Yale In Asia

Taking It Home With Me

2008-08-13T21:15:00.002-07:00

This was an EFY song but can also apply to me as I return home to Arizona. I hope to keep up the early to bed, early to rise pattern I started in Hong Kong. More importantly, I hope to keep being a missionary when I return home. Missionary work with Chinese people has always felt more natural/easy to me than with fellow Gwailos but I need to do better in this. I started off with a happy medium by helping invite a Chinese girl in Arizona to get to know the Church before I left Tempe and happily found out she was getting baptized a couple days after I returned from Hong Kong. Now I’m trying to help her transition to Church activity as she returns to her native land of Hong Kong. Before she goes we are having a last hurrah of fun at my family’s cabin with a bunch of friends from my singles ward. What would missionary work be without some partying mixed in?

Trip Takeaways

2008-08-13T21:15:00.001-07:00

1) A testimony is precious. As I visited with the people I had taught/baptized and I discussed the Church with them it because apparent that they had not nurtured their testimony and over time it disappeared. Their circumstances varied and all had encountered difficult challenges, but I think the thing that really made them vulnerable was that they quit strengthening their testimonies. The simple principles of daily scripture study, daily prayer, Church attendance, and service in the kingdom build up our faith and prepare us for trials. If we don’t do anything to grow our testimony it doesn’t just stay stagnant, it shrinks.
2) I love Hong Kong and Asia. For some reason ever since my mission I have had a fascination with the events, countries, and development of Asia. This knowledge helped in my internship a lot and tempts me to keep coming back to Asia. However, what I learned on this trip is that my love of Hong Kong and Asia is mostly Church-centric. I love to see the gospel grow in this part of the world and hope I can play a small part again at some time. In time I hope to return to Hong Kong, but am pretty sure now it will be for the Church and not for career or other aspirations. It would take A LOT of money for me to live there unless it was the Lord directing me back.
3) I love the USA and especially Arizona. There were so many things about Arizona I missed. Sure Arizona is blazing hot, but it doesn’t rain every day and isn’t so humid you feel like you’re in a shower all day everyday. I love open spaces and sunshine. These two at times are very difficult to find in Hong Kong and Arizona often provides in abundance. Just having a yard, fairly clean air, and living on the ground are a few of the things I have a renewed appreciation for after my time in Hong Kong. Finally, I love my family and being around them. We are so lucky that all of us live within two hours of each other in Arizona and are able to get together often. The idea of moving away from this blessing is not really appealing.
4) The Lord moves in mysterious ways. I saw this often in my work and my activities in Hong Kong. Often things don’t seem to go according to the plan we want but God is always watching over us and things will work out in time. Sometimes we must endure struggles, setbacks, frustrations, and progress takes much longer than we would desire, but in the end, things will be OK. I relearned that I need to trust God in all and cultivate favor with the Lord. As a missionary I often remarked that there was no rhyme or reason to missionary success other than God’s grace (at least in Hong Kong it seemed that way). This might be applicable in many areas of my life.
5) I’m sure there are lots of others but I’ve been blogging for a few hours and my contacts are getting fuzzy.

Last Meeting in Hong Kong

2008-08-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

I started the day by checking into my flight at the in-town check-in at 7:45am and then took a taxi to the Temple in Kowloon Tong. Elder and Sister Jackson had invited me to a special Temple session and testimony meeting. Once every month or two the Asia Area Presidency and senior couples do an endowment session together and then have a testimony meeting in the chapel floor of the Temple. It was an amazing experience. The session was great and I understood much more of the Cantonese than I had just five weeks before. When I walked into the room for the testimony meeting I knew it was going to be emotional for me. I loved these wonderful people so much and the room brought back so many powerful missionary experiences for me. It was the same room we had our zone and mission conferences in. It was the room I had been taken to after arriving in Hong Kong and the room we had our last meetings in before leaving Hong Kong as missionaries. I had even fallen asleep on the floor my 2nd day in Hong Kong I was so tired because of jet lag.
The testimony meeting was very powerful. President Hallstrom opened the meeting with a powerful testimony and message about families and the important work the missionaries do. Then senior missionaries followed sharing their experiences and how their missions had blessed their lives and families back home. I shared my testimony and started off by trying to compose myself and joking that they might need to get the tissues ready. Five of the sisters pulled out tissues for me as if on cue, it was funny. I was just so thankful for the blessings that have come into my life from the wonderful land of Hong Kong. It was here that I learned to see the Savior’s Atonement work in people’s lives, here where my testimony grew and matured so much, here where I learned to love and serve others, and so many other remarkable experiences. Being back in the room where I had so many choice experiences as a missionary was very humbling. Finally, I thanked the senior missionaries for their kindness and example. As I was the youngest person in the room by at least thirty years, the hymn ‘True to the Faith’ came to mind and I shared the first verse and pledged to them to do my part as a member of the youth of Zion. I’m not sure what else to say, it was one of the times in my life where I felt the Spirit in greatest abundance. I wanted to keep the feeling all day long. President Watson closed the meeting with his testimony and shared some of his remarkable experiences throughout Asia. I doubt I will ever again participate in another meeting with such a unique and small setting where I get to learn from General Authorities on that personal of a level.

My Boys are Grown Up

2008-08-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

As I was wrapping up my time in Hong Kong I had an increased urgency to track down people I had taught and/or baptized on my mission. I tried calling them throughout my time there but had little success schedule many until my final week. In my last three days I tracked down three young men I taught the discussions to and had the pleasure of seeing be baptized. The only person I was not able to track down was Jasmine Lee and I think that is because she lives in mainland China now.
Chan Po Sing was the first person I ever taught who got baptized. He had a remarkable conversion in both outward appearance and inward feeling. Helping him come unto Christ was one of the true highlights of my mission. After I moved out of his area I hadn’t communicated with him in over six years but he agreed to meet with a few calls. It was funny how guys that I couldn’t get to schedule because they were too busy for three weeks urgently found time in their schedules when I told them I was leaving Hong Kong in three days. I took a bus out to Tin Shui Wai (over an hour) and met him at the bus terminal. We went to a McDonalds and chatted for over an hour. I wasn’t sure what to expect since we hadn’t talked in so long but he was very happy to see me. We caught up on each other’s lives and there was a real feeling of happiness there. He isn’t active now but he still has warm feelings for the Church and his time/associations there. He is very happy as he got his dream job as a cop and is doing really well in general. Since we met when he was 16 he has really grown up in maturity and is a man now who is planning his life and making wise decisions. We exchanged contact information (he’s already added me on IM so that was nice) and took some photos. After a hug and best wishes we said good bye for what I suspect will be another long time. It was so nice to see him again and see the happy smile on his face. The ride back to Wan Chai was so peaceful and happy as the visit had gone better than I ever expected.
Mui Jan Sing and I visited one more time before I left. He is the kid I watched Wimbledon with and regularly keep in contact with through IM and Facebook. Currently, he’s saving money and trying to visit the US so I told him to add Arizona to his itinerary and I’d show him around. Visits with him are always fun, I just wish he’d make some changes in his lifestyle and return to Church activity.
Shum Ga Git is the young man I taught while serving in Shau Kei Wan. Last year on my trip I arranged to meet him at the Library but we missed each other so that was bitterly disappointing. Thankfully this year we were able to see each other for about 15 minutes and catch up on life. He’s working as a courier now and all grown up. He even has a girlfriend which is kind of funny because at 16 he was more scared of girls than any guy I’ve ever seen. He stayed active for a few years after his baptism (and even met his girlfriend in the Church) but has gone inactive as he works lots of hours now and says he doesn’t have the time. It is disappointing because he had a really strong testimony and many spiritual experiences. He was really apologetic to me about not going to Church and I think kind of ashamed about it. Our visit finished about three hours before my flight and he had to get back to work so we said good bye after exchanging contact information and went our separate ways.
I care deeply about each of these young men and their welfare. The fact that they are all not active in the Church now is really disappointing but not surprising for Hong Kong. Each was active for months if not years and had real testimonies so I know there is a foundation still there. I will keep in touch with them better now than before and try to encourage them. This trip to Hong Kong at least let me know there is still a happy friendship between us and they were all happy to see me again.

Senior Couples

2008-08-13T20:52:00.001-07:00

One of the best things about my time in Hong Kong was the chance I had to associate with so many wonderful senior couple missionaries. They were some of my closest co-workers and we shared many wonderful jokes, lunches, spiritual meetings, and other experiences. The work they do is so vital to the Church. In the Asia Area Offices alone there are about ten couples with another 30-40 couples scattered throughout the Asia Area who carry on the Church’s operations in humanitarian efforts, family history, local leadership, legal affairs, CES, proselyting, and many other important activities. They leave family (grandchildren are what they really miss), friends, comfort, and go into the world to new challenges. It is not easy for them, but they love the work they do and the lives they bless. Before this trip I already looked forward to the day when I will serve missions with my eternal companion but I look forward to it even more now. They taught me an important lesson that serving a senior mission doesn’t just happen when you’re 65 or whatever age you leave at. It starts early in your life with a willingness to serve, wise financial management to get yourself in the position you can support yourself, and an ability to put your comforts and family aside for a time. I guess I have one more thing on my short list of things I desire in an eternal companion: a desire to serve senior missions. Here are some of the couples that I got to know in Hong Kong. I didn’t get pictures of everyone I would have liked to as some were traveling around Asia but I thank all of them for their example of faith and the love they shared with me. Also, a big thanks for all the meals they took me out to eat and all the baked good shared! It was like I had an extra 5 or 10 sets of grandparents for six weeks.

Elder and Sister Gibbons are the Asia Area Employment Resource specialists. They help train local leadership and membership throughout Asia on how to find and improve their employment. This is their second time serving in Asia as they also served a remarkable mission in Mongolia. Elder and Sister Aki are the public relations missionaries for Hong Kong. I wrote a blog entry about them earlier but they were such a pleasure to work with. Elder Aki is absolutely hilarious and Sister Aki is tons of fun too. For the last two weeks I think it was her personal goal to hook me and Annie up. Elder/Dr. and Sister Bench serve as the Asia Area Medical Advisors. They help keep the missionaries throughout Asia healthy and also train about health issues. Sadly they were down on the 8th floor so I didn’t get to spend as much time with them, but they offered me some wise advice about career-planning. Elder and Sister Workman serve as Branch President in the Victoria II Branch. They go to Church every day Tuesday to Sunday and help the wonderful branch members progress. This calling has to be one of the strangest in the world. Elder and Sister Baldwin (no picture) serves as Asia Area Humanitarian missionaries. They were always very kind and supportive to me. My last day in Hong Kong they gave me a granddaughter’s number and said to give her a call when I got back to Arizona. Elder and Sister Newell were my closest colleagues as they worked with me in the legal department. They were always providing laughs and making feel like a slacker because of their amazing work ethic. Elder and Sister Jackson serve as the Asia Area Presidency Executive Secretary. I’m not sure exactly how to describe these two but they are amazing. They have skills I can only dream about with technology and are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Elder and Sister Smith are the Asia Area Family History Specialists. Elder Smith served in the Southern Far East Mission when it included Thailand where he served. They were always very generous to me with their time and insights. Additionally, they were lots of fun and Elders Smith and Jackson, and myself enjoyed making Annie’s life difficult at times. Elder and Sister Toone are the Asia Area Auditors. They travel a lot around Asia visiting the local leaders and teaching them how to keep the books. They are from Gilbert in Arizona and were always there with a kind smile and word. Elder Toone is another Hong Kong mission alum so that’s worth big points. I love these senior couples! The Lord’s work needs all the help it can get and every Latter-day Saint couple should prepare to spend some time out in the Lord’s vineyard when the time is right in their life.

Wan Chai Bridge

2008-08-13T20:47:00.001-07:00

One of Hong Kong’s busiest pedestrian walkways is bridge that runs from the Wan Chai MTR station to a collection of huge office buildings in downtown Wan Chai. During the morning and evening commutes times it is jammed with people to the point that you just have to walk with the pace of traffic as there is no room to maneuver and you would bump into people if you tried to move quickly. When the bridge is slightly less crowded the rest of the day there is always people out there passing out leaflets/advertisements. As I walk down the bridge I like to collect a handful to help them do their job and see what is for sale. Sure I can’t read the Chinese but most have some pictures. Other attractions on the bridge are musicians and singers. Occasionally there are even protests or sit-ins. On this trip I even learned that the bridge is deserted if you walk down it around 2am on a weekday. You don’t learn such things as a missionary. The bridge really is a fascinating piece of real estate.
One of my best/craziest mission stories happened on this bridge. Sadly I don’t have any pictures to illustrate it although I did debate asking the missionaries to help me re-enact it. One day while serving in the Causeway Bay Ward my companion Elder Vang and I were contacted people on the bridge. While contacting a notorious Mormon-hater in Hong Kong who went by Elijah came upon us. Elijah is British, about 6’5”, 230 pounds, with long straight hair that goes down to his shoulders. Nobody could ever establish if he worked for another Church or why he hated the missionaries but every time he ran into some there was an unpleasant confrontation. Elder Vang was down the bridge a bit contacting when Elijah walked up to me and started yelling at me. I paid him no attention and continued trying to talk to the Chinese people. This did not make him happy. He yelled at me some more, a little louder, and yelled at the Chinese people to stay away from me. I continued to ignore him. Next thing I know, he puts his hands on my head and says something like, “In the name of Jesus, I cast the devil out of you!” and then pushed off my head, causing me to stumble a bit to the side. I kept vertical and went back to contacting the Chinese people and he started yelling and screaming, when Elder Vang comes running up. Elder Vang is 5’6” maybe, somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 pounds when soaked, tiny guy. He did come from the ghetto though and had been in his share of fights. So Elder Vang comes up to Elijah with his fists cocked and ready to go. Thankfully, Elijah gives up and storms away. According to Elder Vang, I looked white as a ghost and was scared to death. I don’t think I’d argue with him, it was not a fun experience.

Mom's Visit

2008-08-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Trying to write blog entries nearly three weeks after events occurred is not a good idea, but I’ll try nonetheless. My mom and Don’s visit to Hong Kong was very enjoyable. My favorite part was just having some family in town. The first day we went and visited the Kowloon Peninsula, did some shopping, and visited some sights. Don was a sport putting up with my mom and me shopping, but both Don and I enjoyed cracking jokes every time we passed a store/market with baby clothes. Grandma mode kicked in and she couldn’t resist looking for a while, although she didn’t end up buying much.
The next day we made a big lap around Hong Kong Island. We started with the peak and got some photos up there mixed in with rain and wind. After a nice lunch we took a bus down to Wan Chai and hopped on the DingDing which we road east along the harbor front all the way until it ended in Shau Kei Wan. From Shau Kei Wan we took a bus to Sehk O (really nice residential/beach area), a taxi to Stanley (more shopping), and then a bus to Aberdeen to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. This last visit was totally a tourist thing as it is in all the guidebooks and well-known. You take a boat out to the restaurant and have a beautiful view of Aberdeen Marian and its many multi-million dollar boats. The food was not good at all, which was a major disappointment considering the bill.
Our next day Don and Mom wanted to take it easy so we lounged around the hotel for a while and visited a few sights close-by. In the evening we went and visited the NightMarket on Temple Street (not the LDS Temple). It was interesting and fun as this was the first night market I had been to and was much more orderly and clean than most markets I had shopped at.
The last full day Don and Mom visited we caught a boat and visited Macau. Macau is a former Portuguese colony that was returned to China in 1999. It is administered separately from the rest of China, much like Hong Kong. About five years ago Macau decided to open up its gambling licenses to foreign companies and big corporations like MGMGrand, Wynn, Venetian, and others moved in. The change and development in the tiny little colony is rapidly increasing with all the gambling money that is flowing. Asians love to gamble and now they don’t have to fly to Las Vegas to do it anymore. I read somewhere that Macau passed Las Vegas in terms of gambling revenue last year and is increasing at something like a 30% annual basis. What makes it even more remarkable is that Macau is probably less than 15 square miles of land. Its tiny, and any growth they have no comes from reclaimed land created by filling the sea/ocean.
Photos Description 1) Hong Kong skyline during the nightly lights/music extravaganza. 2) A picture of some of the stalls in Lady’s Market. 3) My reaction to news that Mom has found another store with baby clothes, or maybe just taking a picture when I wasn’t paying attention. 4) Mom and Don on the road of tall buildings in Admiralty. 5) Mom and Don at the Peak. 6) Me in front of the curry restaurant I ate at almost every week when I lived in Shau Kei Wan as a missionary. Our apartment was upstairs 20+ floors. 7) Sehk O Golf Course. Sehk O is amazing. The houses are on acre-plus lots and there is lots of open space with no buildings over 2 stories. 8) Jumbo Floating Restaurant 9) Me on Nathan Road, just down the street from the Night Market. This picture is a good example of the craziness/energy of Hong Kong. 10) Me and St. Paul’s in Macau. Catholic Church ruins that date to 1500-something. 11-13) Various pictures of/in the Venetian. I took a nap in Starbucks when Mom and Don went off to gamble. They came back poorer while I left energized.

I'm Famous and, more importantly, Mom's in Town!

2008-07-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

As part of her assignments for the public affairs department, my co-worker Annie puts together news releases related to articles in the recent Ensigns. This month she did one on sharing the gospel through electronic means and decided to use me and my blog as her introduction. She even made me take a picture at home one night. Her news release got approved and is currently the lead item on the Church’s website for Hong Kong. Here’s the link: http://www.lds.org.hk/english/ Bonus points to whoever is the first to find the difference between the photo on my blog and the one used for the Church article.
Late last night my Mom and her boyfriend Don flew into Hong Kong! I was really excited for their arrival. By the time we got them checked in, took a quick look at Victoria Harbor, grabbed some ice cream, and returned to their hotel it was after 1am. I’ll post more later about our activities but it has been great so far. I love having them here and am very thankful they decided to visit.

Victoria II Branch

2008-07-29T05:57:00.001-07:00

One of the completely unique things about Hong Kong is the Victoria 2nd Branch. It meets Tuesday through Saturday, offering a full block of meetings every day, but not on Sunday. This is totally outside of Church Handbook guidance but got First Presidency approval due to extenuating circumstances. Basically, the branch members are maids here in Hong Kong and don’t get to pick their day off. Their boss just randomly picks whatever day of the week they want and often it isn’t Sunday. To accommodate their needs, the Church decided to have a unit meet every day and encourage the sisters to make whatever day they have off their Sabbath that week. Tuesday there is probably only ten members that come but by Saturday the attendance pushes 100. It is a really unique experience and two senior couples are called specifically to run the branch and the younger missionaries help out with the Sacrament, giving talks, musical numbers, etc. when needed.
Due to this branch and the many units that meet in the Wan Chai building on Sunday you could easily take the Sacrament seven times a week and attend a full block of meetings each time. If you just went to Sacrament Meeting you could push it to nine times in a week. Last year on my travels throughout Asia there were areas with no Church so we just planned to drop by the Wednesday services in Hong Kong to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Very unique and a blessing to the members here.

Ko Family

2008-07-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

The Ko Family is a great story. I am pictured with the three sons, but there are also three wives, numerous grandchildren, and a great set of grandparents. Grandma joined the Church about 25-30 years ago with the two oldest sons when they were 10 and 12. Grandma took the boys to Church herself and taught them the gospel. All three are active (rare in Hong Kong), married in the Temple (rarer in Hong Kong), university-educated (even rarer in Hong Kong), and now work in the Church offices. Each had great jobs in the private sector but decided to take less money to help build the kingdom and have be able to actually see their children grow up (people over here work insane hours). As a missionary Tino (far right) was my branch mission leader for five months in Shau Kei Wan and the other two were helpful members during my stay in Causeway Bay (Alec, far left and Floyd next to me). So finally after 20 or so years of Grandpa Ko holding out because he was too busy (he was really high in government) he got baptized a couple weeks after retiring. Within a few years he and his wife were called to serve as a counselor and assistant matron in the China Hong Kong Temple. It has to be one of the shortest stints from new member to sealing power in Church history! They are all wonderful people and exactly what the Church needs more of in Hong Kong and throughout the world. Generations of faithfulness and families sealed in the gospel.
The other picture is of me and Leo Marcello. I ran into him today at the Victoria II Branch and we caught up. He was a new member during my time in Discovery Bay and he has been fire ever since. Served a mission in his native Philippines and is now attending BYU-Idaho. Great guy and amazingly capable. He has already and will continue to help the Church marvelously.

Housecleaning and Final Area

2008-07-29T05:30:00.001-07:00

While I need to do some literal house cleaning (my boss gets back to HK tomorrow) the title refers more to other matters. I want to thank everyone who has read or just taken a quick look at my blog. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the number of people who check it out and am very appreciative. My entries are much too long, self-centered, and rambling so please forgive my verbosity. In a way this has turned into my journal for my trip to Hong Kong and also an addendum to my mission journals. The opportunity to be back in Hong Kong and relive the people/places where I spent two years (and look at all my old photos) is something I have loved very much and am thankful I will have a record of it (even if it is too detailed and lacking focus). I would fail law school if I wrote like this!
My last area as a missionary was the Peninsula II Branch. It is a unit with roughly a hundred Filipina sisters who worked in Hong Kong as maids and no Priesthood. The leadership was taken from senior couples and ex-patriot members. Doing international work (anybody who doesn’t speak Cantonese as native tongue) was a really unique experience for me as it is totally different than Chinese work. We spent most of our time working with Filipina sisters and had great success. The style most missionaries use is to be friendly/flirty and talk like a 5th grader as these seem to produce great results. For those of you who know me well, these two characteristics aren’t my best. I still can’t flirt too successfully with a girl even when I want to (and abhorred the idea of doing it as a missionary) and often end up sounding like an old man when I talk who uses weird words. Needless to say I wasn’t the best international missionary. Thankfully I had Burkley Jensen (yes, both of us had college names) as my junior companion and he was an amazing missionary. He worked crazy hard and was very effective without being too flirty or ridiculous (although I did kind of get embarrassed when he’d chase the Filipinas as they would run away from us). I could tell by my second week in international that he should be in charge and basically just let him make the decisions and lead the way. We baptized a few sisters in our time together and taught another ton who eventually got baptized. We only spent six weeks together before I went home in the middle of the SARS virus (with a cold that dropped me down to 145lbs, my mom about cried when I got off the plane with anxiety for my health). I enjoyed my time in Pen II but it was definitely different than Chinese work.
I don’t have any photos of this time so I pulled out one from my departure at the airport that I’ve always loved. Four generations of women and me. The other is a shot of the Black Man where we did lots of finding and a cool shot of Victoria Harbor.

