Wednesday, December 19, 2018

"I Know Him" - Elf

Wow, Christmas is almost here. I honestly can't wait to talk to you all next week. This week was awesome. Since Christmas is around the corner we have had some meetings and gatherings that have definitely brought in the Christmas spirit. Here are some highlights for this week. 







This week we had to drive to Yakima and back roughly 3 times. Yakima is the best because you have the Mission home, Mission Office and some of the best restaurants. So almost every time were up there well stop by some place to eat. Last Wednesday, Elder Bradshaw had District leader Orientation. Since I couldn't go into the meeting, I hung outside with another Elder who also couldn't go in. He's a super cool elder, just a transfer younger than me and we have already become good friends. 


Last week we also went to the Chiropractor. It was a guy who is in the Ward, but he invited us and the Hermanas to come. It felt amazing. There's a video I put in the drive for last weeks pictures, I think you'll find it funny. I'm not too much into cracking my neck and all that, well I don't even know how to crack my neck, but he did it and it kind of startled me. Haha. 

This past Saturday was our Zone Meeting or Christmas Gathering. There were four Zones In total and we all met up at a members home. This house was huge and had tons of things to do. Pinball, foosball, ping pong and all. Sister Jackman is the best at taking pictures huh. She's always got her camera out. Make sure to check out those pictures of Facebook. We had lunch, which was fantastic, then each zone performed a skit or a song. Our zone sang, "What Child is This", and others acted out the nativity scene. After that President Jackman walked up to the microphone and asked if we wanted to watch The Jungle Book or Coco. I voted for the Jungle Book but everyone else wanted Coco. Yes, Jacob and B, you both can make jokes back and forth. Each mission is different and others are better. Haha. After we finished the Movie, Sister Jackman shared a Christmas story. Right before she finished, Santa walked down the stairs. All the missionaries were excited and laughing and I couldn't help but tell out a classic quote from the movie Elf. I said, "I know him, 10 am tomorrow people". I must say it was pretty funny. Santa then shared some things, then gave each companionship a Christmas present....A Crockpot. There are going to be so many changes this January, in the church and the Yakima mission. I don't know a lot of things but I dot know some things about the dinner schedule. Dinners, starting this January will be from 4-5. This way our finding opportunities will increase and more people will be available. Also our evening schedule will be a little different. I'm not completely sure of the times. but I think from 7-9 we are asked to only be in homes of the Members. Of course with the exception of if we have set lesson. I like this idea, but the dinner time change will be a little harder, just because its really early, but oh well. These are all the changes that will be happening, I will have more information this coming week. 

This week we also had some great lessons and were able to get in contact with the Ruiz family once again. It had been nearly a month since we stepped inside their house, but last night we got in. Come to find out that Josefina's parents are member of the church. We watched a little bit of the Restoration Movie and asked her and Galdino a few questions. They have been taking lessons for years with the missionaries, and I think it's about time for them to be baptized. They really want to and they know its' true, but they have been experiencing some difficulties this year and during this Christmas season that have been delaying from that. Hopefully this coming week we can see improvement. 



Well that's about it for this week. Yes! Mom I got your package, but I won't open it until Christmas morning. I love the family package as well.

 Our family is the best, literally. Can't wait to talk to you all very soon. We will be with our Zone on Christmas morning, so I will most likely call in the afternoon, but that could change. What ever the time we call, it will be the best.

Love you all very much. Please be safe and have fun. 

Elder Nissinen

Relatives....Apparently?

Hola Familia, 

I hope you all had a fantastic week of school, work, coaching, or serving. The Christmas season is just around the corner and so houses are now all lit in Sunnyside. Here are some of the highlights from this week. 


So Monday night, President Wise from the branch called Elder Bradshaw and I so help him with a priesthood blessing. We went over to their house and gave this man a blessing. Since he spoke only Spanish they let me off the hook as far as saying anything for the blessing, but I have given blessings before. In fact last week I believe, I gave my very first blessing. We were then able to get a return appointment with them to teach the lessons. So the next day we brought a member from the branch with us and taught the restoration. Everything went super smooth and they seemed interested in our message. One question that was funny that they asked was "Can you guys Dance". We asked them to prepare themselves for a baptism on the 19th of January, and they excepted. We are going to have another appointment with them this week and help them reach their goal. Hope it goes well. 

