EMAIL... Week 47

Hola All!

This week went by so fast, it was all a blur! We so enjoyed our time with the other two Senior couples celebrating Hermana Bell's birthday last Sunday evening, and then our great adventure Monday hiking and exploring La Garnacha. (We hope you enjoyed the pictures and Elder K's commentary on the blog.) Most of us earned a few scrapes and bruises, but it was well worth a little pain and discoloration for the experience.

We had great visits, despite incredible downpours at the predictable places...Villa Cuba with Anabel and Leo, and then Juana and Jackson and her extended family; Las Americas with Flor de Maria and family, and Edys. It was so incredible how it started to rain while we were just arriving at each home, and then poured through the visit, then would lighten up as we left and went to the next place. The spirit was strong, despite the pounding rain. Thank goodness for umbrellas, as we only got a bit wet and muddy. The Hermanas were happy to be traveling with us by vehicle, rather than walking the great distances and in the pouring rain. Kids were swimming in the water hole at Villa Cuba, which was dry a week ago. The rainy season is truly upon us. They celebrate El Día de la Madre (Mother's Day) on the 30th and the kids have the day off of school. Go figure. They also celebrate El Día del Niño (Children's Day) on June 1st and El Día del Padre (Father's Day) on June 23rd. We decided to just have one branch activity to celebrate all 3 events. We'll let you know how that goes.

So happy that Marvin was able to go with us to visit an extremely poor family, whose home doesn't have functional or safe doors. He measured both openings and is going to make and install the doors. Their home is also in the path of flash flooding and their latrine (most don't have indoor toilets), is in danger of being washed away and/or collapsing, and they have small children. He told the woman who to call in the city to get it taken care of, what to tell them, and gave her the number. He is so awesome and it's so sweet to see the spirit working so powerfully in his life.

Other tender mercies of the week...I had been seeing a black ring, that I thought was a blob of mascara or an errant eyelash, in my eye for a couple of weeks. I tried to rinse it out with water, eye drops, etc, but no change. The mission nurse checked it and couldn't see anything, so she scheduled at appointment for me with an ophthalmologist in Managua. He was very thorough and spoke English quite well. It is just one of those normal aging things and shouldn't bother me within a few months. Whew! Also, when we got the loaner truck from the mission office, Elder K noticed and showed them that it had a nail in a tire. He had that tire repaired. All of the tires are pretty worn out and that was reported to the man in charge of vehicles. Thursday we were working with the Elders and they noticed that another tire looked pretty low. It kept losing air, so Elder K got it fixed this morning and it had 2 screws in it. What a blessing to have not had any problems with it on our trip to Managua, or to have been stuck somewhere during one of the downpours. Heavenly Father is truly involved in all of the details of our lives. Usually, we really don't notice. I invite all of us to notice the many tender mercies and involvement in our lives of our loving Heavenly Father. I call them "Heavenly Father Huggers", and I testify that I have received many, and I have seen multitudes in the lives of my family and those around me. I am so grateful for these experiences that remind me again and again that He is always there! He lives and loves us! Our Savior lives and loves us.

Have a great week! We love you!

Love,

Elder and Hermana Koelliker