Hey family!!!

 

Sorry I told you Friday instead of today. Today's actually our p-day. Sorry!!

 

I'll just start off by saying, the CTM is THE BEST place to learn Portuguese, way better than in Provo. I'm completely immersed here!!! We're pretty much forbidden to speak English to anyone - the only ones who understand it are the other americans. My roommates are Brazilians, my teachers are Brazilians, we eat meals with the Brazilians, and all the workers are Brazilian. It's all sink-or-swim here. And it's awesome!! I've learned/relearned a ton, and the best way of practicing is just speaking it. Our teachers don't spend a lot of time on the Fundamentals of being a missionary. We're pretty much just practicing a ton. Teaching, speaking, playing games, everything's in Portuguese. You know what's weird? After speaking Portuguese nearly for a straight week, it feels weird speaking in English haha. I'm super grateful that I get to spend a little time here just to step back, reevaluate stuff, and just jump into the language. The gift of tongues is real!!! I mean, after seven months of hardly speaking full sentences in Portuguese, and then after a week of full immersion, I'm surprised the natives understand me! I'm nowhere near fluent, but the CTM has given me a great foundation.

 

So lemme tell ya a little about how things work here. It's waaaaay smaller here than at Provo. We just got a bunch of new missionaries today, and we capped at 300 or so. The whole facility is like one of the big buildings in Utah. So you get to know people here pretty easy, which is nice. My roommates are really cool (and patient). We have three meals a day (Desjejum, Almoço, and Jantar), and then at 9:30 we have a Lanche. It's like a late snack: piece of fruit, a little croissant roll, and juice box. For breakfasts it's the same thing: a roll that we put meat and cheese in and then toast it - tastes pretty good. And, you called it, beans and rice are available at for lunch and dinner every day. Besides the Gospel, I'm also converted to one more thing: Guaraná. I had it my first meal here, and I don't know how to describe it. It's got a hint of cream soda, but fruity. SUPER good! I think one of my American roommates is addicted to it because he drinks like 10 glasses a day. Another thing, we have to drink a ton of water here - at least 10 glasses a day. The nights get pretty humid, and the mornings cool off. We have a big fan right over our door that we leave on all night. I was BAKING my first night! 

 

My companion is Elder W. from South Carolina. He served in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for 6 months before coming here, and his MTC companion was Elder B.  - small world! He's really cool and picked up a little Creole in Florida, so he likes speaking that when he can. He's going to Goianya. So far I haven't met a single missionary going to Sao Paulo West yet, but I'll probably run into a few later.

 

My district is cool too. Sister B. and Sister A.  are in it, and they're companions again too! My Branch President assigned me to be the Zone Leader on Sunday. In the MTC it just means that I welcome the new ones in my zone and set a good example by being obedient.

 

Last week we got to go out to the heart of the city and proselyte. Elder W. and I were given 6 Book of Mormons to hand out, and then to just go talk with people! It was probably the funnest thing! The people here are super humble and receptive. The problem here is that near everyone will accept a copy, but there're people who will just do it to be nice and not read it. Kinda the opposite problem I had in California. Within an hour we easily had them handed out. The area we proselyted looked like New York Town Square - soooo many people in just one little area. It just felt great being back out.  

 

The language is going great, I'm really excited to get back in the field. I've been really blessed this last week. Heavenly Father has helped me out a lot.

 

Sorry these computers won't let me send pictures. And there's a rule here to where you can only take pictures on p-day and your last day here. And we can't take our cameras outside the CTM too for p-day. But this morning when I went to the Sao Paulo temple (btw, BEAUTIFUL!), our driver took a picture of our district and will send it to you.

 

They have the hour time-limit for emailing here too. I still have 20 minutes by the time you get this email, so maybe we can chat.

 

Thanks!! Sorry again if you were expecting an email on Friday. I love you all a lot!!!

 

Elder Nissinen

Hi family!!

Just letting you know I made it here safe and sound. And what a day!! I'm super tired, and my mind is blown again. EVERYONE speaks Portuguese here! Talk about full immersion. I haven't unpacked yet, but I'm headed to my room right after this.

But I'm super excited to be here. These next two weeks are gonna be focused completely on language skills. Instead of having two teachers a day like the regular 6-weekers, we have three. We're encouraged to speak the language all the time and to eat with the natives in the cafeteria. All of my teachers so far are natives, and their English is limited.

