For two decades, Howard Colby Ives and Mabel Rice-Wray Ives forged an extraordinary partnership in service to the Bahá’í Faith, leaving home to teach across 74 communities in 26 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. While Howard’s celebrated Portals to Freedom captured ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s portrait, this volume illuminates Mabel’s equally vital role: a pioneering orator whose innovative public-speaking methods galvanized diverse audiences. Their relentless itinerancy, guided by the National Teaching Committee, speaks to a shared devotion that transcended personal hardship.

At its heart lie more than 900 personal letters—including 17 Tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and 28 missives from Shoghi Effendi—many published here for the first time. Their near-daily correspondence reveals the tender intimacies of marital love, humble reflections on scarcity and sacrifice, and unwavering hope for reunion. Woven through these intimate exchanges is a portrait of two souls whose mutual encouragement and spiritual growth enabled them to accomplish “very great things,” offering readers an inspiring testament to devotion, unity and courage.