Have Miracles Ceased? Nay

Dear family and friends, 

It's been another week. Yeah! 

Things are going great in general. Elder Effiong wasn't feeling too good, so we spend two afternoons in the hospital. His ears and head were bothering him. The work was a little slow, but he's doing better now. 

One of 3 families where every member of the family is active in the church. This is the only family that every member comes every week and the husband sits next to the wife. Great family! 

I mentioned something about miracles last email. This week was one of miracles. An investigator's mother was pretty sick, so we offered to give her a blessing. A few days later we returned and was teaching the daughter, who is a solid investigator that we'll baptize at the end of the month (hopefully). We invited the mother to sit in also. At the end of the lesson, we discussed the plans for the daughter's baptismal date, to which the mother said "I want to get baptized too!". I was so surprised and shocked, I think Effiong was too! Long story short, we plan on baptizing the mother, daughter, and son at the end of the month. Have miracles ceased? Nay. 

Friday night we got back to the apartment and realized we had lost our keys. After searching for a while in the nearby areas we were at earlier, we couldn't find anything. It being dark out didn't help our situation either. A few minutes later we go back to a store where we had bought some food, and still couldn't find the keys. As we're walking back, a guy comes up to us and says "Are you looking for some keys?". I was so surprised the guy had even seen the keys on the ground at night and was honest enough to give them to us. Have miracles ceased? Nay.

It's just a road sign....But it's true!

We scored 5 investigators at sacrament also. One investigator, who we'll baptize at the end of the month, has been to church 5 times already! The great part was that two of our recent converts (Bless and Daniel) gave talks. We helped them all week to write them, and they did a great job. It's a great comfort to know that your recent convert is staying strong in the gospel. 

Brother Ballard. He served here in Ho four years ago and came back to visit and for some charity work or something. Dad landscapes his father's place. Small world!

Saturday night the barber messed up my hair BADLY, so my hair is shorter than Dad's right now. Not too happy about that one, but it'll grow back.  Good luck on Trek! Kids need something hard to do over the summer. It'll be helpful when they're older. I loved Trek. It was hard but worthwhile. Many hard things there are reflected in my mission life. Make sure you get a lot of pics of Trek. 

By the way, I'm sending a letter home today to Jacob and Kim that I don't want them to open until they are married. It's a pretty great letter if I do say so myself. I'm praying that it'll reach home before they're married though. Jacob and Kimberley will LOVE the letter. It was so fun to write. I wrote it in a way that it could be read in front of the whole family if they'd like to.

 

Great to hear from you guys. Enjoy your week.

Elder Nissinen

Happy Birthday America!!!

Dear friends and family, 

I'm pretty far away from home, but you don't worry, I'm a citizen of the United States of America and I still feel patriotic today! 

Our week was great. Elder Effiong and I have been blessed to have a young man come with us every single day, which is a big help when it comes to translation issues. It's definitely a blessing! He'll be so prepared for his own mission soon. 

Some of my favorite pictures of my mission!

The second one had a big hole in it! The hole was made by the termites or ants and you can see all the way to the top! Super cool!!!

We've got several investigators who are preparing for their baptisms right now. However, many of them will need major changes in order for us to convert them. Miracles, honestly, need to happen. I've thought about what I'm asking people to do on a daily basis: give up drugs, co-habitation, their own previous church with all their friends there, repent, and accept the commitment of being dedicated to the Church and follow Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives. It's an incredibly hard pill to swallow, but people do it all the time everywhere. Why? Because the Church is true, and God is leading this work. I'm simply suppose to be His tool in which He can use to make it all happen. For those of you who are preparing for a mission, seriously ponder what you'll be asking people to do and give up. It will change the way you teach and love your investigators.

We were so happy to see two great investigators at sacrament yesterday. It's a wonderful feeling! 

Saturday was kind of funny. For one reason or another, we literally taught the Book of Mormon all day long! Hour after hour, lesson after lesson, question after question - we did it! It wasn't easy to keep our focus (especially after answering the same questions all day) and as we were biking home I mentally started complaining, when I realized how lucky I was! Seriously, I was able to talk about "the keystone of our religion" all day long! What a blessing, right?! 

Well, that's about it for our week. I love my mission so much. It's amazing. I'm so appreciative for this opportunity I have to serve in Ghana. I realize how blessed we are as Americans to live in such a wonderful country with plenteous opportunities. Have a great 4th! I miss making my 4th of July playlist haha. God bless America!!!!! 

Don't worry, your boy is still American! 

Breakfast.....Butterfinger!

Pizza for lunch.... 

and more junk for Dinner!!! Wohoo!

Love always, 

Elder Nissinen 

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 

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

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

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

Yo!

Dear family and friends,

It's been another typical week I suppose. I sure love this area. Everything about it is so fantastic.

We scored SIX investigators at sacrament AGAIN this week! Sunday's for missionaries are the busiest. We're running around in about 20 different directions. Sunday's are also overall my favorite day. There are several people we are teaching who are pretty serious about baptism, which is exciting on our part.

