riend,

Shoghi Effendi has directed me to address you these few lines,
acknowledging the receipt of your welcome letter of July 20th, 33, which
he has read with deepest interest. He was gratified to learn that you have
newly embraced the Cause and that you are earnestly endeavouring to spread
it through every possible means. It is on young and active Baha'is, like
you, that the Guardian centers all his hopes for the future progress and
expansion of the Cause and it is on their shoulders that he lays all the
responsibility for the upkeep of the spirit of selfless service among
their fellow-believers. Without that spirit, no work can be successfully
achieved. With it triumph, though hardly-won, is but inevitable. You
should, therefore, try all your best to carry aflame within you the torch
of faith, for through it you will surely find guidance, strength and
eventual success.

The Guardian is fully conscious of the difficulties that impede the
progress of the Faith in your community. Chief among these, you mention
the lack of courage and of initiative on the part of the believers, and a
feeling of inferiority complex which prevents them from addressing the
public. It is precisely these weaknesses that he wishes the friends to
overcome, for these do not only paralyze their efforts but actually serve
to quench the flame of faith in their hearts. Not until all the friends
come to realize that every one of them is able, in his own measure, to
deliver the Message, can they ever hope to reach the goal that has been
set before them by a loving and wise Master. It is no use waiting for some
able and eloquent teacher to take all the responsibility for the spread of
the Cause. For such a thing is not only contrary to the spirit of the
Teachings but to the explicit text of the writings of Baha'u'llah and
'Abdu'l-Baha, both of whom place the obligation of teaching not on any
particular class, as in former ecclesiastical organizations, but on every
faithful and loyal follower of the Cause. The teaching of the Word is thus
made universal and compulsory. How long then shall we wait to carry out
this command, the full wisdom of which only future generations will be
able to appreciate? We have no special teachers in the Cause. Everyone is
a potential teacher. He has only to use what God has given him and thus
prove that he is faithful to his trust.

Visiting teachers, who are, at least in a general way, supposed to be more
competent and