Names are Very Unusual - Nov 1, 2016

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Our current address is 92 Layard's Road Apt 1/2, Colombo 5, Sri Lanka. If we stay in Colombo we will keep this address.  Hopefully we will know sometime this week.

We just had our first district meeting with the one set of elders in Sri Lanka, Eder Gunerathne, baptized in 2014 and Elder Wijethunge, baptized at eight.  We go out with them this evening to visit a newly baptized family.  They said it is so hard to locate places that we should probably go with them first to find out where people live.  Tomorrow we visit another new family. Some members travel two hours by car to get to the church building so the branch is spread out.

One of my biggest problems is pronunciation of names and understanding what is being said.  Some of the accents are difficult for me to understand, especially when they speak quickly, and most of the names are very unusual and several syllables.  I am sure I will catch on and I hope it happens quickly.

Thank you for your prayers in behalf of our obtaining the gift of tongues.  I have a tough time distinguishing sounds when the people speak.  They speak so fast.  We were saying some words to Aubrey on FaceTime and she immediately picked it up.  But I am studying words every day.  The driver told me a phrase to say at peoples' homes when we are ready to leave.  It is said like one word and means, "We are going, and we will come back."  It is "Gihin ennam" - gi hin en nam.  The vowels are all short.  My tongue gets all twisted but I am grateful for the exercise of learning another language.  There are 50+ characters in the Sinhala language and they all look like curly cues to me.  I have not tried to read.

The couple before us is so loved.  One convert even named his new restaurant after them, called, Steve and Lauri Restaurant.  Everyone talks about them and it is wonderful to see how they loved the people and were loved in return.

On a walk around Colombo

We visited two families last night with the missionaries.  One moved further out of town where they could afford land and build.  Their two story cement block house is partially finished and will be lovely.  They joined the church in July and it is tough to travel the hour distance to church and they have a motorcycle for four people.  He is a track, discus, javelin coach.  She was in the Army and her name is Pretty which means happy.  The people here are gorgeous.  Beautiful women and men with lovey dark skin and exotic looks.  There exists the age old problem of sin.  Like everywhere families are hurt by infidelity, alcohol, and physical and mental abuse.  We have some beautiful single women in the church raising their families alone.  It is nice to hear that the predominant religion of Buddhism encourages and teaches kind family ties and fidelity.  I look forward to leaning more about Buddhism and how they live their beliefs.  One sister shared that she recently joined her family for a celebration to honor her father.  He has been dead 22 years and every year they gather to honor him on the anniversary of his death.  School uniforms are mostly all white and to enter the Buddhist temple, everyone wears white.  

We are grateful not to drive.  It is somewhat organized chaos with few lights.  Cars, buses, motorcycles, tut tuts, going everywhere and people walking along the road mostly with no sidewalks or shoulder.  The roads turn and curve with heavy traffic. ( I hope I am not writing things I have already written.  Everything is running together.)

Sleep well.  

Love to all.

Love you all.