August 15, 2016 to August 21, 2016

Monday, August 15, 2016

A normal Monday but we didn’t have an office meeting as President and Sister Poncio are headed to Guatemala for an Area Mission Presidents Seminar.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

We had a “mercy run” this afternoon to Matagalpa. This morning, Sister Bell got a call from a sister in Matagalpa that she was having pain on one side of her body and just not feeling well. She ended up going to a medical clinic to get checked out. She was there most of the day. They were running all sorts of tests, fortunately most were normal. But it ran up a large medical bill, estimated to be about $300 US$. None of the missionaries have that kind of money and this clinic doesn’t take our insurance, so we got extra money from Elder Hamson and with our mission money, which we always have with us, we headed north to Matagalpa. Matagalpa is about 2.5 hours from the office. We got there about 5pm. We had googled mapped the Santa Fe Clinic so we knew where to go. But when we got there, the clinic was closed. It was a small clinic on a corner in the south east part of town. But all the doors were locked and we couldn’t find our two sister missionaries anywhere. As we were pondering our situation, we heard a voice say “hello Hermanos”. We turned to face a local Nicaraguan, well dressed, about 45, talking to us in English. He introduced himself as Fernando, said he was a member of the church and could he help us (he could tell we were lost). We told him our situation. He explained that there is another Santa Fe Clinic on the other side of town and offered to take us there. As we drove to the other location, he told us he was from Matagalpa, but was working in Costa Rica teaching English in school (his English was very good). He learned English on his mission in Honduras, a few years before Steve was there. He also spent a couple of years in the states. He is married, and has one daughter. In fact, he was in town because his daughter had just turned 15 and had her big party. He went into the Clinic with us, helped us translate what the doctor was trying to tell us and then we took him home. He was truly a ministering Angel, put on that street corner, just when we needed him.

The bill was only about $122, still more than what any of the missionaries had. It turned out that our sick Sister was suffering from stress and exhaustion. The doctor prescribed rest, along with some medications and future tests. We took the sisters, one from Costa Rica and the other was from the Dominican Republic out to dinner, got medications and took them home. Sister Bell and I got home about 10:30pm. If it wasn’t for Fernando, we would still be in Matagalpa looking for another Santa Fe clinic.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Today we were tired from our trip yesterday. We worked at the office all day.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Happy Birthday, Ginger

We worked from home this morning. It was quiet refreshing. I worked on my priesthood preparation classes and Spanish and also did a few misc other items. Sister Bell also worked on Spanish, inputted medical information into E-med and then had a tutoring lesson with Whitney at the MTC. We went to the office after lunch, working on our presentation at the new missionary training program.

We invited Lee’s over for pizza and games. I lost and Sister Lee won…. Nothing new.

Friday & Saturday, August 19 - 20, 2016

We made another mercy all-nighter trip north. Sister Bell had been talking with a Sister in Ocotal about pain in her abdomen most of the day. Finally, in the late afternoon, with the pain getting worst, Sister Bell felt strongly that she needed to come to Managua for possible appendicitis. We called Elder and Sister Koelliker in Esteli and asked them to drive to Ocotal to pick her and her companion up and begin driving south. While they did this, we headed north. We met them at the Koellikers home about 10:30pm. We loaded them up and headed back to Managua. We got to the hospital in the early hours. The doctor diagnosed appendicitis and was operating by 5:30am. We stayed until she was out of recovery and in her hospital room. Then we came home and slept a few hours. I was glad we were here to help her. It was a real blessing to have Elder and Sister Koelliker in Esteli, which made our midnight drive a little more bearable. Fortunately, the sister is doing well, resting and recovering.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

We both sleep good last night and feel relatively refreshed this morning. We decided to go to the Las Laureles ward this morning, partly because we had not visited this Ward and it is close to the hospital so it would be easy to go there after Sacrament Meeting. When we walked into the Chapel, Sister Batista, one of our missionaries from Dominican Republic got a big smile and gave Sister Bell a big hug. The member of the Bishopric who conducted welcomed Sister Bell and I from the pulpit. This happens more Sundays than it should, but they think the Senior Missionaries are something special. We sat next to on older man… well he is probably our age…. That must make us old too. He is a recent convert of about 4 months. I think he was glad we sat next to him; he was very friendly and we visited very easily.

Our sick Sister was supposed to be released this morning, but we got a text during Sacrament Meeting that she is having more pain than should be expected and they want to keep her in the hospital for another day. So we went to the Gospel Essential Class. I sat next to an investigator who asked some very probing questions. Hopefully, we answered them to his satisfaction.

We visited with our Sister Missionaries who are in the hospital after lunch. We took them copies of the September Liahona, which they were very appreciative of. We got to visit with the Doctor. He seems to be very skilled and speaks English, which he learned in Belice. It is now 3:30 pm in the afternoon. We are home, which never happens on a Sunday afternoon, relaxing, studying and maybe I might take a nap…..