EMAIL... Week 69

Hola All!

Just kidding...the rainy season is still upon us, partially because of a tropical storm, so we’re continuing to experience unbelievable downpours. They are responsible for lots of mud and some flooding, but also the amazing green everywhere and a spectacular waterfall trip with the Estelí Elders. This trip to the falls provided the greatest size and force we have seen yet. We were happy that we could also take the Elders to the top. So beautiful! The boys were well behaved and didn’t try anything crazy at the top, plus they got some great photos to email home.

President and Hermana Poncio came up with an AP and the Sister Leader to do interviews. Hermana Fersola stayed with us. She is amazing. She is from the Dominican Republic, where her mother is from, and her father is Italian, but likes life in the DR. She looks American and speaks a bit of English and Italian on top of her Spanish. We enjoyed having her stay and getting to know her. We had a nice lunch together for the Poncio entourage, the ZL’s and Elder Najera. Our interview is during our conversation at lunch and we all laugh a lot. President Poncio is a tease and quite funny, so he and Elder K get along really well.

Last week we met Hermana Dyal from Salt Lake City, who is serving in another zone that participates with us in our Multi-Zone Conferences. This is her first change in Nicaragua and her trainer is one of the Hermanas we served with previously, here in Esteli. Our nephew, Elder Tyler Davies, was her ZL in the MTC and she was the Sister leader for their zone, all learning Spanish. He told us to look for her, and of course we were happy to meet her last week. She played a beautiful piano solo at the conference and I was able to get a few pictures to send to Elder Davies. My brother, Brady Davies, sent me an email this week to watch for Hermana Dyal, as she is the daughter of a man he works with, and he and his wife are their good friends. It was fun to be able to report back that we met her, that she is doing awesome, and to be able to forward the pictures to him to show her dad. Such a small world!

We had our final Temple Prep lesson with Mauricio and Claudia and their 3 kids, ages 12-17. They are slated to go to the temple in Honduras December 5th-7th. We will continue to visit them each week and share messages and experiences to help them keep their focus and strengthen them. They have come a long way! The kids will be able to do baptisms while they are there, and while their parents are doing endowment sessions. The most important part of their trip is that they will be sealed as an eternal family. The members preparing in the Rosario Branch have one more lesson, and the Condega group members have 2 more. Poco poco!

One of the men in our branch struggles to stay active. We talked to him yesterday about how happy he is when he is active in the church and obeying the commandments, and how miserable he his when he is not. Elder K drew a line in the dirt and talked about the 2 sides of the line...one side represents Christ, obeying and following Him, and happiness. The other side represents Satan, not keeping the commandments, and misery. Every decision is a choice, and sometimes we need to really think and recognize which side of the line we are choosing, and the consequences for each choice. Hopefully that little parable/object lesson will help him! 

We love these precious people. We hurt when they don’t hold fast to the spirit they have felt, keep their covenants, and continually progress. We recognize who they really are and the unlimited potentials they have, and the blessings that are theirs IF they will just hold fast to the rod and do the small and simple things. We are so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and for the opportunity to share our testimonies and experiences with others. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our Heavenly Father and Savior in this great work of building up Their  Kingdom here on the earth and in helping to prepare the world for the Second Coming of our Savior!

We love you! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder and Hermana Koelliker