51. June 20, 1909

This is the last letter from Anton Gustafsson, nephew of Jonas Victor Swenson.  There is only part of the letter.  He did return to Sweden.  His daughter, Lillian, said she thought he liked America, but he did not like the weather.   Roselyn


Cleburne, Kansas.  June 20, 1909
Dear Brother in the native country.
     I thought I would answer your letter at once, but the thoughts go that way, then they go away. It seems to be the easiest connection with the old country, to lie and think.  If I was sure that you did not wait to hear from me, I would be silent.  I know that Mother perhaps often asks when you fetch the mail, if there is a letter from Anton.  That is why I reproach myself for my delay.  Then I want to answer your letter.  
     Your words were not many, but they were the most sensible I could hear from anybody, who thinks of traveling to America.  When I read that, I thought:  "God's fear is the wisdom's  beginning".  I hope and cannot think anything else than that you remain in "the wisdom's beginning".  If you do that, you are a hero.
     With relief, I left home when I saw that you had come to faith.  It was something that reproached me, because I felt that I should take care of my brother, but I could not.  I had to take care of myself.  Conscious of that, I left you alone in the world and in the fight.  I can yet reach you an encouraging hand over the sea.  Do keep your faith!
     I have always felt that a higher force has driven me here, which I begin to be surer of.  For the first time, I feel that I am in the right place in my life, in spite of being a stranger in a country with a harder climate. If I had walked some other life, I think that I would not have come here.  Because of sin, we have to go many detours before we can understand ourselves.
     To tell all that has happened since I went away, is not possible in a little letter.  It will try to touch some thoughts and experiences.  
     The weather is very changeable.  It can be so warm at Christmas that the pigs "dawdle".  When I arrived on March 2, the weather was like mild summer.  March 9, we had a snow blizzard, but it was soon gone away, of course.  Another year at the same time it can be as warm as today.  It is about 90-95 degrees in the shade.  Body warmth is 100 degrees.  It is better than you would think.  It is very difficult to sleep.  The warmest months are July and August.
    
This letter from Anton Gustafsson ends here.