Thailand Letter
Dearest Family, October 10, 1998 Saturday 9 a.m.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY ANN!!! WOW, THIS IS YOUR BIG 16TH BIRTHDAY!!! I love you very much and I am very proud of you and all your accomplishments - KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!! I remember so well when your Mom brought you to the Mission Home in Montana shortly after you were born and you were the tiniest baby I had ever seen - and now you have grown into a beautiful healthy young woman. I hope you have a WONDERFUL day - will you be able to drive? THAT IS SCARY!!! I will be thinking of you all day.
I can just imagine the anxiety that is going on in the Weinert home with Ricky going to El Salvador in a few days - he will leave on Monday, the 12th, and I will be thinking about him all day. I see missionaries each Sunday when I go to church but I don't see them on the streets like we used to in Little Rock. They can't proselyte here and just teach in members' homes or at church and I guess that is the difference.
Janet and Darlene are headed for the airport right now to go home and Ruth will go home tomorrow - she is going to go to Hong Kong for a week so she won't be getting back to Orem for another week. JOHN AND JULIANNA, PLEASE GO TO HER HOMECOMING MEETING AND TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT - it is scheduled for October 19th. It is SO funny when people ask me why I am staying, Ruth always says, "she came out much later than I did" - actually it was only one month and I am staying two months longer. She is VERY excited to get home and that is unusual for her because she has had family problems ever since I have known her. There have been many parties for Janet and Darlene and they will be happy to relax on the plane going home. Janet was featured on television yesterday and I actually got to watch it - she and President Goodman answered questions about the English project here. Janet is a VERY special woman and a talented teacher - I love her and she lives in Bountiful so we will have fun together - she is also a good friend of one of my college friends. I love Darlene too - she is from a very small town in Arizona (Taylor) and hasn't had the opportunities I have had and I appreciate her goodness. She has tolerated all of us using the computer but she doesn't want to learn how - she is a former librarian and I am surprised that she objects to computers the way she does.
Speaking of computers - my new companion, Myrth Kidd, brought a laptop computer with her and she just barely types. She said she has a long letter on it and wants me to send it to her family and I DON'T KNOW HOW to transfer it from her computer to this one. I put a lot of her family names on the nickname list the other night and she typed a one sentence letter to them and they all got it so I did remember how to do that. SHE IS SO FUNNY!!! She complains about everything - it's too hot, it smells terrible, the fumes are going to ruin my lungs, the toilet leaks, there aren't curtains on the windows, and on and on. She is just darling and doesn't take life very seriously - she is 69 years old. I think we all learn about our own selves when we are in situations like I have been in and the biggest thing I have learned about myself is that I am not a "fun and games" person. I know I take life too seriously but I don't seem to be able to change.
I took Myrth to Ruam Rudi yesterday morning so she could meet up with the other volunteers and have Marc take them "up country". THEN I came back here and did some work on the demonstration I have to do next week - I have to go back to Ruam Rudi to spend the nights because we can't be alone. My friends are SO worried about me being here during the day by myself and I am not one bit frightened. Two teachers brought dinner here for me (there is no way I am going to be able to diet like I need to) and I have had two phone calls already this morning and three teachers are going to come today until I have to leave to go back to Ruam Rudi - they said "it's okay if you want to take a nap while we are there". I truly do appreciate them but why are they frightened for me?
We have monsoon rains every day - I believe the rainy season should soon be over. I love them when I am inside.
Bob & John - I am going to try to find where I am on a map I bought for you. I will mark it and mail it as soon as I can. Marc gave us our schedules and I don't believe I will be busy while you guys are here - I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!! There is plenty of room in this townhouse if you want to stay with us - I would give you my bedroom and make another bed on the floor for you and you would have air conditioning - it wouldn't be the Chateau De Bangkok but it would be fun for me. I went to the hotel just before I moved and told them to be REALLY NICE to you - I miss that area already.
I hope so much that you are all doing good. I'm anxious to hear about the things you did this weekend when you have time.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL. Grandma B