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Dearest Mother and Daddy,"" Well, today was the day. I received 15 letters, two birthday cards and 1 Christmas card. I got five letters and the birthday card with the letter in it. The letters were written Dec. 29 and 31, and Jan 3, 4, and 17th. So there are some missing in there. But it was so good to hear from home and know that all is well. I also got letters from Furchess, Elizabether Rook K., a note from Miss Clara on the church bulletin, a Birthday card from Mrs. Brumley and Eugenia, and a Christmas card from Sadie and Maulus [?] Harris. Could you tell all of them that I received them and appreciate them so much. I also had 2 letters from my darling husband. They were written Dec. 16th and 17th. He was alright. Maybe you all have had some later word from him. But it was wonderful to get some word from him. He still hadn't gotten any mail from the states at that time.
I hardly know where to start, I have so much to say. I've just finished my bath in my helmet, and this afternoon I did a ""week's washing"" even if it was Sunday. I had the afternoon off. Sunday is like any other day. About the middle of the afternoon they brought our mail, so you can be sure I stopped washing and took time out to read all of my mail. Every ""drop"" of it. Of course nothing ever gets dry around here. It rains all the time, and in the morning when we get up all our clothes that we put on are damp from the night air.
We went on duty yesterday morning. I'm working on our Orthopedic ward. All of the wards are tents set up, and we are fortunate enough to have a floor. Some of them are built right on the ground.
We have some natives working in the hospital. As yet I haven't caught on to much of the Filipino language, but they all speak a little English, or understand it some. I'm enclosing some Filipino money. The 2 Pesos is equal to a dollar, the ten Centavos is equal to 5 cents and the 5 centavos, 2 ' cents. I'll try to send you some more later on. We are able to get Filipino women to do our wash for a small change. They work for practically nothing.
We have fixed up our tent quite a bit. We have wooden boxes for bedside tables. I'm sting here under my mosquito net writing this. We have no screen, just a tent roof and a floor. So if we don't put our mosquito nets down early, they eat us up. We can put the sides down if it rains, which it does most of the time.
I'm glad you liked your Christmas presents- after you finally got into them. There's no one I would rather buy presents for than the grandest Mother and Daddy in the world. You're both so appreciative and you both certainly deserve it.
I meant to tell you that yesterday I received birthday cards from Mamma and all, and Aunt Esther and Uncle Clifford. Tell them I appreciated them. That was the very first mail since arriving here. We are sure lucky to get our mail so quickly.
You should see these Filipinos. Very seldom do you see one with shoes on. In fact, the only ones I've see[n] are those who work in the hospital. They are made to wear them, and even so they are just these wooden clogs with a single strap across to hold them on. Some of the girls are really beautiful, but the older men and women are so thin and underfed. And some of the ragged clothes they wear are really pathetic. They just can't get clothes, and they will do almost any amount of work for a piece of clothing. In fact they would rather have clothes than money.
Well, I think I will have to bring this episode to a close, even though I have so much more to say. It's 8:45 now and I want to write my darling a nice long letter. So good right now. Take care of yourselves.