Return to Lantau

2008-07-29T04:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday for Church I went to the Tung Chung and Discovery Bay Branches. The Mui Wo branch was closed a few years back and the members now have to travel well over an hour to the nearest Church building in Tsing Yi. At Church I was able to see the Ho and Lee families again which was very nice. Ho Jing was the eight year old boy I baptized and he is now a lot more grown up and mature. His mom is still doing great and taking him plus two little sisters to Church every week. Bless her heart! The Lee family I remembered well because their dad served as a counselor in the Branch Presidency and our branch mission leader. They surprisingly remembered me and we reminisced about some good times. Their son was an absolute terror six years ago, running all over the Church, making all kinds of noise during Sacrament meeting, and just generally being a handful. Now he’s almost as tall as me and a really cool teenager. He was humble, funny, and seems like he is very capable. I really hope he goes on a mission because he’d be a great missionary. I took a picture with me and the two boys and told them they should both be on missions in five years. They were non-committal. We took group photos and caught up on old times, they asked about why I’m not married and requested a picture when I get married. I’ve gotten that request a lot the last few weeks. As they walked away from the Church building I was so impressed by the families’ faith and sacrifice. They had their local Church building taken away (ten minutes from their houses) because attendance wasn’t high enough and are now asked to take an uncomfortable hour bus ride followed by another 30 minutes of riding the train and walking to Church, and then do the same on the way home. They weren’t bitter and faithfully met the challenge.
After meeting with the Tung Chung Branch I attended Church with the Discovery Bay Branch (currently the two meet in the same building). There were only three families still there but it was fun nevertheless. The Sloans, Maks, and Suzukis were there when I was and they filled me in on all the developments about the branch, Discovery Bay, and the families who moved away. After Church Brother Sloan invited me over to his place to his place for dinner and offered to drive me around Discovery Bay in their golf cart to see all the changes. Dinner and visiting at their place was lots of fun as they have 4 kids under eight who are all a delight. It was like playing with my own nieces and nephews except with New Zealand accents. The same family had had Elder Newman and myself over six plus years, three kids, four apartments, and a few other things previously. It was wonderful to be back and feel their warmth all over again. They are an awesome family!
All in all the day was really great. I got to see some of the families I loved most from my mission and one of my favorite areas. Discovery Bay had grown/changed a lot but still felt like a resort compared to the rest of Hong Kong. That is the last unit I planned to visit on my Sundays in Hong Kong so I’m not real sure what to do with myself next week.
Photos LS 1) Lee's son and Ho Jing (on my right) 2 & 3) Discovery Bay International School = where we had Church and Discovery Bay's private beach 4)Lee family 5) Ho family, plus a few other kids mixed in RS 1) Brothers Sloan and Suzuki 2 & 3) Waterfront at DB and DB Plaza

Lantau Island - My Third and Probably Favorite Area

2008-07-28T18:59:00.001-07:00

After seven months in the northern reaches of the mission (Yeun Long and Sheung Shui) I was transferred to the SW corner of Hong Kong. I served on Lantau Island (the biggest one in Hong Kong actually) and loved my time there. We lived in a town called Mui Wo and served in a small Chinese branch and a medium-sized English speaking branch called Discovery Bay. This are was completely different than the rest of Hong Kong. There were way fewer people and it was a much slower pace to life. When I was told about the move my mission president described it as the one place in the mission where you should feel free to sit down with a guy at a park and play a game of chess, just making friends, and not stressing over time. Compared to the rest of Hong Kong, this was a revelation. The scenery and lifestyle on Lantau was so peaceful and beautiful. Additionally, since the real estate was much cheaper here we had a large apartment for just my companion and me. It was the only time on my mission I lived with just one other Elder. Finally, the area was huge and yet so underdeveloped by Hong Kong standards. There pretty much was only one road on the south side of the island (where we spent all our time) with just a handful of villages. Trying to study Chinese while riding around on a bumpy bus was a sure recipe for a headache.
Companions = Elder Newman was my companion here for the first six weeks. He was a great missionary and one of my favorite companions. We worked hard but also had a lot of fun doing it. His Chinese was really good and he kept our companionship humming. I remember moving to the area and walking into the apartment to see one wall covered with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups cereal boxes. I guess the local grocery store had had some close-out sale and Elder Newman bought over 50 boxes. He had that cereal at least two meals a day for the first month I lived with him. Pretty entertaining.
My second companion on Lantau was Elder Law. He was my only native Chinese companion during my mission. I haven’t been able to track him down since getting home though.
Members/Area = I loved both branches we served in the members in both. The Mui Wo branch met in a rented facility about a 5 minute walk from where we lived but only had about a dozen active members (half of which were children) so we became tight with everyone. Each Sunday we would bless and pass the Sacrament which was a unique experience on my mission. Trying to get the sounds and tones just right for the Sacrament prayer s was very nerve wracking. I think the Branch President might have used a lot of mercy in allowing some of my efforts to pass. The Ho family had a son who was approaching the age 8 so they had us come over and teach him the discussions. It was a nice chance to visit each week and say hello. Since the father was inactive they asked me to baptize him which was really nice.
The Discovery Bay Branch is where I would most likely live if I come back to Hong Kong full-time in the next ten years. There were lots of young families with another dozen or so Filipina sisters working in Hong Kong as domestic helpers. We would meet in the local international school and Church was very enjoyable. The families were all very accomplished, with the fathers working as lawyers and bankers and the wives staying at home raising families. It was in a way the prototypical ward on a small scale. Our branch mission leader was a good guy who’d served his mission in Taiwan and was back working for Merrill Lynch. His wife was younger than me so that was a little strange. Finally, a different member family would have us over every Sunday for dinner and serve us the most amazing home-cooked meals. It was like being back in America.
Missionary Work = This is another reason while I loved this area so much. I was able to meet and teach two wonderful people who were baptized. The first was David Athukorala and the second was Jasmine Lee. David was a golden investigator who we couldn’t baptize fast enough. Jasmine took a little bit longer but was real pleasure to teach. Teaching her was also different than normal because she was from mainland China and her native tongue was Mandarin. She also spoke good Cantonese and a little English but lived in Discovery Bay so she wanted to join the English speaking branch. To teach her we needed to women to fellowship so we’d get two of the wives in the ward to help. One was Sister Ou from China who would re-teach/clarify everything in Mandarin for us. It was really funny listening to Sister Ou take over and explain concepts like the law of chastity, tithing, etc in another language and then after her and Jasmine talking uninterrupted for five minutes we would simply ask, “Any questions?” The other members who helped us out was Sister Combs from Oklahoma. She didn’t speak Cantonese or Mandarin so she’d just sit in the room and knit during the whole discussion but we appreciated her presence as she made us legal according to the missionary handbook.
Memorable Experiences = This area offered my first opportunity to baptize and my only time living in a building other than a skyscraper. Also, since the members all worked at big companies they would have access to yachts and such. One time they invited us and we got permission from the mission president to go if we took an investigator or two along for fellowshipping purposes. We called every person we’d taught in the last six months and eventually got two to come with us. It was a fun day cruising on the boat, eating great food, and listening to non-Church music. We had a great story to tell at the next mission conference and make all the other missionaries jealous. Also, since the island was so big and isolated we would take big hikes out through tiny villages and talk to random people who had rarely seen white people, let alone ones who could speak Cantonese. We went and visited Big Buddha, the world’s largest outdoor bronze Buddha. Had my year out mission party here. It was a great area.
Favorite Song = “Prayer of the Children,” see blog entry.
Favorite Meal = Home-cooked meals by American families.

Running Description of Photos: Left side 1) Athukoralas = pride and joy of my mission 2) Jasmine's baptism = I loved how we got to baptize in streams and rock pools in this area. It was so unusual and yet beautiful. Almost all the branch would come out to support the new member and it was so almost re-enacting the Water of Mormon. 3) The Baptismal Cart = In Discvoery Bay no cars are allowed so people rent golf carts for their transportation (or walk everywhere, it really is like living in a resort). For baptisms we'd all walk or golf cart a half mile or so up the mountain to the pool/stream. 4) Group trip to Big Buddha 5) Elder Newman and I out on the Linklaters company boat. We had to wear proselyting clothes while the other 15 people were in water attire but we didn't care. Cruising on the ocean with the wind whipping through your hair was not a usual missionary feeling. Right side 1) Me in Tai O. A small village on the SW corner of Lantau with lots of buildings built on stilts over the water. 2) The rented Church facility in Mui Wo 3) Silvermine Bay - Our apartment is just out of view to the left of the hotel seen in the picture. Every morning we'd wake up and look out the window to the sight of a beautiful beach / bay. It was amazing! 4) Party with my fellow MTCers at our year mark. Sports on the beach and tacos.

Recent Happenings

2008-07-28T07:01:00.001-07:00

Work has been good lately. I have been working on a binder project that is more clerical than legal but very interesting. I review all of our emails, documents, etc for a country and decide what is legal advice / important and then place in a categorized binder. The fun part is learning about the Church’s growth / legal problems throughout Asia over the last 5-10 years. So far I’ve done Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Cambodia (which also included Vietnam). Lets just say the work moves in mysterious ways.
On the social front I went to the beach with the YSAs on Saturday. Swimming in the ocean in HK still kind of feels like I’m breaking a rule a rule or something. Whether that’s due to the nastiness of the water or the lingering effects of the Missionary Handbook I’m not certain but its strange. We had a nice time but I had to bail early to go home and do laundry and another couple errands. I invited everyone over in the evening though to watch a movie so they let me depart in peace.
Friday night I took a trip down memory lane. I pulled out my Missionary Weekly Reports (letters to mission president) from my mission and read through all of them. I had never done this and it was a lot of fun. It brought back so many memories of places, investigators, companions, etc. After reading them I wonder if my mission president debated whether I was retarded at times, but I did get a few good jokes in. Even made myself laugh seven years after writing them. I don’t know how it was for other people on missions, but I usually struggled what to write in these.
All in all, life has been good lately and I’m excited for my mom’s arrival in just over 24 hours.
The two pictures are of the beach and a cemetery I passed on the drive back to town. It’s a good illustration of how real estate in at a premium in HK. You can’t even get a good-sized piece of land to be buried in. In fact, I’ve even heard that now it is mandatory that every gets cremated in Hong Kong.

Sheung Shui - My Second Area

2008-07-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

After 18 weeks in Yeun Long and not teaching a discussion the last seven I was ready for a transfer. I was sent to the area Sheung Shui. It is located just to the east of Yeun Long but in the next stake/zone over. Also, it borders China for its entire northern boundary and was a continuation of the rural, less crazy part of Hong Kong. We lived in the next area over (Fanling) and would walk a half hour every day from our apartment to our area. Can’t think of much else to say for general description of the area.
Companion = Elder Tang, an American-born-Chinese (ABC). He was from Philadelphia and very American in some ways (English much better than Cantonese), but also Chinese in many ways. We had our struggles at times but I think we both learned a lot from each other. He went back to Utah post-mission and married a girl from Asia. We’ve kept in touch some and sounds like he’s doing well. I lived with two other Elders here that were lots of fun. Elder Wayne Ott from Tropic, UT and Elder Solan from Orem. Ott used to write “Mom,” his zip code, and USA on his letters home and it would work fine. His mom was the postmaster so that helped. Elder Solan won a bet with me he would still be single when I got home from mission (he left when I had 15 months left) and is still single to this day. I still owe him a steak dinner too.
Members/Ward = We served in the Sheung Shui Ward. It had a fair amount of young families and a solid core, but only numbered around 60. Our ward mission leader was a good guy but didn’t really have a good handle on things. One night he did have us over to his house for dinner and I left in a slightly worse off condition. His three year old son got really interested in something on the other side of the table and decided to logically take the shortest course to his destination. In his journey over the table he knocked a bowl of hot soup over and right into my lap. It got my shirt, tie, and pants all soaked. It was quite funny after the fact. Another cool member was an elderly lady named Lai Mommy. She was a doctor and had an office in town that didn’t get much business but served as a HQ for the missionaries teaching efforts. She’d have the whole district over for lunch once a week on top of letting us use her office to teach. A wonderful lady! I actually visited her last year on one of my layovers during my Asia trip. Lastly, the Church building was beautiful but in the middle of nowhere. If you walked from our apartment it was about 45 minutes out of town. Usually we’d take a minibus. The benefit of being out of town was that it was a free-standing chapel that looked more American than any in Hong Kong.
Missionary Work = We had some slow times here, but also some success at times (12 weeks in area). The definite highlight was teaching Chan Bo Sing. He was a 17 year old young man who we randomly met while waiting to catch a bus. He looked like a total ‘Feijai’ (punk) with spiked, colored hair, earrings, and an attitude. However, as we met with and taught him over 8 weeks he changed completely in appearance and attitude. As the junior companion it was my job to call him nightly and share a scripture and check up on him and I really grew close to him. Sadly I was transferred the week of his baptism so I missed the wonderful occasion. The last Sunday I was there I thanked him for letting me teach him the gospel and he replied that he should be thanking us. He then bore his testimony about how he didn’t know God before meeting us and now had a relationship with his Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ. It still brings joy/happiness whenever I think about it. He will always hold a special place in my heart as he was the first person I taught who got baptized (a good seven months after arriving in Hong Kong and almost 10 months after leaving on my mission).
Memorable Experiences = First baptism, soup on lap, long doctrinal conversation with English dude, and a few others. We did ‘Sports Finds’ here with the members every Saturday morning which largely consisted of the entire zone’s Elders playing soccer against the local Chinese members and a few non-members they’d recruit to their team. It was lots of fun but not too effective for missionary work. That was especially the case because the Elders insisted on winning and running over the competition (Asians don’t play sports as rough as Americans). I would go home disillusioned every Saturday thinking, “I thought the point of missionary work is to get people to like/listen to us, not dislike/speak ill of us.” Seriously, what’s the deal with guys and sports?! One day Elder Tang and I took a hike out towards China and climbed this really big hill northwest of town. It was awesome as it had an abandoned observation post where the British troops used to monitor the border and offered a great view into Shenzhen (when it wasn’t too cloudy/foggy). We got some great pictures and talked/dreamed about going into China as missionaries.
Favorite Meal = This was another area where we ate a lot of McDonalds. The members took us out to a couple good YumCha (kind of Chinese buffet) places.
Favorite Song = I’m kind of ashamed to admit this, but “Her Garden” from EFY 2000. It just stuck with me and helped me to understand the importance of women and their divine role in God’s plan.

Running Descpription of Photos: Left Side 1) Chan Bo Sing and me. I've talked to him on the phone so far but he's proving difficult to schedule. 2) The entrance to the Restricted Area. Technically you had to have a special permit to go into this area. We felt a need to proclaim to the souls within. OK, maybe we actually just wanted to climb the mountain and get some good pictures of China. 3) The countryside and our town all in one. I loved the contrast between the two. On the same day we could tract people in 20-story public housing blocks and small shacks next to a field less than a mile away. 4) Spent my first Christmas in the area. The first 30 minutes of the call was spent on hellos, love yas, how's the work, etc., then I talked with my dad until the phone card ran out about sports, politics, world affairs, and everything I'd missed for the last seven months. 5) Fanling Church building. Right side 1 & 4) Visting Buddhist Temple in Shatin 2) The first of two pairs of shoes I walked through on my mission. Those were mighty comfy but weren't made for walking. 3) Mainland China is in the background. I like the mists of darkness, appropriate for a land that restricts the freedom of the gospel. 5) Public square in Sheung Shui where we would go contacting a lot.

Immovable Objection - And Rest of Week

2008-07-24T08:40:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday after visiting with So Ying Ying I decided to walk all over two of my old areas. I went all over Shau Kei Wan and then made my way to Causeway Bay. As I was walking near the Sogos intersection in Causeway Bay I thought I’d look for the mother of an investigator we had, Derrick Tse. He heard about four discussions and really wanted to be baptized but his mother was completely opposed and wouldn’t let it happen. She didn’t like our Church or the fact that it would take time away from her son’s studies.
Fast forward six years and guess what, it is the same thing. She runs a newspaper stand (hard work that doesn’t pay great) and sits there all day selling stuff to passer-bys. I found where I thought her stand was (we’d visited a few times as missionaries and I thought I recognized her) and asked if she knew the guy I had taught. At first she denied knowing him but then when some nice lady stepped in to help translate she admitted it was her son. We chatted for a bit and I explained that I was back in town visiting and would love to see her son again. She was totally opposed and wouldn’t give me any contact information for him. I negotiated away any chance to share the gospel with him, saying all I want to do is grab a meal and catch up, and she still wouldn’t budge. Eventually she told me to come back on Monday morning and we’d go talk to someone.
So I showed up Monday and she didn’t have anyone for us to go visit so instead we sat/stood there together for 80 minutes as I begged/pleaded/befriended/did everything I could to get her to give me her son’s contact information. She again wouldn’t budge. She is literally scared to death of our Church. Thinks it is a total cult or something. I don’t know who brainwashed her but all my explaining didn’t do any good. I tried using every missionary skill I could still employ, all to no effect (It doesn’t help that the name of the Book of Mormon in Chinese sounds like Devil’s Door Scripture and our Church’s Chinese translation of Mormon Church sounds like Devil’s Door Church. The devil character is written different than the Moses character but sounds the same and the Church used the Moses one for the Church name and Book of Mormon. And our official Church name over here used to be ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of End of the World Saints.’ Thankfully ‘end of the world’ has been changed to ‘last generation.’ Sorry back to the discussion. Derrick’s mom even tried to buy me off. She gave me an envelope with 500HKD in it (like 65USD) and said thanks for visiting and caring about her son but I don’t want him to see you. I wouldn’t take the money (she was ticked) but seriously it was depressing. All I want to do is say hi to the kid, catch up on life (he’s awesome, in medical school now), get his email, and restart our friendship but his mom is adamantly opposed. She used the school excuse again that he has no time and said to come back in two years. I was like, I don’t know if I’ll be back in Hong Kong for 30 years, and I already waited six years because he was too busy with school. How much longer do I have to wait? So yeah, I got shot down. I’ll go visit again another time before I leave and leave my contact information if she won’t give me his. Such is missionary work in Hong Kong.

I took the rest of Monday off, walked a ton, bought a suit (65USD, but worried the color might be too light), visited the Temple, and hosted the YSAs for a game night. The rest of my week has gone well with the usual busy days at work. Today was very special. We had a nice Pioneer Day service and I got my new contact. Hurray!!!

Pictures are of: 1) Derrick's mom and I. We were pretty good friends by the time I left. I think I'd shared everything I knew how to say in Cantonese about myself and my family, all to no avail. 2) A three-story golf driving range I walked past. 3) The no-so-express express mail delivery of my contact. But its great to see again and be able to use my right eye.

Day of Miracles & A Never-ending Responsibility

2008-07-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I sat down at my computer and started calling people from my mission that I want to see while here in Hong Kong (thank you Skype). I’d tried to reach some before but didn’t have much success and didn’t have the highest hopes for some of the others. I was calling people I hadn’t talked to in five or six years who now have no contact with the Church, all the while speaking broken Cantonese. In the space of an hour I was able to get a hold of four people and even get one of them to meet with me that afternoon.
The one who I scheduled to meet is named SoYing Ying (Yanny) and I had the honor of baptizing her as the District Leader after the Sisters taught her. I called at 10:40am on a Saturday but still managed to wake her up (woops). She was totally sleepy when she picked up the phone and I’m sitting there trying to explain who I am. “Hello, this is Brother Lai, I was a missionary in Shau Kei Wan six years ago, I’m from America, I helped baptize you.” It all just sounds so weird. What would you do if somebody called saying such things and you hadn’t seen the real person in years?
Much to my surprise she said she was free that afternoon and we could meet to grab some food. We met up at the subway station and walked to a local restaurant. Our conversation was very relaxed and we caught up easily. She spent a year in England so that helped things whenever my Cantonese came up short. She’s working in Central now for a fashion design house, has a good job, boyfriend, her family is doing well, etc. She said she quit going to Church about a year after her baptism and hasn’t been back since. It wasn’t a surprise but it was disappointing. I invited her over for a get together I’m going to throw with all my Chinese friends and she said she’d come so that was nice. We exchanged contact information, walked over to the old Church building and took pictures.
It was great to see her again. She was one of the people I hadn’t communicated with at all since my mission and wasn’t too hopeful of tracking down. Thankfully her cell phone number hadn’t changed since she was baptized and she was amazingly willing to meet some foreign stranger. I’ll be sure to keep in contact with her from now on and encourage her in the gospel.
The other people I talked with are Sum Ka Kit, Ho Jing’s mother, and Chan Bo Sing. I have talked to Sum a few times since finishing my mission and seen him once (in 2004) so I had hope for tracking him down. He’s way busy now with work and other things in life and has slipped into inactivity but still had his happy voice and kind words. We just have to find some time in his busy schedule to meet. Ho Jing was an eight year old boy in a member family who the parents asked us to teach the discussions to and then baptize because the father was inactive. We hadn’t talked in over six years but they were nice and I should be seeing Ho Jing and his mom at Church this coming Sunday. Chan Bo Sing was another miraculous connection. I haven’t talked with him since 2004 and could have sworn his phone number had changed. I tried calling him last year while in town and the number didn’t work but this year I got a hold of him. He’s a cop now up in the New Territories so I’m going to have to make a long trip to see him but will gladly do it if he’ll give me the time.
President Hinckley shared a story from his life in the 1997 April Priesthood Session to help illustrate his teachings on retention. I love it and would commend it to any returned missionary or person leaving on a mission. It reads:
“To illustrate, I think I would like to share with you one of my failures. I suppose some people think I have never experienced failure. I have. Let me tell you of one such instance.
Sixty-three years ago, while serving as a missionary in the British Isles, my companion and I taught, and it was my pleasure to baptize, a young man. He was well educated. He was refined. He was studious. I was so proud of this gifted young man who had come into the Church. I felt he had all of the qualifications someday to become a leader among our people.
He was in the course of making the big adjustment from convert to member. For a short period before I was released, mine was the opportunity to be his friend. Then I was released to return home. He was given a small responsibility in the branch in London. He knew nothing of what was expected of him. He made a mistake. The head of the organization where he served was a man I can best describe as being short on love and strong on criticism. In a rather unmerciful way, he went after my friend who had made the simple mistake.
The young man left our rented hall that night smarting and hurt by his superior officer. He said to himself, "If that is the kind of people they are, then I am not going back."
He drifted into inactivity. The years passed. The war came on, and he served in the British forces. His first wife died. After the war he married a woman whose father was a Protestant minister. That did not help his belief.
When I was in England, I tried desperately to find him. His file contained no record of a current address. I came home and finally, after a long search, was able to track him down.
I wrote to him. He responded but with no mention of the gospel.
When next I was in London, I again searched for him. The day I was to leave, I found him. I called him, and we met in the underground station. He threw his arms around me as I did around him. I had very little time before I had to catch my plane, but we talked briefly and with what I think was a true regard for one another. He gave me another embrace before I left. I determined that I would never lose track of him again. Through the years I wrote to him, letters that I hoped would give encouragement and incentive to return to the Church. He wrote in reply without mentioning the Church.
The years passed. I grew older as did he. He retired from his work and moved to Switzerland. On one occasion when I was in Switzerland, I went out of my way to find the village where he lived. We spent the better part of a day together--he, his wife, my wife, and myself. We had a wonderful time, but it was evident that the fire of faith had long since died. I tried every way I knew, but I could not find a way to rekindle it. I continued my correspondence. I sent him books, magazines, recordings of the Tabernacle Choir, and other things for which he expressed appreciation.
He died a few months ago. His wife wrote me to inform me of this. She said, "You were the best friend he ever had."
Tears coursed my cheeks when I read that letter. I knew I had failed. Perhaps if I had been there to pick him up when he was first knocked down, he might have made a different thing of his life. I think I could have helped him then. I think I could have dressed the wound from which he suffered. I have only one comfort: I tried. I have only one sorrow: I failed.
The challenge now is greater than it has ever been because the number of converts is greater than we have ever before known. A program for retaining and strengthening the convert will soon go out to all the Church. I plead with you, brethren; I ask of you, each of you, to become a part of this great effort. Every convert is precious. Every convert is a son or daughter of God. Every convert is a great and serious responsibility.”

