Sri Lanka by Car

I guess it has been about a week since I last blogged. It seems I’ve lost the habit and it is hard to restart. Since I’m down to my last two weeks, I’ll try plough through to the finish. I left off last Friday, the 22nd, at David’s office waiting to leave on our drive across the country to Ampara.
After meetings, visiting David’s house to pick up clothes, and everyone else in the convoy getting ready, we left Colombo at about 11pm. Ampara is about 220km east of Colombo in the Eastern Province and is formerly rebel-held territory. David is the political party chair here, will probably run for office here, and it is his wife’s hometown. Politics brings him here a couple times a month and he’s making all the friends/allies he can. Our purpose for the trip was to hold a press conference/protest against the opposition leader (think Nancy Pelosi in the US). We drove all through the night and I had the middle row of a LandCruiser all by myself (borrowed the minister’s car). As the evening progressed I got more and more sick and by the time we reached Ampara at daybreak all I wanted was a bed. For the 16 hours we were in Ampara I slept about 13 and spent the other three eating the little food I could force down and attending the rally. My stomach flu wasn’t too painful, it just absolutely zapped me of energy and made my sore. On the drive back I slept most of the way, spending a total of 26 of 30 hours lying down. Since we drove almost the whole trip a night I didn’t miss too much scenery, although I would have liked to have seen the 8 wild elephants we drove by.
Sunday we arrived back in Colombo around 5am and I went to sleep another 4 hours before Church. At Church I was surprised to hear I was supposed to give a talk in the English branch (I’d thought it was the Singhalese branch and had cancelled there). So I threw together a talk for the first ½ hour of the meeting and survived. After Church I relaxed some more at the hotel and officially declared myself better. In Ampara we had called the district president (a doctor) from a pharmacy, told him my symptoms, and he told me some pills to buy and they worked great. The rest of Sunday evening I had dinner at the Athukoralas and played with the kids. I altered the pool game “Marco Polo” to be played in their front room and they loved it. Every time I go back they want to play again.
Monday I packed up my things, checked out of the hotel, and waited at David’s office for a couple hours while he finished up some meetings. We left Colombo around 3pm and headed for the mountains and some river. David’s best friend from the Church runs an adventure company and had hooked us up with a rafting trip. It only lasted an hour of so, but had some good rapids and beautiful scenery. The whole way down the river we were heading generally west and chasing the sunset. This river is quite famous as it has appeared in two western movies, The Bridge Over the River Kwai and Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom. We went right by the spot where they built the bridge and blew it up, basically the whole movie took place there from what I remember of it. The water was a perfect temperature and the entire environment was beautiful with mountains rising on each side, lush greenery, and yellow/pink skies from the sunset. Usually they don’t run rafts this late but they had waited for our late arrival and even the crew was impressed (they asked for copies of my pictures). At the last rapid the driver took us in sideways, resulting in us getting flipped from the boat and having some nice adventure (although he’d checked ahead if he could flip us, we agreed eagerly). During the crash my $8 Walgreens sunglasses flew off and disappeared in the river. More importantly, my $160 hard lens contacts stayed in my eyes. The next 20 minutes we floated down the river in our life jackets and enjoyed the atmosphere. This was one of my favorite experiences on the trip, a little adventure, beautiful scenery, and good times with a great friend on the other side of the world.