The food so far is pretty good too. Guess what we had for lunch? That's right: beans and rice! On Wednesdays we get pizza, but it's totally different than American pizza. No tomato sauce. I ate a slice with cheesy sauce and corn! Not too bad actually.

Anyways, it was great talking with everyone yesterday. It's crazy to think I'm actually here now! My P-days are on Fridays, but my first won't be till next week, just like it was in Provo.

I don't have a lot of time, but I may be able to chat for a minute.

Love you all so much,

Elder Nissinen

Hi everyone!!

Sorry I am super low on time today. Since it's my last P-day in the States, I've had a lot to do, and I've been running all around since 5:30 when we woke up. Dont worry though, we still got our studies in. 

I sent off a package of stuff I knew I wouldn't take to Brazil. You should be getting it later this week. If you don't know what some of the stuff is, we can talk about it when I call next week. I also put in my SD card with the birthday pictures and videos. 

On Thursday we had our regular President Interviews that he does about every three months. This time President decided to include my "departing interview" with mine. Lemme tell ya, it feels so weird haha. I'm just so grateful I'm not actually going home yet. But he's letting me call from the airport. I bought a Calling Card today too. My flight leaves from California at noon, but I don't know the other times for layovers and stuff. 

Haven't started packing yet...haha I've just been sorting stuff into piles. But that's another thing to get started on plus my list of other errands we have to run today. 

Sorry I don't have a lot of time, but I'll update you on everything when I call next Tuesday. Elder F. and I have had an awesome week, and I'm sure this is gonna be the busiest and best week of my mission so far.

 I love you guys and hope you all have a great week!!! 

Love Elder Nissinen

Hey everyone! 

This week has been great! I've seen a lot of blessings this week, especially from General Conference. It was sooo good! We didn't watch it with members, so we just went to the Stake Center and watched it all there. That place was dead! Out of the 12 people inside that chapel, all but two were missionaries haha. I can't believe it's all gone by so fast. And what's even better is reading through all the talks in the next couple weeks. My favorite talks were by Elder Holland, Elder Bednar, Bishop Stevenson, Elder Ballard, and Elder Scott - so many favorites! 

Thank you so much for the birthday present!!! Elder F.  recorded me opening my package without me realizing it. I'll send off this SD card before I leave. I loved the Andy Griffith shirt too!! And I've got the Barney Fife license in my wallet. It was a really good birthday. We didn't have a lot of time after Priesthood Session, but Elder F.  and I are gonna go out to eat somewhere before transfers. 

This week I woke up for Early Morning Seminary for the first time - 4:30! haha Elder F.  and I were invited to help out the Seminary kids learn how to invite their friends to come to seminary. This week is Invite Your Friend To Seminary week, so we role-played with the teens to help them see how normal it is to invite someone, even if they don't come. We got Costco muffins afterwards, so it was pretty cool. Oh, and this one teenager is from Brazil, so we talked for a little bit in Portuguese. You probably won't believe this, but she actually understood me!! Everytime I try talking to a Spanish-speaker in Portuguese, they look at me like I'm speaking with rocks in my mouth haha. And I hope the CTM will boost in those dusty language skills.

Elder F.  and I have been doing great, and we're still having a blast with our roommates Elder S. and Elder S . Last night Elder S.  taught us how to throw playing cards so they cut through paper - it works! I even got one to stick in the ceiling this morning! Just one of the crazy things we've been up to.

As for our teaching, we're hopefully gonna have the B.'s be baptized this upcoming weekend, but we haven't been able to see them this last week and we still have some things to teach them. The rest of our investigators have been doing well. With MLC and General Conference this week, we didn't have as much time to proselyte, but it'll pick back up this week. Elder F.  and I are just gonna kill it over these couple weeks :) We're excited. 

One of our investigators, Jose, has been going through some hard times. He owns his own moving and cleaning business, but he hasn't had a lot of business lately. And his landlord just served him with a 3-day notice. On Friday we went in planning on teaching the Restoration. But after hearing him talk about how stressed he is, we got the prompting to give him a priesthood blessing. He said he felt really warm inside, and he wanted that feeling again. Well, Church, prayer, and scriptures is the answer we gave him. He went out of town this weekend but we hope to see him at church soon.

