Monday, February 19 to Sunday, February 25, 2018

Monday, February 19, 2018

We divided and conquered today. We both attended the office meeting. Then while Sister Bell stayed at the office to train Sister Poncio and Sister Joyce, I went to the hospital to be with a couple of Elders. I took them to Pricesmart for lunch, then I took them to the bus station. I went back to the office, picked up Sister Bell, stopped at the store and we went home.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

We spent some time at the office, picked up 2 refrigerators from Jonathan (old ones that had been repaired) and then home. Sister Bell finished getting an updated list of the doctors we have used. I updated our housing spreadsheet and information about every missionary house to hand off to Elder Vaides.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

We left the house at 7:30 and returned at 5pm. We dropped off a refrigerator, mop, smoke alarm and checked for bed bugs at La Paz Central which is about 1 hour from Managua.  We didn’t find any. We determined that one of our sister missionaries was getting chigger bites, not bed bug bites. Then we delivered a chair and letter to the Elders in Sebaco (1.5 hours from La Paz Central). They were at an investigators house doing service by helping to dig a hole for the outhouse. The ZL’s and the whole district were there (Elder McCord, Elder Menezes. Elder Guerra, Elder Gonzalez, Elder Espinosa, Elder Nunley, Sister Curtis and Sister Flores). We took the sisters with us as we were going to their house in Dario. We ate lunch in Sebaco, then we delivered a debit card and a new phone to Elders Morrison and Smith in Matagalpa (1.5 hr. round trip). We then went to Dario to deliver a frig, a mirror, a phone and a package and letter for Sister Curtis (45 minutes from Sebaco). They enjoyed riding in an air-conditioned car that has shocks. Apparently, the taxis don’t have shocks and are very rough riding. We dropped the sisters off and came home (2 hr. drive from Ciudad Dario). We drove almost 500 kms today. While we were driving, Sister Bell had 8 consultations. Busy day.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

We started by going to a pharmacy to get medicine for a couple of missionaries. While Sister Bell was buying medicine, I got a haircut. I will miss the haircuts here, especially the washing and massaging of my hair and scalp. It is like having therapy for only $9. We went to the office. Sister Bell needed nursey money and I needed to update Elder Vaides with the deliveries I made yesterday. We went to lunch at Ajua Mexican Grill, made a quick stop at the store and then took the medicine to the Elders in Reparto Shick. We then picked up Sisters Joyce and Puac and went to the President's house. We received a new missionary today, Sister Sanchez from the Republic Dominican. She had visa problems and couldn’t come in with the last bunch of missionaries that arrived about 3 weeks ago.  Under Sister Bell's tutelage, Sister Joyce gave her the 10 commandments of good health. I took Sisters Fersola and Puac to their area. I returned to the Presidents house and after Sister Bell was done with the training, we took Sisters Joyce and Sanchez back to Ducuali. We got home about 7:30pm. We dined on homemade grilled cheese sandwiches.

Friday, February 23, 2018

We went to the sister leaders house to pick up a bed frame, a table, a chair, and a fan for Sister Sanchez. She has been assigned to Las Mercedes with Hermanas Arauz and Hawkins. They will be in a three-some. We took the three sisters back to their house and helped set up the bunk beds. We then stopped at the store and then home for lunch. We hosted the Helbergs tonight for dinner. We had spinach lasagna, salad, garlic bread and cake for desert. We played golf afterwards. Sister Bell came up with a different golf game. Instead of getting matches, we played for runs. The first person who got a full run of six (we were playing with 6 cards) won. It was fun to have a little variety.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Maria Clara’s lesson went well. We then had lunch at Rosti Pollo in Esteli then we drove to Somoto. We gave a package and deposit slip to Elder Charette and Elder Rodriquez. Then we met up with Elder Coxaj and Garcia to pay a fridge repair bill. Then we went to Pueblo Nuevo to teach a temple prep class. Javier, Arelys and Jose Alexander attended with the missionaries. That went well. We taught about the plan of Salvation and how the temple ordinances allow progression within the Celestial Kingdom. We stayed at the Hex.

Freddy and Virginia

Sunday, February 25, 2018

We went to Church in Condega. This will be our last visit to their Sunday meetings. We hope to teach one more temple preparation lesson to Freddy and Virginia next week. They are still planning on going to the temple in April. 