After leaving the raft around sunset we ate some dinner at a good river-side restaurant and then got back in the car for another few hours. Around 11pm we pulled into the “Grand Hotel.” I don’t know the name of the town (something Eliwa) but it the mountain get away for the rich people in the country. It has the nicest golf course in the country (Royal was in the name) and it had a really cool history with colonial governors and leadership visiting there to get away from the heat and humidity of the coastal areas. The elevation was over 4000 feet and it was actually pretty cool (50s) when we arrived. The hotel itself was really nice and had first opened in a much smaller incarnation in 1826. Since 1891 a large portion of the hotel has stayed the same and they had tons of cool pictures and histories to read as you walked through the halls. The rooms were all hardwood, with fireplaces, and big cushy chairs. It seemed so British and stuffy, but was a great place to spend one night. The breakfast buffet was amazing. I ate everything in sight and then took a walk in the hotel’s garden.
From the hotel we took a beautiful drive to a national park (Horten Plains?). We put on our tennis shoes and decided to take a 6 mile hike to see the sights. Our journey took us through beautiful mountain valleys, over clear cool creeks, and through forest jungles. The two highlights were Baker’s Fall and End of the World. Baker’s Fall was an amazing waterfall of black volcanic rock with clear stream water flowing all over it. It had three levels and was hard to picture all at once but made for some great venturing. Swimming in the national park was illegal (and the water was freezing anyway) so we could only enjoy the view, but I took tons of pictures and loved feeling the cool, wet breeze. After walking back up to the path from the falls, our guide tried to tell us it was 4 hours if we kept going instead of heading back. This was total lie as we’d already hiked 3+ kms and the entire trail was only 9 so we kept going and made him tag along if he wanted his pay. After another 2+ kms we made our way to “End of the World.” This is strikingly similar to Half-Dome at Yosemite National Park (although a muck easier hike in Sri Lanka). There is this massive drop-off just over the ledge and it looks over this green valley a couple thousand feet below. Sadly, after we’d been there about 3 minutes a cloud rolled in and we couldn’t see 20 feet down, but I did get a good view of the valley before the cloud came (just no picture). To mark the occasion I decided to call my Dad back in the US at 1:30am. One of the blessings of having your father be a farmer is that you can call at all hours and he won’t mind. From this unique location we had a nice 10 minute conversation and I marveled on the wonders of modern technology yet again. From “World’s End” we hiked our way back to the car and get going. We had about four hour drive and were supposed to be at the suit-shop in less than that for my suit-fitting. David drove like crazy (literally), setting new personal speed records and keeping me awake (hard to do when I’m in a car for long periods of time and not driving). Interstingly, I never felt unsafe as I knew David had a lot more to live for than I do (wife and three kids). The roads in Sri Lanka, and pretty much all of the 3rd world countries I’ve been to are in need of great improvement. I don’t think a mile of divided highway exists in this country (they are building some though) and the two lane roads are clogged with trucks, buses, vans, cars, SUVs, trikes, motorcycles, ox carts, bicycles, and pedestrians. The thing that drives me nuts is how at night, ¼ of the people don’t have fully functioning lights and other safety features. ½ the time you have to drive around honking your horn just so people will get out of the way since you can’t see them. Horns are used very liberally in Asia, basically as a way of saying “I’m here or going there, get out of my way.” We got back to Colombo, visited the suit shop (requesting two alterations: the coat had too much fabric on the neckline and needed be made tighter under the collar and the usual Asian cut was done (for skinny people), meaning they take measurements and then make the clothes too tight for Americans so I had them add some space in the upper legs), and then went back to the hotel for the night.