Tuesday or Wednesday we were out knocking on doors and we couldn't find anyone interested. From the doorstep, I could see a man looking at us from across the street. We went to the next house and he was still watching us. A little bit later we headed back to the car and we passed by him and his son. I waved and simply said "Hey", he turned around and replied "You guys do good things". It was a little difficult to hear him, so walked towards him. To fast forward 45 minutes later standing outside in about 25 degrees, he had talked to missionaries before but not too much. He has had many problems, like problems times 10. So he's in a pretty big hole. Unfortunately he doesn't live in our area but we refereed him over to the missionaries who would be able to visit him. As he was explaining his problems, he started to tear up. I expressed what I felt and with the weather being so cold or the spirit, I slightly teared up as well. I almost never get like that, like never, but I couldn't hold it back like I wanted to. I don't know where he will end up, or what lessons he'll take, but I did plant a seed that could grow to be a tree. 


This weekend, the English Ward had their Christmas dinner. Lots of people came, and we were able to stop in and talk to some people. That was when I met Gayle Bland. Apparently (Because apparently, every time apparently) she has been to several Family reunions, but I was too young to even remember. It was great talking with her about family back at home and hopefully soon we can go over to her daughter's or my other relative home for dinner. At the dinner that night, the primary sang some songs and even Santa and Mrs.Claus were there. I kind of wanted to get a picture, but the line was too long. I would've though. We actually didn't have dinner at the Ward Party, but at Roberto's Grandparents home. She had randomly called us last Wednesday and invited us over that Saturday. She was super exited to see us and she made us Tamales. She was having some sort of pain the past week, so we gave her a priesthood blessing. This time, however, I would be doing it and in Spanish. I had a reference page, so everything went smooth. 


Well that's about it. Only a few more weeks until I can see you all. We haven't figured a place to call yet, but hopefully we can dial that all down within the next week. I'm hoping we can do it at an English Members home, just because they know about WiFi and all that. This upcoming week should be super fun. Love you all very much. Please be safe and have fun. Wish I could play one more game with the team. 



Elder Nissinen

 

Transfers

What's up everyone, I hope you've all had a fantastic week. This past week has been great and I can't wait to tell you all the highlights. 

Last Monday and Tuesday we decorated a Light the World Christmas tree. You probably saw some of those pictures on Facebook, but it was super fun and brought back some tree decorating memories from home. On Tuesday we went back to the same place and helped the people in charge of the event, move trees around and set them in place for the Christmas dinner. We won't be going to it, we just wanted to decorate the tree and spread the Light the World message. 

Well we finally met Roberto's grandparents. We had to get permission first cause it's actually on the east side of Sunnyside, and we cover the west. But, we eventually got permission and we drove over to their house. It gets super dark here fast and so it was hard to find the house. It wasn't near any market place which didn't help in finding it. It was on an old dirt road, and seemed like the middle of no where. We walked up to the home, not knowing if it was the right address and within a few minutes of getting to know each other, I explained if they knew or had a grandchild named Roberto. They said YES!! and we talked some more. They are super super nice. She wants us to come over anytime, basically all the time and have dinner with them. She said she would make tamales. I'm sure right after we left she was on the phone with Roberto. I had to get a picture with them, so you could show it to Roberto. I told them that I know Roberto son Roberto jr., and I went to school with him for many years. It was a little difficult speaking Spanish with them and describing who was who, because there's probably 5 Roberto's in their family. Elder Bradshaw and I can't wait to go back and visit with them more. 


For several weeks, we have heard about this event that happens in Sunnyside. It's called the Lighted Farm Implement Parade. It's a huge deal, last year or the one before was actually on the TV. Thousands of people come from all over to watch it. Basically if you have a creative idea to light up your car, tractor, or semi-truck, you show it in the parade. There will be lots of pictures and videos in the drive. Our job as a district was to hand out free hot chocolate. With so many people there, we handed our nearly 16 gallons worth. Some of those pictures are also on Facebook. It was super fun night and a great way to kick off the Christmas season. 









