention to my other duties that are so urgent and vital in these days.