Between several rain storms and an earthquake, we were able to do a little visiting this week.
Monday the streets were flooded as we ventured out to visit with one of our home teaching families.  Anura made sure he drove the tri-shaw on the highest part of the road so that the tri-shaw wouldn't shut down.  Many of the drivers were plowing through the water and later down the road they would be on the side of the road because their tri-shaw stopped. This was the first time that we had been out when the streets were so bad.  They have little or no drainage in their streets.  The rain comes down fast and you just have to wait for it to drain.  When we returned home in an hour, the roads had improved greatly.
On Wednesday I was sitting at the computer, indexing.  Elder Meyers was resting in the bedroom.  All of  a sudden my chair started to sway.  I thought, I'm getting dizzy.  I walked into the living room and the tv was moving.  I went into the bedroom and asked Elder Meyers if he felt that.  He replied, "It's an earthquake." In a few minutes a friend called. I asked her if she felt it.  She said that they don't have earthquakes in Colombo.  Within five minutes she called back and said that there had been an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
We continued to go about our business.  We went to English class. Only one student came.  He decided to leave for home.  A tsunami warning was issued for the area.  That is what scared the people.  They were remembering the 2004 tsunami that killed thousands of people in this area.  We were told to stay away from the sea.
We had an appointment to go to Shanika's home to home and visit teach her and her family.  We usually take the sea road to get to her home but Anura took us a back way to keep us as far away from the sea as possible.
Last Sunday we met a lady by the name of Dilki Fernando.  She gave us her phone number and address.  We called and made an appointment to visit with her.  When we got to her home she was out.  Her mother visited with us and showed us Dilki's wedding pictures.  She had just married in December. Her mother was explaining that this was a paper proposal.  In the Sunday paper there are men and women wanting to marry.  If you are interested you can contact them and arrange a meeting.  That is how Dilki met her husband.  After about half an hour Dilki and her sister, Dushy, came in.  We continue to have a lovely visit.  As we talk, we discover that none of these ladies are members of the church.  I guess Kishan, their brother, was a member.  Over the years they all went to church and loved the missionaries.  I was teasing them that they were dry Mormons.  They knew more about the church than most of the members do.  We had a lovely visit and they invited us back.  I'm sure we will see them again before we leave.
It has been Sinhala and Tamil New Year here.  Almost everyone leaves Colombo and goes back to their village.  Most stores are closed and transportation is hard to come by. Since there wasn't much to do, we decided to invite Myrna and her daughter, Ruwani, over for lunch on Friday.  We enjoyed having them.  Ru is 32 and not married. She would love to marry a member of the church.  If you know of a good available man let us know and we will contact Ru.
It rained again last night.  Our bedroom was flooded with about two inches of water.  It took us about an hour to clean it all up.
I had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting today.  I spoke on the atonement, resurrection and having faith to get us through our trials.  I used Elder Neil L. Andersen's talk that he gave in general conference entitled: "What Thinks Christ of Me?"  I'm always glad when speaking is over for me. 
It is raining again.  We are keeping an eye on the bedroom to see how the water got in.  We don't want to spend another hour cleaning up water.  There is never a dull moment around here!
Thought for the week: President Monson told the Relief Society Sisters this: "In a hundred small ways, all of you wear the mantle of charity.  Life is perfect for none of us.  Rather than being judgmental and critical of each other, may we have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life.  May we recognize that each one is doing her best to deal with the challenges which come her way, and may we strive to do our best to help out."

Sis Shanika, Joel and Sheremy

Dilki, Malika and Dushy

Myrna and Ruwani