Monday, September 19, 2016
We went to the Dental
Clinic at the Hospital Metropolitano this morning. We had a missionary who had
broken his retainer (which he shouldn’t have had in the mission) and needed it
fixed. So we made an appointment with an Orthodontists. We needed to go to pay,
since he hadn’t received money from home yet. When he got the money from his
folks, he would pay the mission back (the church does not pay for dental work).
So we went early and waited and waited and waited. Apparently, they got lost
and didn’t arrive until 9:30. The doctor had other patients to see in another
clinic, but was very gracious to wait for them. He removed the remaining parts
and set another appointment for later in the week. We were not happy with these
Elders. But we could have prevented this by making sure they had better instructions
on where the hospital was. So we quickly forgave them.
One of my assignments is
to help the locals (in the three Districts) prepare their mission papers. One
of the young men that I have been helping is Yunior Gonzalez from Jinotega. He
has been calling me about every few days since he sent his papers in late last
month. His call came today to the Facilities Management Office, so we went and
got it. We called him; he was so excited. We can take it to him on Friday
unless he comes up with another way to get it sooner.
I have another all ready
to go, a young woman from Matagalpa. All she needs now is an interview with the
President. We got another notice about another young man from Puerto Cabeza.
The area office has sent his application back twice with instructions that he
needs to see an Optometrist. His vision is not very good and he needs glasses. We
have another 20 or so in various stages of preparation.
Then we had to buy a new
car battery, since ours finally died. It cost $166 US for a three-year battery.
I am glad the Church reimbursed me for that expense.
Tuesday, September 20,
2016
This morning we had a “We
are in Nicaragua” experience. We had several things that needed to be done and
we outlined a very efficient way to accomplish them. They included helping the
Sister Leaders get their house ready for new mattresses that they would be
storing (30 minutes with travel time), picking up dirty sheets so Michelle
could wash them (1 minute), buying medicine for a sick Elder and delivering it
to him (30 minutes), dropping off a mission call at the office to be picked up
by a future missionary who was traveling to Managua from Jinotega (15 minutes
with travel time). We planned to be back at the office by 10 am. HOWEVER…. The
first change came when the future missionary, Yunior Gonzalez called and asked
if we could meet at a church by the airport. He was leaving early and would be
in Managua by 7:30am, so we agreed to meeting him at 8am. We left at 7:30 for
the normally 20-minute drive. We arrived at 8:30am. The traffic was terrible.
We then went to the Sister
Leaders house, but when we got there, we found out that they had a meeting and
couldn’t be at the house when the mattresses were supposed to be delivered, so
we agreed to be there and borrowed a key so we could get in. We did pick up the
dirty sheets and put them in the car. We then took the Sisters to Waspan,
(where we had been earlier to give Yunior his mission call) because we had time
before the mattresses were to be delivered. After we dropped them off, we
called our church contact to find out when the mattresses were to be delivered.
He said they had left and would be there at 10am. It was now 9:30, so we
quickly drove back to the Sisters Apartment. We waited….. and waited….. and
waited…… We called and were told they were 10 minutes away…. So we waited…. And
waited…. And waited. We called again and they finally realized they went to the
wrong neighborhood but were headed back to where we were. They finally arrived
at noon.
It didn’t take long to
unload, but we still had to buy medicine and drive back to Las Americas, which
is by Waspan, which is where we had been twice already this morning. We called
the missionaries, which by the way is another problem we will discuss at a
later date. They were still at the church, so we bought the medicine and headed
toward them. We found them walking to the bus stop. Success; the Elder got his
medicine and Sister Bell was able to give him instructions on how to use it.
Now we just had to get the keys back to Sister Walborn, the Sister Leader. She
was close at the Waspan Church. We called and she was still there but was
getting ready to leave… so we hustled over there in time to give her the key…. Finally,
we got everything done we set out to do this morning…. It just took us 4 hours
more than expected. Such is the life in Nicaragua.
By the way, Yunior is
going to Guatemala and leaves November 16. He will be a wonderful missionary.
Wednesday, September 21,
2016
We worked from home today
except for a trip to the store after lunch. Sister Bell had a tutoring session
with Whitney Allen, her MTC tutor. With the internet at the house, we can do
most everything we need to from home, except print.
Sister Bell washed sheets
from the Sister’s house and old white shirts from the Elder’s house. We will
take the white shirts and old ties to Pueblo Nuevo for new converts to use so
they can pass the Sacrament. She also had to sew on about 14 buttons. Someone
had taken some of the buttons from the shirts.