The weather is definitely changing here. It's pretty decent during the days, but it drops down pretty cold at night. The thermals really help and I was able to get some tops as well. Sometimes we will see cats sitting on top of the hood of the cars because the engine will be warm. Haha. 

This week we have visited quite a bit of people. Unfortunately we haven't had any success with the Ruiz family. We can never find a time to talk to them. The parents are either working, sleeping, or not home. We have tried and tried, but nothing seems to work. Although we have found a new person named Carlos Ruiz. Yes there are lots of families with the last name Ruiz. He works a lot as well, but we've caught him home in the evening every time were there. He loves reading books. I haven't necessarily counted, but he probably has 8 different bible apps on his phone. At least he's reading the Book of Mormon. He has a great family and he will be coming to our English classes on Thursday night. Speaking of our English class. We haven't had anyone show up. We tell as many people as we can, literally, but still no one comes. This week i'm hoping we get a few people. I will make that happen. 

Transfers are also this week. Both Elder Bradshaw and I are staying in Sunnyside which is great. I feel we have been and worked better together this past week. Some days are more difficult than others, but we work through them. In our district, we are getting a brand new sister and another Hermana that has been out for a while. Next week I will send some updated district pictures. Also our missionary funds changed this month to 180. We don't have a lot of information, but they might be changing the way missionaries eat with members. 

I love you all very much. Please be safe and have fun. You guys are the best. I love the package Ninnie. 

Stay warm, Elder Nissinen

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

What's going on??,

          I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving eating mashed potatoes and the whole works. I'm so glad you all enjoyed my 100 things I'm grateful for list, it took me a few days to think of them all and I wanted to send it before the holiday. Yes, as you can tell there were a lot of random things listed, but as I thought about the things I'm grateful for there were so many things. Well, this week I have had some ups and some downs and some completely turn arounds. So hopefully I can't describe each of those in this letter.




Last Wednesday was my first time doing Exchanges. The Zone leaders came down from Yakima and stayed two nights at our apartment. Their names were Elder Overson and Elder Smith. They came in on Tuesday night, then we did our exchanges the next day. I was companions with Elder Overson, who knew zero Spanish. Both of them knew nothing in Spanish because they are English elders. Sunnyside is primarily Hispanic, which would mean all the doors we would knock on and the person who spoke Spanish, I would have to speak. It was a great experience for me taking the lead in some of those conversations, I loved it. We knocked on quite a few doors that day and found some great people. The Elders  left the next morning.

Thanksgiving day, my first holiday in the field. This was a very interesting day. Many ups and many downs. That morning we went to a nursing home as a district and sang Christmas songs. The people really enjoyed it and we will definitely be doing that again. After that we went back to the apartment to do some studying  Elder Bradshaw and I were exited to go to out Thanksgiving dinner to less active families home. I knew in advance that it wasn't going to be much of a Thanksgiving dinner just because some Hispanics get into it and others don't. With that in mind, I wasn't awfully disappointed when the mom handed us salad, rice and bread. Haha. That night we also had our "Daily Dose" class or our English class that the Hermanas and us teach. Since is was Thanksgiving night, we had no one show up. That evening Elder Bradshaw was just a little different in attitude, I will explain some of it in the next paragraph. 

