Tansfers.....

Wow, it's been another super fast week. I hope you all have great week at school and at work. Transfers are this week, so I will tell you all the information about that and what will be happening. Other than that here are some of the highlights from this past week. 

Last Monday was my first time I had my apartment inspected. I had cleaned up a little the night before, but not too much. The apartment wasn't too bad, but it definitely wasn't great. So that morning I quickly got out of bed and cleaned up as much as I could while Elder Bradshaw was showering. I had no idea of how detailed they were going to check it and he didn't tell me, so I cleaned basically everything I could. Sure enough, a few hours later after grocery shopping and stuff we heard a knock at the door and it was Elder and Sister Doman, the apartment inspectors. They are super nice and literally only looked inside the microwave. Which is the only thing I didn't clean. It wasn't a big deal at all and so we passed. 

Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. It was super fun having 4 elders in the apartment for two nights and talking to other elders. Down here in Sunnyside it it only Elder Bradshaw and I ,the rest are sisters. I went on the exchange with Elder Smith. He is a super cool and funny guy and we really get along. One funny story he told me while we were tracking was when he went on exchanges with the AP(Elder Russell) and they were knocking at the door when the guy said "Oh yah I don't believe in God". Elder Russell said "Oh man that sucks". It may not seem super funny, but I get a kick out of it every time.

Well Saturday arrived and was the morning of Transfer Calls. I still don't know a whole about how the calls work, but I know that President Jackman only calls if you are in a leadership position and being transferred or going into a leadership position. There is a few more exceptions, but I not totally sure how he does it. I was awaiting the call that morning, but we never got one. Which means Elder Bradshaw will be staying in Sunnyside and it is a 50/50 chance that I'm staying as well or going. The night came when they post the transfer board on Facebook and sure enough, I will be TRANSFERRED. I will be moving to Othello, which is about an hour away from here. My new companion will be Elder Cox. I don't know anything about him, but I look forward to serving with him. I will have lots more information in next week letter. I'd better start packing up. 

Yesterday was my last Sunday in the branch. Since we are now combined with the Toppenish Branch we have lots more people coming. We also had a mission farewell talk and there were nearly 100 people there. It filled the chapel pretty well. After church, I was able to get a picture with a few of the members that we got to know pretty well. Make sure to check out some of those in the Drive. I will miss Sunnyside a lot, just because I know the area and the people and everything is familiar, but I am excited to meet new people in a new area. 

Well I am glad everyone got the letter I sent out. I hope everyone continues to work hard and reads the scriptures everyday. There is so much we can learn from them. I notice things each day when I read. The Spanish is coming along. It will take many more months to be super comfortable, but I am hoping this next transfer I can learn much more. Thanks for all you have done for me. I love you all very much. 4 Months down. Went by fast right?

Elder Nissinen

Whats up family and friends? 
I hope you all had a great week of the first 2 hour church and a great start to the new year. Sounds like everyone is back in school and back to work. 

This week has been pretty good. This Wednesday we had district counsel and it was Hermana Gray year mark. She is the girl that sat next to Rosie during a meal at the MTC. She reminds me of her a lot as well. We had some cookies and we played all the Chubby Bunny game. Make sure to check out the drive for a funny video on that. 

This week was also the first week of home cooked meals. As you can imagine with any missionary, this is something most struggle with, including myself. I got all the ingredients for the spaghetti and it turned out pretty good, all expect the sauce tasted good. I got diced tomato and sauce and it literally tasted like a stink-in tomato, not marinara sauce. However the meat was great and the noodles. This week I will be getting better sauce for sure and hopefully a few more things for more meals. If you do have any recipes that are simple and easy to make, make sure to send them my way. 

I hope you all had a great time at two hour church yesterday. For me it was more than two hours, but it felt nice to get out earlier. Our branch combined with another so now we have a lot more people coming, probably at least 70 or 80. We also had one of our investigators come as well for the second time with his son. He stayed both the two hours and even invited us over to make some burgers. So in the afternoon we went over there and ate with his family. That is one key to missionary work. By simply going in to their house and teaching them all the lessons, I feel like isn't enough. They need and want friendship with the members and including the missionaries. So that is one thing I have noticed this week teaching and visiting him.

Well there is only one more week until transfers. I will know who is staying and going when we get a call this Saturday. I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas break. Keep working hard and don't forget how much I miss and love you all. Happy Birthday Dad and Kim and happy 1 year mark Rosie. 

Elder Nissinen

Pictures in the Drive will be uploaded soon. Love ya

Feliz Año Nuevo!

What's going on everybody. I hope you all had a super awesome Christmas. I really didn't know what to expect on Christmas day as a missionary, but let me tell you it's way different than being at home. The best gift I was able to receive was calling home. I didn't want it to end. Seems like everyone is doing well and our family has some exciting things that will be taking place in 2019. Here are some of the highlights from this past week. 

Last Monday, our district met up at the church and we played games and did some small gift exchanges. Each of us a few weeks earlier drew a name from a hat and that name you would have to get a gift for. I got Hermana Gray a gift, but couldn't come up with any ideas. So thanks to Mom, I got her some nice lotion. We spent Christmas Eve in the apartment making cookies. We didn't have any plans for people we wanted to visit the next day, so I asked Elder Bradshaw to use his phone, so i could call some people up. I was able to get ahold a few families and by the end of the night we had some plans for the next day. Christmas morning came quickly and as always I was anxious to open my presents. Thank you so much for all the nice gifts, to mom and dad, Jacob and Kim and the rest of the family. I really enjoy them. Unfortunately the speaker I bought for Elder Bradshaw isn't as good as the package looked, which surprised me because I like tech stuff and I can tell good things from bad. So today we will be taking it back and finding a different one for him. Then we called home. I'm so grateful the connection worked out and I was able to see everyone, including Bubbs for a minute. Our family is truly the best. That evening we went by the people I had planned and it ended up being a pretty decent Christmas, but like I said the best gift I received was talking to my family. 