A Week Unlike Any Other

I entitled this blog post as I did because this week has been such a change from my previous weeks on the trip. While I have been busy at times and done fun things, I have also had a lot of down time to cruise the internet, watch movies, and read. Monday I think was the first day all trip I didn’t take a picture. The only thing I can remember about Monday was suit shopping. While I started out wanting to buy both light gray and light brown suits, I couldn’t find a gray I liked and only purchased a brown one in the end. Maybe I’ll try again before I leave Colombo but who knows. The brown one makes my fifth suit and that’s probably enough for a guy who only wears them to Church a couple times a month and maybe one other event every couple months. While I’ll be in law school in two months, I have no intentions of dressing different than my previous time a school. Three more years of shorts, shirts, and flip-flops is a wonderful thing.
During part of my downtime here I have started looking into law school, ASU football, and the LDS singles wards/happenings in Tempe. Honestly, I am getting excited, at least for the non-school stuff. For some reason, I’ve always loved Arizona above all places and the Church has always meant more to me here. It will be great to be back and hopefully get into the flow of things. My brother’s house is located just a couple miles from campus and I can ride a bike 10 minutes or take a 4-minute drive to the institute and classes. Starting over will be tough as I’ve never been good at it, but it is time for a change and I look forward to being back with family and old friends.
Tuesday was a busy day. David arranged a van with four big, cushy chairs and I went south to the coastal town of Galle with a driver and Ranuka. Galle is an old gem town with a famous old fort built by the Portugese, used by the Dutch, and abandoned when the English took over. One thing that made it cool was that there is a town inside the fort now. There are historical attractions, store banks, hotels, and all the normal stuff but the 90 acres are fully enclosed by massive walls. The tsunami hit Sri Lanka pretty hard (death estimates are in the neighborhood of 80,000) and Galle was also hit. The Fort walls withstood the blow pretty hard, but a few parts are being rebuilt. Around the fort in many parts there was a beautiful coral reef. The tsunami totally blew it apart and left the chunks at the base of the fort walls. Kind of sad how thousands of years of growth was obliterated in a couple hours. Just outside Galle we hit another Buddha pavilion and then headed north to Haddukawa (something like that). It is a tourist town with amazing beaches and snorkeling/diving during the busy season (Nov-Apr). However, between it being slow season and the civil war (especially rebels attacking airport) there are very few foreigners in Sri Lanka right now. I had the beach to myself and loved the sand. It was amazing in that it was soft and clean, but hard in that you didn’t sink like normal sand. We rented a boat and snorkel and visited the coral reefs which seemed beautiful from my two feet of visibility. The wavy ocean kicked up too much sand and I couldn’t see a thing so that was bummer. Our next stop was a turtle refuge and farm/hatchery. It was cool to see the turtles up close and learn a little marine biology. From here we got back in the van and headed back to Colombo. One of the benefits of a driver is you get to sleep. In the morning I slept 2 of the 3 hours and on the way home I probably slept though the same.
Wednesday was politics day. David had some meetings and I tagged along to Parliament. I wasn’t able to get a good photo though as electronics are banned from the premises and you can’t stop your car on the road. They take security pretty seriously over here right now. The Parliament building is cool as it sits on an island in a lake and was built about 20 years ago. It has been interesting hanging out with David and some of his co-workers. Even though we are on completely opposite sides of the world, lots of the stuff is the same in politics. The media doesn’t like the party in power, they are making posters for press conferences/protests, and the other usual political dilemmas/activities. Usually David gets a semi-clear schedule in the evening and we go grab dinner and occasionally something fun, but he still is working a lot and I hang out at his office a fair amount. It has been lots of fun learning about Sri Lanka and its geography/history.
Thursday was golfing day. I guess I would say the experience was good on the whole and I accomplished my goal (golfing in Asia), but it was a little unexpected. Around noon I teed off with a caddy carrying my rented clubs (first time with a caddy). My game stunk (especially my putting, 3-putted the first 3 holes) but I didn’t care as I went into it with no expectations. After we finished the 4th whole it started to rain. Thankfully we were next to the clubhouse so we grabbed some cover and waited 15 minutes for the rain to let up. It calmed a bit but we went back out in a constant drizzle and made the best of it. As we played the 5th, 6th, and 7th holes the rain and wind intensified to the point where my shirt was whipping and I was soaked to the bone. Since the temperature was still about 80 degrees and the rain drops weren’t big enough to hurt (even at this sideways trajectory) I didn’t mind the conditions and just kept plodding along. When we walked off the 7th green my caddy said, “Par 3, 1…4…2, club?” His English wasn’t too good but I got the drift about how far I needed to hit it and asked for a 7-iron. He planted himself halfway between the tee boxes and the green and let me walk by myself back to the tee boxes. I put the tee in the ground and set my ball on it, lined up my shot, and took a nice healthy swing (not out of control or anything though). The ball comes off low and left in a screaming hook. On the follow-through my arms extend up and to the left and the club slipped right out of my wet hands. I was like, “Uh Oh” watching it fly a good 30 yards away, but didn’t realize my predicament during its 3 seconds of flight. The club came down right in the middle of a pond. I don’t think I could have placed it in a worse spot with no hope of recovery. After initial disbelief, a brief temptation to swear, and a longer moment of anguish over the cost, I burst into laughter after thinking about the whole incident and my condition. For some reason, it all just became very entertaining to me. After completing the 9th whole I went to the pro shop to face the music and was happily surprised when they asked for about 400 rupees to pay some kid to do it when the weather cleared. They were worried that 400 rupees (less than $4US) would upset me and explained that it took a lot to convince someone to get in there as there might be crocodiles or snakes. I thought to myself, “$4? I wouldn’t get in there for $1,000” and was just happy to call it a day with my life intact, wet clothes, and not even knowing my score. Pictured are my caddy and the club-eating pond. I grabbed lunch in the clubhouse (nice food and building) before heading back to the hotel. The rest of the day was just hanging out, watching movies, and grabbing dinner with David, Ranuka, and another friend. The picture is me and Ranuka (my guide/national karate champ/new friend).
Today has been pretty simple. I watched a movie in the morning, packed my stuff, check-out of the hotel, and am sitting at David’s office waiting for him to get back from somewhere. We had a really big wind and rain storm yesterday, last night, and again this morning. I hope the weather clears up as we will be traveling a fair amount between now and Sunday visiting Ampara and Kandy.

