Monday, January 27, 2014



 Hi everyone!


I actually guessed right this time: I'm staying in the Mojave River ward with Elder B.  for another transfer. And, even better, we got to keep our house!! This last week the senior missionary over housing randomly stopped by, inspected the house, and said it'd be perfect for sisters. But thankfully our zone leaders plead our case to him. The closest apartments are outside the ward boundaries, so it would've been a lose-lose situation: we would lose our house AND have to bike a couple miles to actually get in our area. But, happily ever after, we're staying in the mansion all to ourselves :) As for the new sisters, we haven't met them yet. They don't come till Wednesday because one of them is fresh from the MTC. But I do know the trainer is Sister H.  from Alabama. I hear she has a deep southern accent too. I'm still a District Leader, and all of the missionaries are still sisters, but they're all brand-new, which means I'm starting over fresh. I really like change on the mission.
The reason why I titled this email is because, well, the B.'s backed out of their baptism...
                                     
                                                 JUST KIDDING! But we did have a    couple close-calls. All the daughters passed their interviews with flying colors, and everything was set. Elder B.  and I decided to stop by Friday night and make sure everything was good to go. When we got there, we saw Brother B.  on the bed in pain. Turns out that his heavy headboard on his bed fell on top of him and pinned him against the wall. His back was really hurt. We gave him a blessing, and immediately he said that he felt the Spirit give him a hug, and that he knew everything was gonna be ok for him to baptize his daughters. His faith was so strong. Nothing was gonna stop him from being a part of his daughters' baptism. And on Saturday morning, he was up and moving (a little sore), but able to do the baptism. A miracle!!! I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, and confirmed one of the daughters yesterday in sacrament meeting. It was such an awesome weekend to be a part of it all. Brother Breese even called us that night and thanked us for everything. True conversion right there!! And, even better, at church the whole family stayed for all three hours!! Because they have an 8 year old autistic son, they've only stayed for sacrament meeting because the boy can't sit still for more than 30 seconds. But we finally convinced them to go to Sunday School, and Elder B.  and I volunteered to take Gavin (the 8 year old) to Primary. We tried having him sit in a class with other kids his age, but it reminded me of Ernest T. Bass in Helen Crump's class haha. So we walked around the church building instead. It was a test of patience, that's for sure. The ward council is gonna help us out and probably assign Gavin his own teacher. But the rest of the family loved their classes, and the daughters made some friends in Young Womens. The B's  daughters doubled the YW in the ward, which made them all excited for new faces. And even the YM started flirting with them already - sheesh! I guess it's pretty dry up here in the High Desert haha.

I got both of the packages this week - I LOVED them!! The Nike T-shirt is super sweet, and Elder B. has already dived into the pretzels. I got my English name tags this week, and I went crazy with those Barney Fife pictures. And I can take a hint. Sending me Sister S.'s picture to put on the back of my name tag......original......what's her email address? haha

Ninnie's package was also great! Again, my cupboards are full of snacks and sweets. I may have to start handing them out to kids at church, because I haven't even gone through all the Halloween candy yet! I love the snowballs too! Elder B.  and I immediately had a mini-comp inventory (ask the missionaries at home what that is), and we threw snowballs at each other in the kitchen. We're both very different in personalities and work ethics. But we're being more open with each other for this transfer.
Again, the H.'s  are doing better than ever. There's golden investigators, and then there's the Hicks. Haven't missed a sunday, activity, or church meeting yet - and loving every minute of it. They committed to live the Word of Wisdom no problem, and they're totally set on the 15th for their wedding/baptism day! And I just love talking with black people :)

The R.'s  haven't moved yet. They just put their house on the market, but they love inviting us over. There's about 3 families that ask us to call them if someone didn't sign up on the dinner calendar, and the R.'s are one of them. They want to have a board-game night real soon too.

