Monday, May 1 to Sunday, May 7, 2017

Monday, May 1, 2017

We attended the office meeting, spent the morning in the office and worked from home in the afternoon.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

The leader council was today so all the zone leaders and sister leaders were in town. We were able to visit with them before the meeting. We gave the Puerto Cabeza Zone Leaders instructions on inspecting the homes of the missionaries and Sister Bell was able to talk to several that had health problems. We left the office mid-morning to run a few errands, such as shopping and going to the bank. In the afternoon, we met Sisters at the hospital for a doctors appointment. All was fine. We took them to dinner (Tip Top) and then to the bus station.

Later that evening, we received a call from one of the sisters we had sent back to their home.  The one who had the doctor appointment was fine, but the other sister had severe stomach pain in the car and fainted.  She went to the hospital in Condega and was diagnosed with a stomach bacteria.  She had medication IV and stayed overnight in the hospital for observation.  Never a dull moment!

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

This morning our sick sister in the hospital was fine so we continued with our travel and teaching plans.  

We drove to Esteli to talk to the Esteli zone about keeping their casas clean. They really liked the muffins we brought.

We then had some free time in the afternoon, so we went to a little garden, called “La Casita”. We had some bread, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and passion fruit juice for lunch then walked around the gardens. I bought Sister Bell a small cactus plant for Mother’s Day.

WE went to the local museum, which took about ½ hr to walk through. I would have gotten through it in about 10 minutes but I took my time so as to not hurry Sister Bell.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

We went to the Ocotal zone meeting, gave muffins (which they loved) and taught about why they should keep their homes clean. We gave the leaders the responsibility to check the apartments when they are on divisions.

On our way home, we stopped in Condega for lunch. There is a little restaurant that makes wonderful smoothies. Sister Bell loves the Pina Cola and I usually order a mixed fruit or a strawberry smoothie. The food is good too (and besides they have nice bathrooms, which you don’t always find here).

 We stopped at La Casita again and purchased three more cacti, one for Hermana Lee, one for Hermana Helberg and one for Hermana Poncio. Mother’s Day is coming up. We will stop and get another one for Hermana Koelliker on Saturday.

We got a skype call from Roxanne. Dad was having problems and they took him to the hospital. The doctors think he might have had a seizure. They will keep him in the hospital for a few days. Our prayers are with you, dad.

We went over to the Helbergs for dinner. The Lee’s were there also. After dinner (shepherd’s pie) we played acouple of hands of golf.

Friday, May 5, 2017

It rained hard for about 6 hours last night. There was a lot of lightning and thunder. It kept Michelle up for several hours while I slept right through it. We were concerned what it did to our grand-doves in the back yard. We were very happy when we found them both alive and growing. Addie wanted to name the baby dove, Wilma. This is because they caught a baby rabbit and named it Fred. Now we know we have twins, we have decided to name them Bambam and Pebbles. Hope you are ok with this name change Addie… .

We spent a good part of the day at the hospital. Two missionaries had doctor appointments. After the final appointment, we took the two sister missionaries to lunch, shopping and then we took them home. We also made a dentist appointment for another Elder, which he had in the afternoon.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Today was a long day, but it could have been longer. We changed the piano lessons to the afternoon so we didn’t have to leave as early as we normally do. We were in Sebaco for lunch so we invited Hermana Knowlton and Ingram to meet us for lunch. We eat at the Galeano Buffet. Jaime, is the cook and one of their investigators. We gave the missionaries his reference about 6 months ago, but the missionaries have not been able to find him very often. He said he plans to go to church tomorrow. He also said that his mother is a member in Costa Rica, which is one reason he is interested in the Church.

Sister Bell gave a lesson to Maria Clara in Trinidad after lunch. She also has a new student, Karol Linneth, who is 12 years old.

We then went to Somoto. We taught our first Leadership lesson. Those in attendance were the missionaries, President Alaniz, Leslie (Primary President), Christain (YW President) and Natalia (RS president). We taught Chapter 1 in Manual 2. It is about families and the Plan of Salvation. We thought the lesson went well. We plan to teach 6 lessons to prepare leaders, using Chapters 1-6 in Handbook 2.

We went to Pueblo Nuevo to teach the same lesson, but we didn’t feel that they were ready for leadership lessons. We had 5 there; Hermana Nubia, Dania, Hilario, his granddaughter and his dog. We decided to teach about Patriarchal Blessings, since Hilario is ready to receive his.

We got to the Koelliker's about 9:30.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

We had another long day. We left the Koellikers at 7:30am. We went to Church in Pueblo Nuevo. There is a small group of solid members; Hermana Nubia, Dania, Hilario, Augustina and several new members; Maybelline, Blanca, Arelicia.  Elder Wight and Meneses are the missionaries there. Elder Wight conducted Sacrament Meeting, then taught Primary. Elder Meneses taught SS and Priesthood. Dania taught RS. There is a lot of love in this little group, but we need more Priesthood for this little group to become a branch.

We went to Condega to teach a leadership class. We had a good group including Noe, Suyapa, Freddy and Rosa. The missionaries, Elder Howland and Russell were also there. We taught chapter 1 in Book 2. It was well received. Afterward, we went by Augner and Abigail’s home. Augner is a returned missionary, who has been inactive for several months. They want to come back to Church and we sure need them. We knew them several months ago, but lost track of them when they moved. Elder Howland and Russell found them several weeks ago. They were happy to see us again as we have been in their homes several times.

We got home about 7:30 pm, tired and ready to relax.