Relaxing in Colombo

Thursday was spent seeing sights around Colombo. These included the National Museum, Independence Square, and a Buddhist Temple that had a large elephant. The museum had a nice collection of artifacts and divided Sri Lankan history into easy to understand time periods with a progression through the rooms. Usually, I am not a big fan of pre-1500s history but actually enjoyed this set-up and the items displayed quite a bit. Sadly, the part I was most interested to see (post-1600 history) was not included in the museum as I guess they have decided to not highlight the 300+ years the country was dominated by foreign European powers. A second story was closed for cleaning and that might have been where the recent history was located but who knows.
After the museum we visited Independence Square commemorating Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948. The next stop was an interesting Buddhist temple. After a couple dozen temples on the trip they have all started to blend together, but this one stood out a bit. For starters, they had a big elephant outside with massive tusks. For a small fee (not told ahead of time) they let you feed the elephant, which is amazing by itself. They had me stand next to the mouth and feed in things like whole apples and loaves of bread. The tongue on the elephant was the biggest I have ever seen (and felt) on an animal. It was huge!!! Thankfully, there were no teeth on the creature or my hand might have ended up in the football-sized piles he was dropping (see picture). Other features that made the temple stand out included beautiful paintings, sculptures, and woodwork, multiple levels, and a nice mix of modernity with some old cars and even a computer mixed in.
The whole day I was driven around by David’s driver and had the national karate champion as my tour guide. It feels really bizarre sitting in the back of an SUV with people doing/going wherever you want and treating you like you’re a VIP. The only way I think I could ever employ a driver is if I was so busy I needed to save the time, but usually I enjoy driving myself and felt a little uncomfortable with people chauffeuring me around. David finally got off work around 8pm and we hit PizzaHut with a coworker before he dropped me off at my hotel. I was very pleasantly surprised to see Live US Open golf coverage and enjoyed that for a couple hours before heading to bed.
Friday was spent seeing sights again. The two main stops of the day were the Colombo Zoo and a beach a little bit south of town to swim and have some fun. Highlights at the zoo included an amazing collection of parrots and colorful birds, tons of tropical fish, and animals that I hadn’t ever seen before from Asia. You could get a little bit closer to the animals here than in the typical American zoo so that was fun (except for the snakes section, not my favorite). The beach was really nice. We went to an area my guide had frequented in his youth. I was surprised by how big the waves were, but the temperature was perfect. For about an hour I body-surfed, swam, and just relaxed in the water. The undercurrents were the strongest I had ever experienced and later I would learn two people had drowned on the beach a couple weeks before. When I got started my guide asked, “You’re good swimmer, right?” and I later learned David had told him on the cell phone to be very careful with me and the ocean. In the Layton family we were forced to take swim team for 6+ years so I was comfortable and just enjoyed the new experience. On the trip I’ve swam in the Gulf of Thailand and now the Indian Ocean. When I’m back in HK I’ll have to add the Pacific Ocean if I can. To finish the night off David and I went out to a local food court and got some beef nachos (he’d heard I liked Mexican food and had heard of this place).
Our plan for Saturday was to drive to Kandy (cultural capitol of Sri Lanka) and see the sights there. However, David got in a car wreck on his way to pick me up and we ended up spending most of the day sorting out car issues. When we finally got a replacement car around 3pm I said we should go play some cricket. David called Nashan (best friend and a member of the Church) and we met up at the Church hoping to find a game going on. Instead we caught a bit of a baptism for an 81-year old grandmother. She is a wonderful lady and a great story. From the Church we went to Sri Lanka’s version of the National Mall in DC. Next to the Parliament Building they have a big grass field where lots of people go to picnic and play sports, largely cricket. We joined with a group of people and played two innings. The first time I went up to bat I completely whiffed the first pitch and got out as it hit the wicket. Thankfully, they took mercy on me and let me try again. This time I had more success and started making nice contact. I even hit a 6-run bomb (basically a homer in baseball) to deep center field. On defense, they put me in the equivalent of right field where I basically did nothing and tried to avoid making errors the few times balls rolled my way (see my defensive posture). We played until sunset and then drove back to the Church to pick the Elders up for dinner.
Our evening was spent at the Athukoralas eating, playing with the kids, and relaxing. I got some great pictures and had a blast. It is amazing how much Deshan and Chamal like keep-away and I am quite thankful for my limited, but useful soccer skills. Deshenie is fun as we can speak some English to one another and she showed me her school books and coloring creations. We left around 9pm to take Nashan and the Elders home. We were delayed twice by car inspections. The military is a very present on the streets of Sri Lanka and I see automatic weapons hourly. Colombo is quite safe and I haven’t been worried once about what was going on. For a country being in a civil war, I am surprised by how relaxed I and society in general is here. The only reminder I have encountered is the soldiers, their guns, and inspections. Right now I am sitting in the library at the Church writing this blog entry. We had Sacrament meeting at 10am and I much appreciated that. I hadn’t been able to take the Sacrament since Bangkok three weeks ago. The meetings were all in Singhalese so I didn’t get much but took the opportunity to read and just enjoy the Spirit. It makes me so happy that there is a real Church here with families, a building, and the usual opportunities afforded members of Church. The last picture is in front of the Church today (Shewantie’s mother and a random boy (center) from the Branch are additions. Things are great and I love my stay in Sri Lanka.

