Today was President Poncio’s birthday. We held the office
meeting at his house. While President Poncio, the assistants and Hermana
Fersola had a planning meeting, Sister Bell and I went to the bank (deposit
donations from Somoto) and to the store. After dropping off the groceries, we
returned to the Presidents house for lunch and cake. It was a very pleasant
day, relaxing and eating.
Front row L to R: Hermana Gunn, Villeda, Fersola,
Jocelyn Poncio
Back Row L to R: Elders Ruiz, Adams, Diaz, Campbell,
Chinchilla
L to R: Elder
Ruiz, Chinchilla, Adams, President Poncio, Campbell, Diaz
L to R: Hermana
Gunn, Bell, Hermana Poncio, President Poncio, Joycelyn Poncio, Fersola, Villeda
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Today we spent most of the day with an Elder and 2 Sisters for doctor appointments. They both had their appointments at 11am. Sister Bell went with the
Sisters and I went with the Elder. They were all done by 11:30 so we took
them to Pricesmart for lunch. We bought a few items so we dropped by the house
to drop things off. While there, the missionaries and I had a short discussion
with Salvador, talking about of favorite parts of the Book of Mormon. We then
drove back to the office to drop them off and Sister Bell and I came home.
Sister Bell did wash today, so she will have ironing to
do tonight. We got a late-night call from another sister. Her companion was having symptoms that warranted her going to the hospital, so we met
them at the hospital at about 8pm. She had tests for a diagnosis and treatment
that helped her. Doctor Abdala was the
attending physician. She is LDS and a wonderful doctor. We took them home about
midnight and got home about 12:30pm. One of the nice things about these
late-night hospital runs is that the traffic is wonderful.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
We slept in until 6:30am… I was hoping to sleep in much
longer but it didn’t happen.
We planned to stay home today and work from home. But
Sister Bell got a call from a Hermana about a health problem. She was at
the zone meeting in Villa Flor so we went there to check her out. We bought
donuts on the way. She took care of her and 2-3 others (whenever Sister
Bell is around, there are always missionaries with health concerns). We passed
by the Multicentral mall for a few things (white shirt, clippers, shoes, cell
phone battery) and then went home for lunch. We stayed home the afternoon, but
went to the airport at 7pm to pick up Sister Johnson. She finally got her visa
and allowed to enter the country. She had been serving temporarily in
California. The President was out of town so we were asked to pick her up and
take her to the Sister Trainers house. We were happy to do that.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Happy Birthday Kaidin
We got up early to fix breakfast for the Sisters, who
live or were at the Sister Trainers house. There were 5 sisters,
Sister Johnson, Sister Gunn, Sister Hernandez (who was on divisions with Sister
Gunn), Sister Lopez and Sister Caballero. We cooked ham, blueberry pancakes and hash browns. We packed up the food and took it
to them. After breakfast, Sister Bell taught Sister Johnson the 10 commandments
of good health.
We then went to the hospital to be with a missionary who had an appointment for some tests and then to see the doctor. All was fine so we fed them and sent them on their way. We
spent the rest of the day at home, working. We did have repairmen come over to
recharge our air conditioner in our room. It is much nicer now.
Friday, September 8, 2017
We stopped at distribution, then to the store, then to
the office and then to Pricesmart to buy a cake. We are going to Helbergs
tonight for dinner.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
We left the house at 7:45am, arriving in Trinidad at
10:30am. Sister Bell gave Maria Clara a piano lesson, then we went to Yassers
home to talk about the responsibilities of the Elders Quorum President. We reviewed the responsibilities of an Elders Quorum
President. I suggested he focus on four things.
1. Attend
and participate in the branch PEC and branch Counsel meetings.
2. Take
charge in the Sunday Priesthood meetings. Teach, once in a while, especially
the first Sunday lessons.
3. Study
and begin organizing Home Teachers. I gave him lists of the men in the branch
and a list of all the members. We discussed who could be HT’s and possible
assignments. I encouraged him to discuss this with President Cruz. We will
review this next week.