There were 17 people at Church today. Two were investigators. We took our keyboard, so Sister Bell played the piano for the meetings. Sister Bell and I talked. Sister Bell related a story told by Elder Alonso in the October General Conference. He told the story of how his friend's 4-year-old son was killed when he was hit by a car and how he and his wife forgave the young man who hit him. Sister Bell talked about the importance of forgiving. I had Christopher Ramirez, read the story of the 10 virgins. I then explained how we need to keep acquiring oil for our lamps and how to do it. I explained that we acquire more oil when we pray, attend church, pay tithing, serve, study the gospel, etc. This is a topic that I have talked about for the past several months, the importance of person spiritual preparation.

Elder Carico taught the Sunday School lesson about repentance, which related very well with Sister Bell’s talk. We gave the group the photo of Christ and a picture of the Honduran temple. Elder Ponce taught Primary. They only have two meetings, Sacrament meeting and SS/Primary.

We challenged the Ramirez family to prepare to go to the temple in October. We told them we are planning on being in Honduras October 9-11 if all goes well to attend the sealing of President and Sister Alaniz from Somoto. We told them it would be wonderful if they went at that same time, so we could witness their sealing as well. They accepted this goal. They have been members for about 5 years but have had a difficult time paying tithing.

We love the people in Condega and will miss them terribly. Our week-ends are a most enjoyable part of our mission.

Monday, February 12 to Sunday, February 18, 2018

Monday, February 12, 2018

We went to the hospital with Sister Joyce and her companion. Her companion had a doctor’s appointment and Sister Joyce was learning how to instruct missionaries who have doctor’s appointments. She learned how to order a payment guarantee, how to check in for a doctors appointment, where to go for doctors’ appointments, and how to get medicine at the pharmacy. It was a morning well spent.

I went to the bank and shopped. I bought sister Bell red roses for Valentines day. She got me dark chocolate kisses.

Joycelyn Poncio left for the MTC in Mexico today.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

We had our office meeting today. I worked with Elder Vaides on the house inventories. He has been calling all the areas to update our inventory. He found needs that had not been reported earlier, such as broken chairs, mirrors and closets. Sister Bell instructed Sister Joyce and Sister Poncio how to order a payment guarantee. They ordered one for a follow-up visit for one of our missionaries. We then took Sister Joyce, Puac and Fersola to their house. I had to get 4 chairs, a table and the last fan. I will give those out tomorrow at the multizone conference.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

We had our last multizone conference in Managua for the Bello Horizante, Villa Flor and Las America zones. We played our reverse Jeopardy game. We did it in the cultural hall because we were too rowdy. We shared our testimonies as we did in the other zone conferences.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

We installed smoke alarms at Rene Polanco, La Fuente, La Catorce and Ciudad Jardin. We then picked up the Helbergs at 2pm and we headed for Selva Negra, north of Matagalpa, for our last excursion. The Helbergs had not been there before. We arrived about 5:30, just as it was getting dark. Sister Bell and I  stayed in a little Bungalow. We ate dinner and then played 5 crowns. Michelle won, and I lost. The Helbergs were in the middle.  I had a hand of 272. That hurt…

Waiting for dinner

Home sweet home

Friday, February 16, 2018

We started with a short walk around the lake. It was very peaceful, but Sister Bell’s knee was giving her fits. We had breakfast with the Helbergs, then while Michelle rested her knee in the bungalow, the Helbergs and I went for a walk in the forest. We were hoping to see, or at least hear monkeys. But we didn’t hear any or see any. We did see a family of Coatimundi Racoons. The best compliment we heard today was when Elder Helbergs said, “I feel like I am really on a vacation”.

We left Selva Negra about 11:30am. We drove over the mountain (my favorite road in Nicaragua) to Jinotega. We met Elder Hodges and Garcia at the Church. We had a package for Elder Hodges. Then we went to lunch at El Tico in Jinotega. We then drove home, getting home about 5pm. It was an enjoyable little excursion. This will be our last little excursion here in Nicaragua. We are happy and sad about that. We have enjoyed seeing and experiencing the various beautiful locations in Nicaragua. It has helped us love this country even more.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

We had a good day. We started in Trinidad. Michelle said that Maria Clara had a good lesson. While she was teaching, I was across the street installing a smoke alarm in the missionary’s house. After lunch, we met Elders Ponce and Carico in Condega. We picked up Edgar and went to a small neighborhood outside of Condega to visit Edgars mother and sister. Edgar was baptized over a year ago. He has not been very active since his baptism. Today however, he was back to his old self, friendly, engaging and interested in the Church. We gave a lesson about the Plan of Salvation. Edger and his mother had a lot of questions. We enjoyed the lesson. 

