Enjoy Friday!

Loved this quote shared by our friend Kumar!

Had a fun evening with this family!

Kids are the same all over the world. We gave them the choice of where to eat. They picked Pizza Hut! Instead of kids eating cheese pizza they like spicy chicken. I enjoyed the veggie pizza. Guess what? It had corn on it and tasted great!

Oh WHAT A GOOD DAY!

FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER!

I have a family here on earth.

They are so good to me.

I want to share my life with them

Through all eternity!

Song from Primary Book #188

These kids were able to get together and spend some time together.

We sure love and miss them!

Aren't we lucky to have such wonderful grandchildren?

Socks on Knox and Knox in box.

Fox in socks on box on Knox.



Chicks with bricks come.

Chicks with blocks come.

Chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks come.

Look, sir.  Look, sir.  Mr. Knox, sir.

I got all the boxes done sir!



First, I'll make a quick trick brick stack.

Then I'll make a quick trick block stack.

You can make a quick trick chick stack.

You can make a quick trick clock stack.

And here's a new trick, Mr. Knox....

They are stacked and ready to go!

Not sure what kind of bug this is but loved the design.

It was another GOOD DAY!

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

Walking to the church in the rain. 

 

The rain really came down for a few minutes. This is outside the church house. How do you like our green chariot that we ride in? Notice the 3 wheel drive and air conditioning! We love it!

This is the type of water heaters that we use. Brother Shantha installed a new one for the baptismal font. Now they can get baptized in warm water.

Walking home after teaching English.

It's all up hill!

Going through the tunnel.

One more pose!

Last hill before we reach our apartment. 

What a GOOD DAY!

Hickory Dickory!

🐭Saw this clock at the hotel yesterday and thought it was pretty cool.🐭

🤔Didn't notice the time until tonight.😉

Hickory dickory dock!

The mouse ran up the clock!

The clock struck one!

And down he ran!

Hickory dickory dock!

🤗

🚗Stopped to get some petro for the three wheeler.🚗

As we were walking down some stairs at the hotel yesterday we saw this sign. I thought it was interesting that it was only in English. I guess the Sri Lankans dont have to mind their heads.😄

 

🐘Happy Family pictures at the hotel.🐘

 

❤Thank you cards from the bride and groom.❤

👰Invitation letter.🤵

At our District Meeting today we discussed a talk given by Kevin Pearson, "Improving Personal Prayers", June 2013 Ensign. Here are a couple of quotes that really made me think.

Prayer is powerful and compelling evidence of the reality of God the Eternal Father. Personal prayer is indispensable to understanding God and our divine identity.

Prayer is less about changing our circumstances and more about changing us. It is about seeking His will and asking for His help to do what we need to do.

Another GOOD DAY!

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

IT'S A WEDDING!

Congratulations to Samantha and Vimani!

They had a traditional Sinhala-Buddhist marriage ceremony known as the poruwa siritha or poruwa ceremony.

The poruwa is a decorated wooden platform that represents the house that the couple will share and is symbolic  of their marriage and the start of a new life.

The shilpadhipathi (master of ceremonies) recites religious chants known as ashtaka. The four girls (Jayamangala Gatha) bless the marriage with a traditional Buddhist chant.

 

The ceremony begins with the groom and his family.

 

The Kandyan Dancers and drummers escort the groom to the poruwa.

 

The bride is then greeted and brought to the poruwa. The bride and groom greet each other with palms held together.

The bride and groom stand next to each other.  The Master of Ceremonies presents a collection of betel leaves to them. They accept the leaves and give them back to him. They are symbolic offerings to the gods.

They are then presented with seven leaves on a tray with a coin on each leaf. The bride and groom take turns picking up the leaves and dropping it on the platform. The seven leaves is to remember seven generations on both sides.

The groom is presenting a white cloth to his bride. She then gives it to her mother. This is the groom gift of gratitude to his mother-in-law for raising his bride.

Just like wedding cake they feed each other milk rice, which is a special treat. Then the bride's mother gives them each a sip of milk.

This symbolises the start of the bride's and grooms new life. As children it was their mothers who fed them and gave them milk to drink. They will be starting their own life with the blessing of their mothers.

At every special gathering in Sri Lanka they light the lantern.

 

Enjoying a fresh glass of juice.

 

The reception area at the Riverdale Hotel.

Vimanis's family.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

 

Kids are the same all over the world.
 

 

One of the drummers and their head dress.

 

Goodies and the wedding cake.

Cute shoes!

Typical teenagers!

 

Lunch buffet and dessert.

Bridesmaids.

A new friend, Sri Kanthie.

Posing with the girls.

Eating sweets!

The cute couple.

Some of the Kandyan dancers.

 

More sweets and entrance to the hotel.

An interesting fact about the bride and groom are they are both deaf. Many of their friends are deaf so we saw a lot of sign language. Their friends came in on a bus together. It was great to see the love and support that they had as they start their marriage.

WHAT A FUN DAY!