Brad was pleased with the news of Kenneth and Margaret's move to Thailand to the mission field--for him it was a natural religious step. Mae was not, and she was afraid that she would never see her son (Kenneth) again. She was right; she never did.
Margaret tells the story of her Chinese pictures of Christian scenes. It began when the Landons were living in Siam. Margaret received a magazine for women that contained a picture of a Madonna done in the Chinese manner, and she wanted to have the…
Margaret tells of the Landons' first Christmas in Thailand. It was Peggy's first Christmas, and presents came from the U.S. Even though Adelle and the girls had very little money, they always found ways of sending gifts. She tells of the customs and…
Margaret tells of the reasons that led her and Kenneth to decide not to go back to the mission field. One reason was the children. The Landons had seen the havoc that mission work had on the children of some of their colleagues. There was also the…
Margaret asked her mother to get a letter from the board of her church testifying to her good Christian character. The letter was to go the mission board for her application to become a missionary.
Margaret realized she had upset Adelle, her mother, with her lack of interest in mission. She later wrote to tell her that she now felt better about going into mission.
Margaret's birth certificate came and was wrong about her date of birth and her name. Adelle had to provide an affidavit about the right information. The passport office kept the original documents.
Margaret wrote to her mother about a book by Arthur Judson Brown. He was expressing his point of view, and there were many differences in opinion, especially between men and women. They discussed with other missionaries about getting into the field.
Margaret was called by several names. Kenneth always called her Margaret, but Adelle called her Peggy of even Peggotty, which she tended to use in her letters to Margaret.
Margaret did not see the play until it had been playing for six weeks, she says. She went up with Kenneth and another couple. Peggy asked her mother what sort of cake she would like, and she answered she wanted a simple cake like the ones her mother…
Insane people in Siam were not confined; they freely wandered in the town. There was a woman who had gone insane and used to dress at times like a Siamese and at other times like a foreigner. She insisted Margaret was her daughter and she would come…
Kenneth and Margaret tell about Ah Chuan, their houseworker's baby. Chuan and his wife had already lost a first baby, so the Landons recommended that they see Miss Christiansen. The wife thus received pre-natal care and delivered a healthy baby.
Margaret reads a letter in which she tells about Ah Chuan's baby, who seemed ill at the time when a baby in the same home had just died. Ah Chuan was concerned that his own baby might die of the same illness as the other baby. She also tells of Ah…
The Landons inadvertently paid their servants more than necessary. By the time they left the town, one of their servants, Ah Sim, owned three shops on the marketplace. She hadn't owned any when she came to the Landons.
The whole year in Siam was filled with holidays, to the amazement of the Landons. The Thai enjoyed holidays and had incorporated foreign holidays into their calendar. They could stop working and have a wonderful time. They just loved Christmas, not…
The Thai loved festivals. The King's birthday, November 8, was a great celebration that lasted three days. They had built a 150 foot mountain that was believed to be the center of the world.
Margaret and Kenneth witnessed a cremation ceremony. The actual cremation usually took place only after a couple of months or a year or several years. It was costly to afford the cremation, so many families could not get enough money for it until a…
John Eakin asked the king to give a speech in English, and he replied that he could do so if Eakin would give a speech in the Siamese langugae. Eakin was just beginning his time in Siam, but he managed to have a speech written in perfect Siamese. At…
Kenneth and Margaret once had the whole church over to their home "for a frolic." They had a fun time playing American games with the Siamese. They intended to do that often, but were not able to do so the way the Dunlaps did: a frolic at every full…
Kenneth and Margaret perform the Burmese Gospel chant they learned when they were young. They have no idea what it means. A group of young Siamese taught Kenneth one sentence in their language.
After the vacation the Landons returned to Bangkok and began to prepare to move. Everybody started to entertain them, having in mind that they would soon be gone. There was quite a "confab" as to where they were going to go, but the Landons did not…
Margaret recalls her visit to the prison with Kenneth. She describes the inside of the prison, the people they saw and the conditions in which the prisonners lived.
The Landons completed their first quarter of study, which they did in two months. As it turned out, Kenneth completed in one year a three year language program.
The Landon's went to Siam for the second time in 1932. Margaret wanted to make their new home attractive, and was told to look in Nagasaki for a tea set. They found a wonderful place and purchased a set, with the business man being trusted to send…