Monday, June 27, 2016

You've Just Gotta Laugh Sometimes!

Dear family and friends, 


It's sure great to hear from all of you again. Thanks for the fun pictures. And congrats on the new calling Dad! That's so exciting, and you'll do great. 

I don't really know how to describe my week. It was a fine week, but it was pretty stressful and a lot of things came up that we had to deal with. 

We got ourselves new bikes! Well they're new to us. We fixed up some old ones in the apartment. It's been a long time since we've proselyted on bikes, and it'll be good to get back on them again. They still need a bit of repairing though. 

Elder Effiong got sick Thursday, so we didn't go out until the evening. I was able to give him a priesthood blessing, which was a neat experience. 

Remember when I told you about that part of our area that we've never touched yet? We went there Tuesday and did some heavy contacting. There's a couple people who seem serious, so we're in the process of a big "follow up" with lots of people. 
Fun youth quiz game Wednesday night.
This week is the adults! 

Fun story about the bikes: 
We were riding down Saturday to visit an investigator when Elder Effiong ran over a pipe and busted it! Water was spraying everywhere. We didn't know what to do, and people started congregating from everywhere to get the free water! We were able to get our first counselor to find a plumber and fix it up about 30 minutes later. Looking back on it, it was a pretty funny experience. 
Effiong ran our new bikes over a pipe Saturday. People were coming in from everywhere to get free water! He got a video of it. 

I had my first baptismal interview Friday night! It was for a 12 year old girl. I enjoyed it. I hope I get more opportunities to meet soon-to-be converts.

Of course, the highlight of the week was the baptism of Bless. She was a referral from a member, and we've been working with her for about 2 and a half months now. It was a special day for her! We had a goal of two convert baptisms this month, and we got three! To us, that is a big accomplishment. The work is moving!

Bless's baptism Saturday morning. She's a great convert. This is her and her family. Bless is 20 years old.



I'd just like to add a special thanks to the ward for their support and love in me. That's really nice of them to be thinking of me. Thank you! 

Well, that's about it for our week. Elder Effiong and are doing great. I love my mission, I love my area, and I love our investigators! 

Have a wonderful week everyone! Enjoy. 

Love Elder Nissinen 

Monday, June 20, 2016

Temple and Ten

Dear family and friends, 

I gotta make a comment about the emails this week. You guys are hilarious! Every letter just cracked me up. I love my family. 

Also, hope Dad had a Happy Father's Day! Looks like you treated him well with those shoes and sweets, so good job kids. 
The long drive to the temple. Dougal! I was asked if we had air conditioning. What is air conditioning??? 

Last week was great! We got a surprise text from our Zone Leaders Thursday that the next morning we were going to the temple! President Heid has been putting an emphasis on temple attendance for us missionaries lately. It was a super great experience. I hadn't been in the temple since November, and it sure felt uplifting worshiping in there again. There's a lot of spiritual power inside temples. Afterwords we went to the mission home, had lunch, and President talked with us. It was a long day with a lot of sitting, but it was definitely worthwhile! 
Because of that and some other sudden things, our proselyting hours were limited a bit. President Heid was talking to us about the temple right after we went and he was saying how there are people here we met in the premortal existence that we promised we'd come down and give the gospel to. I've thought a lot about that (it kind of gets me emotional haha). I think of these people as my long-lost friends. 

There's a big part of our area that we haven't even touched yet, and when we were traveling to the temple, I started to feel guilty, like I'm not being responsible for my area. I fasted Sunday to get inspiration on how we should go about in this new area. Elder Effiong and I have a great attitude about going there this week. We'll be armed with our scriptures and plenty of pamphlets! Wish us luck! 

This month for the "Come Follow Me" is the Priesthood, so the young women have invited us to come teach them this month. So that's been fun I guess....

We have a baptism this Saturday for a lady named Bless. She's a referral from a member, and she's definitely ready for her baptism! We are excited for her on this important day. 

I forgot to mention last week that transfers are tomorrow (Tuesday). I hope I stay here for quite a bit longer! Since Elder Madsen I've learned and reflected a lot on how I could have been better. I'm very different than just a few months ago. I would like to train again and correct some mistakes I made then. 

Today marks TEN months! Double digits baby! Sorry the camping trip didn't go too hot, but at least you made something fun out of it, right? I don't know how I feel about the new car. The CRV is a lot of fun. Dad don't get tired of the truck please. 