4. Help
prepare prospective Elders. I gave him and copy of a seminar prepared to help
teach men their Priesthood duties.
We had lunch at Rosti Pollo in Esteli and then drove to
Somoto. We got there in time to practice with the branch choir who were
preparing to sing tomorrow in the branch conference. But no-one showed up other
than the missionaries.
We then prepared for Karol's baptism. Karol is one of
Hermana Zaida’s daughters. She has been going to Church almost every week for
19 months, but has never wanted to be baptized. Recently, she decided the Church was
true and the missionaries taught her the lessons again. She looked beautiful in
her baptismal dress. Sister Bell played
the piano for the service and I talked about the Holy Ghost. We served cake
that we brought from Managua.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
We had a very busy day, but a very uplifting one. We left
Esteli at 7:15am and drove to Pueblo Nuevo. The members were gathering together
at 8:30 to go to Somoto for Branch Conference. When we arrived, they were all
in the bus ready to go. We went to Pueblo Nuevo to get the chairs from the
Church. We also got hymn books. There were 15 members going to Somoto. We took
the missionaries, Elder Johnson and Ponce with us.
The branch conference was wonderful. President Rivera,
the District President, came and brought the District YW President. There were
60 people there, including the 15 from Pueblo Nuevo and 10 investigators. I had
the opportunity to confirm Karol. It was a privilege to do so, but one of the
most difficult things for me is giving blessings. That is because I am trying
to listen to the spirit, translate my feelings and do it in familiar tense. Sister Bell said I gave a nice blessing.
President Alaniz talked, then Hermana Nubia bore her
testimony. She talked about her experience of going to the temple. She
explained that she did not know how she was going to get the money to go. She
ended up selling her cell phone (she got another at a discounted rate three
days after she got back from the temple – a tender mercy) but was still short of cash.
She then explained that we (Sister Bell and I) offered to buy her temple
clothes (I remembered that the spirit prompted us to ask if we could help). This allowed her to have enough money to go. She gave a wonderful
testimony. One of the highlights was the branch choir. There were about 15, including the 4 missionaries that sang. They sang How Great Thou Art. Sister Bell accompanied. It was great and very spiritual.
I then had the opportunity to talk. I talked about the progress that
has been made in Somoto and Pueblo Nuevo in the past 18 months. Somoto is now a
branch, meeting in a church instead of in the Presidents house and Hermana
Zaida’s homes. Somoto has a RS, YW, Primary, 2 SS classes, YM and Elders
Quorum. Pueblo Nuevo has primary, SS, RS, YW and Elders that are being taught
by members. I explained that no one in the church receives money to lead or
teach and that the members do this. All are important in building the Lords
Church. I read 1 Corinthians, Chapter 12 where Paul refers to the Church as
a body and all parts of the body are important. I emphasized that everyone
there was needed and wanted. President Rivera was the last speaker.
Our regular Primary teacher was not there. Leslin, the
back-up teacher was there, but didn't have the lesson manual and therefore did not have a lesson prepared. Arelys, the Primary teacher
from Pueblo Nuevo was there but she hadn't prepared a lesson either. However, she was willing to teach the lesson she taught
last week. Sister Bell took the piano in to sing songs. Leslin had a coloring
activity for the children, so between the three of them, they had primary.
We took President Rivera and the YW President back to
Esteli. We had to stop in Pueblo Nuevo to drop off the chairs. President Rivera
wanted to know where they have Church so it was an opportunity to show him. We
found out that the YW President was born in a little town outside of Pueblo Nuevo.
We saw the house where she was born.
We also stopped at the Elders house in Condega so President
Rivera could see where church is being held. We didn’t go in because we stirred
up a bee’s nest outside the Elders house. We had bees everywhere; in the car,
in our hair, on our clothes, and in our clothes. The neighbors probably thought
we were on drugs or something, because we were all dancing around, waving our
hands and talking wildly. Oh those Mormons….. We got out of there as fast as we
could. Several of us got stung, but there were no after effects.
We arrived home at 7:30pm, very tired and glad to be
home.
No comments:
Post a Comment