This had been on my mind the past few weeks. I wanted to talk about it with Elder Bradshaw, but couldn't find the right time to. Well we were driving around about 8:30 and he didn't say a word to me, and I could easily tell he was frustrated in some way. I kept my composure and tried to ignore it. We were driving around giving people jolly ranchers and a little thanksgiving note attached to it. I had a roll of tape on the dash and when we were making turns around corners it would slide back and forth. Elder Bradshaw grabbed it and chucked it in the backseat. Unfortunately, he missed and it nailed me, point blank in the face. It was at that moment, when I had to talk about some things. I had never really gotten this way before with him, until then. We talked about a lot of things the rest of the evening, probably until 9:30 or so. He had been really stressed out with dealing with the Hermanas and being a district leader and a trainer all at once. I told him that keeping those things to himself would only add to the stress pile. I told him that he needs to utilize me, even though I'm young and new in the field, I am here to help. That was basically the majority of what we talked about, but there was also some things between him and I. So at the end of the day, I was thankful he threw the roll of tape at my face, because we both needed this conversation. The wall that was once between us, is a third of its height before which was not building our relationship. So many things are resolved and we are doing much, much, much better now. Hopefully we can continue like this. 

Saturday was an awesome day. Elder Bradshaw taught a family back in Yakima a while ago and just this last Saturday the family was able to be sealed. Elder Bradshaw nor I had been in a temple sealing before, so it was super cool. We went to the Columbia River Temple and it was an amazing temple! Brother Garcia, the guy driving us, took us to Costa Vida. Missionaries there get 60% off as well. It was so good. This was definitely one of the highlights the week. 


A few days ago, President Wise (Our Branch President) asked Elder Bradshaw and I to give talks in Sacrament Meeting. Luckily we had a few days to prepare both our 12 min talks in Spanish. I wouldn't say I kicked it out of the park, but I feel like we both did a decent job. We were also asked to do a lesson for a Sunday School class. I loved sitting in primary and singing the songs, I wish I could do that every week. This upcoming week, we don't have too much planned. Sunnyside puts on a really big parade this Saturday, so that will be fun, buts that's about it. 

As you can tell, it has been a week of Ups and Downs and Turn-Arounds. I love MY family very much. I miss and love you all. Make sure to check out the google drive for some pictures. Starting next week is Light the World, so go watch those videos, then start Lighting it Up. 

Love you Elder Nissinen 

Hey Whatever. - Mary Roach

Hola Familia,

         Hope you've all had a great week. Seems like everyone is doing well and enjoying the somewhat cold winter. It's defiantly getting colder and the thermal garments are the best. Somehow mom you ordered them on Monday and I got them on Tuesday. That's faster than Amazon! I honestly would where them in the summer, they make the world of difference. Sorry I'm emailing later than usual, this morning we went to a Museum in Toppenish about how Yakima was brought up. It was a super cool super and I learned quite a bit.This week was a super great week because we got to go to Yakima a few times for meetings and P-day, so I hope I can remember all the things that happened. 


Last Tuesday was my first official Zone conference. It was up in Yakima at the stake center. All those pictures you saw Sister Jackman posted were from that. She is the best with pictures. She will literally take pictures all the time and upload them no matter the event. The Zone conference was super great and since it was around the Christmas season they introduced Light the World. I'm sure you've all seen it, but it you haven't go check it out. There's a four week theme and each one is a different way to light the world. So keep those in mind as you go about your day, here in a few weeks.


 

Wednesday, Elder Bradshaw had a meeting up in Yakima as well. To save some drive time, I spent a few hours with another Elder in a town called Toppenish about 20 minutes from Sunnyside. We basically just tracked the area then had lunch at Subway where missionaries get 60 percent off. Great deal, huh. After that Elder Bradshaw and I headed back home and continued throughout our day. I also, finally, got my ironing board. I had asked for one weeks ago and it just barely came. I previously had used an old sheet and a table. 

Last Friday was the day for interviews with President Jackman. To be honest, I actually look forward to seeing the Jackmas and talking with them. They are so cool, down to earth and, just normal. In fact President Jackman doesn't like Mormon Tabernacle choir, but chooses to listen to other singers, funny right? Sister Jackman brought homemade cookies and they reminded me of the ones mom made at home. That was also the time you received that random text message from here. Keep her in your contacts, you will be receiving those every six weeks, I believe. Next time she says it will be a video instead. Haha. 