This gospel is so awesome. After listening to general conference, the youth are really being focused on. The world is going crazy!! I was just in the mall a couple hours ago. Elder F.
 had to get some presents for his brother, but just walking through it felt weird. And the clothing stores have gone nuts too! So much of the stuff is inappropriate. Stay true guys and buckle up, cuz we're in the last days.

Love you all. Thanks again for the birthday wishes :)    Elder Nissinen

I GOT MY VISA!!!!!!!! I'm leaving April 22nd right after transfers. President Hobbs emailed me today about it. I was seriously jumping around the Family History Center giving everyone high-5's. 

It's very bitter-sweet. Leaving everything and everyone I've met over the last 7 months and starting over again. I've had so much fun. But don't worry. Both Elder F.  and I are committed to working 110% for the rest of the time I'm here. 

This week we were extremely blessed. We've been helping the B.  kids prepare for their baptism on April 12th. The kids have learning disabilities, which makes it a little difficult. It's been a blessing though because it makes us teach simply, which is exactly how we're supposed to be teaching anyways. Also, through a bunch of referrals from other missionaries, we got 4 new investigators this week! Two of them are a husband and wife named Latu and Della. Latu is Tongan and Della is Hispanic, and they're hilarious. They were referred by two sister missionaries who talked to them on the street the other day. Their background is pretty funny. One time Della's car stalled, so 7 missionaries came and pushed her car up a hill, and she really remembered that. Latu's father was a devout member who didn't force his son to be Mormon, but Latu was really intrigued about it. The Spirit was strong when we taught the Restoration, and before we even started teaching Latu was talking about being baptized. We both committed them to be baptized April 26th. It was like teaching the Hicks all over again; they were so prepared. Elder F. and I were literally jumping and fist-pumping in the car after the lesson. We live for these moments. Unfortunately they had a family emergency happen on Sunday, so they weren't able to come to church. But we're excited to see their progress.

Friday night we had a YW Fundraiser for Girls Camp, and they did a Silent Auction, kinda like the ones back home. They even did a live auction part too, and guess what was one of the things they auctioned off? Service by the Elders. I didn't even know Elder F.
 signed us up for it haha. The auctioneer was slowing down around $30, so Elder Fullmer and I went up in front of the ward and started flexing. We then bumped up all our service to $60!! It was a kick! The YW served pancakes that night, and guess who made them? Yup, us too! I got pretty good with that spatula by the time it was over. 

My brain is so fried that these were the only things I could think of that we did this week. I know my journal has a lot more. I don't think my head has wrapped around it all yet.

Love you and hope we can chat. Love Elder Nissinen

Elder F. and I doing service that was auctioned off. We shoveled rock! It felt so good to sweat! haha

Hi everyone!! 

This last week was awesome!! Elder F.  and I were able to hit the ground running after a lot of meetings our first week. It's been a lot of fun. We even got our bikes out. Elder F.  hadn't been on a bike on his whole mission yet, so it was pretty funny seeing him riding around. Biking is so much fun compared to just sitting in a car. We've had to cut our zone back on miles this month, so we've all been having to bike or walk a lot more. It helps because we get to talk to a lot more people on the street. 

One of the best parts of the week was our dinners. We got taken out to Olive Garden on Wednesday, and on Friday a member took us to Steer n Stein. It's the best steak place in town. Man, it was so good!!! The member was pretty much ordering everything and anything for us on the menu: onion rings, chili bean soup, chicken, garlic bread, fried shrimp, ribs, baked potatoes, and 12 oz steaks!!!! AND dessert!! He ordered for us the biggest plates they had. We were so full - and so grateful!!! And...(Mom you'd be proud) I've got plenty of leftovers too :) 

So about the work, we've been super busy! This last week we nearly doubled our teaching pool. We found a solid new investigator and we set three other baptismal dates. It's from another part-member family, and the kids getting baptized have come to church at least since I've been here. It's the B. family, the kids names are Joseph (13), Timothy (10), Clark (9), and Hank (7). The dad reminds me of Bogey a little bit too haha. 

Here's a fun fact about Elder F.  Remember the movie Paul Blart? Elder Fullmer has the same condition hypoglycemia; if he doesn't eat every couple hours, he gets super tired. Back home he passed out at football and wrestling matches. He just told me a couple days ago. I didn't even know that disease was real! We're doing great. It's been a blast having the other two missionaries there. The hardest part is actually getting to bed on time because we end up just talking and laughing whenever we're all together.