Thursday, September 22,
2016
This morning was clean out
day at the Office Secretaries house. There are 5 Elders who live there
presently, three Secretaries (one is leaving to be a Zone Leader in another
week) and 2 Assistants. They host the Elders when they come to town and are the
keepers of most of the supplies, many of which have become junk through age,
use or not functioning. So Sister Bell and I went over this morning at 8am and
began making a pile of junk on the street…. Old mattresses, frigs, fan parts, broken
bed frames, old magazines and worn out clothes. There was quite a pile. We had
Jonathan Estrada haul it away. I hope I can get out of bed tomorrow… my back is
already tightening up.
Sister Bell got her first
haircut in Nicaragua. She has been worried about this for some time and has
been putting it off for weeks. But today we did it. She went to the salon where
Hermana Collado went. She came out looking good. She said the best part was
getting her hair washed and head massaged. She said they took 20 minutes and it
was wonderful…. I wonder if they will wash men’s hair?
Lees are coming over for
dinner and games. I hope I win. (I did win…. That doesn’t happen very often)
Friday, September 23, 2016
Well it finally happened.
After not getting stopped by the police for almost 2 months, I got stopped just
out of Managua for crossing a solid line (which I don’t remember doing). He
gave me a ticket. It will cost me C$800 (about $28). I will need to find out
from Betty Castro how to pay it.
It was raining very heavy
on our way to Pueblo Nuevo. Therefore, we only had one Priesthood Holder brave
the weather and come to our Priesthood Preparation Class. We should have had 6.
So we taught the one…. We talked about Ministering of Angels. We gave him a
white shirt and tie (taken from the Office Secretaries house) so he can help
with the Sacrament on Sunday. After the lesson, we took the missionaries out to
dinner, or I guess they took us. They eat every night at a local restaurant, so
we went with them. We had carne asado, rice and cabbage salad.
We arrived at the
Koelliker about 9:30pm.
Saturday,
September 24, 2016
Sister
Bell taught Carelys and Maria Clara this morning in Trinidad. They are to a
point where it is getting alittle more difficult so they were alittle
discouraged this morning. After the lesson, we went to see the building that
the church is renting as the Trinidad Chapel. It is a home across the highway
from the baseball stadium. It is a nice size for this little branch with room
to grow. It will be a wonderful place for this little branch to worship. The
person in the picture is Luis Pereda , the first counselor in the branch
presidency.
Guess
where we had lunch?
We then picked up Elder Santizo and Elder Howland and visited their new
chapel (it is still a home and the Church is still working on the lease
agreement). They had not seen it yet, so the President and the Elders were
really excited as well. It should work out well, at least for a few years. It
is not as big as the Trinidad Building, but it is big enough for the members that
are there now.
We watched the General Women’s conference tonight at the Koellikers
home. We had the two sets of Hermanas with us. We watched it in English, but
had another computer on in the study that was broadcasting in Spanish. Only one
of the Latina Hermanas watched it in Spanish. I was very impressed with all the
speakers, but especially Sister Binghams insights about Charity and President
Uchtdorfs talk on Faith. We are looking forward to listening to general
conference next Sunday. We will watch it from home in English. We live in a
wonderful time, where we can be in Nicaragua and watch it live in the comfort
of our own home…. Or the Koellikers home.
Sunday, September 26, 2016
We started in Pueblo Nuevo for Sacrament Meeting. The number of members
in attendance is down from when we were there before. In fact, we have found that to be true with
the other branches we are working with as well. We are not sure why. We had brought
white shirts and ties. Two of the men that have been coming to the Priesthood
Preparation classes, put on white shirts and tie and then passed the Sacrament.
They did very well and felt very appreciative to beable to pass the Sacrament. I also talked. I showed pictures of the new
chapels in Trinidad and Somoto and told them that someday they will have a
chapel like that. I then talked about the things they need to do to prepare for
that day, such as read and pray daily, share the gospel with others, and serve
one another. We stayed for the Gospel principles class, gave the missionaries some
advice and then left for Condega.
We found a shady spot along the road to eat out 2-day old peanut butter
sandwiches. We tied in with Elder Spence and Thackeray in Condega in time to
visit an investigator and get the chairs for the meeting. Sister Bell led the
music and gave a talk about Family Home Evening. Then the Gospel Principles
class was taught by Rosa, a new member. She is a young mother who has a strong
testimony of the gospel. She bore her testimony and told about how her mother
left when she was 4, how she joined another church but never left good about
it, had her baby and found the gospel. She is very happy and feels peace. We
also attended the RS and Priesthood meetings. They were taught by Noe Ramirez
and Suyapa, his wife. They had been called a few weeks ago as the Priesthood
and RS teachers. This was the only the second week to have separate Priesthood
and RS meetings. In the Priesthood meeting, Noe taught about Priesthood Keys. I
was glad I was there, because I was able to explain about Priesthood Keys. After
church, we helped the missionaries return the chairs, gave advise and left for
Esteli.
We eat Lasagna at the Koellikers and got about about 9:15pm.
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