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.
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.
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