There's also this returning less-active family called the B.'s  And they have a ping pong table in the center of their house. It's like the centerpiece of their house. And you'll be proud to know that I'm undefeated in this ward. The bishop recently challenged me to a match, and he's an Institute Director. They play a lot of ping pong. But don't worry. :) I hope Finals go great today - I'm praying for you all! Good luck!
I will HAVE to see the Saratov Approach movie when I come home. One of the missionaries is in a lot of church movies too. Hope we can chat for a little bit today :)
 Love you!   Love Elder Fuss


     
                          The best dinner yet!!!  Sister R's Chicken pot pie.  Just like mom's!

                                               Ninnie's awesome package!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

This transfer has gone by so fast! I can't believe this is the last week of it. Chances are I'll be staying here with Elder B. for another transfer, but I've been wrong before. Who knows. Our ward is also getting sisters, which means we'll have to split the boundaries for them to work in. And if these sisters are in my district, it means that I'll have another sister companionship in it - crazy!
 
SorryI couldn't email yesterday. All the libraries were closed, but our zone leaders let us take a little time to email today.
 
But these last few days have been great!! The B.'s  daughters are all set to get baptized this Saturday. They're super pumped, and it'll be an exciting day for their whole family. We did a practice interview for each of them last week, and they all said they personally feel that they want to be baptized because of the blessings they know they'll have as a family. We talked to the father and he's excited to go to the temple and be sealed to his family. Right after he said that, I gave him a huge hug, because the temple is the biggest milestone for them - baptism is only the beginning!
 
The H.'s are also doing great. The sons are going to activities, and the family hasn't missed a Sunday yet, even with Stake Conference. Oh, and we got to hear from Elder Andersen and President Eyering at the broadcast! There was a ton of technical difficulties because the satellite dish was broken and the internet was shaky, but a lot of what was talked about was strengthening families. I love how our family is doing a Come to Christ resolution, it works perfectly. Also, the General Authories asked that all the California stakes fast in Februrary to have more moisture. I guess there's a drought here, and it's been the driest year in a while. 
 
The R.'s are amazing! They're selling their house, so Elder B.  and I spent the whole day Friday tearing down and rebuilding their fence. We hadn't done service in a while, so it felt great to spend time working in the sun. And the R.'s  really appreciated it. Sister R.  made your Chicken Pot Pie that night - I ate SO MUCH of it! When I took a bite I thought I was at home for a second. And the rest of the Rileys loved it too! And their address is  Hesperia CA 92345.
 
Elder B. informed me that I talked in my sleep again, and this time I think it's the most bizarre. I said, "The principle taught in the book of Isaiah is YOLO. You could rename it into the book of YOLO." I have NO IDEA where that came from. I haven't even been reading in Isaiah!
 
Yesterday for P-day we decided to go thrift shopping. There's a ton of thrift shops in Hesperia, and we hit at least 5. I didn't find much. I did get a Michael Jordan basketball card for $6. Maybe B has it already, idk. I also bought a polo shirt so in case I do stay in Mojave River, we're going to golf next transfer for a p-day. I've been itching to go.
 
Well, that's pretty much all that's been going on the last couple days. We actually need the sisters to help us out - there's so much work! And it's so awesome. Elder B. and I have been quoting Dumb & Dumber and Napoleon Dynamite back and forth to each other ever since we found out that we've seen them. :)
 
Love you all! I do have some time to do a little chatting if you can.
 
Love Elder Nissinen
 
P.S. "I heard you were kinda sensitive." -Opie
"Me, sensitive? There's one thing I'm NOT sensitive. Talk about being misunderstood." -Barney
"You are a little flustered." - Andy
"That's spirit! I'm a very spirited person! Big difference you know." -Barney

Saturday, January 18, 2014


Hi everyone!! We just got back from the Redlands temple - it's so awesome!! It's been way too long since I last went in the MTC. It's a smaller one compared to Portland, but the Spirit is the same anywhere. And this was the first session that had more than one room. I learned a ton this time. I'll send some pictures we took. Hopefully you got the SD card I sent on Saturday.
 
Besides the headache from doing more visa paperwork, this last week and a half have been awesome! Stake conference for us is this weekend, and it's being broadcasted in from Salt Lake! All of the stakes in our mission will be a part of that broadcast, so who knows what's gonna happen. Also because of stake conference, we had to push back the Breese daughters' baptism for next Saturday. But the good news is that the father, who's been coming back to church, repenting, and doing great in keeping the commandments, will be baptizing his daughters!
 