So Saturday was kind of a different day as far as the evening went. Back a long time ago, Elder Bradshaw met a guy named Pete when he was serving in Yakima. Just this past Saturday Pete got baptized and we were able to go and see him in Yakima. It was the first baptism I have probably seen since a younger cousin or my own, so it was nice to bring back those memories. Pete was an awesome guy and excited, although I had never talked or seen him before he was really happy. I can only imagine how happy I will be when I have my first baptism. Also the Jackman's were there which means I got to see them three times this week. As I said before, I look forward each time I get to see them. 

Dinners have been going great, some nights member dinners fall through, but most of the time we are always fed. One of my favorite Mexican meals is Pasole (Pah-sol-eh). I have no idea how to spell it but it something like that. Its a little hard to explain, but its a soup with these rice balls and meat. Depends on who's making it, but last night there was also pig skin or something like that in it as well. As long as I don't know what it is before i'm eating it I will be fine. Haha. 

We have been teaching Miguel and Lucia, who are doing pretty well. I hope by this week we can get them both set on a baptismal date. The Ruiz family unfortunately aren't doing as well as we hoped they would be at this point. HEY WHATEVER. Somehow they are just never home or sleeping by the time we get there. And yes we have adjusted the time of the appointments but still they are sleeping. We will keep in touch with them, but who knows what this next week will bring. My Spanish is improving for sure, but I know only with time I will be able to see a difference. 

Well that's pretty much my week. I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving. Remember to count your many blessings. I love each of you very very much. Please be safe and have fun.

There will be some pictures in the Drive, but you can also check some on Sister Jackman's Facebook page and I should be in some of those.  

Elder Nissinen 

Thursday, November 15, 2018

The 2 Month Mark!

Wow, I can't believe it been two months already since I've been out. Time surely has flown by. Well, its seems like yesterday I emailed you all, but I'm excited to tell you about my week. 


To start off the weather has changed quite a bit. Its super cold in the mornings and gets super cold in the evenings. During the day, however, the weather is perfect and the skies are clear. Most mornings it drops down in the 20s and low 30s through the evenings. So you definitely have to bundle up, luckily we do have the car. We have never ridden our bikes, primarily because we cover a pretty good size area, although some days I wish we could just for exercise. Haha. 

Dinners have been going great. I honestly never know if I'm going to get an American meal, Mexican meal or an American Mexican meal. I hope that makes sense. Haha. 
For instance, they may have burgers one night, then Mole (Mol-eh, not sure if that's spelt right) the next. So it all depends on the mom that's cooking it. One interesting thing I've noticed as well, if it isn't an American family, is that the parents won't eat with the missionaries. The mom will always be cooking something, while the dad talks with us. Rarely will you get the whole family together which is unlike American dinners at home. 



Last Friday our branch had our Thanksgiving Dinner at the church. Yes, that's a little on the early side but that's just the way things turned out to be. We had a great turnout and it seems to be more people show up to these kinds of activities when there's food involved. So we might have to do this more often to get more people to come to church. 


We have been teaching the Ruiz family as often as we can or as their schedule allows. One night we stopped by to visit and they were watching Nacho Libro, but they let us in anyway. Hah. Both the parents work, so it's tough to get them both home at the same time. They have 3 kids, one is 11, and the other two are 7 and 4. They live in a Trailer Home, so some nights the kids can be loud. So I bring out my silly putty and tell them they can play with it as long as they sit quietly, and it works! I guess you can say I work well with kids. Haha. The parents are both reading in the Book of Mormon, which I wasn't totally expecting that, but it made me pretty happy. We will have an appointment with them tonight, so hopefully they're just home. That's one of the problems we face the most is people not following up with appointments, but we are pushing through. We also have been teaching Miguel and his wife Lucia. They are super nice and have pretty good potential, we'll see how next week plays out for that. 

Since I'm sure everyone is wondering how my Spanish is doing, I'll write something about that. All I can really say is its coming along. Unfortunately I don't use Spanish all the time because some people we teach or talk to speaks English, especially the kids. Although I am studying all I can, the best practice is when we are teaching or having dinner. So I try as much as I can to use Spanish. I understand pretty well most of the time, again if they don't speak a hundred miles per hour, but learning and being able to somewhat speak Spanish is fun and I can't wait to  see where I'm at a year from now.  


