Thanks to all of you who have responded to my newsletters. I really
enjoy
hearing from you. Keep the notes coming.
I have lots of news for you. So sit back and enjoy.
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The day before we had had a long talk while cutting open a jack fruit
together. She had told me more about her family and how they were strong
Buddhists. Her grandma especially so. She always goes to the temple
and
always has an offering of food for the spirits sitting in her house.
And
the spirits even talk to her in the form of old monks. Guitar has felt
uncomfortable the times she has gone home recently and was asked to
prepare
offerings for the spirits in their home. She didn't want to go to the
temple with them, and they put a lot of pressure on her.
That Sabbath was communion and I had the privilege of walking her through
the service, explaining the meaning and watching the joy come over
her face
as we washed each others feet and she prayed out loud for the first
time.
She was so thrilled with the experience and its meaning.
Now she has much to learn, as it is a big change to go from being a
Buddhist
to a Christian. Please continue to pray for her, as she will have many
difficulties ahead, especially when her family learns of her decision.
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William is growing so much and adding words to his vocabulary every
day. He
is loosing the baby look and taking on a little boy look. On July 4
he
surprised me by putting three words together at a time, "round and
round,"
he said. Two days he suddenly said, "There is a bus!" Three and four
word
phases aren't that common with him yet, but they have happened at least
once.
He is really enjoying all the creatures over here. There are lots of
butterflies. And he calls them "flies." And there are also many birds,
which he delightfully calls "bees." Rob gets quite a kick out of this
and
would really like William to call them birds, but William persists.
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We took two pieces each to two different tailors to decide which tailor
we
want to use. There is a bit of a price difference between the two.
One
tailor is charging $15 to make pants and a lined jacket. And the other
is
charging around $25. We'll see if there is a difference in quality
also for
the price.
The computer mall, Pon tip plaza was something like you have never seen
before! There were 5 floors of computer stores! I'm not kidding! They
all
circled around an empty area so you could see up through the middle
to the
top floor. They were all lined up as if you were seeing different venders
at a convention, but there were so many more shops! There was lots
of loud
music, and loud speakers advertising the wares in Thai. Whew, the noise
was
untolerable! And Rob didn't find what he was looking for, in all of
that.
We ended our day in town with a nice meal at an Indian resturant. Ann
and I
really enjoyed the treat.
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Then Dr Chew took us and three students and Liap to a small national
park
that borders Kao Yai. Dorothy Pulley stayed behind and watched the
kids for
us, so Rob and I actually had some time together. The park was actually
pretty close. It has a campground and a small lake. There was a nice
hike
into a water fall through the jungle. It started raining about halfway
to
the falls. And started pouring just before we got there. It was almost
like standing under the waterfall. I don't think we would have gotten
anymore wet doing so. I got a young banana leaf and tucked it into
a
bandana tied around my head to serve as a little protection. It helped
keep
my glasses dry, so I could at least see. Rob held his banana leaf on
with a
small vine tied around his head. We would have taken pictures, but
it was
too wet for cameras to be out. There was nothing dry on us when we
got
back.
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Next Saturday night, August 4, we will catch a train to southern Thailand
for a 10 day vacation at the beach and if the weather permits, on an
island.
So the next Frohne Flier won't come out until after August 13 sometime.
I will try to get more pictures onto our web page before we leave. If
that
actually happens, I will send out a notice with the URL.
Write soon,
Barbara, Rob, Araya and William