Dearest Family, March 24, 1998

I am excited to hear how the Timpview Cheerleaders did in California - Thank you Ron for your message telling me you were all going to “cheer them on”!!! I hope they feel good about their presentation or whatever it is called.

Patrice - thank you for your message telling me about your planned trip to Gulf Shores, March 28 - April 4th. I hope so much that Chris and Wayne are there - Wayne would love to take you fishing. I have had other letters from Little Rock telling me about the expected freeze hurting the fruit and the flowers - I remember those days and I hope they don't get hurt!!! You didn't tell me about Liz' trip - did they have a good time.

Bob - thank you SO much for your letter too!!! I am REALLY happy you are doing such a lot of genealogy work - you said you had found 27 people who needed to have their work done for them - are they on the Forrest line? I know there will be plenty for you to see and do right here in Bangkok. Janet's family seemed so worn out while they were here and Janet has been in bed ever since they left so I think it is best to get the rest you need so you can enjoy and remember the things you get to do. The heat is something you have to contend with no matter where you go and it won't be cool EVER!!! Michael will love it and he won't even notice the heat. It doesn't bother me nearly as much as it does most of the other people in our group.

I had a sad letter from Ramona. Do any of you remember her granddaughter, Stephanie? She is the daughter of Mel Crawford and she and her brother, Jon, lived with Ramona and Winston for a long time while they were finishing their schooling. She died. Ramona didn't date her letter but I am assuming it was about three weeks ago. She has three children ages 6, 4 and 18 months. She said they didn't know the cause of death yet but that Mel was devastated. She also said they would find a way to care for the children - she had a nice husband and he will probably move from Salt Lake to Orem. She also told me that her other granddaughter and her husband have moved from her home and have bought a home in Pleasant Grove. Shirley and Glen have moved back with his mother who is 98 years old - I don't know what happened to the home they had just moved into - that family is hard to keep up with!!!

I went to Ayutthaya on Saturday morning - the train ride is hot but when we get a seat it is quite pleasant and I enjoy it. We taught 20 teachers and they are so fun to be with and they are very, very good to us. They pick us up at the railroad station, give us lunch and then take us back to the station so we can go to Lopburi. Brother Neurack met us in Lopburi and took us to his sister's store again where we had dinner with his mother - crab, rice, etc., etc. He always buys us Magnum Ice Cream Bars for dessert. He is such a nice man - he took us to his home to spend the night and then took us to breakfast the next morning. We never did see his wife and I KNOW that is against mission rules!!!

Church in Lopburi is such a reminder to me of our days in Arkansas before the church became very strong. I LOVE it and the people are so happy when we come. Something happened there a few years ago and the Mission President pulled all the full time missionaries out and they haven't been allowed back in so we are VERY important - Ha!!! They only have fans and it gets very hot - Helen says she will not continue to go back there so I don't know what will happen. We had to stand for almost 4 hours on a very crowded train coming back to Bangkok on Sunday night and that was the final straw. I am trying to find a schedule for the “Air Bus” so we can come back that way. We have told them we would be back this next Sunday but the way Helen is talking that may be our last time. Her daughter and son in law are coming on April 1st and she is planning things for them - they will stay with us!!!

I taught Pook, a young woman who takes English classes from me, last night until 7 p.m. and then some teachers from one of our schools came to take Helen and me to dinner. We went to a restaurant right on the river - we didn't go on a boat but the water is right up to the restaurant. The food was just delicious!!!

Our roommate, Vicky Burton, is going to move tomorrow and she will live with Virginia. Phyllis and Ruth who have been living with Virginia want to be together so they will move to another apartment.

I am putting my pictures in those plastic sheets. I hope to be able to label them before I forget where they were taken. Many of them won't mean anything to anyone else but I will LOVE them.

Before I forget - Carol Woods .... - had a little baby boy about a month ago. I had an e-mail message from Dorothy and she and Dan were on their way to Phoenix to help out. I hope this little boy will be “all boy” - it is hard to tell about Dana's little boys - Ha!!!

I love you all so very, very much. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL. Grandma B