Sorry I hardly have any time to chat today. We spent a lot of time cleaning our apartment, getting haircuts, dry cleaning, and doing another zone activity. I've got pictures to send though. 

Being a Zone Leader is great! Elder F.
 and I get to help out a lot of missionaries, and you get to be friends with a lot of them. 

That's fun you all ran a 5K! Who was it at Glencoe that put it on? 

Oh hey B, crazy thought, have you been checking out the ACT/SAT yet this year? Don't know why I thought of that haha.

Lovin the work. My companion is awesome. Even though the Green Tree ward is small, it's fun. And there's a lot of work to do :)

Love you all. Have an awesome Spring Break! Make it last!!  Love Elder Nissinen

        

                           I was trying to make muffins last night.....got a little distracted. Let's just say that things got a little crazy when both smoke alarms went off and we had to open all the windows and doors.... :)

Hey everyone! 

So the first week as a zone leader....Honestly this was the busiest week of my mission! All the zone leaders call this week Shark Week. It's because we have a bunch of meetings that we prepare for and a lot of logistical stuff. And since it was the beginning of the transfer, we were helping everyone move dressers, mattresses, and box springs, plus the brand-new missionaries' stuff all this week. AND, on top of all that, we had an APOSTLE come and speak to us!!!!! It was such an awesome week, but I'm glad all the meetings are over. 

Thursday was the craziest. We had 9 hours of meetings that day, and boy was I drained! We had a Leadership Meeting for all the District Leaders, Zone Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders in the mission. Then we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) for 5 hours. It's where all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders talk about their areas and what President Hobbs wants us to focus on for all the missionaries. We take what President Hobbs trains on and then pass it down to our zone through Zone Meeting. It's once a month, and for us it's tomorrow. So Elder F.  and I have been preparing like crazy for it. And then on top of that, we had Stake Coordination with all the Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders in Hesperia. 

Overall, my respect for zone leaders has skyrocketed. There's so much to do! Haha 

Ok, so about my companion. Elder D.  (yup, pronounced like Donnie) F.  is from Fillmore, Utah. He's been out 9 months and turned 19 not too long ago. He grew up on a farm and did wrestling in high school (he's a state champion!). And he's super funny. We quote Napoleon Dynamite all the time, and we haven't stopped laughing since last Monday. He's been showing me the ropes of the Green Tree ward and being a zone leader, and he's been a huge help. He's also really good at listening, and a lot of missionaries trust him, which is awesome. I'm learning so much from him. 

I forgot to take pictures of the new apartment, but with four elders there is never a dull moment. And both the other missionaries (Elder S. and Elder S.) are hilarious! It's a good-sized apartment: two bathrooms, a living room area, and two bedrooms, but unfortunately we don't have a washer and dryer in our apartment. Thank heavens Ninnie sent me a roll of quarters like 6 months ago. Oh, and I got both Ninnie's and Mom's package over the last couple weeks. It's been awesome!! That Green Eggs & Ham book from Ninnie is the coolest dinner thought to share. Little kids, moms and dads, even teenagers LOVE IT!! We shared it with one family last night, and they couldn't stop laughing. And Elder F.  loves those good gloves from Mom's package. Those cookies were great too :) 

When I got Ninnie's package a couple weeks ago, I decided I needed to just clear out most of the candy I had. I filled one of the packages with candy I wanted to give to other missionaries, and I handed it out at my last District Meeting. Funny story, we had a Tongan sister in our zone, and she was so happy I was giving it away. She ended up taking half the box of candy - it was so funny to see her so happy! haha

One more funny story. I didn't really know this, but missionaries are super resourceful. Our new sister missionaries needed a box spring, so we managed to fit a box spring into the back of our Corolla. Bad news was, we couldn't close the trunk because the box spring stuck out. So what did we do? Elder F.  and I took three of our Mission Belts and hooked them around the lid of the trunk so it wouldn't bounce up and down. We drove over a mile like that. It worked pretty dang good if I do say so myself. We got pictures of it too. 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!! I've been pinched already because I forgot to wear a green tie. I'm gonna have to go back and change. 

Hope you all have an awesome week!! I love you!! 

Love Elder Nissinen   

Hi family!!!                    (The B. Family.  I will miss them!)

