TEACHING TASKS

The completion of the Temple should, and I feel confident will, release
tremendous and unprecedented forces of spiritual energy destined to be
wholly consecrated to the teaching tasks now confronting the American
believers. The concentrated, the sustained, and undivided attention of the
individual believers and all Baha'i agencies, local, regional, as well as
national, should be directed to the attainment of this supreme, this
shining goal. The increase in the number of pioneers, of every class,
race, age and outlook is the vital need of the present hour. May the
Beloved bless richly and continually this mighty and glorious endeavor.

June 17, 1942

A BEFITTING CLIMAX

I am thrilled with admiration as I contemplate, at this advanced stage in
the unfoldment of the Seven Year Plan, the vastness of the field already
covered by the pioneer activities of its stalwart and valiant prosecutors.
The heights of heroic self-sacrifice to which they have attained, the
depths of faith and devotion they have plumbed in the course of their
ceaseless exertions are no less noteworthy than the immensity of the task
they have already performed. An effort so prodigious, a mission so
sublime, a solidarity so truly remarkable, an achievement, which in its
scope and quality, stands unparalleled in American Baha'i history, provide
a befitting climax to the century old record of magnificent
accomplishments associated with the rise and progress of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah. Such a glorious century, so unique in the annals of mankind's
spiritual history, is, however, not yet completed. The gigantic
enterprises which the American believers are pledged to consummate are as
yet but partially concluded. The remaining two years must witness an
intensification of Baha'i activity, throughout the entire Western
Hemisphere on such a scale as to eclipse the splendor of all past
achievements, and worthily crown this initial phase in the progressive
evolution of the Divine Plan. An unprecedented multiplication in the
number of pioneer teachers and settlers; an unexampled flow of material
resources for their maintenance and the extension of their labors; a still
wider dissemination of Baha'i literature, to aid and support them in their
presentation of the Faith to Latin American peoples; an immediate increase
in the number of groups and Assemblies in the States and Provinces of
North America; an increased awareness on the part of