Monday, January 1 to Sunday, January 7, 2018

Monday, January 1, 2018 – Happy New Year

President Poncio invited us to lunch as a farewell to Elder and Sister Koelliker and Elder Hamson, all who will be going home tomorrow. We love these missionaries. Elder and Sister Koelliker have become very good friends. We appreciate their hospitality almost every Saturday night, when we stayed in their home in Esteli. They have worked hard to activate members and support new members in Esteli and Condega. Elder Koelliker served as branch president of the Rosario Branch for many months. We love them and will miss them.

We met Elder Hamson in Somoto, when we began working there. He was a brand-new missionary there. He then served as financial secretary for 8 months, so we worked closely with him then. He has been a zone leader since he left the office. He is a wonderful missionary. He is going home early to begin school at BYU.

After lunch, we were invited to join the President, his family and those missionaries leaving for an afternoon excursion. He first headed for Catarina, but the traffic was so bad, we turned around and headed for Granada. The traffic was bad there also, but we finally found places to park and walked around the main park. There were a lot of people, celebrating the new year, with music and dancing. The Catholic Church was holding a mass or concert in the main Cathedral, so the plaza was packed with people. The Koelliker and Elder Hamson bought a few gifts at the markets, then we headed home. With the Koellikers, we ate at Rosti Pollo before arriving home. We enjoyed our little outing, but most of all, we enjoyed being with the Koellikers and Elder Hamson, one last time.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Today we said goodbye to our good friends, the Koellikers. We took them to the airport arriving at 6am, helped them get checked in, took a picture and said our goodbyes. We love the senior missionaries we serve with. They have become good friends. We will miss them.

After going to the airport, we went back home. David and I went to INE to file a complaint about our light bill, but we were told we needed to file 2 complaints with Disurru, the power company. We had only filed 1 complaint for Novembers bill. So we drove to the Disurru office and filed a complaint for Decembers bill. Now we wait for more inspections.

We made it to the morning office meeting. We were greeted by several missionaries who were part of an emergency change. We learned who was transferred during our office meeting. We worked in the office for a couple of hours, waiting for lunch. The President took us to a Mexican Restaurant – Ajua. It is a lot like Café Rio.

We ran home to take laundry off the line, then we went to Sinsa to pay our rent. I talked with Yareny’s, our housing contact. I informed her that we would be moving out March 13. We talked about the light bill and how to cancel light, water and internet. Then we went to the office. We are working on how to get a package sent by the Church that contains 2 Epipens out of customs. Roger Perez from the Church’s administrative office has been given the assignment to get the package out of customs. I was afraid I would have to do it again. We started gathering some of the information he will need.

We had dinner at the Helbergs tonight. That is always enjoyable… but we are really tired tonight.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018 - Happy Birthday Kanika

We were really tired this morning, so we slept in until 6:30am. Michelle did wash before we left. We walked around a new park being built just a couple of blocks from our home. 

We were about to leave when the man from the power company and 3 men from Sinsa came to check the power. The power company man did a quick inspection, like he did before. He said more people will come by within 5 days to do a more thorough inspection. The Sinsa men (3 of them) did a much more thorough inspection. Apparently, the fix they did last week was still working, which is good. They couldn’t find any other obvious problem. But they plan to return several times to determine the usage.

We went to the office. The leaders were having their council meeting. I had distribution items for several of them and Sister Bell wanted to be available in case any wanted to talk about health issues. We got a free pizza for lunch, since they had extra and we were there.

We loaded up packages, so I can deliver them at the upcoming zone conferences and then headed for the Distrubition Center. We have more orders for garments, etc.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

We started early, leaving the house at 5:30. We stopped at the office to pick up more packages and then headed for Esteli. Sister Bell gave a presentation about feet. I did the color commentary and then we gave them a test about the material presented, with chocolate being the reward if they knew the answer. We ended singing Ocho Vasas de Agua. President Poncio showed a short tribute to President Monson. We will miss him, especially his example of service and his stories. We look forward to the Presidency of President Nelson.

We stayed until after lunch so I could give out materials and Sister Bell could give council to sick missionaries. We left about 2:30 and drove to Chinandega. We stayed at Las Portales, a nice hotel next to Rosti Pollo. 

Friday, January 5, 2018

We had out multizone in Chinandega today. It was nice to sleep in and not have to drive 3 hours to the conference. Our presentation went well. Chocolate always improves a presentation. The fotos of bad ingrown toenails got everyone’s attention. Hopefully, it will help.

We stayed to the end as we had to give out packages, letters and materials. We also brought Hermana Fersola home because President Poncio was staying in Chinandega for the week-end to attend a stake conference.

After dropping off Sister Fersola, we went to the hospital. We had an Elder come from Puerto Cabeza on the noon flight. Elder Howell, stayed with him for most of this afternoon. When we stopped by, he was resting comfortably in his room. We taught Elder Howell how to order dinner, left them some money for food for his companion and went home.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

We were at the hospital a good part of the afternoon and went back again in the evening. 

Sunday, January 7, 2018

We went to Church at the closest ward which is in the south mission. It is the same ward that the Helbergs go to. It started at 8am. There were very few people at 8am, but they started anyway. People began to come in before the sacrament and a bunch came in after the Sacrament was over. I was impressed that they closed the door during the Sacrament, so people had to wait in the lobby while the Sacrament was passed.

We left early so we could visit with our missionary in the hospital. We then left for Trinidad. We got there just after noon. President Cruz was still at the Church. So was Karen. So we went to the chapel first. We showed Karen the used clothes we got from the sister missionaries. She picked out several, which will help her upgrade her wardrobe. She is really excited and ready to go.

President Cruz told me that only three or four will be going; himself, his wife, Karen and possibly Dania. I also worked with the missionaries and President Alaniz in Somoto to help Azaria and possibly one other go to the temple. Azaria is all ready and excited. We thoroughly enjoy helping members get to the temple. That is one of the true joys of our mission.