Monday, January 22 to Sunday, January 28, 2018

Monday, January 22, 2018

After our morning meeting, we met Elders at the hospital for a doctors appointment. We then went to Pricesmart and the store. We also went to the Church office to get another phone charger for Sister Bell’s I-phone.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

I got a haircut, then came home. We spent the rest of the day at home. Sister Bell looked up the health history off all the new missionaries that are coming, at least those that we know about. This will help Sister and President Poncio to know a little about the health of their missionaries, even after we leave.

We hosted the Helbergs for dinner. Elder Helberg has been having some dental work and his mouth is really sore. Sister Bell cooked chicken noodle soup. This was very appreciated. Then we played a few hands of golf. Elder Helberg won several hands so he was feeling a little better when they left.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

We bought some medicine and then went to the office to make copies of things. We made a stop at distribution, then spent the afternoon at home.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

We drove to Leon this morning to give medicine to one of the Elders. Then we returned to Managua. We had lunch at Ole Verde, a nice restaurant in Las Colinas. Then we dropped off some refrigerators that we got from Leon to Jonathan. The missionaries said they don’t work, so Jonathan will take to the repair shop and have them checked. We went to Multicentral and bought new tennis shoes for me, Then home.

We got excellent news. One of the missionaries that is coming next week (from Australia) has had 1 ½ years of nurses training. She is bilingual. She is an answer to our prayers. Dr. Curtis thinks she will be able to help with the health workload after we go.  Sister Bell will be able to spend some time training her and another Latino missionary who has also had a year of nurse training.  They are companions, so together they will be very helpful to Hermana Poncio.  At least she won't have to try to do it all by herself.  

Friday, January 26, 2018

We held our change meeting today. Changes are Monday, with new missionaries coming in on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Sister Bell and I worked on our presentations for next week and for the next multi zone conferences.  This will be the last zone conferences that we teach in before we go home.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Sister Bell gave a piano lesson to Maria Clara in Trinidad. Maria Clara is playing a few simple hyms for prelude music.  She has stuck with it, even though it is hard for her.  We also delivered a new debit card to Elder Guerra. Someone had withdrawn money using his card, so his old one was cancelled, and we gave him a new one. 

We then went to Matagalpa to give a replacement debit card to Elder Taulapapa. His old card was left in a taxi and lost. We then drove our favorite road from Matagalpa to Jinotega. It is a 34 km windy road through the mountains. It is beautiful. In Jinotega we delivered garments to Elder Price, then drove to Esteli, arriving about 4:30. We checked into the Hex. Sister Bell prepared her weekly medical report for Elder Curtis.

We got done in time to go to the Noche de Hermanimiento in Condega with Elders Simpson and Carico. It was held at Noe and Suyapa’s house We held it in their front yard as there is not room in their house. Elder Carico taught a lesson about holding on to the iron rod. He had a rope tied from a tree. I held the other end. He had everyone go to one end and walk toward me, holding onto the rope. They had their eyes closed. He and Elder Simpson had put chairs in the way and they called out to everyone to leave the rope and come to them. They offered candy and money. None left. All arrived at the other end. We then read Lehi’s dream and explained what it meant. It was fun and effective.

We then took the Elders to eat. They said something that made us feel good. They said that the young missionaries have been impressed with us. They see us, especially Hermana Bell, learning to talk and even though we may not talk all that well, they admire us for trying. They also said that my Spanish is the best of all the older missionaries. That made us feel good.

  

Sunday, January 28, 2018

We went to church in Somoto. We took the toys and coloring books for the primary and delivered them to Yanelys and Azaria. The kids loved them. We gave the note to Azaria, the primary president. Thank-you Steve, Ginger and the kids.

We have great joy when we see the members participating in Church. We had two new members give talks in Sacrament Meeting. The talks were wonderful. We also noticed that more and more of the women are coming in dresses and the men in white shirts and ties. Brother Norman, who is the Secretary of the Mission and the coordinator for the seminary and institute came and talked. He talked about seminaries and institutes. He organized the seminary and institute classes. He called Azaria to teach the Institute class and Cristian to teach seminary. President Alaniz will need to find another YW President (Cristian) and Primary President (Azaria).

We took Hermanas Pacheco and Pimentel to Managua from Esteli. Hermana Pacheco is going home to Brazil this week, finishing her mission. She is the only member of her family, having been baptized about 4 years ago. A good friend introduced the gospel to her. She is not sure what she wants to do after her mission. I explained how I was led to my career and I assured her that the spirit will guide her along the correct path.

Hermana Pimentel, from Salvador, is going to Puerto Cabeza. She comes from a broken home. Her parents are separated. Her mother, dad, brother and sisters are all members, but the parents are now separated. Her older brother served a mission and her two sisters are planning on serving. We are amazed at the faith and dedication that many of the Latino missionaries have. Many come from broken homes and are members for just a few years and yet they have wonderful testimonies of the gospel. We have great hope in the future as we work side by side with the missionaries.