Sister Bell and I talked with Freddy and Virginia about family history. We helped them begin to collect information about their ancestors in anticipation of their upcoming trip to the temple. We then attended the noche de hermanimiento. After which we drove to Esteli and checked into the Hex.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

We attended Church in Somoto. Pueblo Nuevo came because it was an area conference broadcast for all Central America. We had 64 attending; 29 from Pueblo Nuevo, 2 from the District (Pres. Herrera y Pedro Castillo, the District Secretary), Sister Bell and I and 31 from Somoto. We barely had enough chairs. We heard talks from Elder Achoa, Sister Eubank, Elder Christiansen and Elder Cook. Elder Achoa and Elder Christiansen talked in Spanish, but Sister Eubanks and Elder Cook talked in English. For some reason, the translations didn’t begin until half way through Elder Cooks talk. So Elder Charette got up and translated. His Spanish is excellent and he did a wonderful job. It was especially hard to translate for Sister Eubanks because she talked fast.

Elder Cook talked about the importance of helping the missionaries in the missionary work. He also talked about the importance of family history and temple work. Afterwards we counted tithing money and Sister Bell and I drove to the homes of Azaria and Sadia. We first went to the house of Azaria Perez. She had been sick. We had a nice visit with her and her mother. I was concerned about her because she had been called to teach Institute several weeks ago, but so far hasn’t taught a lesson. The Elders have been teaching Institute, to the few 2-3 that come. Azaria is also the Primary President and has started a new job. So I was concerned that she was overwhelmed. We found that she was sick and the doctor has told her to stay home and rest. She told us she received an email from President Poncio, telling her that he read her conversion story (I had sent her story to him to read) and was hopeful he could visit with her next time he is in Somoto. She also received an email from Sister Linda Reeves, from the General RS Presidency, asking out how she is doing. They met when she was in the US. We found her spirit and desire to serve strong. I was relieved. 

We then went by the President’s house. We had not seen Hermana Alaniz for several weeks. She was not at church today because she didn’t want to leave the house unprotected. We had a wonderful visit. Sister Alaniz and Sister Bell love each other and were so glad to see each other. After our visit we picked up President Herrera and Pedro and dropped them off in Esteli on our way to Managua. It was a long, full but very satisfying day. 

Monday, February 5 to Sunday, February 11, 2018

Monday, February 5, 2018

Today was an errand day. We went to the distribution center to buy items for missionaries and our little groups. We paid for a hearing test that one of our missionaries will take on Wednesday. It is a good thing we went, because we found that the time of the appointment had been changed.  We also went grocery shopping at the store and found stuffed animals for future babies (one in Trinidad and the other in Wyoming).  Pretty light day.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - Happy Birthday Grandpa Thomas

We had our office meeting at 11am this morning. We went to the office a little early, but when we got out of the truck, we realized that we had forgotten Sister Bell’s bag. All of her things, such as computer, notebooks, etc. were in the bag. There was not much she could do without her bag. After the meeting, we found out that a suitcase for Elder Packard, was brought to Managua from a friend of his parents. They were going to be in Managua for just a short period of time. So we left the office and drove across town to pick it up. They were very nice people. They own a hotel in San Juan Del Sur, which brings them to Nicaragua regularly. They invited us to stay at their hotel, but I doubt we will go back there before we leave.

We went to the Helbergs for dinner; meatloaf, baked potatoes, salad and ice cream. It was a wonderful meal. We watched a few youtube video of some of our favorite songs. We went home about 8pm.  It was nice to relax with friends.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

We had our last new missionary training today, with those still in training (last two changes). There was a wonderful spirit as they sang the opening song and recited the mission purpose, the mission culture and D&C 4. Some missionaries have been here for 7 weeks others for 1 week. The trainers also came. It is amazing the difference after 6 weeks. Elder Basure, who has been here for 7 weeks said that the first new missionary meeting he went to, he understood about 20% of what was said. Today, he said he understood about 80%. 

Sister Bell did something alittle different this time. She talked briefly about items of comfort she keeps in her purse. I, as always, provide the color comments. She then had the old new missionaries (7 weeks in the country) to come up and tell the group one health thing they learned during their time here. Everyone knew something different. Then we had the trainers come up and do the same. Then the new missionaries. All remembered something. It was very encouraging to us that they are learning how to stay healthy on the mission. We gave everyone a chocolate, which is always appreciated. We had a lot of fun with this activity.