Interspersed are pictures of people I helped teach or baptize. Lately one of the Brethren spoke about how your responsibility to those you teach and baptize as a missionary doesn’t end when you leave your mission but extends throughout your life. I haven’t done the best job of this in the past but am trying now and will keep trying. Pictures going down the left side: 1) David Athukorala's baptism 2) David baptizing his wife Shewanthie a couple months later 3) Elder Krueger, myself, Janson (who we taught and baptized), and Janson's friend 4) So Ying Ying's baptism 5) Chan Bo Sing and I 6) Sum Ga Git, Elder David and myself On the right side: 1) Athukorala family 2) Elder Newman, Marcellos, and myself. Their son was already a member and they would join later. 3) So Ying Ying and I from last Saturday 4) Jasmine Lee's baptism 5) Jasmine and I at at Farewell Fireside.

Return to SKW / Chai Wan Ward

2008-07-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I went to the Chai Wan Ward and saw many familiar faces. It was a lot of fun. Priesthood opening exercises was quite funny as they playfully made fun of my coming back and that they hoped to not see me again since I’m going to be lawyer. Sum Ka Kit and So Ying Ying are both inactive now so that was disappointing but also not surprising. I took a cool picture with many of the Priesthood leaders I interacted with most. The far left is former Brother, now Bishop Mh. He's a great guy, just very humble and solid (I like that word). To my right is another Brother Mh, who was my correlator the last month or two I was in the area. He took

his calling seriously. We had to be on our toes and prepared because correlation meeting was fast and furious and he didn't take no junk from nobody. To my left is President Lam. He was the Branch President with 5 kids who run

s a translation firm. Being the consumate professional looking for business he hooked me up with his card explaining they translate contracts and other legal documents all the time. Just in case I come back to Hong Kong to practice. He's got seven mouths to feed so I can understand. The next picture is of Lam Hoi Tin and myself. We served together as missionaries and he is a genuinely cool Chinese person. Cool and Chinese don't seem to go together often to me but he pulled it off quite well. The next pic is of myself and Janet Chong. She was a new member when I moved into the area and helped the sister missionaries a lot. She's still going strong and still very nice/helpful. The last picture is of Elder Romney and myself. We walked into the Church building at the same time Sunday and he remembered me from our time together as missionaries in Hong Kong. Mitt's his uncle and he was finishing in internship or something in China.

Shau Kei Wan – My Fifth Area

2008-07-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

After four plus months in the Causeway Bay Ward I was moved to the neighboring branch, Shau Kei Wan. It was in the same zone and still on Hong Kong Island just a little more east. It was also one of, if not the smallest area geographically in my mission. I think our area literally was something around 3 square miles I served here for the next six months, the longest time in any one area during my mission. The last month or so the branch was combined with the neighboring Chai Wan Ward so my area greatly expanded and most the local leadership changed.
Shau Kei Wan started out rough but by the time I left I had grown quite fond of the area. Here’s the rundown:
Companions = My first companion in SKW was Elder Colyer. He is from Orem, Utah and a large guy. In high school he played offensive line for the football team and I could see him being a ferocious blocker and yet a fun teammate to play with. He always had a smile on his face and a happy demeanor. We didn’t exactly talk about politics or deep gospel topics during our time together but we got along pretty well.
My second companion here was Elder David, my greenie. He’s from SLC (Holiday) and had worked as a bank teller and attended Salt Lake Community College before his mission. He had an interesting family story and had a great heart. A very powerful memory I have of him was during his Christmas call home encouraging his non-member father to read the Book of Mormon and Elder David bearing his testimony about it and the Church with tears running down his cheeks.
My third companion was Elder Cameron Smith. He was from Boulder, Colorado and a really cool guy. We worked hard and taught a lot. He’s one companion I’d really like to get in touch with again but haven’t been able to find. No picture from mission either.
Members/Ward: I loved the Shau Kei Wan Branch. Attendance was probably only about 40 most Sundays but the small numbers made it easier to establish strong relationships with each member. The Branch President had five kids (unheard of in Hong Kong) and was a really funny guy who spoke great English. Our Ward Mission Leader was a really fun guy who made every correlation meeting both enjoyable and productive. I still remember a story he told about going shopping with his wife and carrying all her bags and it brings smile to my face every time. There were a few other faithful members I got to know well and loved to see regularly.
Missionary Work: Shau Kei Wan was a tiny place but still probably had a couple hundred thousand people. We street contacted here hours every day. We swam through the Blue Ocean like it was a our private pool. But all the finding did pay off with regular discussions. I probably hit my groove while in this area. At times we had five plus investigators and taught 5-10 discussions a week (both pretty good for Chinese companionships). All the finding and teaching didn’t turn into too many baptisms but I loved my time here and felt really blessed. Elder David and I were able to baptize a young man named Sum Ka Kit (Keith) and I taught another young man for a while who wanted to get baptized but his dad wouldn’t let him. I also served as the District Leader here for a while and had the opportunity to conduct a few baptismal interviews. Very nerve wracking the first time but they turned into wonderful, enjoyable spiritual experiences once I turned it into a simple friendly conversation about the gospel.
Memorable Experiences: We went to a ward activity on Christmas Day or Eve out to Sai Kung (rural, jungle country park) and got to see some beautiful country. On the Thursday after the 2002 November elections I told my greenie this was the only time he was going to see me blatantly break the rules. I then proceeded to jump into 7-11 and take a quick look at the headline of the South China Morning Post to see who won the election back in the US. I walked out with a big smile on my face. My last Sunday in the combined ward I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting ½ paying attention when I thought I heard my name and the word stand. Everyone was looking at me so I popped up afraid of what I’d missed. Thinking I was supposed to bear my testimony or something I was about to start moving towards the aisle when Bro. Mh said, “Everyone who can show your appreciate for Elder Layton’s service in our ward, please show your hand.” I guess I was being released from a calling or something. It was bizarre, never seen it before or since but I learned again to pay attention in Sacrament Meeting, especially during ward business. Finally, twice the elevator went out in our complex and we had to hike 20-something flights of stairs any time we went home. Thankfully it was during the winter.
Favorite Meal: I think I ate a lot of PB&Js here. The other one that stands out was the Curry House. It was right downstairs at the bottom of our apartment complex and our zone would go eat there after every zone find in our area. It was strong too.
Favorite Song: “Bring Them In” from EFY 2002. I like the story of the song and it gave me a country music feel, which I did miss while on my mission.

Running Description of Photos: 1) Baptism of So Ying Ying (Yanni) I was the District Leader and conducted the baptismal interview so she chose me for baptism. She had to wait almost three years to be baptized because her parents wouldn't give her permission. Even when she did get baptized at 18 she had to lie about it and going to Church because her dad wouldn't let her out of the house if she was going to a Christian church. She'd leave in jeans and then change at the Church. 2) Baptism of Sum Ka Kit. Elder David and I found him while street contacting, taught him all six discussions, and had the pleasure of baptizing him as well. He was a really good, quiet kid. For our 3rd meeting we showed him the movie "On the Way Home" and he was crying at the end and wasn't really talkative so we finished up with a closing prayer and hoped he'd meet with us again not knowing what was going on. Turns out his dad has passed away a couple years before and the idea of eternal families really hit him hard. He loved it and after feeling the Spirit so strongly was golden from then on. Myself and roommates Elder David, Bethers, and Loutham. I've kept in touch with all since getting home and even played some golf with Elder/Sister Bethers (his favorite saying when someone leaves a putt short). 4) Group on a Preparation Day excursion to Sehk O Beach. We played rugby, football, and whatever else came to mind. Some guy made an amazing catch where he ran into a thigh high brick wall shortly after hauling the ball in. Even held onto it after impact. 5) Elders Miyazaki, Colyer, Chan, and some lazy guy lying on top. 6) Brother Chan and me. He was a member who kind of adopted all the missionaries in Hong Kong. He took almost every missionary to the local amusement park each year in December. Additionally he bought most missionaries an expensive watch before they went home and took 20 or so missionaries out to eat at HardRock, RubyTuesday, TGIFs, or some other great restaurant every preparation day. Guesstimates for his annual spending on missionaries ranged anywhere from 8-15K. One very generous man. And don't say there isn't any money in the toy business, he made his owning 3 stores. 7) Leighton Rd and I. Its actually in CWB area but I got the picture on a zone find while serving in SKW. 8) The Church building in SKW, since sold when the new massive one was built in Wan Chai. I spent a lot of time in that building over six months. We did most of our teaching there and played a lot of ping pong while getting stood up for multiple appointments every week. 9) A view of the main drag in town we walked up and down every day. I think I met Sum Ka Kit right about here. 10) My apartment for six months. If was a descent sized one but not the cleanest. However, our study room had an amazing view of the eastern edge of Victoria Harbor/Kowloon side and I got the massive, cushy chair. Morning study and meal breaks were very enjoyable here. 11) Bakery right below our building that hooked us up with free stuff a few times. 12) SKW bus stop, lots of street contacting here.

Prayer of and for the Children

2008-07-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

This week my brother Spencer and his wife Lindsay were blessed with a new baby girl, Grace Day Layton. This has prompted me to think about children lately. Being back in Hong Kong it has also made me think of a child I first met here as a missionary and two brothers which came into her family later. Her name is Deshenie Athukorala and she is the daughter of a man I baptized. His wife later joined the Church and they returned to their homeland of Sri Lanka about the time I left Hong Kong. Later two sons joined the family and David and Shewanthie went about living the gospel and raising a family. These three children are probably the ones I care most about in the whole world outside of my two nieces and four nephews. Deshenie is a beautiful, kind girl who was baptized this past January. Her two brothers are very important to me, not least of all because they were each given one of my names. Last summer on my big trip to Asia I had the chance to visit the Athukoralas in Sri Lanka for over two weeks. It was a joyous time as I played with the kids, attended Church together, and was asked to offer Priesthood blessings. If you want to know more about the family or my time in Sri Lanka look at blog entries from last June.
The combination of being back in my mission and thinking about kids has made me think of a song I first heard while serving in Hong Kong as a missionary. It is called “Prayer of the Children” and was originally written and performed by Kurt Bestor. He served as a missionary in Yugoslavia in the 1970s and was inspired to write the song as a tribute to the children there when war broke out in the 1990s. The song offers a prayer of children in war-torn countries and hopes for a better day. You can listen to it by linking to this page: http://www.poofcat.com/childprayer.html. I loved the song from the first time I heard it and listened to it daily for the six weeks I served in Mui Wo with the companion who owned the CD. In the last year the song has taken on greater significance to me as Sri Lanka has resumed a very heated civil war. Thankfully, Deshenie, Deshaun Hughes, and Chamal Yale live in the capital Colombo and do not face gunfire or daily violence. But there lives are in danger as bombs are detonated in Colombo regularly. One even went off at a market the family shops at less than a mile from their home earlier this year. Whenever I hear this song I think the Athukorala children and countless others across the world who face death, suffering, and pain for no reason and at no fault of their own. I know God loves little children and watches over them. I pray for them and that they will remain safe in this time of difficulty for their country.
The other part of the blog title (Prayer for the Children) comes from a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that I think of occasionally (http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-353-29,00.html). With Grace’s birth it gave me occasion to study the words again and reflect on the gospel, families, and the type of parent I hope to be. The gospel of Jesus Christ and His true Church on the earth mean everything to me. My Savior’s influence and the guidance of His Church have blessed my life in so many ways. I have learned from watching my siblings raise their families that the responsibilities of parenthood are not easy, especially in the crazy world in which we live. My nieces and nephews are wonderful children and their parents are doing a great job. I hope I can do my small part as an uncle to love and encourage, and share my testimony of where true happiness comes from.

I haven't got a picture of Grace yet and hope one will be coming soon (hint, hint). The last picture is the one I have with the greatest combination of nieces/nephews. The youngest two are very much on my mind and loved just as much.

Hong Kong YSAs

2008-07-20T07:15:00.001-07:00

Much to my surprise, there is actually a descent collection of English-speaking Young Single Adults here in Hong Kong. They got to Church in the Victoria 1st Branch and often get together for nights out or other activities. Thankfully, they have been very kind and invited me to many of their gathering lately. All together there are probably about 20 of us who are in Hong Kong for work stints of anywhere from a month to two years. They are lots of fun and a bright group of people. This week I joined them for crepes and hanging out one night, making cheesecakes another, and last night we went and saw the new Batman movie. I didn’t get to bed until 2am and felt the effects all day. The combination of an active, late social life with waking up early and long work hours is something I can’t handle well and marvel at anyone who can. With my boss out of town and his encouragement, I’ve invited everyone over for a game night tomorrow. I hope it goes well.

Work Trip to Macao

2008-07-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

Tuesday this past week (July 15) I had the pleasure of going to Macao for the first time. Macao was Portugal’s version of Hong Kong, in that they had a history going back hundreds of years living in Macao and had sovereignty over it for over a hundred years. It was the last territory from a foreign power to be handed back to China in 1999. It is about an hour boat ride from Hong Kong via a fast ferry. While Macao was also in my mission, I never had the opportunity to serve there. It had the reputation of being a little slower-paced by Hong Kong, and also kind of spiritually dead as gambling and prostitution were legal. It was also regarded as something of a back-water as it was poorer than Hong Kong and not quite as modern.
Elder Newell and I left the office around 930am and made our way to Sheung Wan and the ferry pier. After the hour boat ride we caught a taxi and went to our lawyer’s office to have a meeting. The meeting was interesting but not too productive as our attorney wasn’t really an expert in the area where our problem is. After lunch we had lunch with the one senior Elder in Macao and he filled us in on how the Church was doing there. The restaurant was really quite good as I ordered a curry chicken meal while the two senior Elders got American food. Also, the restaurant was right across the street from the Church so I got a picture of it.
Macao’s Portuguese history is still visible because many of the colonial buildings are still there and the Portuguese language is much more common than English. While it still has lots of history, Macao is now changing quickly as well. The government decided to end the gambling monopoly of Stanley Ho and has sold licenses to foreign companies/people like MGMGrand, Steve Wynn, Sands, and others. Gambling revenue in Macao has already passed Las Vegas and continues to grow something like 30% annually. If I didn’t have moral qualms doing it, I would totally invest in the stocks of companies with casinos in Macao because Asians love to gamble.
The trip was good and I filled up the last blank page of my passport. It has been a nine-plus year effort but I finally got the job done. When my mom comes to visit we plan on visiting Macao again so I hope they won't hassle me about my passport. I don’t have any future plans for foreign travel after that and will retire this passport with many fond memories attached.
Pictures are of boat to Macao, Sands Casino on the waterfront, Church in Macao, old style Portuegese building, new development in Macao with tons of big cranes (China is growing like this all over; its amazing), and Macao space needle or whatever its called. Sister Newell is trying to find someone to go bungee jumping / zip line thingy with her off of this. Its something like a 500 foot fall. I took a pass.

Return to Causeway Bay

2008-07-20T05:43:00.000-07:00

Technically speaking, I'm in the Causeway Bay all the time. Both my apartment and work are in the ward boundaries, but I hadn't been able to see many of the member until last Sunday (the 12th) when I went back to visit the Causeway Bay Ward. It was a nice experience although a lot of the people I knew from my time as a missionary have moved away. My ward mission leader Bro. Sehk is now the Bishop and Annie and Billy were there so I got a picture with us three together. Annie is back in town for her first extended stay since joining the Church and the ward is putting her to use. She gets asked to teach either Relief Society or Sunday School every Sunday and sometimes has to do both. I’m the complete opposite, currently callingless, and in the middle of two months of ward-hopping without attending the same ward twice. Definitely a habit I will not continue when I return home. They meet in the Wan Chai Building too so I ended up going to that building for work/Church things about 12 days straight. Pictures are of Billy, Annie and me; Bishop Sehk and me, and Sister Lai and me (same Chinese name I have).

Causeway Bay - My Fourth Area

2008-07-20T05:05:00.001-07:00

After serving the first ten months of my time in Hong Kong in arguably the three most rural areas of the mission I joked with my mission that he was afraid to send a farm boy to the city. He chuckled and then the joke was on me. When the next moves came out I was assigned to the Causeway Bay Ward on Hong Kong Island, probably one of the busiest, most crowded places in the world. I served here 18 weeks and ended up enjoying it a lot. The ward was solid, even if a little less friendly than ones I had served in the past. The area was full of tall buildings and Hong Kong landmarks. We often would street contact at Sogo’s (busiest intersection in the world), Victoria Park, along King’s Road, and at the waterfront. The area also had the Happy Valley horse race track (Hong Kong loves to gamble on horses), the HK Convention Center, the HK Central Library, and some other cool spots.
Here’s a run-down of my time in Causeway Bay (May-Sept 2002):
Companions = Elder Leyman Vang from Sacramento. His parents were Hmong immigrants fleeing the aftermath of the Vietnam War and they eventually made their way to the US after some crazy times in Asia. His family sounded like great people who had overcome very hard trials in their lives. He was my last Senior Companion and also an excellent drawer.
Elder Krueger was from some town outside Chicago. A quiet guy in some ways, but we got along real well as he liked to talk politics and we’d do that all day as we contacted. He was a very hard worker and took his mission seriously. After some difficult companionships since my trainer Elder Krueger was a breath of fresh air and we really put our shoulder to the wheel.
Although they weren’t companions, the four other Elders I lived with in Causeway Bay were some of my favorite missionaries in Hong Kong. Elders Devin Nelson, Spencer Hull, J.D. Masero (also lived with in Yeun Long), and Jason Fuller made our time in the apartment really enjoyable. These guys were hilarious and really fun to go on exchanges.
Members / Ward = Causeway Bay is kind of the Paradise Valley of Hong Kong. It is a very affluent area with lots of accomplished people. Our ward represented the demographics fairly well and I met many remarkable people during my time in CWB. Our ward mission leader (Bro. Sehk) was a great guy and a pleasure to work with. There were also some exciting new members in the ward, notably Annie Wong and Billy Lee. Both would go on to serve mission and remain faithful in the gospel. I even got to meeting Billy last year on his mission when I came through Hong Kong during my Asia trip. He is very humble and obedient. The other member who we interacted with a lot was Millie Lai, the Gospel Essentials and Seminary teacher.
Missionary Work: We taught and baptized Mui Jan Sing (Janson) and had a few other investigators get far in the discussions. We kept a descent teaching pool and I’d have to say Causeway Bay was a pretty good area for me on this front.
Memorable Experiences: I played a lot of tennis with a Filipino member while here (Benji Bolibol, amazing guy!). The Filipina Branch would often invite us to join them for Sunday dinner and the sisters were so kind. Benji would then have the missionaries join him around the piano and would play/sing while we all joined in for hymns and other Church songs. Those were some of the most peaceful, happy hours on my mission. It was also here that a crazy anti-Mormon white guy tried to cast the devil out of me, I’ll try to tell the story later. We had a couple typhoons days while in this area too. On typhoon days you can’t go outside so we would call every former investigator in the area book, every referral we had got for months, and any other thing we could come up with to be productive. Finally, after about eight hours of being locked inside during normal proselyting time I broke down and made a game of Risk on a piece of card board and we played that for a few hours. We had to pull pieces of paper out of a bowl for dice but it worked pretty well.
Most common meal = McDonalds and ParknShop deli. We would rotate between the two for lunch every day. Both were cheap and tasty, even if the first will probably give me a heart attack by 50.
Songs = EFY songs that I listened to a lot in this area are “Growing Young” and “I’ll Be.” Growing Young is still one of my all-time faves. We also listened to a Michael McLean CD that Elder Masero had a bunch.