Well that basically wraps up this week. Our refrigerator is temporarily fixed and seems to be working for the most part. We will be getting a new one this Wednesday, so looking forward to that. This upcoming week we have a few meetings and conferences in Yakima, so a little more driving than we like to do, but I love visiting Yakima. 



I hope all is going well at home. Keep working and studying hard in school and at work. Love you all and miss each one of you a lot. Peace out. 

Elder Nissinen 

Make sure to look in the google drive for some pictures this week. They won't be uploaded immediately, but I'll be working on it. 

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Cats and Dogs!


Well it's been another great week as Elder Bradshaw and I are getting more familiar with the area and the people. 

Last week for P-day we went up to Yakima and played some sports with our zone. It was super fun meeting new people and getting some true exercise out. I also got a haircut that day at a nearby Salon academy. The great thing about this place was that they give elders haircuts for free. The only unfortunate thing is it's in Yakima, a 45 minute drive from Sunnyside, and we won't be going up there every week. So we'll have to find an alternative or wait a few weeks. 


This week as you know was also Halloween. We had to be back in the apartment by 6pm, so Elder Bradshaw decided I would just watch the District the whole night. Even when some kids knocked on our door, I couldn't answer it. Other than that it was fun seeing people dress up and decorate their houses. 



Dogs, dogs, dogs. Man they are just about everywhere, and it's not even the big ones. It's the small little Wiener dogs and the Chihuahua that are the worst. You all know me with dogs, I don't do very well, but that's one thing I'm working on. Yes, I know they're most likely not going to hurt me, but some of them I feel like they will. Haha. With that being said, I have grown to love cats. They don't bark or bite, they're just there and will leave you alone. 


We've have had some great diners this past week as well. We sill haven't had an authentic Mexican meal, but I would say pretty close. I'm not even sure what authentic Mexican food really is. We've had dinner with members of our branch every single night which has been great getting to know them more personally. Although it is pretty tough to communicate with them because the listening to Spanish here is really different to the Spanish in the MTC. They speak a whole lot faster and it just sounds like a blur of words put together. It will also be tougher learning Spanish because you really never know if they speak English or Spanish. So sometimes we teach lessons in English, some in Spanish, it just depends on the age of the person. Younger people speak English and the older usually speak Spanish is what I've noticed. But I know my ability to speak and understand will improve with time. 



Elder Bradshaw and I are doing pretty well together and have definitely gotten to know each other better this past week. There are a few things he does that annoys me, but I'd expect that from every companion I get. One funny story that made me crackup was when were pulling up to this one house around 8:30 at night. It was super dark and I couldn't tell what the house number was. As I was helping him backup the car, he told me he didn't need my help, kinda of in a frustrated way. Then he asked me what the house number was. Well we were about 50 feet away from the house and I just could not tell. After he asked me again in a frustrating way, I told him, "I don't know, I don't have night vision". That may seem not very funny written out like that, but just imagine me saying that in a sarcastic way. It was pretty funny. Other than that we are working well together and trying our best. Sometimes I feel like the Senior Companion, only being a couple weeks out. 

There is a family we are teaching called the Ruiz family. The dad speaks Spanish and the mom speaks English and Spanish, but the kids speak English for the most part. They are a pretty cool family and one you can always count on being home at night. haha. We have a baptismal date for the dad on the 1st of December. Hopefully he can prepare himself for that day along with our help, but a super cool family. 

Well that pretty much wraps up this week. We are trying to get someone to fix our refrigerator because only the freezer works and pretty much all the stuff has gone bad. We will see about that today. 

Love you all very much. Thanks for you letters and awesome packages. Please be safe and have fun. I will be uploading pictures in the drive throughout the day, so make sure to look at those.

Elder Nissinen

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Welcome to Sunnyside folks...

Holy cow,

 It's truly has been a roller coaster of a week. I'm super excited to finally be in Washington, but I'll tell you I miss the MTC a lot. I made some really good friends and it was hard to let them go. I hope in this email I can remember and describe all the things that happened in my first week in the field. 