I gave out DVDs and chargers to those who needed them. I still have two functioning DVDs and several extra chargers. I believe all the trainers now have functioning DVDs.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

We had the multizone conference in Esteli today. We left early and arrived in Esteli about 8:45am. Our presentation was “Jeopardy”. We had three missionaries come up front and sit in three chairs, one from each zone. The first person who stood up could give the question. It got pretty wild. We gave chocolate at the end to all.

We were asked to bear our testimonies. Sister Bell did wonderfully, speaking Spanish. She only needed help with a few words and phrases. I too bore my testimony. I talked about how we were inspired to keep Michelle’s nursing license active. We thought for many years, keeping her license active was because it helped Michelle help John with his health issues, but we now know that it was also to serve our mission in Nicaragua. We began looking at what we have done, while here in Nicaragua. Sister Bell has dealt with over 1000 cases of missionary illnesses, we have helped 10 people go to the temple and the kids have helped 22 members go to the temple. We are helping another 6 or 7 members prepare to go to the temple in April. Two of the 4 units we have been helping, are now branches. We now have SS, YW, YM, Primary, RS, Seminary, Institute, in some of these units. There has been progress.

We felt alittle like celebrities after the meeting. Many of the missionaries told us thanks for our efforts and many wanted pictures.

Part of the conference was to agree on a banner, moto and scripture for the “north region”.

Friday, February 9, 2018

We held our Multizone conference in Chinandega. Since we stayed at the Los Portables motel, we didn’t need to get up so early and travel 3 hours. We only had to drive 5 minutes. The Los Portables is very nice.

We handled our game a little different. It worked a lot better. Sister Bell was at the podium with Elder Mendez, asking the questions and being the judges. Sister Fersola kept score and I keep it all going and added a little color. We had the three contestants on the stand so that they could not be influenced as easily by the zonemates. The only thing, is that it is still very loud that we will move it into the cultural hall when we have the multizone in Managua next week.

We bore our testimonies again at the end of the meeting. Sister Bell talked about how Elder Perry answered a minister’s questions at the dentist’s office. She explained that he did very well, and we were very proud of him. She also related how the Leon Stake President (who was at the conference today), helped the AMOSCA hospital accept our insurance again, after denying it for several months. This happened about a year ago and was very important in improving medical services to our missionaries in the West.

Sister Bell had several medical consults. We were treated like celebrities again, with many of the missionaries wanting pictures. Sister Harding told us something that really made us feel good. She told us that it was very comforting to have Gringos in the mission to greet them and to help train them that first day. It gave her confidence that she would be OK. We left about 5 and got home about 7:30pm. It was a good day.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

We had David and his family over for lunch today, his wife (XiOmara Morales) and two daughters (16-Obed Francella and Dariana Graciela-12). Sister Bell cooked a turkey breast, mashed potatoes, corn, happy jello and I bought a cheese cake. We played UNO afterward and then we gave them the game. They had not played it before. It was a delightful time.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

We left at 6am to attend Church in Trinidad. This will be our last Sunday visit there. We love the members and have seen a lot of growth in individual members. Three families have been sealed and 7 people have received their endowments. More are preparing to go in April. I was asked to talk. I talked about the parable of the 10 virgins and the need to keep the oil in our lamps full. We also gave them a picture of the Honduras Temple that they can display in their chapel.

We also presented Steve and Gingers gift to the primary, toys, color books and crayons.

We also gave Carlyes a stuffed monkey for her baby. We explained our tradition of giving a stuffed animal to each of our children and grandchildren to put in their crib.

We attended the setting apart of Jocelyn Poncio as a missionary to Mexico. We were honored to be invited to participate. Afterward, we were invited to have a light meal at the Presidents house. 

Monday, January 29 to Sunday, February 4, 2018

Monday, January 29, 2018

We didn’t have our weekly office meeting as the President was touring with the missionaries that are going home this week. We spent most of the day at home. We did make a trip to the bank, store and distribution center.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

We had 14 new missionaries come in last night and today. We were supposed to have one more, but she got held up with a visa problem. We are not sure when she will come. There were 5 English speakers, 4 sisters and 1 Elder. One was from Australia. The rest are Latinos from Guatemala, Honduras and Salvador. 

We held our last new missionary training. We started the day talking briefly to the trainers, emphasizing the need to set the example and help them learn and follow good principles of health.  Since we began talking to the trainers, we have not had as many new missionaries get sick with preventable illnesses, especially stomach problems.

We then taught the 10 commandments of health to the new missionaries and Sister Bell had a private conversation with each one to discuss any health issues. We made a run to a local pharmacy to get medicine for one of them and gave medicine from Sister Bells med box to another. It was a full day.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

I started by getting a new bed from Villa Venezuela (Sisters) and taking it to Los Laureles (also sisters). I installed new smoke detectors in each apartment. Sister Bell stayed home and did the wash.