We've been doing a better job of working with the members. It's true: when members and missionaries work together, miracles happen... quicker! Members are there when we aren't. They say what we sometimes can't say (language barrier). They know so many more people than we do. Every member a missionary!

I've been pondering some on my patriarchal blessing. Once I treat it like personal scripture, it means much more than just words. I encourage you to ponder over yours and pray for personal revelation to understand it deeper.

The rain continues to pour here. Yesterday we got a short flash-flood with dangerous wind speed. Many big tree limbs fell across roads, and two large billboards fell down, one of those falling on a truck!

We had a small miracle this week. Remember Daniel right? Well, we got in contact with his uncle, who was really supportive of the baptism. He informed us that Daniel's father was actually not his father. We got on the phone with Daniel's real father, who was super kind and approved of the whole thing. I believe he's even traveling from out of town to come and witness it on Friday. We're really happy that worked out smoothly for us. 

One of our investigators graduated from collage Sunday, so we supported her!

I heard a great quote from a John Bytheway talk the other day that's been sticking in my head. He was quoting somebody and said, "You cannot run away from weakness. You must either fight it out or perish, and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?" We all have weaknesses, but with the Lord's help, those weaknesses can become strengths. So fight it out! 

We played some tennis today at a nice court! It was fun!

Elder Helm and I

Thanks for all you encouragement and support. Memorial Day huh? Go eat a Frosty and a #1 Combo meal for me. Have fun, and finish the school year strong!

Love, Elder Nissinen

Dear family and friends, 

As any missionary can attest to, a mission covers our highest of highs and our lowest of lows. Emotions are typically either through the roof or down to the ground, with not much in the middle. That has been the summary of my week.

We have a few investigators who are super committed to the gospel right now. We planned on extending baptismal dates to 4 people. One accepted, and the other three are still pending. Some lessons went really really great, and others not so good. 

Some elders let us borrow the Restoration video. It works fantastic! We use it with my speaker and our DVD player to our investigators. I don't know why it took so long to think of doing this. 

On Friday, we walked out of our apartment praying for some new investigators. A few minutes later we got one from a member. About 5 minutes later, I got a call from some weird number, so I answered it. Turned out to be a Sister missionary in New York who worksmormon.org. A man requested for a Book of Mormon online, and we were the ones who lives in his area, so she forwarded his information to us. We met with the guy the following day, and his was really interested in the Book of Mormon and had been searching for a copy for a long time. It was the first time I've received a referral from the Church. It worked flawlessly! Cool stuff! 

Saturday was suppose to be Daniel's baptism. We called his father and asked him about some information on the baptismal form, and he told us we can't baptize his son. This was about 1 hour before the service. He is coming this Friday, and we are going to try and work things out with him so Daniel can get baptized soon. I was really upset at the whole thing, but it'll all work out in the end. 

Investigators brought food to the baptism, but of course it fell through, so we had a little party anyways! It was fun and helped me feel better again

Kenkey and fried fish with pepper. My favorite! Yummmmmm!

We had SIX investigators in sacrament yesterday! It was super fantastic. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about forgiveness, and how we needed to be like Elsa and Anna in Frozen and just "let it go". I thought it was funny. We almost gave the lesson in Gospel Principles. Then we gave the lesson in EQ. A lot of teaching!

It's raining 3 or 4 times a week now, so that is making proselyting a challenge. Elder Effiong doesn't like the rain at all haha. 

Anyways, great to hear everyone is doing well and enjoying themselves. Have a great week! By the way, I received your package. The hat is SO GREAT! Probably the best gift I've received on my whole mission. I love that thing. It's fantastic. So thanks a lot. 

I love my new HAT!!!  

Love, Elder Nissinen

Congratulations Bro.

Dear family and friends,

Well I've been dying waiting to see how the big proposal went this week... she said yes! Great job Jacob. Your hard work has paid off. It's pretty hard to believe you are engaged. That's a pretty serious word you know.  Wow!  It's going to be hard not being home for the wedding and parties and stuff, but I'll be looking forward to the letters, and pictures. I've been anticipating today's letters the whole week! That's so crazy he's engaged....

Anyways...

The work is going! Elder Effiong and I are really starting to get a solid feel for the area. I'm becoming more established, and I like that a lot. This Saturday we have a baptism! A boy named Daniel. He's a great kid, and we're excited for him. We have several upcoming baptisms in June/July as well. We're teaching a couple of ladies who are all friends and are seriously committed to the Church. It's super cool seeing people who realize how much the gospel can bless their lives.

After a Zone Training Meeting.... 

I conducted an exchange Friday with the other elders in my district. It was nice going over to another area and encouraging my district members and helping them as best as I can. 

Exchanges with Elder Adodo

Having this calling has helped me be a better example to other missionaries. I'm expected to maintain a higher level of obedience now that others are watching me closely. Other than the baptism this week, we are working towards getting new investigators. It's important that we keep our teaching pool constantly fresh. 

