Adelle approved of Kenneth's desire to go into the mission field. She said she and her husband had always prayed that one of their children would become a missionary, and it looked as if Margaret was going to be the one.
Margaret tells how at age 19 or 20 her mother, Adelle, felt a strong urge for mission. It seemed to Adelle that there was no way to fulfill her desire, since there had always been someone who depended on her financially. Margaret tells of other…
Kenneth and Margaret left their apartment and stayed for free at the seminary. They began to pack, applied for passports, and bought things they would need in Siam.
John Aiken decided that the mission would not work among the Chinese in Siam, only with the Siamese. This was a mistake because the Chinese in Siam were perfectly Siamese and were open to missionaries. They were the most powerful people in the…
Kenneth and Margaret went to talk with missionaries from Siam to prepare for their assignment. With Kenneth, Jr. they discuss missionary training and new ideas in preparing missionaries.
In February Kenneth wrote that he and Margaret had been officially appointed to Siam. The plan was for them to depart in August, about a month before Margaret gave birth to their first child. Margaret reads a list of the items they were advised to…
Kenneth accidentally met Mr. Lindsay Hadley on campus and invited him over for dinner without knowing who he was. They had a good conversation (though a bit discouraging as to the Landons missionary plans) at the dinner table. It turned out that…
Margaret and Kenneth explain who Prince Damrong was. He was a very powerful and highly respected person, not only by the Thai but also by all the foreigners living in Bangkok. He was the premier prince. They tell of the coup d'etat that led the…
Kenneth and Margaret went to talk with missionaries from Siam to prepare for their assignment. With Kenneth, Jr. they discuss missionary training and new ideas in preparing missionaries
On January 19 Kenneth wrote his parents to announce Margaret's pregnancy. "And Mother, if you have loads of good advice for Margaret, I know she'd appreciate it," he wrote.
Kenneth tells of how he began thinking about missions in his two missions classes at Princeton. Until now he had thought only of working in the United States. He shared the new idea with Margaret and she was deeply disturbed by it.
Kenneth had a tailor in town making clothes for him. He needed suits for every day of the week in Siam. The tailor was a Jew, and so was Kenneth when it comes to byuing cothes, says Margaret, so the two of them got along fine. Margaret reads about…
One of the reasons Margaret and Kenneth resigned from mission work had to do with the role of the national church in Thailand vis-a-vis the missionaries. They both believed the mission was absolutely backward and without vision, that the mission…
Upon being asked about Thailand in the modern day, Kenneth makes his assessment. He reports that they will always survive and be independent, as they really know how to get along.
Kenneth tells of the Landon's different career spurts. He describes them as quite fortuitous, as Margaret wrote her book, and the war spurred great interest in Southeast Asia. Kenneth was also fortunate in that he was the only one in the Foreign…
When Kenneth tried to have Harvard take Prince Damrong's library he got on the telephone and called the heads of various departments, including Dr. Keyes DeWitt Metcalf, the head of the library and the most famous librarian in the U.S. at that time…
Kenneth had wanted a good pictures of both his father and mother since college days, and for his birthday that spring of 1927, they sent him pictures which they had specially framed and which he kept the rest of his life.
Kenneth talks about taking Margaret out for a walk every day pretty much against her will. "I guess I'm incorrigible; I never improve," Kenneth says. Each day they would walk farther and Margaret was getting stronger.
Margaret reads a letter to her mother telling her that Kenneth's visit to the passport office was not fruitful because her birth certificate wasn't worth anything. The letter explains to her mother what needed to be done so that she can get proper…
Kenneth was given money from the church to pay the note off on his car and take it with him to Siam. Mrs. Ridgeway presented Kenneth with the gift and tried to make a speech, but she began to weep instead. Other people in the congregation began to…
Kenneth tells about his decision to go into mission business and to do so rapidly. This upset Margaret, but it was Kenneth's way of doing things, and it will always be thoughout his life. He reads about his visit to New York to talk with people on…
Kenneth preached his last Sunday at Columbus. He only had his final Bible conference to do before leaving for Siam. He talks about his travel arrangements, the shipment of his car to Siam, and his travel expenses.
Kenneth was called in to New York in April for further examination because the doctor suspected a heart problem. The heart specialist cleared him, but the mission board doctor remained skeptical. Finally, after a long interview, the doctor…
Kenneth reads an account of his ordination from the Meadville newspaper. It was May 10, 1927 (contra an earlier account in which Kenneth insists that it was April 19, 1926). The articles describes the hymns, the sermon, and the ordination prayer…