Monday, September 12, 2016
Today was moving day, not
for us, but for missionaries. We have three new apartments in Managua. We hired
Jonathon Estrada to take beds, stoves, frigs, etc. from the Assistants and the
Sister Leaders home to the three new apartments in the city. Sister Bell and I
arrived at the Elder’s home about 10am and began to remove items that we needed.
I was sweaty and dirty after we got done loading the truck. Then we stopped at
the house to have lunch and pick up a few extra items. We then went to Villa
Flor to drop those things off. We found the zone leaders and then took three
missionaries across town. We stopped at La Colonia to buy a few groceries and
stopped briefly at the office. We were going to go to the airport tonight to
greet the new missionaries but we needed to get ready for the new missionary
meeting tomorrow, so we didn’t go.
Tuesday, September 13,
2016
Yesterday and today, 23
new missionaries came to the mission. We had our new missionary training. There
were several highlights. Sister Bell and I were really impressed when the new
missionaries and their trainers sang “Called to serve”. It was truly powerful.
At the end of a morning of
training, the new missionaries met their trainers. The trainers came into the
chapel and the President introduced a trainer and introduced their companion.
They hugged, everyone cheered and a picture was taken. It was really exciting.
At the end, the President looked at Sister Bell and I, who were sitting in the
back of the chapel and told everyone that we didn’t have a companion change.
When we heard that, Sister Bell and I cheered and then kissed. That got
everyone cheering, clapping and laughing. Only certain companionships can
kiss…. And I am glad we are one.
When we got up this
morning we found that we didn’t have any water. We do have a backup tank that
feeds the four houses on the compound. However, the city water was off. We
asked Salvador about this and he showed us the leak on the street in front of
our house. There was a steady stream of water flowing down our street.
Apparently a big part of our block was out of water. Yesterday when we got home,
there was a ditch dug across the street and men were installing four water
lines to our compound, instead of one. Apparently our landlord wanted to
install four separate emergency tanks of water instead of the one we share with
the others on our compound. Apparently the connection didn’t hold. We called
the Lees and they invited us to shower at their house, so we grabbed our towels
and went to the Lees. We fully expected it to be fixed during the day, but we
live in Nicaragua…. So we were disappointed but not surprised when we got home
tonight and found the leak had not been fixed. The next two days are holidays
so I doubt it will be fixed before Friday. We have a little water from our
emergency tanks but that won’t last long. So we will be trying to use little
water for the next few days.
Wednesday, September 15,
2016
It was a normal day, doing
things in the office, delivering a frig to some missionaries, etc. until about
5pm when we were leaving the office. We got a call from a missionary in Cuidadela,
about 30 minutes north of Managua. He was complaining of coughing up blood. So
we told him to get a taxi and head to the hospital in Managua. We met them at
the hospital. His companion also has had feet problems and had an ingrown toe
nail, so we ordered a payment guarantee for him as well…. We figured we might
as well get them both taken care of. The one was diagnosed with a respiratory
flu and the other had his ingrown toe nail taken care of. But by the time we
got medicine and then took them back to their house, and back to ours, it was
2:30am. Another long night.
Thursday, September 15,
2016
WE HAVE WATER…. All is
well again in Nicaragua.
We slept in until 6:30am…
I wanted to sleep more but couldn’t so we got up and walked…. Well actually
Sister Bell got a phone call from a missionary who needed her and charted for a
little while before we walked. The exciting part was when we turned on the tap
and found we had water again…. That was a great way to start the day.
We spent the morning
gathering or at least looking for items for our ailing missionaries in Ciudadela.
We finally gathered them all up and delivered them about 12:30pm. We got to
their front door, but no one was home. A cute 16-year-old member girl, who
lives down the street, helped us track them down. They were eating at their
lunch appointment. After they finished lunch, we went back to their apartment
and Sister Bell taught the Elder with the foot problem how to clean his foot
and reapply the bandage. This Elder is a big, soft spoken, gentle and humble
missionary. He doesn’t say much, even in teaching situations, but the members
of the branch just love him. He doesn’t socialize very well either, but I think
Sister Bell has connected with him and he has appreciated the help we have given
him. When we left, he came to the door and waved as we drove away. Again, we
had that sweet spirit that comes when we serve as Jesus would have served.
Friday, September 16, 2016
The Koellikers came to
town today and we all had dinner at Lee’s. Sister Lee had us play a game where
we have to guess what our spouse would say to various questions, such as “What
is a phrase your spouse says a lot”, and where is her favorite food and
restaurant. I thought we did pretty good. But I have to admit I am learning a
lot about Michelle being on a mission with her and spending so much time doing
this together. I should have been more observant over the years and I would
have been a better husband.
Saturday, September 17,
2016
The volcano was not as
impressive as it was the time before, partly because it was hard to see the
lava through the vapor. They only let us stay for 5 minutes because of the
exposure to the vapor.
When we got home, we were
greeted by a full rainbow. This is the
view from our bedroom.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
We are not in Managua very
often on Sunday so we talked where we should go to church. I wanted to go to
the La Catorce Ward to see Hermana Golding. She is one of the two missionaries
in the MTC that were going to Nicaragua. We have a special bond with her and
haven’t seen or talked with her for a while. We arrived at 8:45am, thinking we
had 15 minutes before church started. But we walked in and they were already
giving talks…. We realized that they started at 8am. This has happened to us
before. Since we wanted to take the Sacrament, we left and went to Villa Flor.
They too had started at 8am, but another Ward, Villa Venezuela was going to
start at 10am. So we sat through the rest of the meeting. Villa Flor is a large
ward, with 4 missionaries serving in the Ward: Elder Walker (ZL), Elder Pineda
(ZL), Hermana Cruz (ST) and Hermana Lord (new this week). After Church Sister
Bell met a young woman who was there visiting with her finance. He is from
Salvador and served his mission in Nicaragua. She is from Nicaragua and served
her mission in Salvador. They met while he was in Nicaragua on vacation after
his mission. Sister Bell found out that she is a doctor and has a small clinic in
Ciudad Sandino, which is on the outskirts of Managua. She would love to serve
the missionaries, is willing to accept our insurance and is fluent in English.
There was a reason why we needed to be in Villa Flor today.
We stayed for the Villa
Venezuela ward meetings with Hermana Ruiz and Munoz. We went to the hospital to
be there when our Elders from Thursday night came for their follow-up visits,
then home for the rest of the day. It feels nice not to be traveling 4 hours
this afternoon to get home. But on the other hand, I miss not being with the
Saints in the north. I feel like they really need us and we are making a
difference.
Thank you. You are angels amongst us💕😇
ReplyDeleteI can't get over how young you all look!
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