From her childhood, Therese had dreamed of the "desert" to which God would some day lead her. Now she had entered that desert. Though she was now reunited with Marie and Pauline, from the first day she began her struggle to win and keep her distance from her sisters. Right at the start Marie de Gonzague, the prioress, had turned the postulant Therese over to her eldest sister Marie, who was to teach her to follow the Divine Office. Later she appointed Therese assistant to Pauline in the refectory. And when her cousin Marie Guerin also entered, she employed the two together in the sacristy.