Also, last week, we found another new investigator whom we set a baptismal date with. He's the husband of a returning less-active convert, and he's super pumped to get baptized. But here's some bitter-sweet news: we're getting another set of missionaries in the ward - Sisters! They'll be coming in at the end of the month with transfers. Elder B.  and I are just hoping we don't lose our house to them!
 
Oh by the way Mom, Elder B.  LOVES those cinnamon-white-chocolate pretzels you sent for Christmas. They've become our "planning snacks" to help us focus :)
 
I heard about this super cool movie coming out about a true-story of missionaries who got kidnapped. It's called The Saratov Approach. A member showed us the trailer for it, and it looks SWEET! You'll have to check it out and let me know how it is.
 
We had a great miracle happen this week. On Tuesday after District Meeting, we went to Freddy's (a steakburger place) for lunch. After we ordered and sat down, a lady came up to us and handed each of us a gift card to the place. She wasn't a member, but she had friends whose sons are on missions, so she felt prompted to buy us gift cards. Missionaries are blessed in so many ways!
 
The H. family are doing great! They've been soaking up everything we're teaching them. The parents even take notes in the back of their Book of Mormons while we're teaching! They love church, and if I didn't tell you already, they're getting married AND baptized on the SAME DAY!!! February 15th is the day.
 
Last night some members took us out for a Mexican dinner. The restaurant reminded me a lot of Juan Colorado's back home. Last night was the first time I'd been to a sit-down restaurant on my mission! It felt so weird!!!
 
I don't have much time today because the temple took a while, and we haven't gone shopping yet. I won't have much time to reply. Hope everyone has a great week, and you'll hear from me again on Monday.
 
Love you all!!!
 
Elder Fuss 

Monday, January 6, 2014

Hi everyone! This area is on FFFFFFIIIIIIIIIRRRRRREEEEE!!!!!!!
 
My first Baptism!!!  It was so AWESOME!!!


Did I ever tell you that I love missionary work? It's a ton of fun, hard work, and every moment of discouragement is worth it!
 
This week we met with a family who's friends of a recent convert. They went to the Ward Christmas Party, Relief Society party, H.'s  baptism, and to church last week, and they loved everything!! They're totally prepared to receive the gospel, and they accepted a baptismal date! The father and mother have to get married first, and they're dating anniversary is February 15th. The question isn't if but when, and it's awesome!! They're the H. family, and they're a black family. The whole family came to church for the first time, and the father especially loved Elders Quorum. He even asked us if we could teach him how to say a prayer so that when we're asked for volunteers, he can give the opening or closing prayer. I just love that family!!!
Last Monday we had Nerf war game.  Super Fun!
 
And Brother R.  probably texted you last Monday, but I got your package!! I especially love the choice of ties. I hope I don't have to get rid of any when I go to Brazil. Thank you!
 
Elder B. was sick on Thursday and Saturday this week. He woke up throwing up and having an upset stomach, so he spent most of those days sleeping. Let me tell you, it's super boring when your companion is sick. So I read a couple Ensigns, studied Portuguese, and made him lunch - there's not a whole lot else you can do haha. But it gave me an opportunity to serve him.
 
I've been doing some crazy things in my sleep. In the MTC I was translating and teaching in Portuguese, in Granite Hills I was teaching and testifying in English, and now in Mojave River I'm asking people to say the closing prayer and quoting Preach My Gospel - in my sleep!!! Is there something wrong with me? hahaha
 
Next week P-day isn't going to be on Monday. We get to go to the temple next Thursday, so President has made Thursday P-day and Monday be a regular day. So I'll be emailing then.
Missionary work is Hard Work!!!
 
There's a ton of work in this area, and Elder B.  and I have been busy nonstop (except for those couple sick days). Everything's been going great!! Hope you all had an awesome New Years and a great first day back at school!! (Woohooo!)
 
Love Elder Nissinen
Being District Leader is hard work too!!!