Elder and Sister Condie Mission Blog: Happy Fathers Day 2015

Happy Fathers Day! And what a fabulous day it was! Steve had to give a talk today...which is so funny! It just seems like he has given a talk on Fathers Day about every other year! But that is because he is so great! We got a new Branch President today and a second counselor. They had the old counselor speak, then the new presidency, and then Elder Condie. He talked about sustaining leaders and it was such an excellent talk. He talked about his Dad and that is tough for him..but very special. Steve got to ordain our most recent baptism, Indika, to the Priesthood! That was really great! Sister Zeenia was at church today and she loves it! She reached over and grabbed me and said, "Sister, I know it is true! I just have the most wonderful feeling every time I read the Book of Mormon. " It was so great! She is really special. Our meetings were so good today. People just seem to be coming together. It is really wonderful to watch! Everyone stays after church for the longest time just visiting and laughing and enjoying each other.
Wow! I have got to back up from the first of the week! Love Love Love teaching our seminary kids at their home. Sherine even made us lunch...a Sri Lanka lunch! Chicken curry and red rice and jack....yes jack! Some kind of fruit...but if it is at a certain time of its ripeness, you cook it like a vegetable. Pretty good stuff! We had district meeting with the Elders. Elder Perera asked Elder Condie to teach. Of course, it was wonderful. We did the love chair with the elders. And it was really special! These guys are the best missionaries ever! We really love them! Started piano lessons on Wednesday mornings. Sherene came! I just love to visit with her. She is a lot of fun! We went and got lunch at Dolce Italian so we could take it to Brother Lyle. We visited him at his brothers home. He was in a trishaw accident where it tipped over and he fell out and it landed on him. His leg is really banged up and he is staying with his brother until he can get back on his feet. He is a good man...probably the best missionary in the branch. He has had more people coming to church lately...it is unbelievable. And he hasn't been well...having his pacemaker put in a little while back....and still trying to bring people into the church. Love him! We visited Sister Pooja and Risenya at their home. She had hoppers for us to eat and they were great! She is a really special lady. Been in the church only about a year and a half. Her son is Akash, who left recently on his mission. She told us her story. WOW! The things people have to go through just amaze me! And the gospel is the thing that gets them through everything. It really is true! Just as Zeenia said today!!
We taught Inoka and her husband Navine and Stephanie. We had a good visit. Had to hurry off to English class. Friday, Steve went with the Elders and I taught a bunch of piano classes. He visited about 4 families with them. It just feels like the work is really taking off here in Colombo. It is such a wonderful blessing. Saturday was the district seminary activity. I have been stressing about it all week of course...that is just me...when something big is coming a long. We had 5 hours of fun to plan. We had the kids come from the different branches for the activity. It was an interesting thing for me. A cultural thing! I am figuring it out slowly and I just need to remember that some things we do at home, will not work here! We did a 15 second tell about yourself activity. The Kandy girls were so bashful that they would not take part. We played the lap game next....did not work because of the culture here. Sitting on someones lap is a total no no. We improvised on that one. The look game worked I think. I had also spent a lot of time putting together a jeopardy game on power point with lots of youth and seminary items. It turned out to be really great! We had 3 teams and they really got into it! We had a nice presentation with the missionaries and the returned missionaries that turned out great. We had rice packs for lunch...which helps with dishes because they eat with their hands! We showed MEET THE MORMONS next which is always wonderful. We ended up with ice cream. The new district president was supposed to come and talk to the kids but he did not show up. But it worked out very well anyway! Really great kids here in Sri Lanka. Yes, I say that all the time! Wonderful activity! We also found out that Harsha, our wonderful baptism from a month back, had an emergency appendix surgery. He had just gotten home so we went to visit him. Poor guy. They couldn't afford the private hospital so they went to the general hospital. So they cut him to get the appendix out instead of doing the laser surgery with one little dot. So he was in sooo much pain. He was so happy to see us though. It made him a lot happier but he was still struggling. Steve gave him a blessing and I hope he gets better soon! Then it was Sunday! And our wonderful day! Another wonderful thing about today, is that we had Inoka, Navine and Stephanie to dinner! When we went to their house this week, we wanted to know if they were coming to church. They kind of said they would try but it didn't seem that it was going to happen. But yesterday, they texted and said they were coming. And today, we heard the rest of the story! After we left their home on Thursday, they said they felt the Spirit leave their home. They decided they needed to do something different in their life. Navine is a devout Buddhist and is very religious. He is a smoker. But he decided that that was the first step in getting the spirit into their home. So he decided to quit right then. He hasn't smoked for 3 days! Wow. Then, he said today that he was ready to hear the discussions and he wanted us to teach them to him with the help of Inoka...because she would have to translate. He wants to learn English so we will help him with that as well. What a great week! We feel very blessed and grateful for this wonderful gospel we are a part of.