Kenneth describes how the Landons learned to use durian (which the Siamese called "the king of the fruits") in ice cream. It was a delicious fruit though it smelled terribly awful. Both Kenneth and Margaret comment on their living conditions in…
Kenneth and Margaret scored very high for their language exam. Their teacher said they were the best students she ever had. Mrs. Welsh wrote them saying that she had been praying for their language study (she was still a friend to them at the time). …
Margaret stayed with the Sheehans for three and a half weeks. They were delightful people though uncultivated. Mrs. Sheehan was a devout Catholic and Mr. Sheehan was often singing a song (his only song) while working around the house. Kenneth sings…
Margaret and Kenneth tell the story of a group of lepers who found a king cobra asleep (it had just enjoyed a full meal and was digesting). The lepers got a heavy box and forked sticks and coordinated their action to take the snake by surprise and…
The McDaniels began to care for a large number of lepers at a leprosy asylum outside the town of Nakhon. Lepers were excluded from society and so he could not get a piece of land close by. Dr. McCain, another missionary, had successfully done a…
Margaret tells about the move from Nakhon to Trang. She remembers the old cars they rode in. She describes the land, the homes, and the people they first met. she worked to improve the look of the house they lived in and recall the enormous and…
There were several New Year celebration in Siam. First the foreign New Year on January 1, then the Chinese New Year in February, and finally the Indian New Year celebration in March. The Indians had a grand time with their celebration. It lasted two…
There was a young police lieutenant in Trang, slender, inconspicuous, not at all the kind you would expect to arrest a "tiger bandit." Yet he was absolutely fearless and quite courageous, without ever showing a sign of these qualities. He managed to…
Margaret recalls so many wandering animals in the town and how annoying and at times dangerous they were. The Buddhist culture saw the taking of life as sin, so these animals were all around in the town. Dr. McDaniel shot down so many of them.
Kru Tim was a teacher at the school who had gone insane. She was dismissed from the school but later came back, claiming she was well. She toured the town in taxis and followed young men. There were rumors that Nai Nong, an evangelist from Bangkok…
Margaret was convinced that all of the servants were eating out of the kitchen and some were taking food regularly to their families. The Chinese servants accused only the Thai servants of stealing things, but with the time Margaret had evidence that…
The Landons tell about Albert and Kenneth laying out a tennis court behind the two houses. Margaret talks about Dr. Theobald preaching on Sunday. They also tell of the operation that James had to remove his arm.
The Thai servants would fill the children with all kinds of superstitions. Margaret and Kenneth remember the lasting influence of these supperstitions on two children, their own Peggy and another missionary child. Margaret hired a second generation…
The Tin Dredge was a huge boat built on dry ground before being moved to the sea. Kenneth and Margaret describe the fascinating process of moving the boat to sea. It was used to carry the tin, and several people with different expertise were working…
White elephants (as well as white cows and white monkeys) have always been venerated in Asia. Margaret describes the white elephant festival. Large crowds would go out in procession for this festival. The first time the Landons joined the crowd they…
At Thanksgiving the mission meetings opened and usually last for six or seven days. Kenneth was elected recording clerk of those meetings, a hard job. In the midst of this he took his third year language exam.
Kenneth talks about the time it took for the mail to travel to its final destination. He recalls visiting the Huiat Church with its variety of people groups and Chinese dialects. He understood quite a bit in each dialect.
Kenneth went on a tour with Paul Fuller while Margaret and baby Peggy went to Nong Khae where there was some sort of resort hotel and stayed in a cottage owned by the mission. Margaret tells the story behind the property. Kenneth tells also the story…
The Landons went on a vacation, each to a different destination. Kenneth wrote Margaret about his vacation and all the fun he was having while preaching the gospel as well. He tells about the songs he was learning every day.
Yin Lang, the cook, borrowed 150 tekals from Margaret. His father was ill and dying, so he wanted a few days off and he requested an advance. He made out a first mortage on his rubber garden to Margaret as security. But Margaret never got her money…
Kenneth talks about his friendship with the kids of the people on the Landons' side of the street and how he became a graceful dancer. He tells of dance parties they held at each other's houses and the lasting friendship that ensued. Kenneth…
Margaret tells about a male neighbor that was held up by a man with a pistol in Evanston. The man struck him on the head and he was bleeding. This shows that crime was in their neighborhood.
One of Kenneth's friends was Stinky Altenburg. His sister became one of the prostitutes in the town, but the other sisters were very proper. Kenneth and Stinky and other friends would hang out in town very often. Stinky became a successful lawyer.
Margaret tells stories about her mother's childhood. She went to a German school when she lived in Franksville. In Somers, she had a friend, a half Indian girl with a European father, who had been rejected by her tribe. That girl was Adelle's best…