"Hey Whatever"

Hola familia. 

I hope you guys have had a great week of school, in Minnesota, and at home. Things here at the CCM have gone great and I'm enjoying each day. 

Since I forgot to talk of the food in last weeks letter, I'll start off with that. Each meal there's usually two main entrees. One of my favorite meals here is the occasional spaghetti. There's actually a funny story about that I'll share. One evening for dinner they had spaghetti for dinner. It was made just the way I like it, and so I was super excited to try it. It was great and reminded me of moms home cooked meals. Well, about week later they had the same meal, and so obviously I had to get it again. I put the red sauce on top, grabbed two cups of my favorite mango drink and sat down with my district. Now I'm not even joking, they must have put ghost peppers in the sauce, because it was so hot. My mouth was on Fuego. I'll have to watch out for that the next time they serve spaghetti. I try my best to choose one of the two meals, but when in doubt I always have peanut butter toast, pineapple and watermelon. The food here is great and I almost never hungry. 

Classes are going great and I really like my teachers. They're funny and cool, which makes the classes go by faster and enjoyable at some times. There are many difficult and long days in the classroom, so it can be hard to stay focused. A few days out the week our district will go to a computer lab and study Spanish online. That's always a good break.

 

We have been also teaching two investigators, which are actually just our teachers acting like they know nothing. It's really good practice, especially when our Spanish isn't all that great. Luckily Elder Mazleyrat knows quite a bit to communicate, so when Hilton and I don't know what to say we just look at Mazaleyrat. Its actually funny. We have fun teaching and I'm so glad to be with them. 

So an interesting event happened just this past Monday. 

There's a missionary, who all of the sudden was sitting in a meeting or a class and looked up and instantly forgot everything since 2nd grade. He didn't know where he was at, what he was doing,  nothing. He isn't in my district but is in my zone. It was his last day in the CCM, which would mean he'd be leaving the next Tuesday morning for Guadalajara. But because of his circumstances he went to a hospital in Mexico for a MRI and the results according to the doctor weren't good. I tell you this because he is now my companion. He's a great and super kind guy. So yesterday he had an appointment with the CCM hospital to go over the official results of his MRI.  I don't know all the technical terms, but somehow in his head there's an area where blood isn't getting to, causing him to forget things. Unfortunately he will be sent home, and most likely not be able to come back on his mission. He leaves tomorrow afternoon with another doctor, because he can't fly by himself. I really like this Elder and will be hard to see him go, but I'm grateful I got to spend a few days with him. 

Tuesday night, the Latinos in our Casa told us to go in the living room for a meeting. We walked in the room and there was a bunch of snacks and stuff sitting on the table. We had a short testimony meeting, then just hung out and ate some food. It was a really awesome experience for me hearing about them bearing their testimony in Spanish and how they said they would miss us when they leave next week. I love those guys. Latinos are awesome. We have a quote between us in the casa and we repeat everytime we see each other. It's the beginning of a song but we just say the first line. It goes like this. "Triste mamá me siento triste" , which in English the song talks about how a boy is sad because his girlfriend found another guy. It's so random but they sing it all the time. So we've just picked up on it too. 

The days are long here, not going to lie. Although It is hard to believe I'm already two weeks out. I am so grateful to be serving a mission. I reflect on home a lot, but I'm so glad to be here. We are so blessed to have such a close family, no matter where were at in the world. Love you all very much. 

My thought for this week. When you didn't do very well on a test or when you get a door slammed in your face. Just remember what Mary Roach (Although if she does make it to Hollywood it will be Gilboux) said..

"Hey Whatever". 

Elder Nissinen. 

"Bring It On, Well then C'mon"

What in the world is going on. Geez, I can't believe it's already been a week here at the Mexico MTC, or CCM. I have so much to tell you guys, so hopefully I can say all I want to say in this email. 

The flights from Portland and Phoenix were great. I was the only missionary leaving Portland, so it was really weird not seeing any family members or anyone I recognized. It was a short flight and a great nap. When I looked at my flight itinerary of the gate number in Phoenix, it wasn't there. I kind of panicked for a second when I got off the plane until I saw, well what looked like three Hermanas, walking in the opposite direction of the gate I was supposed to get to. Luckily for me they were missionaries and they showed me where to go. When I arrived at my gate I saw a few elders and talked with them before we boarded. The plane was about half full and roughly 12 missionaries. One of the Elders name is elder Ryan and looks a lot like Okie. Just would have wished it was. We arrived in Mexico and got on this rickety stick shift bus,  and headed for the MTC, about a hour drive. I honestly believe I didn't see a single stop light on the way there. I seriously could have driven better. People were weaving In and out all over. It was hilarious. 

When we arrived at the MTC I grabbed my suitcases and went into the lobby where all the new missionaries were at. I recieved my weekly planning schedule, a bunch of other papers, the name of my companion, and of course my name tag. Then was able to send a short letter home to all you guys. The next place was to drop off my suitcases at my apartment, but unlike most missionaries I was going to be staying in a casa (house), which In my opinion is much better than a dorm. My companion wasn't there, so I hung out with some other guys and ate dinner. I was so tired. 

