Elder Nissinen: News

Dear family and friends,

I got news for ya!

Our week was normal for the most part. Actually, we had a ton of failed appointments, so we were just walking around a lot of the time looking for people to visit.

Well, I got a phone call late Saturday evening from President Heid. Looks like I'm heading out of Ho Zone and going to be a Zone Leader near my first area. I was really upset that I have to leave before the baptisms next Sunday but there is a lot of people who are leaving baptisms behind. This next area will for SURE be a lot more comfortable, it's in the heart of Accra. So I am excited for that one. My next companion is from my MTC, he's a cool guy from Utah.

Horne can do some trick to make it look like he removes his thumb. Kids have been going nuts about it and come up to him all the time to see it. I think they tell each other his name at school, cause we meet random kids all the time who want to see it.

So guess what?

I GOT MY CAMERA BACK. Long story, but I'll try to make it brief:

Sunday evening some men called us over to talk with them, saying that they knew about a camera that had pictures of me on them. We got really excited. They told us some lady from the next village has it, and that we could get it in the morning. So, of course, we walked to the next village to find the lady. We found the lady and she said the camera was back with the first two guys (where we had just came from). She said I could get the camera back if I paid her money. I wasn't too happy about it, but I decided it would be worth whatever cost to get it back.

Back at the apartment that night, we got a call from the two guys. They were yelling and very angry with us. I'm still not sure why, but apparently they were accused by us of stealing the camera or something. They thought we were being bad Christians for asking the lady about the camera. Again, it doesn't make any sense. I was worried I wouldn't get back, so I calmed him down and apologized for nothing.

This morning we went to the local police station to meet the lady and the guys. The guys were still upset, and I was prepared to give out my money and calm them down. But luckily our 2nd Counselor, who is a police officer, was around and helped us so we didn't have to pay to get the camera back. The camera is fully functional, no pictures have been deleted, and it's back in my possession! Apparently it was found a month ago. People took pictures and videos with it, it's a bit funny actually.

Gloria's farm. We found a cool tree!

Gloria. She'll be baptized Sunday. She is super cool with a hard life. She is Jacob's age.

It's quite a miracle to have that camera back. It'll be a great story to tell one day. That camera has an incredible a story attached to it!

After nearly 11 months in the bush, I'll be saying goodbye and moving on the bigger (and better) things in Accra. Although the past 11 months -especially the last 4 - have been the hardest of my life, it's really stretched and strengthened me in so many numerous ways. I guess I have to be grateful for the hard times. God loves me!