Relaxing in Colombo

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

Namesakes

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

Saying Goodbye is Hard to Do

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

The Athukoralas

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

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

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

"An Official Guest of the Sri Lankan Government"

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

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"

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.