Namesakes

So after David got off work yesterday we visited a friend at the nicest hotel in town to introduce some of David's co-workers to him. Honestly, David knows everybody around here. He says he can get me on the golf course for free sometime in the next week or so so I look forward to that. I hope I don't embarrass myself. After the hotel we went home and visited with his family. Shewantie cooked a wonderful dinner and we played with the kids. His oldest Deshenie was a bit sick so she didn't play much, but I had a blast playing keep away with the soccer ball from the boys. Marissa asked for a picture of the namesakes, so here it is. The younger one (Chamal Yale) is about 18 months and the older one (Deshan Hughes) is about 4 and 1/2 years. They are both lots of fun and adorable. We had a wonderful time and I look forward to spending more time with his family and taking more pictures (I only got 2 so far).

Saying Goodbye is Hard to Do

Finally, last night at about 2:30am local time sitting on the floor of a storage room in the Bangkok airport while bootlegging internet from CathayPacific, I officially said no thanks to BYU. While I had been firm in this decision since late April, it surprised me how hard it was to send my letter/email informing the law school that I would be heading somewhere else next fall. I am way excited to move back home, be closer to family, attend ASU (always my first love in collegiate athletics), and get a fresh start. However, actually closing the door on my time in Provo was difficult. This past semester was good on a few fronts (fun with friends and sports), but I was also in a deep funk, hated the cold, and had grown tired of and disenchanted with Provo. These considerations and a few others pushed me in the direction of ASU. I guess what made it hard though was leaving BYU in a different position than I had always envisioned when I was growing up. BYU was the place where I always pictured meeting my wife and deciding on a career, and leaving full of plans, enthusiasm, and looking forward to the future. The reality at my graduation was a bit different though. I left single, uncertain what I want to do for a career, and not entirely motivated to take on the world. I’m sure things will work out fine and don’t have any second thoughts or doubts about my decision to attend ASU, just a little wonder if I accomplished all I should have with my time in Provo.

The Athukoralas

Advisory: This blog post is quite long and about my friend David Athukorala, his conversion, family, and life.