Pictures are of Victoria Park, the Hong Kong Central Library, Sogos, Risk Game, and the Causeway Bay church building (the three floors towards the bottom). It has been sold since they built the new Wan Chai building. I either lost a roll of film of my time in CWB or just didn't take any pictures. I've got less than 10 from my time there and don't even have a baptismal picture for Janson. Kind of a a bummer.

Mission Reunion

2008-07-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

I need to try to catch up on a few items from a week or more ago. I randomly found out about two weeks ago that a Mission Reunion was scheduled for July 12. This was great news as I could get lots of my Chinese friends together in one place, say hello and catch up, and hopefully take a few pictures. The speaker was Elder Perkins of the Seventy and he talked about missions making a difference and how often we don't see the consequences of our service. His topic is very true for Asian missions where baptisms are scarce, language difficulties makes communication post-mission hard if not impossible, and inactivity is rampant. He told some wonderful stories about people finding out 30+ years after their mission about a convert they had taught and what that produced. It was powerful stuff. Afterwards we took group pictures by Mission President and I got to see which of my friends had showed up. It was a little depressing as there were only 6 missionaries from my time there and two of them were white guys. I lucked out though because except for one all the Chinese missionaries and members that I had hoped to see showed.
The people in the first picture are left to right: Elder Lai with his wife and son, Sister Lam (name during mission) and her husband, me, Elder McIntire, Elder Cheun and his wife. Three of them could each be blog entries but I'll do the condensed form tonight. Sister Lam was an AMAZING missionary. She is a convert and the only member of her family from the Pok Fu Lam Ward on the southwest of Hong Kong Island. She had been at BYU-Hawaii for 3 years before her mission and spoke really good English, as well as fluent Cantonese and Mandarin. She was awesome as a missionary in so many ways. She could do member work, finding, teaching, trained multiple times, and worked hard. She baptized a ton and ended being called as a travelling sister to rotate throughout the mission. She was the only one I can remember doing that in my two years. Elder McIntire was a Mandarin Elder but we served in the same zone for a few months so we got to know each other that way. He is a really nice guy, went back to BYU and studied Chinese, is now at Duke getting a law degree and Master's in Asian Affairs. He's doing summer school here at Hong Kong University and we've hung out a couple times. Great guy, and he even found the old suit shop from mission days that will sell us suits for roughly $70US. I'm headed there next week. The Chinese guy next to Elder McIntire is Yeung Yick Cheun and his wife. He is a wonderful story. My first Sunday in Hong Kong he was baptized by my companionship out in Yeun Long and he's been on fire ever since. He served a mission just over a year after his baptism, married in the Temple within a year or so of getting home, is studying to become a translator (translated for Elder Perkins at the meeting), and is serving in his ward's Bishopric now. He is really smart and fun to talk to. We keep in touch via IM on occasion.
The last picture is of me and the Chan family. Elder Chan and I lived together for at least 3 months in Shau Kei Wan. He has one of the best hearts of any person I've ever known and speaks nothing but kindness and uplifting words all while maintaining an amazing humility. He is also one of the strongest pound-for-pound people I've ever met. He and my companion (a 6-2, 260 lbs former football player) would wrestle occasionally and Elder Chan could hold his own. He is one of those people that I really admire and hope to become more like.

About my father’s business (notice lower case)

2008-07-16T06:48:00.001-07:00

A friend and I were recently talking about budgeting and impulse buying and I couldn’t really think of too much that I impulse buy. I’m sure there’s a few things out there I dumbly throw money at (iTunes, yes at times) but generally I’m a pretty frugal fellow who has a dash of miserly mixed in. The only thing I could think of during our conversation was LDS book/supply stores. Every time I walk into one of those I end up spending twice what I intended. Well, I found another item I can add to the list. Asian clothes/taylor shops!
Last Saturday I went to visit William Cheung and Son taylor shop to see if I could get some new suit pants for my dad. A pair he bought four years ago had a flaw in them and he’s been eager to get them fixed ever since. I got drafted for the job this year and went in ready to put up my best explanation effort for why the new pants should be free but all the while expecting no sympathy. In the end I got them to drop their price 50 percent from where they first started. While I was there I started to get my itch again to buy more dress clothes. Heaven knows I don’t need them, at least more suits. I already own five suits (four are ‘undertaker’ variety according to my dad) so I don’t really ‘need’ any more. However, I’m going to be an attorney and will likely wear one quite often so I can rationalize it to myself, and I don’t have a light gray colored one. In Arizona light colored and thin fabric suits are a must and I could use an additional one along those lines. You seem my train of thought and where I’m heading.
So, I need some input/advice if anyone is still reading my blog. What color should I get? I’m leaning towards gray, and if so how light should it be? A straight gray or some kind of pattern/pinstripe? Shopping is really not my forte and I wish I just had my sisters here to tell me what to buy but that’s not an option. In addition to the suit I think I might buy some shirts as well.One other observation, I miss American shopping, or more precisely, American pricing. Over here you have to haggle for any item you’re buying that isn’t in a chain store. It’s a total annoyance and I really don’t have the heart for it. For some reason all my competitive juices these days seem to be reserved for games of Settlers of Cataan or smack talking with anybody who thinks Big-10 football is any good. Which reminds me of one of my favorite TV commercials. It combines two personal loves, Hong Kong and college football, and can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG2FB_WzifI I made it out of the store without placing an order but think I will when I go back to pick up my dad’s new set of pants.
Pictures on the right are of the street where the taylor shop is (8 floors up) and some random dude wearing rain boots. I don't know why I take 1/2 the pictures I do but I guess when I have a camera in my hand I just take pictures of most anything.

The Second Real Reason for Coming to Hong Kong

2008-07-16T06:25:00.000-07:00

I guess there are three reasons I came to Hong Kong this year. First and most commonly thought, to do a legal externship. This is true on many levels and I hope this will look good on my resume’ while also helping employment prospects down the line. However, it isn’t really one of the real reasons I wanted to come back to Hong Kong. Second reason, to work full-time to build God’s kingdom one more time. I have always loved serving in the Church and trying to do my part to help the Church grow. This opportunity gave me one more chance to do that before the reality of life kicks in (real job, responsibilities, etc.) Third, I wanted a chance to look up the people I taught and baptized while I served as a missionary in Hong Kong. I shared some of the most joyful and powerful experiences of my life with these people and care about them deeply. Most of those I helped join the Church as a missionary have not stayed involved in the Church and I hope that I can remind them of the feelings they felt when the first learned the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One young man I taught is named Mui Jan Sing and uses the English name Janson. We have kept in touch since my mission through IM and Facebook and remain good friends. Last year on my trip to Asia I actually visited him in Singapore where he lived at the time (picture is of he, my friend from BYU Fernando, and myself last year after playing tennis in Singapore). We both like tennis, soccer, and he’s fun to hang out and chat with. As events worked out, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were going to play in the Wimbledon Men’s final. This was probably the tennis match I would most want to see for all 2008 so I needed to find a place to watch it. I IMed Janson and he was planning on watching it already so I went over to his place for the evening. We enjoyed the match a lot (at least as long as we could stay awake, I left around midnight in the middle of the third set) and caught up on life. I should be able to see him another time or two before I leave HK so hopefully we’ll have some more good times.

Asia Area Legal Department

2008-07-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

The five of us are going to save the world! OK, maybe not, but some how we are supposed to keep the Church operating smoothly/legally in the almost 30 countries with over half the world’s population. OK, maybe we also hire local lawyers in every country to do the nitty-gritty for us but we still are busy. These are my direct coworkers who I interact with most and have grown to like a lot.
Starting on the right is my boss extraordinaire. Mike Jensen is the Church’s Asia Area Legal Counsel and more importantly, my landlord. He graciously offered to let me stay at his place while I’m here in Hong Kong. To top it off he insists that I eat out of his pantry whenever possible. Mike is a former bishop, stake president, mission president, area Seventy, and currently serves as the Branch President in one of the Filipina Branches here on Hong Kong Island. He is one of the kindest, humblest men I know, as well as very smart. Its fun when we get together in a group to eat or do something because he really loosens up and is hilarious.
Next to him are Elder and Sister Newell. They serve as Church service missionaries here in Hong Kong; he as the Associate Area Legal Counsel and Sister Newell as the Asia Area Employment Specialist. Elder Newell worked for over 30 years as a corporate counsel for Chevron, starting in patent law (he has a PhD in metallurgy!) and eventually serving as General Counsel. Sister Newell raised six kids and keeps me on my toes by not letting me take myself too seriously. Both are tons of fun and a little irreverent by senior couple standards. Sister Newell is a bit of a daredevil and Elder Newell has a dry sense of humor and likes to call it as he sees it.
Jennifer Chan is the administrative assistant for the legal department. She keeps everything organized and saves the rest of us when we mess things up or get all confused/lost. I’ve really enjoyed practicing my Cantonese with her (although she speaks great English too) and grown to respect her a bunch. She works too hard, and then goes home to be a single parent raising two kids helping them with their homework every night.
Then there’s me. I’m the non-paid volunteer whose contribution is worth less than he’s paid.

Return to Yeun Long

2008-07-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I had the wonderful opportunity to go back to the Yeun Long First Ward and see many of the people I first met when I came to Hong Kong. I caught a bus about 7:45am near where I live in Wan Chai and rode it for about 45 minutes under the harbor, up the Kowloon Peninsula, past the dockyards, and out into the New Territories. It was a fun ride to see many sights again and think about my many prior bus rides in Hong Kong.
I didn’t have any converts or people I was trying to specifically find in Yeun Long so I just went out there to see the sights and meet with the members. As the bus pulled into Yeun Long it came to a stop at the exact same bus stop I had gotten off seven years before as a brand new missionary. I stepped down onto the street and a flood of memories came back. My first apartment, companions, street contacting referrals, etc all were fresh in my mind. I loved it! I took a bridge over the highway and made the fifteen minute walk out to the Church. The outside hadn’t changed at all in the six-plus years since I had been there but the inside has been renovated and looks very nice. Much to my surprise I remembered some of the members' names and even a few of them remembered me. The two that I really wanted to get pictures with were my Gospel Essentials teacher and ward mission leader. They now serve as the Bishop and First Counselor, respectively.
We had Priesthood first and I probably got 50% of what was going on. Considering as a missionary I topped out at around 80% I wasn’t too disappointed. It was funny too cause I could understand everything Bro. Sum spoke, but people I interacted with less back in the day I had a harder time getting. In Elder’s Quorum they were having a lesson on Priesthood Power, Quorums, and Service. The teacher told a story about visiting the US and going to a Elder’s Quorum meeting and they had 100% home teaching for the month and how much power there was in that. Then he turns to me and asked, “Isn’t it like that?” I laughed inside and replied, “Maybe in Utah.”
After Priesthood I went to Gospel Essentials and it was a really good lesson about the Temple and eternal families. The teacher asked me to say the opening prayer and I hadn’t been that nervous in a while. I pray in Cantonese once in a while still, but rarely vocally and definitely not in public. Who knows if anybody understood what I was saying but it totally reminded me of being a new missionary in the same building trying to do the same thing.
My favorite part about visiting was catching up with friends and seeing how the ward had developed and matured. When I was there as a missionary lots of kids were running around and the atmosphere was fun but crazy. There is still a descent contingent of primary kids but not they have a large Young Men / Young Women group many of them are the same people sprinting through the halls that I had to dodge back in the day. Besides making me feel old, it made me feel really happy to see families continuing on valiantly in the Church, magnifying their callings, raising their children in the Gospel, and standing steady in the challenging environment that is Hong Kong. It was Seminary Recognition Day in Sacrament Meeting and over a dozen kids walked to the front to receive their awards, a huge total for one ward in Hong Kong. The Yeun Long First Ward is growing up and maturing beautifully. I wish I could have contributed more to their success but I enjoyed being able to come back and see it.
Pictures are of me and the building. The second is of Bishop Au Yeung. Hearing he is the Bishop now didn't surprise me a bit. He totally knew the gospel, was very patient/kind, and had the personality of a wiseman/sage. Third picture is of me and Sister Zu. She is from the mainland and Cantonese isn't her native tongue so understanding her can be a little tough at times but she was someone I admired a lot. She bore her testimony once about how life hasn't turned out quite like she planned/wanted (basically her whole family is members but don't go to Church) but she still is carrying on and holding out hope that they will return and trusts in God to take care of things. The next picture is of the HK dockyard. It was a small portion I could capture from the bus window but they are something like the 3rd busiest in the world. The last picture is me and the Sum Family. They are great! On top of being a really good ward mission leader they would have us out to dinner once a month, were really friendly, and lots of fun.

Yeun Long - My First Area

2008-07-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

Shortly after arriving in Hong Kong as a missionary we went through orientation procedures for a day and a half and then were assigned our first areas and companions. All of us new missionaries were completely nervous/excited and when our names were called and assignments given we marched out of the mission home into the great unknown.
The Yeun Long First Ward was my first assignment and my trainer was Elder Lesan. We left the mission home, walked to a train station, the train for about 10 minutes, then boarded a bus for another 30 minute ride to our area. I really enjoyed my time in Yeun Long. The area still had tall buildings and the craziness of Hong Kong, but since it was in a more rural part (NW corner, bordering mainland China) with lots of open spaces and opportunities to get out of the built up areas. I spent 18 weeks in Yeun Long (July-November 2001) and enjoyed my time very much there.
Companions:
Elder Lesan was my first and probably favorite companion of my mission. He was from Ohio, had graduated from Ohio State, and started BYU Law School when he finished his mission. He was also a convert to the Church at 15 but couldn’t get baptized until 18 and had run a good-sized internet service provider business before his mission (like 100K customers). He is really an extraordinary individual. We had great conversations together and would talk about anything and everything for hours a day as we street contacted, door knocked, and did all the other missionary activities. He is really funny and I have kept in touch with him since his mission.
Elder Castle: Elder Castle was a good companion and easy to hang out with. He had spent his high school years in Parker Arizona and had family in the Phoenix area so we had lots to bond/talk over. He was attending the Air Force Academy and by now is probably off flying F-16s in Iraq or something. I haven’t been able to track him down since the mission. I’d like to though.
Members/Ward:
I really enjoyed the Yeun Long First Ward. There were lots of young families with kids running all over the place on Sundays and a general happy, chaotic environment. We didn’t really get any referrals from them but they were kind and fun to associate with. Additionally, we had a really good ward mission leader in this area and a great Gospel Essentials teacher who would take us out to eat occasionally. This was one of if not the most enjoyable ward I served in and it would have been even better if I served here at the end of my mission when I could actually interact with people and develop better relationships.
Missionary Work:
This one the one tough thing about Yeun Long. I had no success here. My first Sunday in town my companionship baptized but I didn’t contribute any to that and from then on it was a struggle. For my last seven weeks in town we didn’t even teach a full discussion. It was tough on the psyche and I was ready for a move when the time came.
Memorable Experiences: 9/11 happened while I was here and it was a pretty big deal. Our ward mission leader called us the night it happened (HK is 12 hours ahead of NYC) and then showed us a TV broadcast about it the next day at the Church. Other than that, nothing too remarkable happened.
Favorite/Memorable Meal: I would cook a big batch of ‘goolash’ (rice, chicken pieces, beans, taco seasoning) on Preparation Day and it would last about four meals during the week. A couple of the unusual things members provided included duck tongue and pizza with thousand island dressing rather than tomato sauce.
Song: Two from EFY 2000: “A Call I Hear” and “Memory Lane.” I listened to a lot of EFY on my mission and these songs were probably the ones most listened to in Yeun Long. Teaching people how to pray for the first time in my life, teaching people about their relationship with God, walking in a foreign land, so many things mentioned in the song are applicable to Yeun Long for me.
Running Photos Description: 1) Castle Peak Road - the main drag in Yeun Long. I spent a lot to time walking up and down this road. 2) YL Church Building. It was a little inconvenient since it was located out of town but a nice, large building by HK standards. In fact, it was the Church's first free-standing chapel in all of Asia and was dedicated by President Hugh B. Brown, then Counselor in the First Presidency in 1961 (I think). 3) My first apartment. We were on something like the 15 floor. 4) My trainer Elder Lesan and a much younger me. 4) First district. 5) Salt rings on my socks after a long hot summer day of street contacting. 5) Me in some field. It was right next to where we did service and I thought my dad would appreciate seeing me in a field in Hong Kong since he's a farmer. 6) Service with Elder Lesan. We helped to clean the grounds of a disabled folks home. It was the only regularly scheduled service in Hong Kong that wasn't teaching English so it was a nice change. 7) My 2nd apartment was in the 2nd building on the left. Its kind of hidden by the nearer, first building on the left. 8) YL Park. This was a very beautiful place that we loved to go contacting since it was very peaceful and you got to see/feel grass, a great luxury in HK. 9) Bro. Au Yeung, our Gospel Essentials teacher taking us out to eat at a Korean BBQ. It was all you can eat and good. 10) Bro. Sum, our ward mission leader extraordinare. He was a former AP here in Hong Kong and still had the testimony burning. 11) Elder Castle, my 2nd companion. 12) Basketball court in the middle of town. We did a few 'sports finds' here. Never much success but the exercise was nice. In the US I am a guard with a poor shot and subpar ball-handling skills. In HK I am a bruising power forward who dominates the boards and gets easy baskets under the hoop! Gotta love the size differential. 13) Bride over the main drag in YL we would go street contacting a lot on. One bridge was named Miracle Bridge and the other was named Stinky Bridge. I don't know which one this is but of the two Stinky lived up to its name much more than the other one did.

Totally a Tourist

2008-07-05T07:25:00.001-07:00

I left our apartment this morning around 8am to join a group from Church for a morning hike. I walked a little over a mile west along Kennedy Road until it intersects with Garden Road at the American Consulate. From there I hopped on the Peak Tram and rode it up to Victoria Peak where I met up with the group. Victoria Peak is the prime lookout spot in Hong Kong to get a view of the buildings and general vista. Additionally, it has some sentimental value as we were taken there our first day in Hong Kong as missionaries and again our last night before going home. It is a beautiful view and much cooler and less humid than the oceanfront. I think you increase elevation by over a thousand feet in a very short distance.

We took a hike around the Peak that the senior missionaries had heard about and it was beautiful. We were able to see some amazing views, beautiful trees / rain forest, lots of butterflies, and hear the sounds of nature (which never occurs on the streets of Hong Kong. It was like being in another world and it takes less than a half hour to get there. After the hike I stayed on the Peak to take some more pictures before taking the Tram back down to the Central area (land of tall buildings). After walking all through downtown taking way too many pictures & videos I rode a ferry across Victoria Harbor to the Kowloon side. The ferry exits at the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula and leaves you with an amazing view back to Central and all the tall buildings. After walking around a bit there I rode the ferry to Wan Chai (right by my office) and made my way home with a stop at the grocery store. All together I was out for six hours and took over a gigabyte of pictures and video. Either I’ve got a receding hairline or I burned the top of my forehead a bit because it is ‘tender’ there. Additionally, for the last couple hours of my journeying my knee was doing its best impersonation of ‘Snap, Crackle, and Pop.’ I don’t think its anything too serious but coupled with my barking calf muscle I am going to enjoy a semi day of rest tomorrow.

So I took like a billion pictures today and am not sure how to get them all in the article. I might do another post to fit them in without overloading the system. I really could have been more descriptive in my blog post of the day’s activities/sights but its getting late. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section and I’ll try to answer them.

I am going to try to do a running description of the pictures: 1) I am sitting at TST on the southern end of the Kowloon Peninsula with the Central/Business District of Hong Kong Island as the background. 2) A waterfall near the Peak that wasn’t running much today but is a real gusher when its raining. The senior couple is Elder and Sister Toone, they are the Asia Area Auditors and help train local leaders throughout Asia. The girl next to me is named Emily and works at the Asia Area Offices. We met yesterday at the American festivities. 3) Pok Fu Lam Reservoir is Hong Kong’s oldest. It was started in the 1850s and is now surrounded by a Country Park so it stays very beautiful. It is located on the SW portion of Hong Kong Island. 4) The Central Business District with a Star Ferry in front of it. The picture was taken as I sat on a Star Ferry going the other way. 5) Some rich guy cruising in style in front of Wan Chai / Admiralty. 6) Me in front of the Lippo Building in Admiralty. It has a unique design. 7) This was the inscription cut into the rock by a member of the party the Elder Matthew Cowley led when he dedicated the land of Hong Kong for the preaching of the gospel. Look for the 7/14/49, the date of dedication. The Church knew that the dedication occurred near the Peak but the exact location was lost to history until my Mission President’s wife found this inscription when they took the new missionaries here one time in 2000. 8) The mountainside along Kennedy Road. Due to the combination of extreme elevation changes and torrential rain, there can be a lot of mudslides in Hong Kong. To prevent that lots of the hillsides are covered in cement or rock to prevent slippage. 9) A park along our hike at the Peak. 10) The Peak Tram that runs from Admiralty to Victoria Peak. 11) See # 1. 12) Elder Toone and I on the Peak with Central and the Kowloon Peninsula in the background. He served in Hong Kong in the 1960s so I wanted a picture with a fellow alum of the mission. 13) A nice view of the north side of Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbor from the Peak. 14) The KowloonCantonRailway Corporation clock-tower in TST. The original rail line that ran from Shanghai to Hong Kong finished right at the clock-tower. They’ve since moved the rail line but kept the clock to mark the spot. 15) Looking westward off of the Peak towards Lantau Island (in the distance) with me in the photo. I served on Lantau for three months and it was probably my favorite area. 16) A school band competition. I stumbled upon as I walked through downtown. 17) HongKong Shanghai Banking Corporation building and the ‘Black Man.’ The statue is of Robert Jackson, who led the then-tiny bank HSBC for 32 years in the late 1800s. Its one of the ten biggest banks in the world now I think. 18) Me and the ‘Black Man.’ We would use the ‘Black Man’ as a meeting point for with fellow missionaries, investigators, or we would come street contacting in this square when working in the International District. 19) Bank of China towers. The smaller, old building in front was the headquarters for Bank of China until they built the newer, shrinking glass building to the left behind the old one. The new BoC building is probably my favorite of Hong Kong’s skyscrapers. 20) Me on the Peak with Central in the background.