Now back to missionary work. It was a good break for a few days, and it seemed like we hadn't done missionary work in a week. Haha. Because it was Christmas break, we were able to contact some people and teach a few lessons, but not a lot of success. Hopefully we can work hard next week and find some new people. The next few days after Christmas flew by and before we knew it, it was Sunday. 

Last day of three hour church. It's funny now to look back in time and how everyone was talking about 2 hour church and all these changes that we wanted to happened. Then boom, here we are and two hour church is happening next week. 2019 will be a fun year for our family and for the church. Along with these changes, our mission will be experiencing some of their own as well. With the changes in Dinner times, visiting members from 8-9, and Finding and teaching after dinner, our mission will see some great differences for sure. This Sunday our branch was combined with the Toppenish Branch, and the Stake Presidency. During the sacrament meeting

the Stake President announced that the two branches would be combined permanently to form the Yakima Lower Valley Branch. This would mean that there would be 4 sets of missionaries in this branch. I'm excited about this change and the chance to talk to more members and the other missionaries.

Well that basically wraps up this past week. I will be writing to you all again next year! hah. I love you all very very much. Since we will be starting to cook our own dinners, if you guys have any good recipes, send them my way. Please be safe and have fun. 

Elder Nissinen 

Merry Christmas

It's been another great week in Sunnyside. I love seeing people getting excited about Christmas, especially the kids. In fact a nights ago, we were eating with a member from the ward and they had lots of presents under the tree. The dad told them if they opened it or of he saw a small tear in the wrapping he was going to open it right in front of them and take it back to the store. That night it reminded me of the many memories growing up and the excitement us kids had for Christmas. Heck, I'm still excited. Here are some of the highlights this past week. 

Cold night of sleeping

So a little over a week ago, just after the Branch Christmas Dinner, Elder Bradshaw had to grab something from the car. He then slammed the car door, but had left his finger inside. After going back inside, it was all swollen and slightly purple. We called the mission nurse then I had him put it in some ice. I thought it was just an ordinary smashed finger, but his pain increased. Over the next few days the purple on his finger began to grow. So last Wednesday we called the doctor who actually is a member, to check it out. After a few minutes of looking at his finger they decide to take a small needle and try to relieve the pressure from the nail. That method didn't work so they sent us to the hospital to get an X-ray, because it looked slightly broken. The next day we got the results back, and luckily there is nothing broken. I want him to schedule another appointment next week, but he says it will be healed by then. Haha. Little does he know the bruising will last a few months. We will see how he does this coming week. 

We have been eating with the ward this week for dinner, which is the best. The food, the people, and the English. Haha. One night after we finished eating the parents daughter rushed through the door as a surprise. She had just gotten home for Christmas break, but she came home a day earlier than the parents thought. She came in with another guy, who just recently got home from his mission in Chile. We briefly met each other, and I tied him I was from Hillsboro Oregon. Come to find out, he is roommates with Ian McGregor at school and they served missions together. Then he started listing off a bunch of names of all the guys from Hillsboro. It was pretty crazy. 

This Sunday was our Branches Christmas special. We combined our Branch with the branch from Toppenish. Elder Bradshaw and I had been inviting as many people as we could to come, especially when we could say it was only an hour long. Many people in the past say they would, but never end up coming. So this week we tried pretty hard to get some one to come. About 5 minutes before the sacrament started we got a text saying that one of our investigators was outside. We quickly found him and brought him in to sit next to us. We followed up with him later and he said he enjoyed it. During the sacrament meeting all the missionaries sang Peace in Christ, and our elders quorum sang a song. I don't know how well it sounded, but my guess would be not very good. Hah. 

Also this past week we had District Council. We talked about all the changes that will be happening starting this January. Most of you have probable already heard the news, but it is official that we will be having dinners from 4-5, and not at members homes. They can drop off meals, but other than that, it will mostly be in our apartment. As far as Saturday and Sundays, we can eat with members at whatever time is best for them but first asking if 4:00 could work too. This dinner seems really early for most families, which will be a problem we can run into.  They are really wanting to focus on Finding and Teaching between the hours of 5-7:30, where people will usually be home. They are also wanting missionaries to be in the homes of members from 7:30-9. At this time we can have mini-lessons with the members. I'm not completely sure how I feel about it, because there are both positives and negatives about these changes, but I will learn how to cook things that are good. hah. 

Well Christmas day is just down to the hours away and I'm so excited to see you all, that will be the best gift. I am thinking of calling in the afternoon, probably around 2 or 3pm. Not 100% sure, so keep you phones close by. I will be using google hangouts from my LDS account, as far as I know. I will be calling Dads phone on google hangouts. I would love to have Rosie join in as well, so we will have to communicate with each other. 

ALSO BE AWARE, I will be calling mom and dad tonight, Christmas eve, for a minute chat to tell them the plans for calling the next day. That will happen around 9pm. I'm not totally sure why, but hey it will be cool. I mean email would be a sufficient alternative, but don't go to sleep too early, and it will only be a minute or two call. 

Love you all. 

Elder Nissinen