While I was saying good-bye to the B. family, they took a picture of us with our Transfer Doctrine. We got the phone call from President Hobbs himself Saturday morning telling both me and Elder B. our new assignments. Elder B. took my spot as District Leader, and I'm now a Zone Leader!! And I'm serving in the same zone as last transfer, so I already know most of the missionaries in it. I was totally shocked when President told me. I was just figuring that I would go to a "dead ward" (a ward with not a lot of work going on). So what does this mean for my visa? No idea, but chances are it won't be anytime soon if I'll be a zone leader. Oh well!

Sadly, I had to move out of the mansion and into an apartment. But it's worth it because there's another set of zone leaders already living with us, kinda like back in Apple Valley. We're gonna have a blast :)

My companion is Elder F.  from Fillmore, Utah. He was my zone leader last transfer, so we already know each other and we get along great. He's super funny, and he's only been out for 9 months. Our zone is really young, since all but two companionships are training, which means almost half of our missionaries have been out a couple of months or less. We're going to be SUPER busy this transfer: helping new missionaries settle in, figuring out stake meetings, and a bunch of other stuff. AND we have our Mission Conference this Saturday, with Elder Anderson and a 70!!!!!

                                             (My new district)

I'm really really excited for this transfer. It was hard to say good-bye to everyone, especially the H.'s and the B.'s , but I won't be far. D.  calls me his "brother" because I baptized him. It's those moments that make everything else worth it. 

                              (The awesome H. family)

I love hearing all the great stuff going on at home! Laura's a lucky girl B haha. Who else has been asked to Mormon Prom yet? I hope round two of your bridge goes better. 

Great job on your Syllabus Rosie!! You'll be makin even more money from students! :) 

Joe, that's great to hear about your new friend. Just being a friend will help him more than anything, and will really help him be ready to be baptized. You're an awesome missionary. 

Here's the address to my new apartment:        Victorville CA 92395

                                                               (My new companion Elder F.)

Everything is looking great for this transfer!!!! I'm loving it. I've still been reading a page a day, and I've been doing the pushup challenge too everyday.

Love you all! Hope you have a great week!!!  Love Elder Nissinen

Hey everyone!!

On Friday I woke up to a HUGE RAINSTORM!! Winds were up to 40 mph. The rain looked like it was coming down sideways! It was great!! Elder B. woke up sick that morning, so we stayed in for part of the day. That car is really coming in handy. And it didn't stop raining until Saturday afternoon. It sounds weird, but I actually missed the rain. I'm sure you all are sick of it by now though, so if you want to send a few clouds over here, Hesperia will take it.

Every Tuesday we have District Meeting, and the Assistants to the President called me that morning and told me they were coming to my district meeting. I was so nervous!!! But it all went well. I have no idea what they were doing up here...?

Remember what we chatted about last week? I took your advice and shined Elder B's shoes while he was in the shower. They needed it. Later that morning Elder B went to go shine his shoes and came back and said, "You son of a gun! You shined my shoes, didn't you? Thanks man." You can't ever go wrong by serving your companion.

But this week has been a fun one. We did Perler Beading with a new investigator (it's plastic beads that you iron on), hula-hoed an old lady's backyard for service, had dinner at a burger joint that reminded me of Basco's Burgers (that's why it showed up on my credit card), pushed an old lady and her broken electric scooter up a half-mile hill in the rain, and did some killer LAZER TAG as an Elders Quorum activity. We had about 15 guys playing lazer tag inside of this blowup maze that took up a good part of the gym. I got a bunch of pictures this week. D. B. and D. H.  came too. And yesterday D.  blessed and K.  passed the sacrament!! He said every word perfectly.

Do you remember W.O. ? He was an investigator we were teaching a couple months ago, but his wife has been super sick and in the hospital since then. She has hyperemesis, which is really bad morning sickness. She can't keep food down and has a PICC line going into her heart. She's been in and out of the hospital for the last couple months. But last night we were finally able to meet with them just to see how they're doing. What I had been really wanting to do was to give her a priesthood blessing. We gave her one, and the Spirit was super strong. This morning we had to go over and give her some more IV's because her husband was at work. I've got some pictures of that too. Anyways, she told us she felt soooo much better after the blessing, like she wanted to get out of the house for once! Power of the Priesthood baby!

I learned an important lesson this week: I hate TV. It's so hard to focus on a person talking and listen in to the Spirit when you've got Disney Channel or NASCAR screaming in the background. That happened twice in the same day last week. And I had the biggest headache afterwards! Not like a migraine, but I could totally tell the Spirit was not as strong as it could be. TV is ridiculous (except Andy Griffith, that's ok haha).