July 4th

2008-07-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

So Independence Day was a normal work-day here in Hong Kong. I continued researching some interesting visa issues before we quit early at 5pm. Many of the Americans in the building got together in the 6th floor chapel to sing some patriotic songs and celebrate our nation’s founding. We sang hymns 338, 339, 60, 30, and 340. It was a powerful experience and gave me an opportunity to reflect. A friend recently described me as ‘tender,’ which was kind. A more appropriate description would probably have been ‘a crier’ or something along those lines, at least when I’m touched by the Spirit or something related to my family. Well, the Star Spangled Banner got to me. We sang all three verses and my mind was running the whole time. I thought of the history of the song and the amazing events that inspired its coming forth, our fellow Americans in harm’s way throughout the world, and then the liberty we have as Americans. The freedoms to worship as we choose, travel freely, elect our leaders, and protection in our thoughts/speech/actions even when they aren’t shared by most others are things which have taken on new meaning to me yet again. Lots of my work deals with issues that come to the Church because we are in a disadvantaged position legally. Asia is not Christian (except for the Phillipines, but even there the Catholics give us troubles) and our Church struggles like many other Western religions here to gain acceptance on many levels. Members throughout Asia don’t often have legal protections for their beliefs and face discrimination much more severe than we face today in the US. The whole experience just made me so grateful again to be an American. I am free to think, speak, and worship as I chose. Those mean a lot more when you see life up close where that isn’t the case. We finished our little service with a prayer of gratitude for the blessings of being American and I said ‘Amen’ as fervently to that prayer as any before.

To finish the night off we went to Fat Angelo’s for dinner (Italian on Independence Day?). It was a lot of fun and I got to know a few more of the senior couples that are serving here in Hong Kong. July 4, 2007, I was in India volunteering at camp in the middle of nowhere. When I’m in the USA for 4 July 2008 I’m going to enjoy it!

PS I lost one of my four contacts Monday night. Sadly it was one of the hard ones I don’t have replacements for with me so I’m going to be wearing my glasses for the next week or two until I can get a new one mailed to me. Also, I didn’t take my camera to the festivities Friday, so no pictures. Sorry!

Busy at Work & Ex-Pat Living

2008-07-03T18:43:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven’t blogged much this week but I’ve been really busy. Wednesday and Thursday were ten-plus hour days filled with meetings, conference calls, and research projects. Work continues to go well, it just kind of monopolizes most of my time. Once I have the requisite hours completely for my academic credit I’ll take more time off and do more leisure activities. It is nice being so busy though. Every night I fall asleep right after laying down in bed and feel very peaceful. Its almost like my mission where I was exhausted all the time but just felt happy continuing on.

Since I don’t really have any new experiences or pictures to write about I thought I’d do a post about where I’m living. As a missionary we were crammed four Elders into a small apartment in so-so condition and lived a very frugal lifestyle. We didn’t have cars, got everywhere on foot or public transportation, and generally lived out among the people of Hong Kong. My experience this year is very different. The complex we live in is called Bamboo Grove and is on a hill over-looking Wan Chai. It is a haven for ex-patriots and is quite expensive. From checking some real estate listings I’m guessing that the rent on an apartment similar to the one I'm staying in is somewhere around $7,000US a month.

Our complex has a pool, small gymnasium, covered parking (big luxury in HK), shuttle busses, BBQ area, guards, and a few other nice amenities. Most mornings I go down and use the gym when it opens at 6am. Thankfully it has a stationary bike, leg press, and two elliptical machines, the hardware I need most for my rehab. After working out Mike and I eat breakfast, get ready for work, and head into the office by 9am most mornings. Sometimes we have conference calls or do other work from home before heading in. Riding in a car in HK is a totally new experience for me. I think I took a taxi maybe 5 times on my mission and rode in the mission van twice. It really disconnects you from the smells (not-so-pleasant) and general kinetic (pleasant) atmosphere of HK. As an ex-patriot you really could live life without getting the true HK experience. Lately we have been getting home from work around 7-8pm, eating dinner, and going to bed by 10pm. Its almost like I’m a grownup now.

The pictures are of our apartment and complex. My boss extremely graciously invited me to stay with him during my time in HK as his family is back in the US for the summer. I am staying in their 17 year old son’s bedroom and have my own bathroom too. The living accommodations are a dozen times better than when I was a missionary and we would jam four Elders into a bedroom not much bigger than the one I currently have to myself. Thank you Mike!

Temple Day!

2008-07-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

A quick wrap-up of Monday before I get to Tuesday I guess. I was at the office for over ten hours working on a couple projects. Most of my time was spent researching and writing a five page briefing paper for the Area Presidency on one of our current issues. That night at home we had an hour conference call with someone on the other side of the world about another one of our issues. I love how so much of my work is intertwined with the developments of the world. Coups, civil wars, diplomatic relations, and so many other factors play into what we do. For once all of my useless politics, world affairs, and Asia knowledge is advantageous. Another interesting fact that I heard at work Monday is that Hong Kong had its wettest June ever recorded this year. Hong Kong had over 45 inches of rain in June, of which probably only about 4 I witnessed. I did finally see the sun for the first time Tuesday, my 6th day in Hong Kong.

Tuesday (July 1) was a big holiday here in Hong Kong. It was the 11th Anniversary of the handover from British rule to Chinese rule and everyone gets the day off. The Church takes advantage of it by encouraging all of the members to attend the Temple. Lots of the Temple work is done by members of the International District (non-Chinese members), many of which are Filipina sisters working here in Hong Kong as maids. While there are lots of Filipina sisters who want to go to the Temple, there are not as many Priesthood brethren to help out so my boss and I volunteered.

I was in the Baptistry from before 8am until almost 12:30pm. When the only other guy in the room younger than 50 left before 10am I volunteered to do the baptizing, not quite realizing what I was getting myself into. Two and a half hours later we finally finished. It was a great experience as I was able to help baptize people from the Phillipines, mainland China, Hong Kong, and a couple other nationalities. Also, many of them were doing Baptisms for the first time since they became members of the Church so I had to brush up on my baptism instruction skills. This morning when I woke up my arm and shoulder felt like I had thrown a nine-inning, complete game shut-out but I didn’t mind. After helping in the Baptistry Elder Aki got me into the ordinance workers lunch in the basement and we chatted for a bit. From there I dropped by the Mission Home on the 2nd floor and volunteered my services to the missionaries if they ever need an extra body while I’m here and then went up to the 3rd floor to catch the one o’clock session. The whole day was wonderful. As I sat in the Celestial Room after my session thinking about all my blessings I was filled with amazing peace and happiness. I just feel so lucky to be able to come back to my mission and have this experience.

On the way home from the Temple I finally got to ride the subway for the first time in Hong Kong. My boss has a car and we usually drive to work and with my work and housing so close together I haven’t really had much opportunity to get out and about yet. I will try to be more adventurous and take more pictures in the future. On the way to the subway station I dropped by the massive Festival Walk mall and got a funny picture of a guy with the worst attempt at a come-over I’ve ever seen. After getting off the subway in Wan Chai I visited a street market to buy an umbrella and visited the grocery store to buy some frozen vegetable to ice my knee with after my morning workouts. The evening was spent watching a movie and trying to blog. Things are great and I am loving life!

Pictures are of the Temple, a 'Ding Ding' (trolley car) traffic jam in Wan Chai, the market where I bought an umbrella, comb-over guy, and me on the subway. Yes, I was probably at least four inches taller than anybody for the next 50 feet on the train.

Some of My Co-Workers

2008-07-01T04:59:00.001-07:00

Elder and Sister Aki are two of my co-workers and some of the most wonderful people around. I had heard of them before I came to Hong Kong this time because he served as Mission President here during the 1990s. He also served as a young man here in the 1960s and Sister Aki is originally from Hong Kong although they met at school in Utah after his mission. They are always offering me food and sharing a good laugh or story. Every weekday since I have been in Hong Kong Elder Aki has tried to provide me with lunch by either sharing his or paying for mine when we eat out. They are too nice!

The two people in the third picture are George Mak and Annie Wong. They are the Asia Area Public Affairs Department, with much assistance from senior missionaries in Hong Kong and scattered throughout Asia. George is the Asia Area Public Affairs director and we met when I was a missionary. He was a member in the Discovery Bay Branch (ex-patriot unit) and actually served as a witness to the baptism of one of our converts. We were baptizing a young woman from mainland China (Lee Jong Ling, in baptismal picture) in a stream (there was no meetinghouse or baptismal font for the Branch) and at the last minute she requested that we perform the baptism in her native tongue, Cantonese. Brother Mak was probably the only member who spoke Cantonese and gladly helped out, even in his street clothes. I almost didn’t recognize him when we met as in the six years since we last saw each other I think his hair has gotten darker and he has lost weight. Not a bad way to age.

Annie Wong is a superstar! (she has full editorial control of anything I say about her in the blog so I have to be nice) We first met in May or June of 2002 when she was preparing for baptism in the Causeway Bay Ward. She had to wait for over two years to be baptized because her parents wouldn’t give their permission but she hung on and made it. Annie could speak amazing English even as a teenager so she became friends with everyone and was one of the few investigators from other companionships I actually became friends with. She was baptized while I served in her ward and I was likely one of the witnesses to the ordinance. A few months after her baptism she moved away to BYU-Hawaii and eventually transferred to BYU in Provo. I bumped into her in Provo a few times and we would say hello. Before coming to Hong Kong this summer I hadn’t seen or heard from her in over two years (other than Facebook of course). As it turns out, she recently served a mission in San Diego and is now doing an internship here to fulfill her major requirement. My first day at work I sat down in my cubicle and turned to look at the person next to me and with total amazement asked/stated, “Annie!?” She smiled back and laughed at me like I was a total retard. It is tons of fun to have a friend at work and we can joke/talk about all kinds of stuff. A few of the senior Elders like to give her a hard time about being short, among other issues, and it is so funny to see her reactions. Yesterday she threw a pen at me after I got her assigned to give the Devotional for the Asia Area Office in a couple weeks (I’m doing it next week so I thought it was only fair). Annie is great and makes my already wonderful Hong Kong experience even better!

My GoogleMap of Hong Kong

2008-06-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Today I was playing with GoogleMaps and learned you can customize a map for yourself. I decided to make one of Hong Kong, including the apartments I lived in and where I went to Church in each area. Somebody from my family please show it to Dad as he loves maps and things like this but proudly proclaims himself a member of America Offline.
Here's the link: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107430669963652242883.000450cb972d57c88ed83&ll=22.387287,114.113682&spn=1.216418,2.39502&z=9

Leisurely Weekend

2008-06-29T06:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday was spent getting acquainted with the neighborhood and getting things organized at home. We went and visited the local supermarket. After getting out of our complex, it can be reached by walking a couple blocks and then down roughly 15 flights of stairs or cutting through another building and taking its elevator. On the way down we used the stairs, on the way up we took the elevator. Shopping in Hong Kong is different than home. Many of the items I love are expensive over here and I think my diet will be pretty basic the next few weeks when I’m not eating out.

I woke up this morning at 3:15am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Obviously my jetlag issue is not disappearing quite yet. I went to the Victoria 1st Branch (ex-patriot) which started at nine and it was enjoyable. Over half the congregation is gone for the summer and there are a fair amount of guys left to work while their families go play in the States (like my boss). Elder Hallstrom came up to me and chatted for a few minutes and afterwards I had to introduce myself to Elder Garn to pass along all the greetings from Mesa I was asked to extend. This being around General Authorities thing is a little strange but I’ll be going to wards I served in as a missionary the next month so Sundays won’t be a worry.

My boss serves as the Branch President in one of the Filipina branches over here so he’s busy all day (still not home at 9pm as I write this). I walked home for the first time in Hong Kong and enjoyed being back out among my peeps. For a while I even walked along one of my street contacting routes. Foolishly I decided to take the 15 flights of stairs back up to our building (in long-sleeve shirt and tie) and was dripping in sweat by the time I made it to our complex. The weather hasn’t been overly hot since I’ve been here (80s, maybe hitting 90) but it has been really rainy and muggy (I haven’t seen the sun yet in Hong Kong). Things are supposed to clear up Wednesday and then I’ll try to start taking more pictures. All in all, I am still loving being back in Hong Kong and think the next six weeks are going to be wonderful.

Pictures are of the Hopewell Center. It is the building a couple blocks down the road we can take the elevator in as a shortcut. The next picture is of the view from our living room window. We don't have a view of the Peak or Victoria Harbor, but we can look nearly due East towards Causeway Bay and Happy Valley. I like it because I covered those areas and spent lots of time walking amongst the tall buildings you can see. Finally, the last picture is looking down from the same window at one of Hong Kong's crazy mountain roads.

Be Careful When You Hit ‘Reply to All’

2008-06-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got an email from my boss about an issue in Sri Lanka. I replied with an FYI about my friend/convert from Sri Lanka who worked for the government and has helped the Church with legal issues there in the past. Unbeknownst to me one of the recipients of my boss’ original email was Elder Hallstrom from the First Quorum of the Seventy and the Asia Area President. He read my email to my boss about my Sri Lankan connection and five minutes later had my boss and myself in his office. He asked us a bunch of questions about the issue and my friend and gave us an assignment to work on. It was a little intimidating but he was really nice. The Area Presidency’s offices are about 50 feet down the hall from mine, guess I better be on my best behavior.

This picture is of the Church’s new multi-purpose building here in Hong Kong. There are three chapels inside that take up floors one through seven. The Asia Area Offices are on floors eight through ten. The top floor is three apartments for the Area Presidency to live in. My boss’ office is the last two windows on the top left (10th floor) before the building gets smaller for the floor where the Area Presidency lives. My cubicle is just outside his office.

I Love My Job

2008-06-27T18:04:00.001-07:00

I started work about four hours after getting off the plane and have been hard at it ever since. After some orientation exercises and being led through the 3 floors of the Asia Area Offices being introduced to everyone, I settled into my cubicle. Shortly thereafter my boss had me into his office to discuss some of the issues he’ll have me working on and gave me my first assignment. I can’t really discuss specifics of what I’m doing but I think generalities are OK. So far I have worked on visa issues in two countries, proselyting restrictions in another, altering the Church’s legal structure in another, and reviewing Power-of-Attorney documents in another. Some projects are big and some are small, but I have already come to the conclusion I am going to have no problem being busy here. To be honest I am really surprised how substantive the work I will be doing is and how plugged into the Church’s resources I am. I have access to its computer networks, databases, and can email anyone from President Monson to a random Church employee in Mongolia (at least it looks that way, I haven’t tried either yet). Please feel free to email me at my new Church email: LaytonYa@ldschurch.org.
My work environment is awesome. On top of a great boss, I sit next to an old friend from my time in Hong Kong and at BYU, and on our floor there are a bunch of senior missionary couples. I have always enjoyed interacting with elderly people as they always have great stories to tell and are usually a lot of fun once you get to know them. The senior missionaries here are no different. They eat lunch together every day and have adopted me into their group. I’ll do more detailed posts on things related to work but for now I will just leave it at I’m loving it!
Pictures are of lunch with Senior Couples and the road where I work, downtown Hong Kong.

Blogging - What to Write?

2008-06-26T05:52:00.000-07:00

Last year it was real easy to blog as I was doing something new almost every day and in a new location every couple days. This year things will be different. I don’t think I’ll be leaving Hong Kong the entire six weeks I’m there except for a day trip to Macau. As a result I probably won’t be posting every day and if I do I’ll have to come up with random stuff to write about. I doubt my job will be worthy of a daily post, really, the life of a prospective lawyer has to be boring right? To come up with more material I think I’m going to write about my mission occasionally, the Church in Asia, and whatever else pops into my brain. I am totally open to suggestions. If you have questions about Hong Kong, what I’m doing for work, or whatever please pass them along. I would appreciate the ideas.
I’m getting ready for bed after making it through the day yawning all the way but avoiding falling asleep. Greeting my arrival in Hong Kong was a crazy rain storm. It was so different than Arizona I didn’t mind walking right out in it. The picture is of the water running off the mountain side and stairs a couple bocks down the road from where I’m staying. Work seems great so far and I’m already doing some exciting projects. Time for bed!

Here We Go Again

2008-06-26T05:45:00.000-07:00

Current Stats: Time To Destination = 3 Hours, 53 minutes
Outside Air Temp: -45 Deg F
Miles to Dest: 1981
Basically over the ocean between Japan and Guam

I figure I’m close enough to Asia I can fire up the blog again. My coke/caffeine body regulation scheme didn’t work as well this time as I fell asleep by 4am Los Angeles time and quit sleeping about 8am Los Angeles time. That translates into going to bed in Hong Kong at 7pm and waking up at 11pm. Basically, I think I’m going to get my trash kicked by jet lag this time. We’ll see…
The flight has been pretty good for not sleeping as much as I wanted to. When I checked in the ticket agent informed me that he hooked me up with an emergency exit row. Even though I’m in the middle seat the unlimited leg room easily makes up for it. I think there might be a couple empty seats on the plane but the coach section is close to 100% full. Good luck with your flight Mom and Don!. In the future I think I’m going to be investigating Dramamine or whatever the popular sleeping pill is that lots of people use for transoceanic flights. My neighbor to the left is a guy named Derrick who works for Qualcomm and is coming to Asia on business. He is nice and hooked me up with his iPod recharger cord as I packed mine in my checked baggage. Lifesaver! To my right is a nice lady from Vietnam. She has some awkward sleeping positions but is cool. Across the aisle we have an unhappy baby and a poor grandma who somehow got the duty of taking care of him flying across the Pacific. Needless to say, when I’m not sleeping I’m pumping the iPod and drowning out the baby, jet engines, and air conditioning. Occasionally I mix in laps around the plane and steal snacks from the food galleys. It’s amazing what flashing a smile at a flight attendant will get you.