To fast forward a little bit, I'm in a trio. Yes, there's three of us. My companions names are Elder Hilton and Elder Mazaleyrat, and that is spelled correctly, pronounced Maza-le-ra. Hilton is from Idaho falls and Mazaleyrat is from France. Literally, out of 700 or so missionaries, there's only one from France and I get to be companions with him. It's a great thing. Hilton will be serving in Las Vegas and Mazaleyrat is serving in Mexico. He speaks fluent French, knows enough to speak English and understands and speaks Spanish pretty well. He reminds me of Jevon sometimes when he tried to speak French. Haha. They are awesome guys and we have so much fun together. 

As most you know, the first week at the MTC is the longest, hardest and slowest week in your entire life. There's just so much sitting, it drives me nuts. I look forward each day for gym time and putting on my normal clothes, although I'm getting to like wearing a white shirt and tie. My teachers are Hermana Martinez and Hermano Ruiz. Super cool teachers and I've learned a quite a bit of Spanish from them. Spanish for me has gone great. One of the things I learned this week that many others missionaries don't realize is that the Gift of Tongues is not only for speaking but also for understanding. I've been praying each day for that and have improved my understanding skills a lot. I can speak pretty well and communicate with just about everyone about normal topics, but when it comes to speaking about gospel stuff, that's where I fall a little short. But luckily my district is in the same spot. However I've picked up a lot of basic church words as well. 

My district is very small. There's only 9 of us which is great because we've gotten super close already. Our district leaders are Elder Kelley and Galmiester. Then we have Elder Stock (from Washington but not my mission) and Butler(from utah). Obviously myself and my companions. And Hermanas Fausset and Hall. In fact Hermana Fausset is from Provo and worked with Kim at the media center. She knows Kim very well. What a small world huh. 

This past Tuesday, there was roughly 300 missionaries leaving which would leave our Branch left with two districts. One of those being ourselves, and the other leaving a week from today. So with that being said the branch called our Hermanas as the STL's. We are expecting at least 200 more missionaries coming by today which should fill in the gaps in our branch. Sunday was great. It was the first time where something felt familiar. I helped passed the sacrament with my companions, and it was just a great day. 

Well I have some pretty big news to tell you all. After church that sunday we had worthiness interviews with the branch presidency. And yes I am worthy. To summarize, with the amount of missionaries leaving the next Tuesday it would leave our branch without Zone Leaders. So, when I thought my companions and I would be off the hook as far as leadership positions, I was wrong. We were shortly called that afternoon as the newest zone leaders. We don't know all what were supposed to do and we have some big shoes to fill. Especially being out only a week. It will be a good opportunity for us and we are excited to meet a lot of people. 

Here's two funny stories. 

1. Last Saturday we had a Zone meeting. It was an hour long and for the first 40 minutes or so, 50 of us played musical chairs. Apparently the past few weeks the zone had been doing an activity like that without any problems. Then lo and behold President Bennet walked in. Instantly the room was silent and he had a confused and disappointed look on his face. He pulled the zone leaders aside and asked them in front of everyone, how is the spirit present during this activity and how is this even a meeting. All you can really say is Sorry president, it won't happen again. I honestly enjoyed the activity, which is the funny part, but what's even more funny is that they had been playing games the past month like that. Well now I know what not to do at a Zone meeting. 

2. In our Casa or house, we share with roughly 10 Latinos and that's its, and only one of them can speak English. Well because Elder Mazaleyrat can't pronounce words well, I though it would have been funny to have him try some English Tongue Twisters. He then shared a French tongue twister and Hilton and I laughed really hard. We then had the Latinos try to say it, but it's hard for them to pronounce English or French words which makes it funny and were all laughing. There's a video of a latino and my companions and I trying to say the French one. I guess you can say it's our quote now. 

Last night for our Tuesday Devotional, we had a live broadcast from the Provo MTC. Elder Neil L Anderson and his wife spoke,  along with a member of the seventy. Elder Anderson just so happened to talk about what we can learn in the temple. And today for our P-Day we went to the temple. The Mexico temple is the largest temple outside of US. It's amazing. There's so much information you can learn in the temple each time you go. One of the things Elder Anderson spoke about is so consistantly visit the temple and bring a spirit of humility and seeking to learn. So it was perfect timing as the next day we would go to the temple. 

Well that's just about it for this week. It's been busy, hard and fun all at the same time. There will be a separate email of pictures and a video or two. Thanks so much for your emails and the written letters from Mom, Ro, and Dodo. It feels awesome getting mail. 

Love you all and miss you all very much. 

When your having a rough day, all ya gotta say is "Bring it On, well then C'Mon"

Elder Nissinen. 

I'm here!

Hola familia. 

Well I made it to the MTC all safe and sound. There's a lot I want to tell you guys, but I have limited time. My P-Days are on Wednesday. So you won't be hearing from me until next week as far as an official letter home. I am in branch 1 of District C. 

Well its been a long day and I can't wait to tell you all about it next week. I wont be able to respond so, I'll hear from ya next Wednesday.

Love you all. 

-- 

Elder Nissinen