My host and friend in Sri Lanka is a man named Dharmapriya Athukorala, but he goes by David to me. During my time as a missionary in Hong Kong I had the pleasure of teaching him the gospel and getting to know him well. I have never really put much stock in the whole idea of promising people in the pre-existence that you will find and teach them the gospel, but if there was anybody I had a connection with before this life it was David. We both love politics, business, sports, and the gospel, and get along really well. Even if we had met in another context we could still be really good friends. When I left my mission, my mission president asked us to keep him informed about people we had taught and share good stories with him and his wife. Pasted below is part of a letter I sent them in June 2004, and afterwards I will update David and his family’s activities since then:
“I thought I might share a story with you that started on my mission but keeps growing over time. One time in a PPI I asked you about preparing a candidate for baptism and if they have a checkered past whether or not we should ask them about things involved in it. Our candidate had been involved in some revolutionary/civil war activities in Sri Lanka and I was worrying that he might have killed some people. You advised not to ask and all went well with his interview. His name is Dharmapriya Athukorala, but he usually went by David. He now is a thirty-two year old father of two. On April 20th, 2002, he was baptized in a cool creek a little bit above Discovery Bay. On a humorous side note, my camera was a victim of the occasion, water and electronics don't mix. We had met about three weeks before in Mui Wo when he asked me in ParknShop (grocery store) for a Book of Mormon. I happily obliged and we scheduled to see him again the next week. He was a golden investigator, accepted all we taught and acted on it. He even offered to give money and asked if he could attend some scripture classes before we had even taught the fourth discussion. During teaching him we found out he was in Hong Kong seeking asylum from the U.N. because he was afraid of being extradited back to Sri Lanka and facing false charges stemming from politics. In ten years of hiding after leaving his homeland he had attended college, learned four languages, started a successful business, settled in South Korea, married and had a child, and became a leading citizen in the Sri Lankan community of South Korea. Sadly, nearly all this was lost when someone from his past recognized him and he had to flee to Hong Kong. Little did he know how important his time in Hong Kong would be. While teaching him his wife was hesitant as she didn't know much English and just wanted their family to keep their traditional beliefs. Thankfully, through attending church with her husband, meeting the missionaries and members, and seeing the positive influence the gospel had on her husband and family, she became interested in the gospel and was baptized by her husband on June 30th of the same year. David and I became fast friends during my time in Mui Wo as we shared the same interests (sports and politics) and his enthusiasm for the gospel gave me my first experience with seeing a person truly and completely converted to the Lord. Over the next year or so he and his wife were integrated wonderfully into the Discovery Bay branch (the members did an amazing job helping them in so many ways), he received the Aaronic and then Melchizedek Priesthood, served admirably as an Elder's Quorum teacher, home teacher, and ward missionary. On his own through an amazing ability to be a friend, he brought over a dozen people into the Church including a whole family and spread goodwill to all he encountered. In November 2002 he and his wife had their second child and first son, whom they named Deshan Hughes Athukorala, the middle name coming from a certain missionary they had grown to love, and who loved them. The day I went into the mission home to come home Elder Carter and I traveled to Peng Chau to see their family one last time and I got to see Deshan for the 1st time. It was a joyous, but sad occasion. Later, in what we thought was a sad occasion, his case was refused by the U.N. and he had to leave Hong Kong and go into hiding again. Before he left he went to the Temple and took out his Endowment. First he hid in Sri Lanka before returning to South Korea with a fake passport. Back in Korea and separated from his family he embraced the Church and his new ward. He received multiple callings and became the Ward Mission leader, and made sure to live a few minutes from the Temple so he could attend there often. Struggling to find work and support his family back in Sri Lanka he told me of his efforts to start up a company similar to the one he used to own. Everything seemed to be in place, but he couldn't build any capital or find investors. I asked my Dad and he happily agreed to help David with a little seed money. His business started and continues to go well and he had everything going well, except a few important things like being separated from his family and an outlaw in his country. Luckily, the Lord was in the work of taking care of those. An election was called in his homeland and his party history that had plagued his life for ten years became irrelevant. They were in a coalition that won the election and all charges were dropped against party members. For the first time in ten years last week he was able to return to his country freely. For the first time in ten years he saw his parents and siblings, and introduced them to their grandchildren and niece/nephew. Every time I talk to or David emails me he thanks God and the missionaries for teaching him the gospel and changing his life. His testimony is strong and he and his wife will raise their children in the Church, serving and building the kingdom.
To be honest, David and his family are the pride and joy of my mission. Over time the number of converts I helped shrinks and it can be discouraging when someone I saw embrace the Church leaves it. However, I would have served the whole two years for a single one of them. The funny thing about baptizing David is that he brought a lot more people into the gospel than I ever did. Probably the greatest thing about my friendship with David is that it has taught me about true love. Our relationship and the desire I have for his and his family's well-being is as close to true charity as I probably have ever come. I thank God for the chance to meet him and to learn from my time with him. There were many amazing converts and saints in Hong Kong, and I just thank God that he was generous enough to bless me with the opportunity to get to know one well.
I guess my little story has gotten a little long and could very well end up making little sense. Anyways, I thought you might appreciate a remembrance of our time and work in Hong Kong. Thank you for being there for me, teaching me so much, and leading me in the pathway back to Christ.
Love,
Yale Layton”