Computer Rises From the Dead - And Some More About India

2007-07-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

So I am writing this blog on the “Lucky Day” or whatever 7/7/7 means. I read tons of people are getting married, hitting the casinos, and embarking on other endeavors where some good luck could come in handy. As for me, I spent most of the day sitting around my hotel reading and relaxing. More on that later. After reading my previous blog entry I am amazed at how poor of a typer I am, even while using Microsoft Word. I will try to actually read through my entries before posting them to the internet.
Monday night I landed at Chennai airport and walked outside not sure what was going to happen. Emily hadn’t known if the group of volunteers would be at the land, if some would still be in Chennai, or what exactly the plan was when I arrived so I walked outside hoping to find a person who did. Instead I ran into a sign that said, “Yale, RSO” and a cabbie that didn’t speak much English at all. We made our way to his taxi and he said, “Apartment?” to which I replied, “Land?” Our mutual confusion prompted a phone call to his boss who called Emily and established that I was going to the apartment for the night. 40 minutes later I walked into a house with no furniture but full of volunteers and donated supplies they had brought from America. Soon I was asleep for the first time on the trip without A/C since Manila. While it was warm, I didn’t mind it much as I was very tired.
Tuesday we spent the first ½ of the day finishing packing the house, buying groceries, running errands, and then moving out to “The Land.” My two errands were buying cots and exchanging money. Buying cots was way more difficult than expected as Chip and I had very little instruction as to what we were supposed to buy and every store our taxi driver took us to sold furniture/beds, rather than cots. Finally, at our forth store we found what we were looking for and purchased five of them for about $60US. The other errand was a kind of fun as well. I was given $10,000US and asked to find a money exchange place and convert it to Indian rupees. Since we thought the limit was 5K per person one of the volunteers went with me. I’ve never seen 10K be so small. With crisp new $100 bills it barely made a dent in an envelope. However, after we changed it to rupees (old creased bills in much smaller denominations) it felt like I was carrying a bag full of money like robbers in the movies. We took a trike back to the apartment and the whole time I was leery about anyone looking at me funny and/or dreaming up schemes in my head of people stealing the cash. 10K is probably something like 15 years income for a peasant worker here. Due to the Indian government’s bureaucracy, Rising Star has spent years trying to get government approval and still can’t electronically transfer money into the country so they have to resort to having trusted workers/volunteers carry the 5K max in when they fly over from the states. Finally around 4:30pm we left Chennai in a minibus and headed for the school. The drive took a little over 2 hours but was quite scenic and mostly done on a 4-lane toll road which had no animals, pedestrians or other obstructions. It felt so normal compared to other roads/journeys on the trip I read my book without worry and took in the pleasant countryside. Our arrival at the school was quite remarkable as 50 kids spontaneously showed on the stairs and greeted us. Emilie is this camp’s Mother Theresa as all the kids cried out joyously “Auntie Emmie” and ran to climb all over her. All of the other volunteers soon had a handful of new friends and were happy about coming to India. As I was the only guy besides Chip I took the assignment of unpacking our moving truck and getting the assembly line organized. When dinner was served an hour later we were all exhausted from our long day of moving and traveling. Dinner was a wonderful rice/curry broth with a few vegetables mixed in. Our dinners were provided by local cooks each night and were always rice, curry, and some kind of vegetable, with one night the addition of chapattis. Honestly, these were some of the simplest meals I’ve had on the entire trip but also some of the best. Every night I ate about three times as much as anyone and loved every bite. The first night they gave us spoons but the next two we were eating like the locals with our fingers. Most of the volunteers are 18 year old girls from Utah and it was funny to watch them struggle with the curry. This was weak curry compared to the stuff I had in Thailand and Sri Lanka and way easier than my mission favorite “The Curry House” in Hong Kong, but the girls thought it was some of the most powerful stuff they had ever had. If Asian food was always this simple and tasty, I would love it as much as Mexican.
Wednesday was spent entirely at the school helping out with kids. I was asked to help a boy and girl who are behind their age groups in English and we spent most of the day going over basic words and sounds to help them learn how to read. They were really nice and we had a good time together. When school got out I went and took a nap as the 2nd night of sleeping without A/C hadn’t been as kind to me and I was dead tired again. In the evening we had a delicious dinner again and hung out with the other volunteers. I guess another highlight worth mentioning were the bucket showers. To be honest, they were quite possibly the best part of the day because they were the only time you got to cool down. The weather was like Hong Kong in summer where you sweat just sitting there doing nothing. The accommodations at the school are quite sparse as the building was just finished and they haven’t had time to install A/C units or other things that they plan on doing over time. To avoid scorpions at night we were under orders (from the boss based in the US) to keep the windows closed (even though we were on the 2nd floor and the locals thought we were nuts).
Thursday I went with a group to a Government home where people who have become debilitated by leprosy live. Our job is to build a good relationship with them so we can come in later and try to do projects to improve their living accommodations and other things of significance. For me it was hard for a variety of reasons. There was a huge language barrier as the patients were largely older and didn’t speak any English and I don’t speak a word of Tamil. Additionally, I am not the type of person who can just use emotions/sympathy/gestures to communicate with people. I really felt like a fish out of water. The female volunteers did a much better job as they have a natural capacity mysterious to me and the female patients were much more welcoming to them than me. It was very sad to see hundreds of people with fingers and toes missing and trying to struggle on with their lives in a society where they are no outcasts because of their condition. From my limited communications it even seemed some have been basically cut off by their children and left alone. The general suffering of the 350 people there left me thinking of the Savior’s Atonement and His marvelous work to care for all of God’s children. Just the pain and anguish he suffered for the souls there is incalculable, and then I thought of the billion people in all of India and the challenges they’ve faced. Needless to say it was a sobering thought and helped me to better appreciate the depth of Christ’s sacrifice and His capacity to love. Thursday evening we hung out with the kids again and enjoyed the craziness that is a school/dormitory all rolled into one for 85 kids in a building built for maybe 60 (another 2 buildings are in the midst of construction). Around 6am you would hear the kids start to rustle and it was pointless to try to sleep after that. While it was all crazy and the like, it was also wonderful as the kids are always happy, smiling, and vibrant. Without Rising Star these kids would be consigned to a life of no education, perpetual poverty, and all the struggles that entails.
Friday morning I packed up and prepared to leave. It took longer than expected as I ended up riding with the Government leprosy home volunteers to the closest town (not village) called Chengalputt. I got to Chengalputt around noon and had 4 hours to make the last 60kms on slow trains, busses, foot, taxi, and whatever else might be needed. I didn’t really have much of a plan/clue. The van dropped me at the local railway station which looked like it could have been cut out of the Old West 100+ years ago and I started to worry a bit for my safety. Thankfully, I’d packed 3 peanut and butter sandwiches, a box of Pringles, a bottle of Gatorade, and a bottle of water because I wouldn’t trust eating anything at the station and the surrounding stalls. I walked up to the ticket booth and said “Manubakkem” like I’d been told and happily paid my 11 rupee fare (28 cents). I missed the first train as it left a couple minutes after I walked out to the 6 platforms and had never really figured out what was going on (no signs). After that I asked a couple guys where to go to catch my train (actually didn’t really talk, just showed them my ticket) and they said “4 or 5.” I made my way over to those platforms and hoped for the best.
The next train came in about 15 minutes and I waddled my way on with my 4 bags. I was worried as the train rolled into the station going a different direction than I thought it would, but I felt great relief when the train rolled back out of the station the same direction it had come in. I picked a seat in the back corner away from everyone hoping to pass my trip in quiet solitude reading the Book of Mormon. Let’s just say I didn’t get my wish. Indian people have a great fascination with white people I guess. I don’t know if it is a legacy of their days as a British colony or what, but they stare at white people a lot! Within 5 minutes of being on the train I had a group of young men (all 20ish) slowly crowding around me like a pack of wolves. After about 10 minutes of no conversation and them staring at me while talking to each other in Tamil and flashing signs back and forth, I thought I was going to get jumped. I looked around hoping to find some old lady or man but the train was instead full of about 40 young men. To prepare I button up my cargo pockets that had my passport, cash, and credit/debit cards I debated what items I’d just let go and what I’d protest at. Finally after about 15 minutes of silence the guy sitting right next to me (with another 10 within 5 feet listening intently) asked where I was from. I said the United States and the group all got excited and smiles crossed most of their faces, making me feel much safer. For the next 40 minutes they took turns practicing their English on me, asking all kinds of random questions, and generally making friends. I exchanged emails with a couple of them, told them about my Book of Mormon, and eventually took some great group photos. I guess they are all students at a university together and ride the train to class together everyday. Their stop was the one I bought my ticket for so I was happy to have some friends who would know where to get off. After our fun ride together they told me next stop and I got all ready. They showed me to the platform and waved goodbye. I looked up to see the station name “Transulvar” or something like that as the train pulled away and felt a little knot in my stomach as I worried that I might have just been dumped at the wrong station by a bunch of practical jokers. I walked to the station office and said “Airport” to which they pointed across the street and said, “Go.” Altogether it was about a 400 meter walk from the station to the international terminal and I was happy to be back in A/C for the first time in four days.
I landed in Sri Lanka around 6pm and walked outside to find no car/friend as I’d hoped. At the post office, I called David who said his car, driver, and office assistant were on the way. That was all I need to hear so I sat down on my baggage cart and continued reading the local English paper. Within 10 minutes I was sitting on the backseat cruising back to Colombo and David’s office. The evening was spent cruising the internet and getting caught up on emails and news, while trying to coax my computer into working. It decided to take the evening off (came back to life today though) so I ended up using the one in David’s office. We met up with the Elders around 8:30pm and went to a Chinese restaurant. I had the sweet and sour pork which was quite tasty. By the time I finally got back to my hotel at 11pm I was already half asleep and went straight to bed.
Saturday has been pretty boring to be honest. David had to go to the North Central Province for a meeting this morning and I decided to stay in Colombo as 8 hours in a car for a 3-hour meeting didn’t sound like a fun day. I slept in until almost 10am, watched some TV, worked with my laptop, and showered. After packing I went downstairs to check out as we had planned on going to Ampara this evening with David’s family for a meeting he has there Sunday. It turns out David didn’t get back from the meeting in North Central Province until about 4 hours later than expected and his family didn’t want to spend 12 hours in the car for 12 hours out. I spent my day by visiting McDonalds, picking up my suit across town, updating the blog and cruising the internet, and reading every magazine and newspaper the hotel has. It seems the new plan is for David to go to Ampara with just his political people while I go to Kandy, catch Church there, see the sights, and then he will meet me there and we will come back to Colombo for the evening with his family on Sunday. Who knows how it will really work out? With David’s job nothing seems to be definite except for chaos, crazy hours, and ever-changing schedules.
Everything is good here though. I’m feeling well and getting excited about coming home. Today I looked into ASU student football tickets and tried to find out more about my law school schedule (guess its not posted yet). The normalcy of life in the United States is very appealing after two months in the 3rd world. My computer is back alive and I hope it makes it through the rest of the trip. Keep in touch!

Computer Dies

2007-07-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

It looks like my laptop has joined my iPod in the technology cemetery. As a result, I can't get pictures off my camera and onto my blog. India was great, Sri Lanka is going fine, and I look forward greatly to Hong Kong and seeing old sights and friends. Wednesday at 5pm I land back in Phoenix and am very excited. If my computer continues to not respond to my attempts to revive it, this might very well be my last blog entry. We'll see...

India

2007-07-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday, July 2^nd) marks two months on my trip, and only ten days remaining. The trip has passed amazingly fast and been a wonderful experience.

Last Wednesday, June 27^th, I flew into Chennai, India. We left the hotel in Colombo at 5:20am as my plane was supposed to depart at 7:45. However, we finally got in the air around 10:40 as the plane had been delayed in the Middle East for a few hours and arrived late. In Chennai I walked out of the terminal to see a mass of humanity with their arms extended in a combination of begging, waving to family members, and taxi drivers attracting customers. Thankfully, amid the throng I saw my friend Emilie Predmore and she motioned me to the end of the walkway where we met with a friendly hug and relief on my part that I wouldn’t be stranded in India. Emilie is a friend from my BYU ward who I had home taught the during Winter 2007 semester. She is 4 months here in India as the country & volunteer coordinator for a group called Rising Star Outreach. Basically, she is spending her summer in service helping Americans visit and serve leper colonies and the children from those colonies who would normally be denied an education and any chance at a normal life in the world. I’m sure her group has a website if you are interested just Google the name.
After taking a taxi to her group’s apartment I dropped my bags, at a bowl of cereal, and we headed for the beach. When we got there we saw a disconcerting sight as there were thousands of dead fish up and down the beach as far as the eye could see. I think they were the little grunion fish but who knows. Even though she had swum here probably a dozen times before, Emilie was hesitant since she didn’t see any natives in the water and the fish gave us worries. Eventually, we both got in and I even tried out the boogie-board they had at the apartment. Needless to say, I don’t quite have the skills anymore that I had a in my youth.
We walked back to the apartment and got cleaned up for the rest of the afternoon/evening. Emilie had to run a couple errands for work and we decided to visit a bookstore and eat while we were out. I bought a new pair of sunglasses to replace my river-lost ones and while I can’t guarantee the UV protection Mom, I think they will keep my eyes healthy till I get home. The bookstore was really nice as it has a good collection and English music playing all the time. Sure the music was remakes of popular pop songs from the 1990s and even earlier, but it just fit the setting of being in India at a spoof Barnes&Noble just right. As I sat there and flipped through all the books I wanted to read I remembered how I loved to read novels, histories, biographies, and other books so much before I became a news-addict. As I’ve curtailed my news reading some on this trip (having to pay for internet by the hour does that) time has opened up and I have started reading books again. I hope this is a trend I can continue in the states. The one book I ended up by is called “Freedom at Midnight.” It tells the story of India’s history, with a focus on the six months before and after Independence in 1947 and is written by a tag-team of French and British historians Dominique Lapieree and Larry Collins. The book has been very good and brought moments of laughter, sorrow, and enlightenment. With the independence of India came the partition of land into present-day India, and the new country of Pakistan (then with East Pakistan, now Bangladesh). What is little known (in America at least) is the suffering, travail, brutality, migrations, and other disturbing aspects of the first few years and especially months after independence as the Sihk, Hindu, and Moslem communities which had lived peacefully for 300+ years together under British rule went at each other’s throats. It makes anything like Darfur, the Balkans, or Africa’s other recent struggles pale in comparison. OK, sorry about my babbling, it has just been really interesting reading.
Dinner that night was potato curry at a vegetarian restaurant. I love potatoes in any form and this didn’t disappoint. We caught a trike for a few minutes to the local JambaJuice type place, which is actually better than the American one. I ordered a strawberry-banana and Emilie got the Jughead, both of which were delicious. On a funny note, as we walked in the door they turned off the local Indian music and turned on American country, with Toby Keith at the time. I guess they always do it for Americans, but it was an interesting example of the world catering to us. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing on the porch and preparing for our early start the next day.
Thursday morning we left the apartment around 6:30am for our 9:20 flight. Our traveling party consisted of Emilie, Chip (another volunteer), Esther (Chip’s adopted sister), and myself. The airport offered my first encounter with India’s notorious bureaucracy. After getting our boarding passes we headed for security with just our carry-on luggage but were turned away as we didn’t have SpiceJet (our airline) tags on every bag. Even though these were carry on and were never going to leave our grasp/sight we had to have a tag on each bag. Other examples of bureaucracy have included needed to see my passport to use an internet café and check in at the hotel. We got to the hotel around 3pm and separated into two groups as Chip had lost his passport in transit and needed to go to a police station to report it and get a form that would let him check-in to the hotel. Emilie and I went and visited sights like India Gate (kind of like a Arch de Triumph) that was built after WWI to commemorate India’s large contribution and sacrifice in the war. We also visited Connaught Place, the commercial capitol of Delhi. There is a Connaught Road in Hong Kong that is really prominent and I want to find out how they are connected. We grabbed an early dinner at TGIFs and all reveled in the good American food. One limitation on the menus over here is a lack of beef products. Since cows are holy and such, meat is rarely if ever served. Instead everything offered is chicken. We dropped by McDonalds to see what they had and discovered no Big Macs or cheeseburgers, a sad sight. On our way home in the evening Emilie and I found the local grocery store and bought essentials like bread, cereal, and juice that would let us eat most of our meals in the hotel rather than out. It is sad to say, but I just don’t have much appetite left for foreign foods.

Friday morning we slept in, visited the internet café, and read our books. Chip and Esther went to the embassy to order a new passport. We met up in the afternoon and visited sights including Humayan’s Tomb, a Mother Theresa orphanage, and the Lotus Temple. The tomb was the precursor to the Taj Mahal and quite impressive in its red sandstone. I took a picture illustrating the price discrimination foreigners encounter over here. It cost me 25 times as much as Esther to get into the Tomb complex and the y divergence was over 37/1 at the Taj Mahal. I have always been an admirer of Mother Theresa and now have a greater appreciation for her work. The orphanage we visited had 81 children, most with physical and/or mental disabilities. If they weren’t taken in by the orphanage they would probably be left for dead. We played with the kids for a little while and learned about the groups operations. The Lotus Temple I think is the world-wide headquarters of the Baha’i faith. It was pretty and a nice sight at sunset, although the security guard wouldn’t let us go on the west side of the building for he best picture in the lighting. Earlier in the day we also visited a government travel office and booked out trip to the Taj Mahal.

The trip to the Taj Mahal was long, but great. The drive each way was over 4 hours and our poor driver could barely stay awake on the way home. He stopped at least once an hour to buy water, use the restroom splash water on his face, change shirts, and do whatever else he could to stay awake. While we did have divided 4-lane highway most of the way we still averaged less than 50km/hr as the road was clogged with every mode of transport under the sun. I almost think building highways over here is useless if they won’t restrict what can go on them. Cows, pedestrians, bicycles, ox carts, and any other form of transport that can’t go above 10km/hr have no place on a highway.
When we arrived at the Taj we took the .5 mile walk to its entrance, bought our tickets (nearly $20 for foreigners verses 50 cents for Indians), and walked into the beautiful manicured grounds. After walking through the gate my gaze fell upon one of the Seven Wonders of the World. While it was beautiful, it didn’t seem that big from across the courtyard. Once we walked closer to it and saw the intricate jewelry work and carvings, as well as its massive size, I came to understand the amazing work that went into it. It was built by a Mogul emporer as a mausoleum for his wife in the 1620s. We walked all around it, visiting the mosque on one side and royal guesthouse on the other. The interior is very beautiful as well and showed how everything was perfectly symmetrical. The marble that the structure is made from is actually translucent. It is amazing seeing light pass through marble and now I can understand how the building glows a different color depending on the time of the day and night. Seeing the Taj was about the only thing I had left on the trip that I really cared about as a tourist. It didn’t disappoint and now I’m happy to say goodbye to friends and head home.
Sunday was spent going to Church in the morning and reading in the afternoon. Emilie, Chip, and Esther took the 4:25pm flight that I will be taking today (Monday). It was nice to take a nap, relax, and ponder on my time in India. While the country has many things going for it and is gaining in prominence in international political and business circles, India still has an amazing assortment of problems. The idea that there are over a billion people here and most of them live in crushing poverty even beyond the deprived state I have seen most in. Everywhere you go there are beggars and children hawking goods. It is a true, but sad commentary on India that at their national monuments and largest tourist attractions they have children as young as five begging and selling goods. I couldn’t imagine having children doing such things at the Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial. Besides the total poverty, there is amazing crowdedness in big cities, poor hygiene/sanitary conditions, and a general lack of infrastructure. Like many other former British colonies I think the country hasn’t grown its economy, roads, railroads, or other vital infrastructure much in the last 60 years. Many people in the United States are scared of the rise of China and India as economic powers that will throw millions into unemployment and other concerns. While there are valid worries for sectors like manufacturing and things that can easily be done overseas, on the whole this trip has convinced me that these countries have so many massive problems to deal with that we don’t have much to be worried about. Honestly, America’s difficulties/problems (including the “War on Terror”) seem so small after seeing all of the struggles of the Third World on this trip. If we just had a bit of competent, courageous leadership America would have even less to worry about.

Well, I think that brings the blog up-to-date. Today I’m going to go see the craziness that is New Delhi Railway station, get my haircut, post this blog, and then head for the airport. Tonight I’m supposed to move out to “The Land” where Rising Star has built their school. It is totally rural with no internet and pretty much no services. As a result, I probably won’t be heard from again until my arrival in Sri Lanka on Friday so I sign off for now saying go Diamondbacks, love to all friends and family, and thank God I am an American and blessed with way more than I deserve.

Sri Lanka by Car

2007-06-28T23:34:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-14T01:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-13T05:23:00.001-07:00

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.

"An Official Guest of the Sri Lankan Government"

2007-06-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

While I did not have a band greet me or receive a key to the city, I couldn’t have been happier with my arrival. I hadn’t seen David since the day I left Hong Kong over 4 years ago. We had missed each other the last time I came to Asia in 2004 and I had promised that I would come and see him. The desire to visit him and his family in Sri Lanka (along with other friends in Asia) is what prompted this trip, more so than the sight-seeing and adventure. We hopped in his government-issued SUV and he drove me to the government bungalow he had arranged for my visit. It is a nice place and free so I couldn’t be happier. He also took my passport and is having his staff process my Indian visa (saved me a full day at the embassy and $40US). Additionally, I have a personal car and driver at my disposal, the driver is a 3-time former national karate champion and a bit of a celebrity (so it sounds like the car/driver is when he’s not busy at the office, understandable).
After taking a three hour plus nap I awoke at my hotel to shower, type up some blog entries, and prepare for my pickup at 1pm. David ended up sending a man from the branch presidency that was going to meet him at the minister’s office anyway. He took me to McDonalds for lunch, told me about the Church here, and swapped mission stories (he served in the Singapore Mission in the 1990s). When I got to the ministry I sat in the waiting room while David was working with the minister and meeting with citizens. After a while they ushered me in and introduced me to the staff and the minister. He was a nice guy who didn’t speak English but insisted I eat watermelon with him and stay while they conducted business. The group talked for a good half hour or so in Sinhala as I sat oblivious to what was being discussed. Once in a while David would give me a bit of information but he was really busy answering three different phones, discussing issues, and helping his boss. It was kind of crazy to meet and share food with such an important cabinet minister in the circumstances but quite enjoyable. After business was done they discussed what work I would do in the office when I volunteered here and which areas I would be of most help in. They seem to have much higher expectations of me than I expected so I better bring my game face next week (and buy some dress clothes). All I have for nice clothes is one short-sleeve white shirt and a pair of khakis with no shoes. When I met the minister I was wearing flip-flops, the khakis, and my blue/white button down collared shirt. Thankfully, business dress over here isn’t super nice so I didn’t look too shabby and the minister wasn’t even wearing a tie so I felt OK.
I think the rest of the day will be spent in David’s office with him being busy and me blogging and reading. Wednesday is National People’s Day (or something like that) and all the ministers and high-level bureaucrats have to meet with citizens to discuss there concerns. I guess it is a direct order from the president and a big deal, as David said, “You don’t get Wednesday off unless you are out of the country or dead.” David has employed a couple other LDS people in the office here and throughout the government so we joked that Mormons are taking over. His boss doesn’t know tons about the Church but seems cool with it. The minister’s son-in-law is a member although his daughter is not. I couldn’t get a picture with the minister before he had to go (plenty of other opportunities ahead) so I got one of David at his desk, his building (his office is one of the round glass parts on the 4th floor), and David, the minister’s son-in-law, and me in front of pictures of the minister and the president.

Six Weeks Down, Four to Go

2007-06-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to think that my trip has passed as quickly as it has. Six weeks are gone and all of my travel friends from BYU are back in the states getting back to work and moving on with their summer. So far the trip has been great. Mackenzie leaving early and the iPod/computer troubles were low-lights, but on the whole things have gone amazingly well. My bags have always arrived where they needed to be, all of the hotel/car reservations worked out (internet is amazing), my health has been great, I’ve been able to see all of my friends I wanted to (like Benji in the Philippines, see picture) and successfully encouraged a couple to go back to Church, and have seen all kinds of amazing sights. Honestly, I am a little tired of being a tourist and moving hotels every couple of days, but still love the trip on the whole and especially seeing old friends.
One of the nice things about these last four weeks is that I am relatively stable. Two weeks will be spent in Sri Lanka, the first touristing with David and his family, and the second volunteering at his work. The following ten days I will be in India visiting a friend from BYU and the service camp she helps run. We will spend about 5 days in Chennai and another 5 in New Delhi (I am way excited to see the Taj Mahal). On the way back home I spend 2 days in Sri Lanka saying goodbye and then 2 days in Hong Kong seeing old friends. Finally, on July 11th I arrive back in Arizona and will be heading to a nice Mexican restaurant. So far on the trip I’ve taken roughly 1500 pictures and used about 9 gigabytes of memory. The last time I checked Brandon Seiter had the only guess on my distance travel so he might be the winner, we’ll see. One lesson I’ve learned from the trip is that I probably don’t want to spend the rest of my life in Asia. It was nice to learn before I would try anything crazy like that. The good old United States are where it’s at for me, specifically Arizona I hope.