A delicious dinner at Elder Helm's convert's house after his baptism. It's Kenke and has some other stuff in it.

I've been doing some serious "lawn maintenance" on the outside of our house lately. It feels nice doing some landscaping, but I sure miss the luxury of nice tools (mower, rake, etc).  

The washing machine is nice, although it's more rewarding handwashing... so I do both.

Today I have to pick up some trousers I got tailored.. they are getting kinda big on me now. Don't worry mom! Time goes by so fast around here. Hard to believe I've been living on my own away from home for 9 months...

A Kodak moment of the week! 

The letters/videos/pictures this week were awesome! Thanks so much for that. Again, congratulations Jacob on your proposal. I knew my idea would work! Take care everyone and have a wonderful week. 

Keep your eyes out for a letter coming in the mail soon-ish.

Love Elder Nissinen

Mother's Day

Dear friends and family, 

Well, time sure flies by when you're on a mission. Seems like just yesterday we were talking on the phone. 

My pretty goofy family!

It was SO NICE to hear from you all! I know you weren't able to see me, but I was able to see and hear you perfectly, so I guess it's better than nothing. Next time I'll do a better job planning so we'll all be able to see each other. It felt so cool to hear from you all. Even in just the 8 months I've been out, you've all grown so much (especially Joe, clap for yourself). I couldn't believe how hilarious all of you are. I guess I have forgotten our family humor or something. You guys are hysterical! 

Well, things are same-old same-old with me. We're working and working away at bringing people back to church and bringing new people into the church. I'm trying to focus a little bit on engaging the members with the missionary efforts. Investigators are more likely to be converted when they have a friend in the church to visit, support, and invite them. So go help your missionaries! 

I've done a bit of pondering lately about how my mission has impacted me and what-not. I realized how awesome of an opportunity I have before me. I get to spend literally 2 years serving the Lord. I have NOTHING to distract me, like education, career, or housing, making it possible to entirely devote myself to helping my brothers and sisters come closer to Jesus Christ. Pretty extraordinary, right? The Church has made it possible for us to easily put our "eye single to the glory of God". What a blessing it is to serve people all day long. You know that feeling you get when you do something nice for somebody? Missionaries are lucky to get that feeling every day, all day. Cool huh? 

A pretty cool looking house we found the other day.

Anyways, it was such a blessing to call home yesterday and hear from you all. You all sound like you're doing fantastic, so that's fantastic. Finish school strong!  Finally, happy Mother's Day Mom. I love you and am proud as ever to be your son. 

Love, Elder Nissinen

Here's the talk I gave yesterday. It wasn't very good, I waited until the last minute to write it, plus I didn't have resources for researching. So sorry for that. 

I have the special opportunity today to speak to you. I think it would be most appropriate if I speak on mothers, being that it's Mother's Day. So first of all, Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers here. You are special and have a divine role in each and every one of our lives here. 

A mother is more than one who gives birth to her child. A mother is more than just the person who's father marries. No, a mother is one who raises children, nurtures them, loves them, and teaches them. 

There is a special love that only mothers give. Actually, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has said that no love on earth can come closer to that of Jesus Christ's than a mother's. Each of us owes a big "thank you" to our mothers today, because without them, none of us would be here. 

In the Book of Mormon, we read a story about Helaman and his army of 2000 young soldiers. These soldiers were boys, and most of them had never fought in battle before, yet they were expected to be just as strong and courageous as their fathers and enemies were. So what made these 2000 stripling warriors succeed? Was it the influence of their teachers? Was it their siblings? Was it leaders in the Church? No. Listen to verses 47 and 48 in Alma 56: 

"Now they had never fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them."

"And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We did not doubt our mothers knew."

It was the testimony and teachings of their mothers that kept them valiant and fearless.

Now I would like to speak small about my own mother. My mother is a member of the church since she was born. She introduced the gospel to my father, and he was baptized and they later got married in the temple. Because of my mother, my father was baptized into the church. She is a great example to me of a woman who does not lower her standards for anyone. I am second-born of four children. Ever since I was born, my mom was always at home. Even in my high school years, I remember coming home after school and seeing my mother working around the house. I would like to share one quick story:

I worked at a restaurant for some time. My shift was always to close the restaurant, meaning that I wouldn't get home until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning. Each night I worked, I would always get home to see my mother and father waiting for me. They were not going to sleep until they saw me come home safe and sound, no matter how tired they were. That is one memory of my mother that I'll always remember.

Today is Mother's Day, of course. I miss my mom. She used to cook and do all my wash, but I have to do all that now! She made the most delicious foods, and I'll have to wait for a while to eat her dishes again. As missionaries, we get to call home 2 times a year: Christmas and Mother's Day. today I'm so excited to be able to speak with my family and wish my mother a Happy Mothers' Day. I am so thankful for the wonderful mother I have. She an am amazing woman, and has been one of the biggest influences in my whole life. Without her I wouldn't be who I am today. I love and miss her a lot. God bless all you mother's on this special day. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.