Dearest Family, August 15, 1998

This has been a fun and different couple days for me!!! I believe I told you that Darlene loaned me 10,000 bahts to help me since I had lost ALL my money. She has been assigned to go to Songkhla which is the Southern part of Thailand for a week with Janet to do an English Camp - they are about finished with their teaching here. I worried that she would need her money even though she said she was fine - SO - I sent an e-mail to John asking him to put some money through Zion's bank for me.

WELL - while I was swimming yesterday (August 14th) John called me and since I wasn't in the apartment he had to call back. IT WAS ALMOST WORTH LOSING MY MONEY TO TALK TO HIM - he sounded like he was right next door. He had wired me some money via Western Union and had to give me the details about how to get it. I still can't believe how easy it was - the bank where I could get it is right across the street from the Marriott. I talked to John about 8 a.m. and by 10:30 a.m. I had $500. I will NEVER forget this experience and as I told John it has taught me a great lesson and I NEVER want to be poor!!! It cost $43 to send it to me but it was worth every penny and I appreciate him doing it SO VERY MUCH. John - I know you laughed about my figuring out that it only cost $23 - I had subtracted the amount I got, 19,978.50 bahts, from 20,000 bahts. I took time to look more carefully at the statement I received from them and figured that that amount was because the exchange rate was 39.95 - I have never been good in math and I am TERRIBLE now. That exchange rate is very good!!!

This money problem has been hard for me and I believe it could have been easier if we would have had more help from our Mission Leaders. I agree with John that the ATM is the best way to go and I will be happy when my new Visa card comes. I was SO excited to hurry to the bank yesterday to see if this would really work that I didn't eat breakfast - after I got the money I went to McDonalds and had a Big Mac, big French Fries and a big Coke - never has anything tasted so good!!

JOHN - I REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP!!! You wanted to do that right after I lost my money but I had no idea that Western Union operated in Thailand and even if it did, I was sure it would be practically impossible to find it.

I went to the “Villa” yesterday to pick up a few groceries and as I walked in I could see the young man who was there when my wallet was stolen. He disappeared very quickly and it gives me such a funny feeling - I am almost convinced that I put my wallet down on that belt that carries the groceries so I could help lift some out of the cart and he just grabbed it. My roommates want me to tell the manager that I feel that way but what good would it do and it could do him a lot of harm. I'm going to try to forget it.

ANNIE AND CLAIRE - THANK you so much for your messages. Claire, I laughed and laughed about Michael going to Houston instead of Dallas and waiting in the airport for Skylar to pick him up. It sounds to me like he has a lot of Grandma B in him - I can see me doing something like that!!! In fact, after this experience I just want to “stay put” and never get lost ANYWHERE!!! I'm glad you and Laura enjoy the Shakespearean Plays - what a neat Mother and Daughter thing for you to do!!! I KNOW Bob will be happy to be home from one more camping trip but I also know it has been wonderful for him and Brett to be together - I hope it has been fun!!! They will be ready for good meals!!!

I find myself thinking about Susanna really often because her experience is as different for her as mine is for me. What a marvelous opportunity for her and I am VERY HAPPY for her and I hope she has kept a good journal so she can share her experiences with me when we both get home. The ruins in Ayutthaya are what I think they are in Egypt and I feel like you can enjoy just SO much of that sort of thing. I hope Ron will get to Little Rock but I don't believe the Roys are home from Colorado yet - at least I haven't heard from them. I know you will be happy to get everything “back together” in your home - I don't like to have even my bedroom in disarray and it always is!!! My friends and teachers here are always asking about you and Jean and my beautiful granddaughters - I am SO proud of you and happy you could meet so many of the people I am with a lot.

The staff at the Ministry of University Affairs took Darlene and me to a very special place last Wednesday. It was the Queen's Birthday and that is a national holiday and all the schools were closed. They took us to an Island where the “Mon” people from Burma have established a little village type thing. It was SO interesting - they make their living by making pottery and some of their buildings are over 200 years old - I took a lot of pictures and I hope they turn out. That type of living is so foreign to me - their homes are very close together and they have their own school and they ride bicycles all through the village and of course there are food vendors all over. We took the ferry across the Chao Phraya (I spell that differently every time) river to have lunch and when I saw the restaurant I thought, NO WAY, it looked very dirty and smelled of sewer - BUT it worked out and the food was good. I kept thinking about what Bob said about my adapting to the Thai way - I guess I have!!! I am NEVER sick though so I guess it isn't as bad as it looks.

Vicky came over last night and I will go back with her today and spend the night in the Village and come back to church with her in the morning. That is a very interesting experience for me. I guess she has had many “run ins” with Marc Hall and it is hard for me to understand. It will be interesting to see where he puts her when the new sister missionaries come. I have been told by others (not Marc Hall) that I will be sent to a demonstration school where Janet and Darlene have been teaching and will be with a new missionary. I think he is going to leave it up to us how we will handle the housing situation - I know I will move and I guess the new missionary coming in may stay with us here in this apartment until October 17th when the others all leave. It is SO funny - all my life I have been “on top of things” and here at my age I find that my life is not my own and I “just go with flow” - Ha!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL. Grandma B