Thailand Letter
Dearest Family, September 29, 1998 10:30 a.m.
BOB - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LETTER WHEN YOU ARE SO BUSY!!! I salute all of you for taking care of each other while the "MOM" is gone - it sounds like you all got along just great and that's wonderful. Claire, I hope you had a good time with Steve and his family in California - I know Katie enjoyed Disneyland. I laughed about the "Claire Appreciation Week". Michael - I would have loved to see you "dressed to kill" for your homecoming dance. I don't have to tell all my grandchildren how lucky you all are to live in America where you can attend these social functions and feel safe and have a good time with friends who have the same standards you do. My heart aches for the young mother with throat cancer - I can't imagine a 6 hour operation but I know how conscientious you are as a surgeon Bob and I know you did a good job. I had a letter from Cissy Beyers last week and she told me that Steve had surgery for thyroid cancer and they couldn't go as deep as they wanted because the cancer was too close to some nerves but they feel they got 80% of it - he was in isolation for three days. I'm proud of your childrens' good grades - I will always say that it is too bad that good grades are that important but they truly are!!!
JEANNIE - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LETTER TOO. I felt like I had sat down with you and had a good long visit and it came at a time when it really helped. I can really relate to how Sarah feels - I think Sarah and Barji are more like I am. I would like to change my temperament to not be so sensitive - I truly believe sensitive people are in the minority but if a person is that way it is impossible to change - I have tried for 70 plus years. I'm happy that Mary Ann enjoys reading - I have two roommates (Janet and Darlene) who can get lost in a book and this apartment could catch on fire and they wouldn't know it until it burned them. I can't get lost in anything!!! One thing I am going to work on when I get home is to watch more television to help my concentration - I can't believe all the television shows everyone here knows about that I have never even heard of. I THINK ABOUT RICKY ALL THE TIME!!! He will leave on October 12 and it will be an experience he has never had before and I know he is ready for it. I heard one of the best church talks a couple weeks ago and it was given by a young boy - I asked him for a copy so I could send it to Ricky for his use in the mission field - he will be asked to give many talks. I will send it to you because it is too long for e-mail and if it doesn't get there before he leaves for El Salvador, you can forward it to him. I think it is VERY WEIRD that you have not heard from his Mission President - that was one of the first things Lynn did. Don't write to him though because Ricky would get "labeled" and that would be hard on him. We had SO many problems with parents interfering with their children's missions. I'm SO anxious to see your new home - when is it supposed to be finished? Have you had any serious buyers look at your home?
ANNIE - THANK YOU FOR YOUR LETTER TOO!!! I'm glad they found the Tongan who knocked Russell down - they are SO big that sometimes I think they don't realize their own strength. I am grateful Russell didn't have any serious damage done - will he continue with his football - I hope it won't discourage him. I'll bet you are already decorated for Halloween in your home and I wish I could jump in my car and come see it and have some "real" cookies - Ha!!! The desserts they have here leave much to be desired - they are mostly gelatin with coconut cream.
HELLO TO THE ROYS AND THE JOHNS!!! I would love to see the Fall trees in Little Rock. I have had many letters from Little Rock friends who tell me that this Summer has been one of your hottest - I also hear that from my Utah friends. I have asked myself if they are just trying to console me - Ha!!! Helen - an Orem friend wrote and told me that my son John had spoken to her at church and she said, "he is such a handsome young man" - they love John and Julianna in my old ward.
My head is spinning and I am not kidding. I have SO many things to do that I don't know where to even start. I could make some headway if I would just stay home from all the social things I go to. It will be kinda' nice to move into the new townhouse because it is quite isolated and this apartment is just filled with people constantly.
I wrote to you last on Thursday. Well - Friday, I went to school with Janet and Darlene and there were more parties for them - they are greatly loved in their district and it will be hard to fill their places. The traffic when we came home was so thick that it took us two hours to get home and I had to call my students and tell them I couldn't teach them. I went to the new townhouse and checked it out and told the landlady I would take it - she is a Buddhist Nun and is dressed in white and has her head shaved - she is a lovely woman.
Saturday, I cleaned the apartment and did a little shopping at the "Villa". Then Somjit and Lamchuan came to visit and prepare a Thai dinner for us - Vicky was here for me to take care of. Helen's daughter, Anne, was here and she enjoyed the dinner - she really likes Thai food. Sunday we went to church and when we got home there was a teacher and her son here with pizza for all of us. We ate and while they were still here there were 8 people from the Channel 9 group that came for dinner - Janet had asked me to shop for groceries for her on Saturday and help her make cashew chicken. We cooked dinner and while they were eating several more people came by to tell Janet and Darlene goodbye. It was so funny to try to feed everyone and visit and "be nice" with others at the same time - Ha!!! Right after we sat down to dinner our electricity went off - we had a terrible electric storm. We hurried and got candles - a candlelight dinner and it was fun. The electricity was off for about 4 hours and it was 10 p.m. before it came back on so I didn't write my letter as I had planned.
Monday (yesterday) they had invited me to go to Saimai for a farewell party. PraPa has been so good to me that I couldn't refuse so I got a taxi and left Ruam Rudi about 11:30 and got to Saimai about 1:15. The party was just beautiful - a very elaborate buffet luncheon. I especially enjoyed it because there were many teachers there from schools other than Saimai that I hadn't seen since I left there. I had students coming at 4 p.m. so I had to leave and again it took me over an hour to get here by taxi but I was SO glad I went. It was Vicky's last day but Virginia will stay there until when we leave in December.
Today, I am trying to do some packing. My friend, Wantana, has a brother who has a truck and he has offered to help me move on Saturday. I will probably move the computer and Marc can't help me connect it until Monday so I will be "out of touch" via e-mail after this Friday. I am going to take the washing machine here and all the things the other roommates can do without so it will be a big move. It is surprising to me that I don't have any priesthood help - Janet and Darlene will help me move and also Wantana and a friend, Sallee.
Marc called me this morning and told me to sign the lease agreement, pay the security rent plus two months' rent in advance and just get settled. My new companion will come here on Oct. 6th but I won't meet her until Oct. 7th and that day we will meet at the mission office and she will go to the townhouse with me after a testimony meeting. We will have training sessions from Oct. 12th through the 16th and I will be responsible for a two hour lesson on "School, Classroom and Home". WOW - I wish we would have had something like that when we first moved here. Marc also wants me to teach in Ayutthaya on Saturday mornings and in Lopburi on Saturday afternoons. I am going to give that some serious thought!!!
I am anxious to meet my new companion and I hope we will be happy together. I really believe I can adjust to anything for two months - especially when I can think about Bob and John coming soon.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL. Grandma B