"We Don't Fly to Sri Lanka Anymore"

2007-06-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning I decided to pass on another Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda as I wanted to sleep-in and take it easy until my 11am flight. When I went to get breakfast I walked into a stinky, dark restaurant where the food was not a pleasant sight. I ended up passing on the runny eggs, pork strips (not deserving of being called bacon or ham), but did eat the nice begat. My flight to Hong Kong was nice as I had 3 seats and slept about half of it.
At the airport I sent some emails and tried to call home but it was about 2am back in AZ so I didn’t catch anyone. After a couple hours I went to check-in for my flight and was told by the agent, “We don’t fly to Colombo anymore.” I knew CathayPacific had been evaluating their service to Colombo after the Tamil rebels attacked the Sri Lankan air force base next door to the international airport. I guess they had decided to stop their flights and had conveniently forgotten to inform me. Thankfully, they had made arrangements with Sri Lanka Airlines to move their people over to Sri Lankan flights from Bangkok to Colombo. My flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok was in another four hours so I had a nice chance to sit at the airport in Hong Kong, eat good food, and enjoy the free internet. It also gave me a chance to call home and successfully connect with my dad for once (he’s hard to get a hold of). The Hong Kong Airport has kind of become a home away from home for me on this trip. I have been through there maybe a dozen times, spent a night on the floor, eaten a handful of meals, and enjoyed the nice amenities.
My one worry was how to get news of my change in arrival to David in Sri Lanka. I sent an email ASAP and he replied just before I left to catch my flight so that was wonderful. The flight was less than ½ full and I got four seats to stretch out across in the back. We arrived in Bangkok before midnight and I had over three hours to kill before the next flight took off. I wandered around the airport looking for a power plug and seeing if I could find any cheap internet service. Somehow I lucked into both. When I went to use the restroom I passed a storage room that was open and had an available power plug. Not only that, it was next door to the CathayPacific 1st/Business class lounge which had an unprotected wireless internet hookup. So I ended up spending the next two hours sending emails, reading news, and calling home while sitting in a storage room in the airport in Bangkok. It was a little strange, but whatever works I guess. The flight to Colombo was packed and I couldn’t sleep at all even though it was from 3am to 6am. When I arrived in Sri Lanka I was dead tired, but very happy to see David at the airport.

Unhappy Places

2007-06-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

I woke up Monday morning at 5:30 to grab some breakfast, pack, and make my 8am flight to Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia. We walked out of the small terminal (security was a joke, never had to show ID and they checked Mackenzie in too even though she was no where in sight). One thing that has been entertaining is being on the receiving end of racial profiling for once. However, other than maybe one or two times that being white was unhelpful (ostracized, shunned, etc.) being American has been a huge plus. I can set the metal detector off and they don't care (in the malls not the airports). They give me the best service, police treat us better than everyone else, and in general most of these countries have learned that you treat white tourists well so they keep coming back and giving you there money. We stepped out onto the tarmac to find a twin prop plane. It instantly reminded me of the one used by the Cleveland Indians in the movie "Major League" when the owner is trying to mess with the players. However, it was fine on the inside and ran surprisingly quiet.

When I arrived in Phnom Penh I was as tired as I've been the whole trip. Between staying up late watching Federer-Nadal, waking up early, and walking/climbing the entire day before at the temples in Angkor Wat, my body needed a break. Once I settled in my room and relaxed in the air conditioning I felt a lot better and eventually headed out around 2pm. The only sights I was really interested in Phnom Penh were Tuol Sleng (S-21 Torture Prison used by the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's crazy regime) and the Killing Fields (10 miles outside of town). I contracted a motorbike carriage (could squeeze six, I got it to myself, nice plush leather and I could relax) for the stops and a ride back to my hotel for a grand total of $12.

The stops were chilling to say the least. More than anywhere else on the trip, these places had an unpleasant feeling. S-21 is a former high school that was turned into the notorious prison camp where people were tortured before being killed. Over 14,000 entered its gates and only 12 survived. Walking through the rooms and seeing the pictures of the people was disturbing. For some reason, this human suffering seemed so much closer as I was on the spot and it happened just 30 years ago. How people can hate others so much to do such things is beyond me.

After visiting the prison camp I hopped back in the cart and enjoyed the drive through southern Phnom Penh to the Killing Fields. One of Pol Pot's crazier actions was to evacuate Phnom Penh in 12 hours (said US was going to bomb it) from 2 million people to a couple thousand because he wanted everyone working in the countryside. Between the civil war (1970-75) and the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979) roughly 2 million people died in Cambodia, or over 10% of the population. I can't believe that the people have suffered so much and are now just going on with their lives. The Killing Fields were very solem as well. Signs told the stories of how the people were brought there, executed, and buried in systematic fashion. The memorial had lots of skulls and bones that have been unearthed. About 1/2 of the graves have been dug up and the estimate for total killed there is about 20,000. The stories of people who were killed and suffered under Pol Pot were very disheartening. So many lives lost, spouses, children, parents, never heard from again. There must be so much anguish and sorrow in the people of this country.

When I got back to my hotel I tried to watch another movie but my DVD drive died half way through. Now my D drive doesn't work along with my iPod and my harddrive is filling up fast with photos from the trip. Basically, I am just nursing myself home in the technology department, hoping everything will be fixable when I get back. My one salvation on the food front in Phnom Penh was the nice Total Gas Station just across the street from my hotel (picture taken from my balcony). It had Magnum ice cream bars, Pringles, juices, Pepperidge Farm Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookes, and other snacks that kept me fed. My breakfast this morning was unpleasant as the restaurant stank and the eggs were the runniest I've ever seen. I ended up eating the bagget and left the rest.

My flight was nice to HK (three seats to myself, good meal, and an hour nap) and I ended up spending about 6 hours in the airport as my flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka had been changed. Due to the rebel attacks on the Air Force base next to the International Airport, CathayPacific decided to quit flying into the airport so I have to change airlines in Bangkok. Things are looking good though as I can't wait to see my old friend, David Athukorala. More on him later.

Whoops, I’m at a 4-Star

2007-06-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

So my taxi driver was really impressed when I said the name of the hotel, which I totally butchered and had to repeat 3 times before he could figure out what I’d been saying. I’m at the Samodevi Angkor, a nice new place just off the main drag. My room is good sized, with a big balcony over-looking the huge pool below. The bathroom is all marble with both a shower and bath/shower. The place costs $45 bucks a night with the internet deal but normally runs $120. There are 80 TV stations, although only 15 or so are in English. However, the best part about the whole place (at least for me) was the buffet breakfast I have included in my room rate. There was six different kinds of juices, omelets made to order, different meats, rice dishes, lots of pastries and breads, lots of fruits, waffles and french toast (1st time on trip), and hash browns (also a first). The problem with being in a 4-star hotel is that everything you have to pay for costs through the roof. Internet is 4 dollars an hour, water runs $2 a bottle, and I’m afraid to ask about anything else.
At around 9:30am my driver and I headed out to the Angkor Wat National Park area. While Angkor Wat with its five spires is the famous site, there are actually dozens of temples and sites to see spread out over 38 square miles. My guide called it the Disneyland of Buddhist temples and I would agree. Besides the massive size of many of the structures, the most impressive aspect was the intricate carvings that run throughout many of the buildings. They depict scenes from history and famous events in the life of the Buddhist and Hindu gods.
Angkor Wat itself was an adventure. I picked up two young teenagers who served as my defacto guides throughout. They did a descent job and had surprisingly good English. I learned that the mote was filled with crocodiles and cobras to keep people from attacking, this whole, massive structure was only used to pray, and they had big libraries to keep records back in the day. Honestly, other than Japan and former British areas, what the crap happened to Asia the last 800 years? These civilizations have amazing history and former power, but have been basket-cases and shadows of their former selves for hundreds of years. Western civilization picked a good time to peak at (at least for my sake and most people I know). On the way out the younger of the two brothers showed up and I was like, how much do I pay these guys? The only money I had on my was a $20US and 1000 Thai Baht (about $25US) plus 2 one dollar bills. I wasn’t willing to part with either of the big bills (I was paying my driver $25 dollars for the whole day) for their hour of work. However, they weren’t happy with $2 so eventually I got some change and paid them $7. It was way more than they should have gotten and I should have set a rate when they first showed up but such is life I guess.
The next stop was Angkor Thom, an even bigger compound with two well-known temples and a couple famous terraces. First I visited the Bayon temple which was one of my favorites. It has lots of towers with four heads on each, one facing each cardinal direction. Many are damaged or defaced, but some are still in quite good condition. I guess Tomb Raider was filmed around here. I took an hour or so to sit in some shade and drink a bunch of water while reading my Book of Mormon. Since I wanted to stay at the park until sunset I wasn’t in any hurry and enjoyed a few quiet moments without people swarming me trying to sell post cards, buddhas, and other things. My next stops were the Terrance of the Leper King and Terrace of the Elephants. Both were nice and reminded me how amazing it was that they had chiseled these beautiful images into huge stones. Most of the stones in all the temples were hauled from a mountain 60kms away on elephants. I felt sorry for the animals as I could only image how much weight they had transferred over 200 years of construction. The last temple in Angkor Thom was Baphuon. This one is slowly being rebuilt to give tourists a flavor of temple building so you can’t walk through it.
Ta Keo was my next attraction. This temple is unique because it was never finished in the sense that it doesn’t have any carvings or elaborate finishing. I guess lightning struck the temple or through some other means the gods signaled they didn’t like this one. The locals took that as a sign to leave behind their massive piles of rocks and start another one. This is amazing because they left behind years of effort. The picture with me being the speck of “John Deer Green” (my t-shirt and a classic country song) is Ta Keo. To get this photo I had to ask some Polish tourist who spoke little English to take a picture of me from the ground 3 minutes away the whole time thinking in my mind, “I hope she doesn’t run off with my camera and I hope I don’t fall and kill myself” (such positive thoughts I know, effect of no iPod I guess). The idea of moving all this stone and then deciding the temple didn’t meet favor with the gods so we need to abandon it would be tough to take if you had worked on it. One thing I did like about visiting all the temples is how genuine and rustic they still are. The stairs are straight up and down and about three inches wide. You have to be very careful when getting around, but it is fun and adventurous as you can go almost anywhere and jump all over the rocks and structures. At times, I felt like Indiana Jones as I made my way around obstacles, through crevices, shimmied walls/overhangs, and scaled roofs, all while wearing my brown hat. The temples and entire park would be in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act as you couldn’t get 5 feet in a wheelchair.
My final stop was Ta Prohm. This temple is unique because it is the one that they decided to not completely reclaim from the jungle. Huge trees rise up from the ground and climb 100+ feet into the sky, all the while straddling massive walls, having roots run perpendicular to the ground at times and cutting through thousands of pounds of rock in other places. The trees here really apply the phrase, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” They grow over, around, and through everything, including tunnels, walls, and buildings. I guess when you give nature 600 years to overtake something without any interference she will take her course. After seeing this entire area I am amazed that this wonder completely disappeared for 500 years. Some French naturalist stumbled upon it in 1863 and it has been looted much since then, but what remains is still amazing.
On our way back out of the park, I stopped the local mountain to get some pictures and a panoramic view of the area. It was nice, but made me want to get a better picture of Angkor Wat since all my photos from the morning had the sun at my back. We drove back to Angkor Wat (it is weird sitting in the back seat and having a driver at your beck and call) and I ran inside to get the famous picture of the spires with me in it. I found the perfect spot but couldn’t find another tourist to take the photo for me so I had to ask a Buddhist monk in training. He was a great kid named Sam who didn’t really know how to work a camera but tried hard. We chatted for a few minutes afterwards and I even took a photo of him which I promised to send him if he emailed me (we’ll see if that ever happens but he does have my address). Dad, look at that, if monks in Cambodia can do email, you can too!!!
Finally we drove back to the hotel around 6:30 and I’ve been here ever since. The day was humid, hot, and sweaty, but just reminded me of summers spent in cotton fields as a teenager. I really enjoyed the sights and was happy I rearranged the trip to make it here. While I’m not into archaeology and such enough to spend four days here, another one or two with a real guide would have come in handy. One of the benefits of my nice hotel is StarSports. Last night I got to watch the French Open women’s final live and now I’m enjoying Federer-Nadal got at it. This is the one tennis match I’ve really wanted to watch since the Australian Open in January when I had to wake up at 2am on a Thursday to catch Federer-Roddick (Ian totally flaked on me, I wonder why?). They split the first two sets, but Nadal is up a break in the third, we’ll see how it goes. Go Federer!!!

“Same, Same”

2007-06-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I woke up early, packed my bags, grabbed breakfast and jumped on the back of the first taxi scooter I saw to hurry across town to catch my tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Our bus ride out was nice as the tour guide told us some facts about Vietnam and we visited the local craft-making enterprise. As usual, it was tinged with anti-Americanism as we were told that all the employees were somehow adversely affected by American imperialism, whether via Agent Orange, bombs, torture, or some other kind of handicap. Thankfully, the people didn’t seem to mind us at all as they smiled occasionally amid their feverish work. I was really impressed with the etchings made into material that looked like sandstone. After being etched they were painted and polished, and were very beautiful (coming from a guy who has no interest or expertise in the arts). When we got back on the bus, our tour guide Thi (pronounced like “Mr. T,” I thought about teaching him a good joke he could use introducing himself to foreigners but passed) continued with his Vietnam tutorial. There are 80 million people in the country and 18 million motorbikes. In HCMC alone, there are about 8 million people and 4 million motorbikes (I think I saw everyone of them in my three days there). Vietnam is 3,600km from top to bottom and takes about 36 hours to ride a train across the entire country. Finally, when we got to the tunnels Thi reminded us to follow him and get back on the right bus. As he stated it, “All you Europeans, Australians, Americans, white people, you all look same, same. I can’t remember you so you remember me!” It reminded me of my first month in HK when all Chinese people looked the same unless they weighed 50 pounds or more different.
The tunnels were interesting. Of course we got an introduction about their history and their success in fighting the Americans. A film told about all of the “American Killer Heroes” who fought in the tunnels and of their exploits, needless to say I did not enjoy it. Once we actually started walking around and seeing the tunnels and camps, it was informative and enjoyable (except when contemplating what they had been used for). We were shown village set-ups, B-52 bomb craters (about the size of a basketball court and 10+ feet deep in the middle), traps, weaponry, secret entrances and ventilation systems. Two ideas that struck me throughout were: (1) how did we ever loose to these people with their AK-47s and home-made knifes/sharp things and (2) what on earth were we ever doing over here in a crappy jungle where we knew nothing fighting an enemy supported by the people and blending in with them? While the two contrast, obviously the 2nd one had much more effect on the outcome.
When we finally got in the real tunnels, I was impressed. I’m sure the 30 meter stretch they ran us through was the nicest tunnel around, but it had enough room to move along on your feet when totally squatted down. It was fairly deep (maybe 5 meters) and part of a larger network you could keep going in. In total, there were over 200km of tunnels at the peak. Some places they were 3 levels deep with big rooms for kitchens, meetings, armaments, and other purposes. The one part of the trip I was really torn about was firing guns. They had a shooting range where you could fire all kinds of automatic weapons. I didn’t have any moral qualms, but at $1 a bullet my frugal nature got the better of me. Maybe I’m wrong, but I figure if I made a few phone calls back home I could scrounge up an AK-47 or M-16 at a much cheaper rate for a few shots (I’m not exactly the gun-toting camouflaged type).
The bus ride home was nice as I had the front row (extra leg-room) to myself and took a nice nap. Back in HCMC I hopped on another scooter and went to Al’s Fresco Café. My guidebook recommended it for western food and I was in the mood. They hooked me up with a Chicken Caesar Salad (descent) and a hot pepperoni pizza. The pizza was delicious and reminded me Red Banjo in Park City. HCMC was not an easy place for food. I never saw a 7-11, western fast food joint, or place I felt completely at ease eating besides Al’s. After taking another scooter back to my hotel, I collected my bags and headed to the airport.
At the airport I had the second big set-back of my entire trip. I tried to charge my iPod and it basically died. First, all my memory disappeared, then it wouldn’t restart, and now I can’t even get it out of “Recovery Mode.” I’ve tried visiting a couple websites, completely restarting it with my computer, and whatever else I can think of, all to no avail. Maybe in Sri Lanka there will be a place that can service it but I doubt it. Initially, I feared I would be miserable without music to listen to all day (especially since I’m alone), but today went fine and I can listen to music on my computer when in the hotel room. Does anyone know what kind of warranty you get with a 30-gig video bought last December? It’s looking like a month of silence while outside.
So when I landed in Siem Reap (easy 50 minute flight with my own 3 seats, the plane was 70+% full but nobody wanted to sit near the white guy) I felt like where the heck am I. We had to walk off the plane on an old-school staircase and into a tiny little airport terminal. Visas for Cambodia can be purchased on arrival and I was happy to have another page taken in my passport. I’m down to 3 and one-half pages (one will be taken by India’s visa) and hope I will be able to fill up the whole thing before it expires in May 2009. The taxi ride into town was nice and I booked my driver to take me around to the temples the next day.

War Sucks, Even More So When You Lose

2007-06-08T09:39:00.001-07:00

Another random poster at a hotel today.

After relaxing at the hotel for a while, I headed out around 2pm to see the War Museum. Formerly, it was called the War Crimes Museum, but I guess that gave it a bad reputation so they toned down the name. However, they didn’t change the contents. The museum was all about how Vietnam had been mistreated (to put it nicely) by foreign powers, especially Americans. It was full of propaganda, disturbing images and artifacts, and generally anti-American. Sadly, as I walked around I started thinking about Iraq and how things aren’t looking good there. I could see a museum just like this 20 years down the road in Baghdad or Fallujah.
My next stop was the Vietnam National Museum. To get there I hopped a ride on a scooter taxi and marveled at the craziness of HCMC roads. There are about 30 scooters for every car and they are intermixed with random pedestrians. Transportation over here is something that is much different than anything I’ve seen before, even it I am back on the right side of the road. Being a pedestrian is fun though as you slowly make your way across moving traffic (never gets above 20ish mph I’d guess) by just walking across the middle of the road with scooters and the occasional car moving around you. Tomorrow for the fun of it I think I might try to rent a scooter for a couple hours and try my luck. I ended up passing on the museum as it seemed pretty lame and propagandist. From here I walked across town to see some sights and buy my ticket for a tour tomorrow (I’ll be visiting the Cu-Chi Tunnels).

HCMC supposedly has 7 million people, but it seems like the biggest little city in the world (no offense to Reno). I can walk across the main parts of town in an hour or two and have generally traveled on foot. Two of my American friends have kept me company. Toby Keith offered his playlist on Thursday and Tim McGraw followed suit today. After picking up my tour ticket I hired the Vietnamese version of a rickshaw. The guy rides a bike behind you with one wheel he powers and you ride in a seat with two wheels under you. Transportation over here is really cheap. The scooter ride and bike taxi both cost just over one dollar. Oh yeah, one of my life goals is complete. I am a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE!!!

OK, maybe it is in Vietnamese Dong, but it still counts in my book. The exchange rate is $1US dollar to 16,000 Vietnamese Dong, making me a rich man. For dinner I hit an authentic restaurant this is popular with locals and tourists, although the place was hopping and I think I was the only white person in sight. I ordered two rice based dishes and wasn’t overly impressed with the food. Honestly, Asian food has never been my thing. The only stuff I have really liked on the trip was Thai, and that was mainly the curry. Give me Mexican, Italian, or American food and I am a happy camper. Tomorrow on my way out of town I hope to hit the local version of TGIF (at least that’s what my guide book called it). Finding restaurants here was a story of two days. Thursday, I didn’t have any options near the hotel, Friday I visited the part of town with lots of good restaurants. Guess you just need to know where to go.
On the whole, HCMC has been nice. It feels smaller and more charming than many of the other big cities we’ve visited and the weather has been the best since Japan. Temperatures are probably in the low 80s with moderate humidity, much better than HK, Singapore, and Bangkok. Life is good, although boring and lonely at times. I won’t see another American until India on the 27th of June, so I look forward to seeing Emilie Predmore’s beautiful face more than ever. It is getting close to bed time. Tonight they had The Thomas Crown Affair on TV. This was the first good movie in English I’ve seen on TV in a while. It kept me busy as I typed all this up.

Hanging in Ho Chi Minh

2007-06-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

These people are really big into badmiton over here. They even have competitions for their robots!!!

When I walked off the jetway I was surprised to see that the terminal wasn’t air-conditioned. This was the first airport on the trip that didn’t offer this luxury. After making my way through customs, I met a couple of backpacking college students from Canada (Geoff and Brett) while waiting for luggage and grabbed their contact info (neither of us has tried to contact one another, guess I’m not that lonely). It was a $6US taxi ride to the Chancery Hotel, Best Western’s affiliate here in HCMC. When I checked-in they asked in broken English, “And ur wif” to which I replied, “She couldn’t make it” (too complicated to answer that either way for their English skills). I took the elevator up to my room and was surprised to see the room only had one bed (one problem Mackenzie’s departure did solve). The hotel has WiFi everywhere so I happily caught up on the world and chatting with friends back home until after 2am local time.
The next morning I lifted weights (the hotel’s gym is a room as big as my bedroom at the Enclave with a couple free weights) and grabbed breakfast from the buffet (not bad). It took me a while to make it out the door, upon which I just wandered around the area near the hotel. Across the street is HCMC’s version of Central Park. I walked through and around it to see the streets, gardens, and sculptures.

During my journeys I ran into a group of kids playing soccer on a dirt field and grunted/pointed my way into playing with them (goalie naturally since I didn’t want to run). My defense totally quit and all the kids on the other team took turns having breakaways on me. I blocked most their attempts but a few got past (everyone was trying to nutmeg me). It was a fun 15 minutes of sports and socializing with the kids. They seemed to enjoy it and took a great picture with me. For the next couple hours I kept walking and seeing the sights. I made my way to Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the National Post Office building. Honestly, nothing way overly impressive.

The palace was nice (former South Vietnam President’s house/office) and I thought it probably had some history (US Presidents and dignitaries visits), but like most attractions had been propagandized for the Communist Party. On the way home I bought some bottled water and Oreos. I was hoping to find a restaurant to come back out for dinner at, but didn’t see a single one I trusted and was interested in. Dinner ended up being an overpriced (for Vietnam anyway) chicken cordon bleu back at the hotel’s restaurant. They had a Bee Gees video concert playing as the songs were vaguely familiar and helped me to pass the time waiting for my food (I was the only person in the restaurant).