Have a great week! Summer is in full swing now. 

Love always, 
Elder Nissinen

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Third Times a Charm!

Dear family and friends,


Hey!

We were blessed to have another convert baptism this weekend! About a
month ago, a younger man came to us and wanted to join our church. Now
he's baptized, confirmed, holds the Priesthood, and is inviting his
friends and neighbors to learn more! Conversion is soooooo sweet.
Ernest is a tall guy and I'm not, so getting him entirely immersed
took 3 times, but it worked!

Not the greatest turnout for a baptism, but hey, whatever! It went well actually. Good old Ernest

We've got several investigators who are progressing well. There is one
lady we are baptizing hopefully on the 25th. We've been teaching her
and her two close friends. We're really hoping that her influence will
rub off on the other two and they'll follow her footsteps to the font!

I love teaching the Book of Mormon. The Plan of Salvation used to be
my favorite lesson to teach, but I think I have a new one. We've
taught some interested people about the Book of Mormon, and I just got
really excited about it! When someone understands how significant that
book is, it's quite a life-changing experience. How blessed we are for
having the Book of Mormon be in our lives, many of us being raised on
the stories.

I feel great just about all the time. The other day I wasn't feeling
too good, but I typically feel just fine. I'm always amazed by how
little I eat and how far I can go on it. I can eat a few bananas and
peanuts and it'll last me for several hours.
I made my companion and I a delicious breakfast! Thanks Aunt Ninnie! 


I love being District Leader. My district is great and is becoming
more unified. I want to plan on doing a sweet hike up a mountain with
them soon. Effiong is awesome! I love that guy. We teach in unity and have
fun together.I'm getting to love him more and more. He's
actually a fun guy to be around. I've found that when I lose myself
and serve him, we get along well.
I have a barber cut my hair. He knows what he's doing and does a good
job. All us missionaries go to him.
Played a little bball today with the guys.
 Africans have very little knowledge of how to play the game. It was a hard to teach! 

Can't believe school finishes this week. Good grief. Already you're
enjoying your summer, so I don't have to encourage you to do that.
Cotton candy and a swimming pool? Jeez. Congrats on surviving another
year at Glencoe! One, two, three, SUMMER!

Love, Elder Nissinen

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Baptism

Dear family and friends,
This week has been great! It's been full of excitement and work.
Our zone made t-shirts 


As you know, we baptized Daniel on Friday. It was a great service. His cousin and uncle even came and enjoyed it. There were lots of members there also to support him. Sunday he got confirmed and later received the Aaronic Priesthood. Something cool about Daniel is that when we first met him, he had no idea how to pray. We had him practice it every day, and now he prays well. 



Another great investigator, Ernest, was scheduled to be baptized on the 18th June. But we talked with him and feel that he's ready to be baptized this coming Saturday! We're excited for him. 
Fast Sunday was great. We went on splits that afternoon cause there were a lot of members missing in church. Our Elder's Quorum President talked about prayer and fasting and mentioned how as he was preparing for the lesson, he thought to himself about how many times he fasts during the year. I asked myself that same question. The Book of Mormon talks about Alma, and how he fasted and prayed many days to know of the truth. We ought to pray and fast more! If we fast every Fast Sunday of the year, that means we do it like 12 or 13 times. There is power in prayer and fasting. We all need more spiritual guidance in our lives. As a missionary that is something that I want to do better at.
Elder Scott is hilarious! 


Yesterday was a multi-zone conference activity. It was a lot of fun to see friends again. President and Sister Heid and the Pace's talked to us. They were stern and direct, but what they said they said it with love. As a mission we need to step it up a bit to receive miracles. I'm appreciative of what was said to us.

Anyways,  I got Ninnie's 3 packages yesterday too. Holy smokes! Thanks soooooo much. I felt very spoiled to have all that. Maple syrup, pancake mix, a mr. goodbar, kit kat, all sorts of awesome stuff!  They were super nice packages and very kind.
 I truly love my mission. Everyday is just such an opportunity to serve.  My mission gets harder but sweeter at the same time. I totally love it. It's so freaking fun! Enjoy your last full week of school! Finish strong. Enjoy the heat! 
My converse were FAKE!

Love Elder Nissinen