Monday, December 11 to Sunday, December 17, 2017

Monday, December 11, 2017

Oh what a day. We attended our weekly planning meeting at the office this morning. Then we headed to the hospital. We had 5 missionaries come for various doctors appointments. We arrived about 11am and finally left at 5pm. We fed 4 missionaries. Two missionaries used our computers to write their families, while we eat in the restaurant. Sister Bell attended 3 doctors visits and I went to one. We were glad we didn’t have to cook tonight because the Helbergs invited us over for dinner. But after dinner I had to take crutches to Ducuali because a sister needs to see the doctor for an ingrown toe nail. We are bushed tonight.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

We had our Christmas Party for the three zones on the west side. We drove early to Chinandega. We did the 12 days of Christmas for our health message, but instead of using the regular words, we changed them to various breakfast options. We divided the group into twelve smaller groups and assigned a day to each. When it was their turn, they stood up and sang their part. The missionaries really got into it and had a lot of fun. Here is some of the photos from today.

Hermanas Inestroza, Castejon y Gunn

With the Poncios

With Hermanas Mendez y Villeda. 

We held a soccer tournament. Leon won. We went to Maxi Poli and bought 72 bottles of water. After playing soccer and volleyball, everyone needed a drink.

We also had a wonderful Turkey dinner, with mashed potatoes and gravy, lettuce salad and tres leche cake. After the party, we drove to Esteli and checked into the Hex. We have another party tomorrow.

  

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

We held our Christmas Activity in Esteli today for the Esteli, Matagalpa and Ocotal zones. It was at the El Rosario Branch Chapel. Hotel Hex catered the lunch. We did the 12 days of Christmas – Health. Everyone had a good time with it.

We had another soccer tournament and played some volleyball

We had a turkey dinner, catered by the Hex Hotel. Sister Bell and I visited with the servers about the mission and our missionaries. We know several of them from our stays at the hotel. They were impressed with our missionaries.

We had a talent show. The highlight was Elder Bassetts magic show.

The highlight for us was when the Ocotal Zone invited Sister Bell and I to stand in for the zone picture. We were happy that they appreciate our work in Somoto and Pueblo Nuevo.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

We had the 3-zone conference in Managua for Bello Horizante, Villa Flor and Las Americas. We gave our 12 day of Christmas presentation. The Hilton catered the lunch. We had games and a talent show. 

Friday, December 15, 2017

We started at the office for the Change meeting. Changes are next week. We then took Sister Fersola home for lunch then we took her back to her area. The traffic was terrible and it took us forever to get across town. After dropping off Sister Fersola, we went to Pricesmart and then home.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

We had to go north through Jinotega so we could give Elder Price a new credit card and a new phone. Then we went to Somoto (it took 6 hours from Managua). We visited a few homes and then ended up at the Church, counting donations. Afterward we visited the Santos family with Elder Martinez and Davidson. We had dinner in Condega with smoothies. Elders Simpson and Bassett came in to get smoothies. So, we got to visit with them. We will begin to return to Condega next month, after the Koellikers go home.

Sunday, December 17, 2017

We went to Church in Pueblo Nuevo today. It was fun talking to Sister Nubia, Dania and Jose about their experience at the temple. They thoroughly loved the experience and want to go back in April with Maybelline. During the meeting, Elder Johnson got a call from the zone leader telling him of his change. He is coming to Managua. Elder Davidson, who is currently in Somoto, is coming to Pueblo Nuevo. The members are going the miss Elder Johnson. President Poncio has been thinking about taking the missionaries out of PN. They have had people come into their home and steal things. The missionaries have been looking for a new house, but can’t find anything suitable. It would be a sad day if the missionaries left.

I talked in Sacrament meeting, reminding the members of what President Poncio taught in the last District Conference; pray, study, FHE, temple and tithing. Sister Bell helped teach a Christmas song to the primary…. All two boys.

We then went to Trinidad and taught Karen the last temple preparation class. She is ready for interviews and plans to go in January. She has been getting some negative pressure from family and friends about her membership in the Church. We talked about some of the things she can do to overcome this pressure.

They held the annual horse regala in Esteli. Fortunately, the Koellikers warned us, so stayed away from the main highway as much as possible. We saw hundreds of beautiful horses, many white and grey. They say that many horses come from other countries. These are not the usual horse that we see every day pulling carts in the city. These are well breed horses that are well taken care of.