EMAIL... Week 21

Hola All!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and remembering the blessings we all enjoy! Ours was very low key, as we didn't go to Managua due to the hurricane warning, which Lee called a dud. We only got a little rain, and most of the places it was supposed to hit, only had mild rain. The dudiness (I might have just made up that word) of the storm was a blessing for the people of Nicaragua. Many are farmers and their crops would have been destroyed with the hurricane winds and rain, so it was truly a tender mercy for them. Plus, very few even prepared. We were directed by the Area President to get food and water to last a week, and took the Hermanas to get what they needed, as that much water is hard to carry very far. Six missionaries were evacuated on the west coast due to the tsunami warnings resulting from the 7.0 earthquake off the coast of El Salvador on Thanksgiving Day. Managua felt it and some people here...we were oblivious until later that day. Signs of the times? We are having the 3 sets of missionaries to a Nica version of Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Giant chicken drumsticks with the thighs attached, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing (found Stove top, so without sage available, that will have to work), homemade rolls and cinnamon rolls, zucchini (no peas or green beans), butternut squash (no sweet potatoes), and banana cream pie, brownies, and a kind of flan on graham cracker crust pie (no pumpkin). To quote my friend, Scott Rhodes, "It is what it is!" We'll let you know how it went next week.
The best reason for us not going to Managua was that we ended up having a wonderful Family Home Evening that night with a less active family, whose daughter-in-law is not a member. She wants to be married in the temple, but doesn't understand why she has to be baptized again and why Angel Moroni is on the top of most temples. AWESOME spirit and softened hearts. It was great to hear her returned missionary husband tell about 2 of his special temple experiences and testify of the necessity of being baptized by one with the restored Priesthood authority and then to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the baptism of "fire". His mother also shared her feelings about the temple, and of course I had to share mine. Oh how I love and miss attending the temple often! I really feel the lack of that turbo boost each week! Thank you to all who are going faithfully for us! We know you are receiving blessings that you may not even recognize! Please take advantage of that amazing blessing you have!
We are grateful for the opportunity to serve here in Nicaragua and that we are blessed to live in a comfortable, clean, safe home with tile floors, screens on the windows, and usually warm showers. We can eat relatively normally and have stayed healthy! We are learning Spanish, slowly but surely for me, but Elder K is rocking it! I love listening to him as he teaches and communicates with the wonderful people here. The people overall are kind and loving toward us, even those not of our faith. I still say that the taxi drivers and bus drivers would all be in jail and have their licenses revoked if they were in the United States. They are locos! They make the drivers in New York and LA look careful and courteous. I am thankful that Lee is the one driving, as I'm sure I would have killed somebody or something by now. The pedestrians and dogs and cows and horses and cats just walk out into the street and expect everyone to stop or miss them.
We are so thankful for each of you, our family, friends, colleagues, and ward family! We are especially grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and for His Gospel in our lives. I love the feelings of love, peace, and comfort as we pray, share what we have, and serve! We love seeing people's lives change as they embrace what the Savior offers them and to each one of us.
Love to you all!
Elder and Hermana Koelliker