Messages to Canada
Author: Shoghi Effendi
Source: Bahá’í Canada Publications
Pages: 276
Pages 47-48   

Letter of 11 December 1936

11 December 1936

To F. St. George Spendlove1

Dear Mr. Spendlove,
The Guardian is in receipt of your welcome message of the 19th November with enclosures, and is indeed pleased to learn that you have joined the staff of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology in Toronto. For although he had suggested to you at the beginning to return to England, provided it would be financially possible, he now feels that your stay in such a town as Toronto where there is as yet no well-established group of believers can be equally fruitful and of high value to the promotion of the teaching work. Do not feel worried, therefore, if circumstances did not prove to be favourable to your return to England. In Canada there are still so many places to which the Message has not yet been carried. It is perhaps as virgin a soil as many parts of Great Britain. The essential for you now is to make every effort in order to increase the number of confirmed souls in Toronto and thus pave the way for the formation of an Assembly in that centre.
The Guardian is pleased that your labours in this connection will not be unaided, but will be reinforced through the close and continued collaboration of Messrs. William Suter2 and Gerrard Sluter,3 the only active believers besides you in Toronto. It is his fervent hope that your united endeavours will greatly stimulate the promotion of the teaching work in that centre. May Bahá’u’lláh send down upon you His confirmations, and assist you in the attainment of this supreme objective.

Assuring you and them of the Guardian’s ardent supplications on your behalf at the Holy Shrines,

Yours in His Service,

H. Rabbani

[From the Guardian:]

Dear and valued co-worker:

I wish to assure you in person of my deep appreciation of the work you are so devotedly accomplishing in Toronto. My hope, indeed my prayer, is that you may be graciously assisted to establish a group of fervent believers who will form a nucleus and foundation for a flourishing spiritual Assembly. Persevere in your pioneer efforts and rest assured.

Your true and grateful brother,

Shoghi
1.F. St. George Spendlove—a Montreal believer who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles (1935–36), and settled in Toronto. His many services and accomplishments are described in The Bahá’í World Vol. XIII, 895–899, In Memoriam.  [ Back To Reference]
2.William Suter—Swiss-born member of the Montreal Bahá’í youth group who moved to Toronto in 1936, later was caretaker at the Laurentian Bahá’í School until his death in 1966.  [ Back To Reference]
3.Gerrard Sluter-Schlutius—German-born member of the Montreal Bahá’í youth group who moved to Toronto in 1935, and to Guatemala in 1939. Shoghi Effendi later declared him a Covenant-breaker for his persistent political involvement.  [ Back To Reference]
Copyright 2004. Bahá’í International Community. All Rights Reserved.