Blog

Mary Parke and her husband David Thompson served as missionaries to Japan for over five decades. This fourth excerpt from Mary’s diaries chronicles the deepening relationship between Mary Parke and “Mr. Thompson.”[1]

--

June 28: [1873, Yedo, now Tokyo] Raining, raining. A long long walk with Mr. Thompson. Oh! even to you, my diary, I cannot think to utter it. How much the heart may contain—what burdens the soul may bear!—Who knows how through all the light may dawn! It is safe in God’s...

Mary Parke Thompson and her husband David Thompson served as missionaries to Japan for over five decades. In this second excerpt from Mary’s diaries, she records her first overseas voyage to Japan and her first several weeks in the country she would come to call home, including some of her first encounters with her future husband.[1]

--

Mary Parke left San Francisco April 1, 1873, aboard a paddle-wheel steamer bound for Yokohama. She was sick most of the way.

April 13: A long period of neglect...