Email... Week 14

Hola All!

Still basking in the spirit of General Conference! We have been sharing President Monson's talk, using Lee's laptop, with the people here so that they can feel the spirit through a living prophet! Powerful! Many of us get so burdened and distracted with our daily lives, that we lose focus on the spiritual and most important part of our beings. We are so grateful for this opportunity to help others find and remember who they really are, children of a loving Heavenly Father with a plan for each of us.  We have a Savior who loved us enough to show us the way to live and be happy in this life and through eternity, and atoned for all of the wrongs in our lives, ones we cause, others cause, and hardships that are just part of our lives. All of us need to internalize the message of hope and purpose the Gospel gives us! As we enter their homes, we see their poverty, spiritual, temporal, emotional, and intellectual. The Gospel helps them to have the hope and guidance they need to reach for eternity and to do all that they can to improve their lives here on earth.


We had a fun p-day with the 4 Hermanas on Monday. We took them to the waterfall here and we hiked down to the "pool" at the bottom and then up to the top where it falls. We were soaked with sweat, but it was awesome and the girls loved it. Lee and I are grateful that we weren't the weak links hiking! We love and appreciate them all so much and love to help them in any ways we can, which mostly means helping them enjoy their p-days, transporting them, and feeding them.

The rain has been crazy this week, but we have been blessed with its timing. We were only delayed once with its fury. One night it was so bad that the side streets were rivers of rushing water, so we couldn't turn where we normally do, and the main road was moving like a snail. Walkers and bicyclists were passing us. We finally made it! It was interesting to see how many of the people just walk or ride with no care of the rain...no umbrellas or coverings, like it's not really happening.

We enjoyed having one of the Sister Leaders (female version of an AP) stay with us, and having President Poncio, his wife, and one of the AP's eat meals with us for the 2 days they were doing interviews and checking apartments with the missionaries in the 3 zones here and around us. Our 7:30 dinner ended up being at 9:30, as they had driven to 3 cities, each 30-75 minutes away, and then Esteli. We all got little sleep, as there were late nights and they left here after breakfasts between 6 & 6:30. Needless to say, we slept in this morning. They are all amazing and it was truly a joy to spend time with them. I don't know how they keep up this pace and hope they got to rest today as well.


We are loving the work and just pray that we are making a difference. Lee is doing great with the language and I get a little braver each day. You would all be so amazed that I can be as quiet as I am with my lack of language, but I continue to work and practice daily to get to the point where I am able to truly communicate, both with understanding and speaking. Thank for your love, prayers, and examples!


We love you!
Elder and Hermana Koelliker