One is the Loneliest Number

2007-06-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

So we arrived at the Hong Kong Airport Tuesday afternoon on time about 4:30pm. We hurriedly called the Victoria II Branch, trying to find out if we could get Sacrament before leaving for our flight but had no luck reaching the senior missionaries who run the branch. After passing through customs and collecting our luggage, we sat down in the airport for an hour or so to make phone calls, check email, and update our blogs. We hadn’t had internet for almost three days so I felt a little behind on things. DragonAir’s copies of the Asian Wall Street Journal and Financial Times helped out, but is always nice to let everyone back home know you are doing well.
After taking the Airport Express into town we caught a free bus from the station to the Peninsula Hotel (one of HK’s finest) and walked across the street to our more humble accommodations at the Salisbury YMCA. We beds in dormitory rooms which put us a couple of rooms down the hall from each other but my room was empty besides myself so Mackenzie spent most of her time there except for sleeping. Just before 8pm we walked out the door and across the street to the Tsim Tsa Tsui waterfront to watch the new lights show HK’s Tourism Authority had started a couple years ago. They arranged to have 30 buildings (big skyscrapers and a few smaller ones) on both sides of Victoria Harbor put on lights that were coordinated with music and each other. It is a nice sight to watch, but really impressive when you contemplate the work that went into it. Setting up the lights (on multiple 50+ story buildings), music, and making them synchronize is a really impressive feat. Following the show’s conclusion we started walking east to Hung Hom in search of our night’s dinner destination, PizzaHut. I knew the general direction to head, but had never spent much time in the area during my mission so we were basically winging it. The walk turned into an hour ordeal as we definitely did not take the most direct route. However, the pizza was delicious as we had hoped. After twenty minutes of walking back, being forced to backtrack out of a big resort, and grabbing dessert at McDonalds, we decided to grab a cab. It was a wonderful decision as he had us pack at the YMCA in 5 minutes for less than $3US.
The next morning I woke up early to do our laundry as we had a pinched schedule with the laundry room opening at 7am, needing to check our bags about 9am , and then hurry to the Temple to do some work, before catching lunch and Church services in the afternoon. However, everything changed with an email Mackenzie opened around 8:30am. She made a few phone calls, received some urging from her father, and told me she needed to fly home ASAP. Her grandparents’ mission call had been changed from August and New York City, to June 11th and Brazil. This meant she would miss them if she stayed for the whole trip so she decided to leave HK early and fly back to New York. By noon she had changed her flight (the CathayPacific ticketing office was in the office tower above the Peninsula Hotel, very nice coincidence) and we went to the in-town check-in to put our bags on different planes. In-town check in is a service I believe unique to HK. You can go up to 24 hours before your flight and check-in, grab your boarding pass, and send your bags away. “In-town” refers to the fact that the airport is on a man-made island 30+ minutes away from downtown and all the hotels. It works great for us as we can check out of our hotel in the morning, check-in for our flight and leave our bags (they magically show up in our next city), all while never having to leave downtown HK and enjoy the day touristing, going to the Temple or whatever.
We arrived at Church a few minutes after 1pm and joined the combined Relief Society / Priesthood lesson. Afterwards we chatted with the Branch President for a while and he dropped into a Jersey accent after hearing Mackenzie was from there. I don’t know if it was good/bad, but it was entertaining. Sadly, Sacrament meeting was the last hour so we had to depart before that opportunity. We stepped out of the building and hailed a taxi which took us to the Airport Express train station. At the airport we grabbed BurgerKing and waited as long as we could before heading for our gates. Thankfully, they were #1 and #4 so we didn’t have far to walk and I could walk Mackenzie to her gate (male urge to make sure she arrived on the plane safely). What has happened to her in the last 48+ hours, I have no idea?
While neither Mackenzie nor I emote much, I must admit I was sad to see her go. The suddenness of the whole thing was strange and I felt abandoned to a degree. The prospect of five days alone in Vietnam and Cambodia, while survivable, was not appealing. Mackenzie was a great traveling companion and she will be missed. Luckily, I was able to get four seats in the middle on my 2-hour flight to Vietnam and took a nap. I’m sorry this blog entry has been so long in coming but I was under orders not to publish anything that would ruin the surprise of Mackenzie arriving so I just didn’t write anything for a while. Goodbye Mackenzie!!!

The Honeymoon is Over

2007-06-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

No, Mackenzie and I haven’t had our first argument. We seem to be on the same page so much that we even ordered the exact same meal last night down to the drink and dessert. I say the honeymoon is over because we have left Ko Samui and will be leaving Thailand in a few hours. Our time in Phuket was plagued by rain and apathy. We watched Rush Hour 2 and Lawrence of Arabia on my laptop rather than visit the beach in the rain or walk the shops in town. Our hotel is a 10 minute walk from Patong Beach & town and is pretty nice, but not near as romantic/charming as Bophut. Mackenize was still tired so she took another nap and I went for a swim in the pool. In the late afternoon we went into town for dinner and ended up at McDonalds (we looked really hard for a good Italian joint but the food was pricey and didn’t look good). Since Phuket is the foreign tourist capital of Thailand everything is 30-50% more expensive here than other places. While out we visited the beach and walked the streets/shops. This is one of the areas that was hardest hit by the tsunami 2.5 years ago. It was nice to see how they’ve rebounded but a little eerie to think about the ocean rising to consume everything in sight. We hiked to a rock outcropping to get some good pictures and I will admit to feeling nervous every time a series of big waves came rolling in. We went to bed around 9:30pm as we had the alarm set for 6:30am to pack, eat breakfast, check-out, drive to the airport, and return our rental car. I took an early morning swim to get some exercise in and enjoy the coolest part of the day (still warm and sticky).
Thailand has treated us wonderfully. Getting a rental car was so liberating and allowed us to see parts of the country that we would never have otherwise. Mackenzie’s idea to go to Ko Samui was brilliant and led to the best place of the trip yet. The people in Bophut especially, but throughout all Thailand have been wonderfully kind and helpful. The language barrier has been difficult, especially in the non-tourist areas and with road signage, but there have been plenty of smiles and thank yous shared. I guess one benefit of not being able to read the signs was never knowing the speed limit. Sure there were lots of signs that said 80 on them while on the highway, but I never knew for sure and enjoyed the idea of cruising at twice the posted limit.
Right now I am sitting at the little airport in Phuket and exited about our journeys ahead. I will miss Thailand, especially our relaxing days on the beach, but look forward to seeing my old friends in Sri Lanka and seeing the sights of India. Our days in Vietnam and Cambodia will be a blur of tourist sights and traveling and then Mackenzie heads home leaving me without a flying companion, but with friends in each country. Hong Kong should be a good stopover for the next 24 hours, if only for the benefits of the Temple and Church services. From there I have no idea how available the internet will be so my blog might become more irregular. Things are great though and I haven’t been happier in a long time.

RPMs & ZZZs

2007-06-05T02:59:00.000-07:00

We went to bed early Sunday night as we had set our alarm clock for 5:30am. I fell asleep after a ½ hour but awoke at 12:41 am to a raging storm. I could hear rain lashing our balcony windows and wind whipping through the trees. Lightning struck across the sky with thunder in quick succession. A few minutes later, a huge boom rang outside our hotel. I didn’t see it at the time but Mackenzie saw the red flare from the explosion. It seems a power transformer blew out or was struck by lightning. Two more loud explosions went off in the next ten minutes, but thankfully I fell back asleep around 1am and slept right until our alarm. Sadly, Mackenzie didn’t fare so well during the night’s storm and only fared about 90 minutes of sleep.
When I arose at 5:30am, the sunlight was just starting to peak over the horizon and I snapped a few nice photos. We checked-out, packed the car, and drove over to Nathon Pier again to catch our 7am ferry. Our reservation required us to be there at 6:30am and we only got there 3 minutes early, but we were still the 2nd car in line for our ferry. The boat ride was great as we both got our own row of 5 seats and took naps listening to our iPods.
As we drove off the pier in Donsak, we had roughly 400 kms to Phuket and an amazing road for ½ of that distance. Mackenzie laid down her passenger seat, grabbed my pillow and Cathay Pacific blanket, turned on her iPod, and passed out. I turned on to the four lane highway with little traffic, turned up the “Great Country Playlist” on my iPod, and proceeded to enjoy the drive. I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason I drive about 5mph over in the states isn’t a respect for the law, but a fear of punishment. The whole traffic school, $100, insurance hassles aren’t worth speeding. In Thailand, punishment consists of a $5US or less fine if I were to get pulled over. In our 1500kms on the highways of Thailand, I think I saw one police officer. For the next hour plus, I drove about 160 kms/hr, peaking on downhills at 185kms/hr and pushing our little car to the max. Our gas mileage stunk (we almost ran out) but it was lots of fun to drive fast. The second ½ of the trip was on two-lane roads (thus slower) and then a winding 4-lane road through the hills that was a blast to drive. I found another Honda cruising at similar speeds and we played rabbit for the last 80 kms.
About 1 km after crossing the bridge onto Phuket Island, we ran into a total downpour. This was exactly the reason that we had delayed our arrival in Phuket. The weather was supposed to be cloudy and rainy and forecast didn’t disappoint. It was raining so hard that visibility was a couple hundred feet and the roads were totally backed up with flooding and pooled water over a foot deep. We slowly made our way across the island to Patong Beach on the west coast and with an educated guess of my internal compass drove directly to the hotel without a map or any help. Since Singapore my sense of direction has been working great.

Moving On - Tomorrow

2007-06-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

We are not 100% sure yet, but we will most likely be packing our bags shortly and heading out to our next island, Phuket. We want to try a new place and will be paying for the hotel there anyway because of cancellation fees, so peace out, I'll blog again in a day or two.

So we didn’t end up leaving Ko Samui as planned. I’ll backtrack to give the full update on things. Friday night we ordered pizza from a local delivery place here. It was actually very good, just not too filling as the “large” was the size of mediums back in the states and somehow we ended up with thin crust. Saturday was spent largely sitting around Bophut, with the highlights of my haircut, visiting another waterfall, and eating at a wonderful restaurant in Nathon. After we had gotten back to the room it began to rain and blow pretty hard. We had a delightful storm to watch from our balcony as lightning and all the elements did their part. In the mêlée my swim trunks which were drying on the railing flew away. At the time I didn’t realize this, but the next day when packing I could not find them anywhere so I went downstairs to look. Some neighbor in the room below ours had conveniently moved them up on his porch and laid them out all nice looking. I stole them back and went on my merry way.
This morning I stayed in bed until noon, watching the last 4 episodes of Office season 2, reading the Book of Mormon, and listening to country music. It was just so nice to sit in our air conditioned room, look out our big windows and stair at the sunny bay with sailboats, palm trees, and such. This place really was amazing for us. So when I finally roused myself around noon I headed over to the internet place to check on emails and our changed hotel plans for Phuket. We decided it was time to move on and packed up our things, paid our hotel bill, and drove off to Nathan to catch the pier to Donsak. Sadly, when we pulled up there were a few hundred cars in front of us and they said we wouldn’t make it until the 6pm ferry, over 3 hours later. This would mean sitting in the heat for 3+ hours, and then getting to the mainland right about sundown, meaning four hours of driving across Thailand in the dark. Not my idea of fun!!! So I persuaded Mackenzie she could enjoy another day here and we bought a ticket for the 7am ferry tomorrow and headed back to our island paradise.
Instead of going straight back to the hotel and looking like fools, we visited the Naumang Waterfall we had been to on our Jungle Tour. It was as nice as the first time, with the water that perfectly cool refreshing temperature that invigorates, but doesn’t chill you. This time we got to stay for almost an hour before deciding to hit our new favorite restaurant on the way back to our hotel. The food was the same as last time, which was great for me, but not so much for Mackenzie. While she liked her curry chicken last time, it was too strong for her and she decided to try the green curry. The new stuff was a bomb in her opinion, but I ate the same curry chicken she had last time and loved it. The first few weeks of the trip we were totally lame about trying ethnic foods. Since we have been here in Ko Samui we have been much better. There is only one McDonald’s on the island (never been to) and we like Thai food much better than Chinese. Almost ½ our meals have been Thai, and we have liked almost every one. Some meals I have eaten way too much it has been so good.
We finally arrived back at the same hotel, and got our same room (currently moved to the room next door as the power is out in our room) around 6:30pm. I immediately went to the beach to get a massage. For the past couple of days I have been meaning to do this, but between my forgetfulness and Mackenzie not sharing my enthusiasm (suffers from “touch-o-phobia”) haven’t got the job done yet. BIGGEST REGRET SO FAR OF THE TRIP!!! For $7US I got an hour Thai massage that was delightful. They didn’t work my back for too long which was great because they spent most of the hour on my legs, feet, hands, arms, and neck/shoulders. I timed it perfectly so I got there just as sunset was starting. I was fifty feet from the ocean listening to the waves roll gently in, fifty feet from the hotel bar with some soft relaxing music playing, getting a great massage looking out over a beautiful sunset on the bay. I should have been doing this the last four nights here!!! What a way to end the day.
Finally, I am typing my blog a little after 8pm, will visit the internet café and post it, return home and pack/clean, and then head to bed by 10pm as we plan on waking up about 5:30am. We hope to be in Phuket by 1pm, and have less than 24 hours there until our flights to HK. Today we didn’t have a Church to go to so we decided to make Wednesday the Sabbath for us this week. We can serve in the Temple in the morning and attend our meetings in Hong Kong’s Victory II Branch in the afternoon before catching our flight. They have Church 7 days a week for weary travelers like ourselves and maids who don’t get to pick their days off, and work on Sundays. OK, so maybe it isn’t meant for us, but it fits perfectly in our present circumstances.

The Enjoyment of Nothing

2007-06-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Today we relaxed. Kenz wanted to sleep in and I didn’t have any reason to disagree so we kept our room nice and dark until about 9:30am. I couldn’t sit in bed any longer so I headed outside to read and relax, but it got warm pretty quick. Around 10 we sat down and tried to come up with a plan for the day, and basically decided to not do much. I walked down the beach to try to find a volleyball game (no luck, both courts were empty) but did find a barbershop. My hair is back to length 2 on the clippers and I am enjoying the feeling of rubbing my hands through it yet again. One highlight of the walk to the barber’s office was visiting the local real estate office. It was tempting, but my indigent circumstances prevented me from splurging on a nice condo. We did decide to drive our car for the first time in 3 days and venture across the island to another waterfall. The drive across the north side of the island was much easier as we had better road and less traffic. The waterfall was nice, but didn’t have near as big a swimming hole as the last one. Thankfully, the water was again a wonderful refreshing temperature and I laid on a big rock on my back with ½ my body in the water while trying to get some sun on my chest to get it a darker color like my back (back feels great and is much darker today, I really can tan!!!). On the way back to the hotel we visited 7-11 and stocked up on supplies for the next few days. Our evening was spent watching 2 Offices episodes, enjoying the thunderstorm over the bay from our balcony, and taking turns visiting the internet café to update blogs and call home (Mackenzie is starting to become her boyfriend’s morning alarm clock, much to his consternation).
I thought I would include some random pics since I didn’t take any today. These include Mackenzie “pretending” to go to the bathroom during our visit to the national park, my plate from the national park visit (what is up my expression?), our hotel, and whatever else I find entertaining in the next 5 minutes. Oh yeah, if you want to see an entertaining video clip go to http://www.youtube.com/ and type in “Blue Crayon Girlfriend.” Mackenzie sent her boyfriend a package from New Jersey before she left and he thought it would be funny to put her embarrassing antics up for the whole world to see. She got her revenge by accepting my engagement proposal, done with the ring made of grass made by our elephant driver. Needless to say, his job is pretty boring. Don’t worry Spencer, I can’t afford a diamond and will let her off easy before the end of the trip.
P.S. Sorry about all the pictures of me the last couple of days, the camerawoman can’t keep her eyes off.

Another Great Day

2007-06-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

Currently I am laying on my bed in our hotel room, watching all the goals from this season’s highlights in the English Premiere League (I get a laugh every time the Brazilian named Caca scores). The announcer says things like “Brilliant Caca” and “Caca again.” Sorry, interruption as the pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream was delivered and I devoured my ½ in less than 10 minutes. Mackenzie was off at the internet café calling her boyfriend, Spencer.
OK, back to blogging. ESPN has changed from soccer highlights to SportsCenter, although not American, but I believe based out of Malaysia. The lead story was about the national badminton doubles team. It was followed by soccer stories, some golf, the French Open, and I hope soon will be the Cavs-Pistons highlights. I can’t wait to see Lebron James go off.
Today we woke up at 6:45am expecting a 7:30 pick-up to our tour. We were taking a boat out to Ang Thong National Marine Park, about an hour ride. After getting picked up late around 8:10, eating the little breakfast offered, and meeting our fellow travelers, we hoped on the boat and set off around 9:15am. Our group was cool with people from a variety of countries but mostly in their 20s and early 30s.
Our first stop was at an island to snorkel for an hour. This was my first time snorkeling since Boy Scouts I think, but I enjoyed it a lot. The old, “spit in your mask” to get rid of the fog and streaks still works like a charm too. We swam around the island for a while and ventured farther than almost all the other people. Highlights included seeing fish of every color, seeing coral and plant life up close, visiting overhangs and inlets underwater, and swimming in the middle of schools of fish.
Our next stop on the trip was the Emerald Lake. It is a natural lagoon with the water coming from an underwater tunnel to the ocean. Supposedly the lake/lagoon was used in DeCaprio’s film “The Beach.” It was a nice sight and would have been really inspiring a few weeks back, but with all the sights I’ve seen, it was nice but not amazing. From here we got back on the boat and headed to a private beach/island for lunch. The crew prepared a delicious Thai curry meal with vegetables, fruits, and even some spaghetti. I tried both and loved the local food more. We passed our time after the meal by exploring the beach and playing coconut golf.
We got back in the boat and headed to yet another beach/island for 90 minutes or so of kayaking. Our attempts were much more successful than yesterday in the canoe. Kayaking was more of a workout than anything. There were some nice sights including cliffs and overhangs, but it was a good bit of exercise on the back, arms, and abs. I decided to keep my shirt off for nearly all of the day in an attempt to catch some sun and accomplished my goal. Nothing hurts yet and I applied sunscreen liberally, but I am red on my back, arms, and neck.
When we got back to Ko Samui we were driven home and decided to spend the night in besides visits to the internet café. I hope to get my haircut tomorrow and we plan on relaxing around here, or maybe checking out some other parts of the island. Things continue to be great. Also, Mackenzie is updating her blog again too, so feel free to check it out at www.kenzinasia.blogspot.com

Coconut milk wasn't all that great, but it was fun to watch the guy climb the tree with no tools and cut them down. Yale Layton for Coconut Heisman, OK, maybe not. Notice the compare/contrast with the arm & swimsuit covered areas versus the rest of the back. It's starting to hurt a bit, we'll see what tomorrow morning brings.

Best Day Yet

2007-05-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

My morning started with a ½ hour visit to the hotel bar/beach to enjoy the ocean, early morning sunshine, and write my blog entries describing yesterday’s activities. Mackenzie came down and we ate breakfast at the hotel before being picked-up for our day’s tour at 10am. When we arrived at the tour we were pleasantly surprised to see we were the only two in our jeep with a guide who spoke some English, a driver, and some other guy who didn’t do much. We paid for our tour and hopped in the back of an old jeep/truck and drove about 30 minutes around the island to our first stop. Here we rowed a canoe for about 15 minutes, with both of us vowing that at one point in our lives we really did know how to do this in a 2-person team (obviously it didn’t carry over to today). We ended up finding that our best format was me pulling and providing most of the propulsion with Mackenzie steering in the back (reversed away from me, hence the picture) or just taking turns for 30 seconds.
From here we visited one of my two highlights of the day. We got back in the car for another 15 minutes and a lot of mountain climbing (reminded me of going to our HK hostel) and arrived at a path leading to two waterfalls. We hiked to both and took pictures, and then returned to the swimming hole below the bottom one. The water felt cool when convincing myself to get in, but absolutely perfect once I was in. It was so refreshing and cleansing after the hike and getting really nasty. The running water and jumping areas made the hole a blast, as well as climbing up the waterfall. For our first 15 minutes there it was only us before another tour group of 15 came so we headed out.
After this we rode in the car for another 35 minutes back to where we had started for the elephant and monkey portion of our tour. They put us on an elephant in a little seat that didn’t absorb the bumpy ride at all. Mackenzie held onto the strap/seat belt for dear life as she thought she might slip out completely. The ride was fun, but boring after about 3 minutes of the 20 minute journey. Our elephant was quite slow and they made her take us up this big hill and back down. I felt like getting off and walking myself to help her. When we got back to the bottom of the hill they took us over to a little arena for the elephant show. This was amazing!
They had a 3.5 year old elephant named something like Mikael, who was not really cute in looks, but great with her routine and human interactions. First, they ran her through some activities like walking on 3 legs, standing on her hind and then front legs only, sitting down, dunking a basketball with her trunk, and playing the harmonica while dancing (quite entertaining, video but no picture). Second, they had us take turns coming out and getting a massage from the elephant. This consisted of us laying down on the ground and the elephant tickling us with her trunk and softly stepping on us with one foot. I was too busy taking pictures of Mackenzie to give a play-by-play of where the elephant was touching her, but I think I got the worse of it. Mackenzie was told to lay on her stomach while I had to lay on my back with my arms behind my head. The elephant then proceeded to use its trunk to give me a big smooch on my face a few times, tickle me other places on my upper body, and then (how do I phrase this?) take a few low blows. Thankfully, I had on my swim-trunks and a towel they provided, but it was funny/awkward nonetheless. Honestly, from the first “kiss” through the whole time I laughed so hysterically I couldn’t control myself or think. When the elephant was doing the stomp/massage on my midsection and below I was a bit worried, but she barely touched me. It was so bizarre and yet funny at the same time. Mackenzie got great pictures but we didn’t take any video of either one of us which I am sorry for because it would have been a clip I would have laughed at forever.
After the elephant show we caught a monkey show that was pretty good. They kept it short which was nice because we both were ready for home and showers after being slobbered on by the elephant. The monkey spinning the coconut like a basketball with his two and then hands and one foot was impressive though.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing at hour hotel, sitting on the beach, reading, and grabbing dinner at one of the many restaurants on the water front. We had a nice set meal with a few kinds of chicken, curry, rice, and salad. Finally, they gave us this balloon thing that you light up and rises with the accumulated hot air. The day was amazing as I had a blast with the elephant show and waterfall, and yet spent half the day relaxing at the beach doing nothing much.
Our time here in Ko Samui has been so enjoyable we are planning to stay here through at least Sunday and maybe all the way to Monday. Phuket is likely to have rain and we can do many of the same activities here in sunshine and less-developed tranquility.