Since David returned to Sri Lanka he has been greatly blessed by the Lord. His name was quickly cleared and he got re-involved in politics. At first, he tried to start another business but didn’t have much luck as the economy is growing slowly (byproduct of the civil war), so he eventually decided to work full-time in politics. In less than 3 years he has moved from party organizer to chief of staff for the largest cabinet department in the country. Along the way he has moved through jobs including: Director of the Sri Lankan Tea Board (in charge of marketing Sri Lankan tea to the world even though he didn’t drink it, kind of funny), Chief Secretary and translator for the Minister of Plantations and Fisheries, and Ampara Province party chair (kind of like a state political party chairman). Currently, he is Chief Secretary to the Nation Building minister (in charge of 62% of the country’s non-military budget). His boss is an MP and is often out in his district or at public events, leaving David to run things. Additionally, he is in charge of diplomatic relations for Chief Secretaries to Ministers, tsunami relief work, and coordinating work with NGOs. Granted he has a staff that does most of the work but he oversees it all. He works like a beast, but is amazingly competent and has kept his modesty, humility, humor, and kindness. In the next parliamentary election David is going to be a candidate for his party and he puts his odds at 50/50 or being elected. He is an amazing man and I just feel thankful for having the opportunity to know and teach him. Any missionary could have done it but for some reason I was blessed to be the lucky one (he asked me for the Book or Mormon and never had any problems, it was amazing).
In the Church he served as 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency when he first got back to Sri Lanka, but when he started working crazy hours in politics he was released. He still serves in other callings and has become the Church’s behind-the-scenes point man for government relations. For the missionaries he is basically the immigration officer as he pulls strings to get visas extended and help them out. Even though the Church has been here for over 30 years, it still is lacking legal recognition and the missionaries proselyte on tourist visas and without name tags. David has been working with lawyers, senior missionaries, LDS charities, and his government contacts to get the Church legal status and help the missionaries become more permanent. His old boss (Plantations Minister, and former minister of Religious Affairs) has agreed to propose and push a bill in parliament to give the Church legal status and David hopes it will pass within a year or two. Getting a Christian church legal status and forward progress in Sri Lanka is quite remarkable as there has been a negative focus on Christian’s proselytizing activities and religious-tinged tsunami relief. There was a bill that would have passed parliament if the Supreme Court didn’t shoot it down that would have made it illegal to change religions in the country. Needless to say, his work has been quite remarkable.
The Athukorala family is doing well. David and his wife Shewantie had another son in the fall of 2004 and name him Chamal Yale Athukorala. I’ve only seen him in pictures and look forward to meeting him in a few hours. I will admit I’ve enjoyed bragging about my namesakes the last couple of years and now I get to hang out with them. I better be on my best behavior to live up to half the reputation that David seems to have built for me. David speaks pretty good English, but Shewantie’s English wasn’t too good in Hong Kong and I don’t know how much their children will speak. Their oldest, Deshenie is 7 now and was adorable 5 years ago so I suspect it will be the same. The two boys should be fun and I suspect I’ll end up bonding with them over sports. Maybe they can teach me to play cricket. The area I taught and baptized them in was the one in Hong Kong without its own building or easy access to a baptismal font. As a result, we baptized in a creek during dry season and a swimming hole when the rain had been more plentiful. Pictures include David’s and Shewantie’s baptism, the Athukorala family the day I left Hong Kong (the girl in front was a neighbor one they were babysitting), the family when I was teaching David (Deshenie holding Mickey Mouse), David and I, Le Jong Ling or Jasmine’s baptism, and photos of the kids from 2006. There might be a cousin mixed in here, not sure.