After lunch I paid our rent and stopped at Pricesmart. I updated my housing inventory spreadsheet today and a few other misc. things. All in all it was a light day. Sister Bell talked to several missionaries and then updated emed. 

Our neighbor got home from the hospital today. She had surgery. Sister Bell made Chicken Noodle soup and we took it over to her. A little bit of neighboring kindness.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

I took the car in for service this morning. Then we went with the Helbergs to Huembas and spent several hours shopping for gifts for the grandkids…. Sorry sons, daughters, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law… only the grandkids get gifts.

We then went to a Brazilian steak house, similar to Rodizio Grill in the states. But here you pay by the pound. It was very good, especially the pineapple and mint juice. The Helbergs then took us back to the dealer to get our car and we came home. It was a nice day out.

Friday, February 2, 2018

I started about 7am, (leaving Sister Bell at home to do wash) to visit 5 missionary apartments. Mostly to replace smoke alarms. We have about 20+ missionary apartments without smoke alarms. We find that they go off frequently without cause, so the missionaries deactivate them. Therefore, we are having to replace them regularly. Most of the apartment are small, dark and frequently will be dusty or the fumigators will fumigate and the smoke alarm thinks it is smoke. My first stop was to the Sister Leaders house. I needed to pick up a table, used clothes (the sister missionaries who are going home usually leave a lot of their clothes. We pick it up, sort it and take it to our little groups and branches for those who are going to the temple and need modest clothes) and a DVD player that doesn’t work. 

I then went to Bello Horizante. I didn’t know where their new apartment was located, so I met them at McDonalds. They (H. Orellana y Lopez) hadn’t eaten yet so I treated them to breakfast, then we went to their house. I was going next to the La Catorce but when I called them, they were already gone. I called Elder Baxter in Villa Flor but they too was gone. Finally, I got Elders Arias and Bashore home in Reparto Shick, so I went there and installed a new smoke alarm.

I went home, picked up Sister Bell and we went to the office. The leader counsel was going on and we wanted to touch base with the zone leaders during their lunch. I had asked them to bring me surplus DVD players. I got two. We have 23 trainers that need DVD players. The zones only have 17 DVD players that work.  So we are needing at least 6 more DVD players. I scrounged 7 extra DVD players and 6 chargers. But as I worked on them, I found that only two of the chargers worked and three of the players worked. We can’t buy DVD players in the country. No one carries DVD players because it is old technology. 

Saturday, February 3, 2018

We bought donuts and gave them to the gasoline attendants in Sebaco. We also gave one of them a Book of Mormon with my testimony written in it. He accepted it with a big smile on his face. He helps us almost every time we stop there, which is several times a week when we drive north. 

We stopped in Trinidad so that Sister Bell could give a piano lesson to Maria Clara. Then we installed a smoke alarm in El Centrol in Esteli. Afterward, we took a table and broom to Elder Simpson in Rosario. We taught Freddy and Virginia more about the temple in Condega. We showed a short video about the temple and answered several of the questions. We taught about doing work for those who have died, why we do it. We taught from D&C 138 about how the Savior organized a missionary force in the spirit world, while we do ordinance work in temples. Next lesson we will help them begin to gather family history information to take to the temple in April.

We then drove to Somoto and attended the English class and the first institute class. Elder Charette taught English class. I enjoyed sitting in and participating. They had 6 people. The Institute class was taught by Elder Perez (Azaria did not teach). Three young adult sisters attended. It was a good class about the Book of Mormon. We found out tonight that Catalina is going to Spain next Monday to be a nanny to a Nicaragua family. We will miss her. She was one of the first members baptized in Somoto. She is a beautiful young woman. We wish her well.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

We visited Pueblo Nuevo this morning. Hilario conducted. He had been called as an assistant group leader. This was the first time to conduct and he did very well. He is very soft spoken, so it was a little hard to hear him, but since I was on the front row, I could tell he was doing fine. Elder Davidson was sitting next to him and helping him.

Hilario

Javier blessed the Sacrament again today and Jose passed. We gave coloring books and crayons to the primary. The had two boys today, Areyls two sons. They began immediately coloring. Areyls is the primary teacher and gave a good lesson. Sister Bell went in to help with the music. So, they sang a couple of songs.

Elder Davidson is calling Javier to teach the Priesthood lesson. Hilario was the Priesthood instructor before his new calling. Things are progressing in Pueblo Nuevo.

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