More Zoo Pictures

                                                This is a video of the elephant show.

                                     Me with Sister Jayarathne and Sister Basthiyan.

                                                    More pictures of us having fun.

                                            A different kind of animal at the zoo.

People look at us like we are pretty weird. This family wanted a picture with us. We gave the children stickers.

 

Another picture with a family at the zoo. We are a different sort of animal here at the zoo.

I found Barb here at the zoo. For you who don't know me I have a sister whose name is Barb.

                                                  Barb is a type of fish.

Plus, my sister loves Pepsi. Who would have thought you could get Pepsi here.

Going To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo! - October 30, 2017

Mondays are always a lot of fun. We start our mornings talking to our kids. It is always good to see them and what they are doing.

Today we went to the zoo with the Sister Missionaries. It was a much needed break. We had fun as we walked around the zoo.

                                                               "Rock a bye baby"
                                               A momma orangutan with her baby.

                                         "And a neck like a giraff-aff-aff-aff!"
                                                                Giraffes

                          "One fell off and the little one said, "roll over, roll over!"
                                                      What a turtle stack!

Everyday the zoo has an elephant show. It was just like the old fashion shows you would see on TV. The elephants would dance, sit and follow their masters commands.

"One, two, cha cha cha!"

Elephants dancing!

Train Trip Back To Colombo

This morning we left Kandy at 6:15 am to get to Colombo.  The pictures are some of what we saw along our way.

 
                More green scenery. We will miss this while we are in Colombo.

                                                        Green fields.

                                          Homes along the railroad tracks.

                                                         More homes.

Another picture. After we arrived in Colombo we headed to church. The 1st branch was having their primary program. When the primary children sang, "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission", the primary children came out in the congregation and shook hands with everyone. They even had pretend missionary name tags. The children were so proud. I do love Primary Programs.

The 2nd branch had a luncheon after the meetings. Some good Sri Lankan food.

To end the day we visited a Sister and her daughter. Good way to end a busy day.

Creepy Crawley Day

This creepy tree looked like an octopus to me. It is by the University that we are hoping to teach at.

Another picture of us on the tree. Apparently there are only 2 here in Sri Lanka.

Visited a family in the mountains. Actually there is a village there. Along with the people there are monkeys.

                                                   Home on the mountain.

Driving up the hill in our tuk tuk. Sometimes you wonder if they are going to make it up the hill.

                                               Me with Chandrani and Elder Lathen.

Walking down the hill. This is the Crawley part because I got a leech on my foot. Not fun at all.

Elder Lathen got bit by a dog at a house we were visiting. First thing Elder Lathen told me was not to look a dog in the eye because they'll bite you. Well, that is what he did. 😭 He's going to be okay though.

                                        Another cute family we met in the village.

Chandrani and Ilani.

For our dessert tonight we had faluda. It has chunks of flavored gelatin in milk with cream. Looks yummy but not one of my favorites.

Kandy Land - October 27, 2017

Church in Kandy. This use to be someone's home and has been converted into a church house. The two tuk tuks are how we get around. They are 3 wheelers and the roads are very bumpy. It is like riding the Indianna Jones ride at Disney land.

Family that we are teaching the gospel to. No matter where we go plan on taking at least an hour to get there.

               
                                                            Kandy Lake.

                                                           Man in his rice fields.

                                             One of the huts we saw on our walk.

Another man out in the field. This morning as we were walking when we heard a big bang! We thought maybe someone was shooting at us, but he was setting off something to chase the wild pigs off. The wild pigs tear up the rice fields.

First Trip to Kandy

Arriving in Kandy from Colomo. It took 3 hours by train to get here. The view was fantastic going through mountains, tunnels and rice fields. Today it has been raining. It is their rainy season and is so much cooler than Colombo. Good thing I brought a sweater.

Arrived at the Bed and Breakfast where we were served avocado shakes. I'm not a huge fan of avocado but this shake may change my mind. It actually tasted great!

                      Our hotel bed was decorated with a towel peacock.

                                               View outside our bedroom.

Dinner tonight was sweet corn soup, salad, vegetables, rice, potatoe curry and chicken. The meal was absolutely wonderful.

Dessert was this custard and fruit. The mother and daughter who run this hotel are getting baptized Sunday. 

While here in Kandy we get to meet people from this branch. Already we met two families. One Senior Sister would like to serve a mission. That would be cool for her. The faith she has is amazing because she would have to sell everything to go.

Birthday Traditions

We were invited to a birthday party! I love the Sri Lankan traditions. They have cake and sing happy birthday just like we do. The cake is cut and they have everyone take a bite out of the first piece. I don't know why I was chosen but I got to take the first bite.

As the birthday person is blowing out the candles they spray canned snow on everyone. So watch out everyone, when we get back we are going to do this!

Again lots of food. Chicken and salmon sandwiches, fish rolls, fish logs, sausages, crackers and soda pop. The meal was very tasty.

This is the cute family that we spent the evening with. I am truly humbled at the hospitality of the Sri Lankan people. We had never met before. The mother was taking English classes at the church and invited the Missionaries to their home. We were treated like royalty. We invited them to continue to take English classes at the church. Sure hope to see them again. It was a fun evening.

Lesson Learned

Had a fun, exciting, learning, being ripped off morning. Met a nice man (so we thought) this morning.  Visited for quite a while and he asked if we would like to see his temple  (mistake #1). We said yes and walked (mistake 2) with him and visited. Pretty soon he hailed a tuk tuk and said just a short ride (mistake #3) he said he would pay for the ride as it was not far (mistake #4)😢. It gets worse. Tuk tuks not metered, we had been told always take metered tuk  tuks.(mistake #5). He did take us to his temple as he is Buddhist.  (Some pictures attached hopefully). The temple was magnificent.  Then he took us to a jewelry store (now we were getting wiser). Crystal kept telling him NO, so he got the message and we left.  On the way he said he needed to catch a train (mistake 6). We said OK. He got off and said, "if you liked the tour you would give me something ?" 1500 rupees later he left. Not a lot US dollars but still ripped off.  I had the driver take us to a place we knew to drop us off.  The nicest our guide" had not paid the deposit driver, so I knew we were had  (mistake 7).  Lost the discussion and 10000 rupees later😨 we were walking home .  Many lessons learned today.  The temple was amazing!!!! 😄😉Other parts not so good!

As we were reading this scripture this morning it seemed appropriate for how our morning went.

Mosiah 23:14

And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments.

                                          Statue of Buddha at the temple.