So after a super long day of flights, I finally landed in Yakima around 9:30pm. There I met the Pendleberrys and we then drove to the mission office. That night I spent the night in the zone leaders apartment. Man it felt good to go to bed. The next morning we drove back to the mission office to grab the rest of my luggage. That morning I met the mission president and his wife as well as other office presidency. After getting to know each of them we left for the mission home. The mission home is literally the best place. It just made me feel back at home with all the decorations. This day was also a longer day, because it was basically all orientation stuff. President Jackman and sister Jackman are the best. They are super cool, normal, and hard working. They remind me a lot of mom and dad, and they also look similar too. They even let the new missionaries sleep in until 7am the next morning. 







To clear up any confusion of where I'm serving and whose my companion, I am not serving in Leavenworth, that was just my guess before president Jackman showed the transfer board. I'm serving in a town roughly 40 min from Yakima called Sunnyside. My companion is Elder Bradshaw. He's been out nearly a year, he's pretty funny and a cool guy. He's from Utah and is also the youngest of 4. He had a pretty normal life up until his high school years when he had done some pretty bad stuff. I won't tell you the major details, but his mission has truly changed his life. 

So transfer day was last Wednesday, which is where you saw some of those pictures on Facebook. I will be updating my Facebook with a newer profile pic so be on the lookout for that. Bradshaw and I loaded our stuff in the car and headed to Sunnyside. Somehow we got hooked up with a sweet car, a 2017 Toyota Rav-4. Such a nice car. We are both brand new to this area, or mission terms we got doubled in, so it's been a rough adjustment getting to know the people and the area especially because it's my first week. 



The people in Sunnyside are mostly Hispanic. There are a few pockets where its English. However, I would say most of the Hispanics know English, especially the kids. Usually if they grew up in Sunnyside they speak English, but if they came from Mexico, then they speak Spanish. So it's nice to teach lessons in English, but hopefully next week I can get more practice with Spanish. Sunnyside is also a lot of farm land as well. Right when you take the exit, you'll see a bunch of cows. There's not a whole of shopping or restaurants here, but have we have all we need. Our apartment is pretty decent. For the two of us its actually pretty big. The sisters that lived there before us and left us with basically nothing, so we've been sorting out some things but will need more from the store today.


 



So far every night we have been eating with our branch members. It's hit or miss you'll get a authentic Mexican meal, but the majority of the time you do.  I don't mind and have enjoyed trying new things here even though sometimes it doesn't or shouldn't look edible. Haha. Although I will have to tell you about this one dinner. So Saturday night we had dinner at a family called the Sorsycks. They served Taco Salad and it was pretty good. Well about 30 min after my stomach started to feel pretty sick. I wouldn't have imagined it was the food, I just thought I needed to go to the bathroom really bad. Well after knocking on a few doors and a lesson or two, my stomach pains were the same and it was time to go back to the apartment. I quickly showered and went to bed. Usually when I lay down I feel a lot better, but in this case I didn't and I just could not fall asleep. To summarize, I probably threw up about 6 to 7 times throughout the night, getting only a few hours of sleep. It was a rough night, and the next morning was my first Sunday in the branch, one that I could not miss. After emptying both the black and grey tank in my body, I was left with zero energy and I didn't want to eat a whole bunch, but I did feel a lot better and I feel fine now. 

We have a pretty small branch. At most there would be 40 people, which from what others were explaining was higher than I expected. President Wise asked the new missionaries to introduce themselves and so Elder Bradshaw, another new Hermana, and I each went up. Our Branch starts at noon. Our Elders quorum is super small, there's only 5 of us. So I'm looking forward to getting to know each member of the branch. 

We don't have a lot of plans for Halloween this week. Hopefully we can carve some pumpkins or something. Thank you so much for the letters and packages. I love them. We really have the best family. Good luck with school and work. Happy, happy happy birthday Mom. 
 
Love you and miss you all a lot.

Elder Nissinen 

For pictures this week, check out the shared google drive folder. I will be uploading pictures throughout the day.