Monday, January 30 to Sunday, February 5, 2017

Monday, January 30, 2017

Happy Birthday to our sweet granddaughter, Addie.  She is eight years old today and we are so proud of her as she is growing up.  She is a very sweet and precious daughter of God.

This morning at 6:00 am as I was waking up, I had the impression that we should help Sister Amado.  She and her companion were supposed to be in Managua for a follow-up visit with her doctor after surgery 2 weeks ago.  She should have come last night and stayed with the sister trainers so it would be easy to get to the hospital.  She had an appointment for 9:00 am.  Scott and I went walking and when we returned, there was a message on our phone from her asking where the hospital was.  This was about 6:30 am.  I knew something was wrong, because it was so early, so I called her.  She and her companion had missed the bus last night and had caught the 3:00 am bus this morning and made the three-hour trip to Managua.  They were at the bus station and did not have enough money to pay a taxi to take them to the hospital.  They had asked about the location of the hospital, because they thought they could take buses to reach the hospital.  I told them that we would be there as soon as we could to pick them up and take them to the hospital.  Sister Amado was very relieved and we finished getting ready, made some cream cheese and jam bagel sandwiches for them, and picked them up at the bus station on the other side of town.  Then we drove back across town to the hospital. We were a little late, but so was the doctor. She had a clean report from the doctor and then we took them to lunch at Quiznos, and put them back on the bus to Jinotega.  It seems like a little thing, but that prompting I heeded this morning made it easier to be ready to help the sisters.

We had the Monday office meeting today at 2:00.  Then Scott and I went grocery shopping.  Scott fixed a lovely chicken-broccoli-cheese-rice casserole and we finished the day off with a Happy Birthday Song via Skype with Addie.  She was so excited.  She had her ears pierced today and had tiny gold earrings in each ear.  She got a sticker from her teacher and had lunch with her mother.  She finished off the little party with presents from each of her brothers.  She is one special young lady and we love her so much.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

I had a few minutes to sit on our porch early this morning, just enjoying my surroundings. The sky was lit up with brillante yellow, the birds were singing and the national bird of Nicaragua flew past our house to the surrounding woods. It is the Turquoise-browed motmot (guardabarranco). Here is an artistic rendition of this beautiful bird.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

We spent the morning with Sister Caishpal, from El Salvador. She and her companion, Sister Romero, work in Esteli. They were in Managua for a Leaders meeting for Sister Romero. While Sister Romero was in the training, we took Sister Caishpal to a Doctor’s appointment at the Hospital Metropolitano. We then took her to lunch and back to Waspan. We then made a run to a local pharmacy to get medicine for another missionary and then headed for home. Sister Bell is getting a cold, so we went to the house early so she could rest.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Today is a sick day for Sister Bell and a moving day for Elder Bell. Sister Bell has a terrible cold so she stayed home all day resting. We are moving the office from the Discovery Building to the Waspan Chapel.

The Waspan Chapel is in the northeast part of town, very close to the airport. We are now in the south of town. It is about a 30-minute drive, depending on traffic. Our new offices are in the back of the Las Americas Stake center. They have remodeled the back part for our offices. This will save the Church a lot of rent money, thus the reason for doing it. We won’t have as much space as we had before, but we will make it work. I suspect Sister Bell and I will work from home more.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Today was similar to yesterday except we unpacked boxes in our newly remodeled offices in the Waspan Chapel. Sister Bell is still sick and stayed home and rested.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Still at home with Sister Bell who is now taking an antibiotic.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

I went to Church in Villa Flor so that I could deliver some medicine to a sister missionary. I went alone as Sister Bell, although feeling a little better, is still coughing and sneezing. I sat next to Elder Vega and Ward. I felt alone not having her with me. After Sacrament Meeting, I went to the Las Palmas Ward, which is in the South Mission, to ask them if they have Hermana Nubia’s record. They didn’t. I had sent a note to the Area office in Guatemala asking their help finding her record. We need to find it soon, so she can go to the temple in March. If we can’t find it, then she will have to be rebaptized and wait a year to go to the temple.