Dearest Guru Mahārāja,
Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
On this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to your Divine Grace for accepting me as Your spiritual daughter and mercifully becoming my eternal link to Śrīla Prabhupāda and our most illustrious sampradāya, thus ensuring that my spiritual journey would eventually reach success.
The memories of our service to you when you visited South Africa remain with me as a reminder of all the mercy you have shown my family and I. Thank you Guru Mahārāja, for all your love and compassion and for teaching us through your own example that even in the face of the greatest challenges, we should never stop moving forward or lose focus on our spiritual endeavors.
Since my last cancer treatment, I have not returned to my service of cooking for Śrī Śrī Dayāla Nitāi-Gaurahari in Pietermaritzburg, but I am still serving as a member of the Temple management committee, I sew outfits for Their Lordships, I make the festival altar bouquets and design posters and broadcast our temple activities. These services allow me to serve remotely, and I pray that I am able to continue in this way, as an instrument of your service to Śrīla Prabhupāda.
At times, I feel very demoted, and it is not easy having to face the many challenges that arise when serving with others, especially on a managerial platform, but I am trying to take inspiration from your sincerity, patience and perseverance in serving Śrīla Prabhupāda and his mission. I pray that I can be of some useful assistance to your Divine Grace through my services and one day become a worthy disciple.
I beg to remain under the shelter of your lotus feet eternally.
Your spiritual daughter,
Nandapriyā-Gopikā Devī Dāsī (South Africa)