I have zero clue about what's going to happen with transfers. Chances are that one of us will leave. But I could end up getting my visa. There's just a bunch of question marks with transfers; it's exciting!

Congratulations on the Personal Progress, Rosie! Don't forget what that medallion means and what you stand for.

B, your email last week was hilarious!! Doesn't take much to impress girls these days haha. Way to represent!

Joe, you're doing great! Keep up those good grades, merit badges, and all that.

Before and after clean-up

 I love you all!! Dad, I sent you a letter last week. Maybe you'll get it today. Hope you all have a fun, safe, and hopefully dry week.

Love Elder Fuss

Hey there!

Well, my "sleeptalking" self struck again last night. Only this time I did some lethal damage - to my companion! I actually remember getting up at 1:01 this morning, thinking that it was 6:30, and while I was stumbling in the dark (or sleepwalking, I can't remember) I poked Elder B. in the EYE! I thought it was all a weird dream, but it explained why he was a little mad at me this morning haha. Beats me!

This week we didn't have any luck finding new people to teach. We've decided to go through the names of everyone in our area book who haven't been contacted yet. It'll keep us busy and hopefully we'll find a couple people interested in learning more. We've even resorted to tracting. Yes, this week was my first week of tracting. And I now know why the Prophet and Apostles are saying to not make it a priority - it's so not effective haha. We do have some appointments set up with potentials this week. 

Some exciting news for ya....we have a CAR!!! Because of some medical stuff and a missionary had to go down to the mission office, there was an extra car in the Hesperia Zone - and we got it!!!! President gave it to us after Zone Conference on Thursday. Originally Elder B.  couldn't drive; we didn't know why. So I got to drive home from Zone Conference!!! It felt so freaky driving after 7 months. The next morning President called us and said Elder B.  could drive, and because I'm a visa-waiter, my companion is the designated driver. Which makes me the designated "back-out." The car is cool; it's a 2014 Chevy Cruze with only 10000 miles on it. We used it a couple days, but we decided we like biking better. So we bike in the day and drive at night. Since it's pretty sketchy to bike at night here, the car helps a lot. 

But the best part of the week was yesterday at church. D. and K. were given the Aaronic Priesthood. We first ordained D.  to the office of priest, and then right afterwards, D. ordained his son to a deacon. It was SO COOL!!! They were so worthy and prepared to do it too. All the priesthood brethren afterwards were congratulating them. 

We have a bunch of service this week. We might even be reading to a bunch of little kids at a library for Dr. Seuss day. A lot of the Relief Society ladies have been asking us to help with their gardens too. I'm really looking forward to an Elders Quorum activity we've got this week: Indoor Lazer Tag!!!! They have a blowup thing that barely fits inside the gym - it's gonna be a ton of fun! I'll get some pictures too.

That's what's been going on. We hope to be finding and teaching a lot more. I wonder if the visa is on its way?

Hope everyone has a great week!! I love you!!

Elder Fuss

Hi everyone!! It feels weird doing emailing on Tuesday instead of Monday. But we did have some extra time yesterday to do a zone activity.

We played a game called Savageball. It's like ultimate free-for-all dodgeball. You have one ball, and you can't move once you have it. But if the person who hits you gets out, you're back in. So in order to win, you have to be the one who gets everyone out. Rarely does anyone win, but it's been a blast to play with 16 missionaries. And today we're all sore from it :) 

So I called the FBI (again) about getting the Clearance, and they told me I have it!!! I was so excited/nervous when I heard! I'm not sure what it all means, but it's a step closer to Brazil. They told me you should be getting paperwork by this Wednesday the 19th. If all goes well, I could be leaving by the end of this transfer. 

The highlight of this week was definitely the H's wedding and baptism. Man was it awesome!!! They had family come from all over California, some of whom they hadn't seen in decades! And the family all loved the baptism too. They were clapping after each of them were baptized, which made it kinda awkward on a spiritual ordinance. Elder B.  baptized Jamie, and I baptized D.  and K. their son. I think the "multiple baptism" curse is gone. It only took me one try for D. , but twice for their son. I wonder if there's a special technique to baptizing...? The ward was super supportive too. The whole Relief Society room was PACKED for the baptism. There was a wedding reception the day before, and the lady was kind enough to leave up all the decorations for the H.'s reception afterwards. I'll send the pictures I have, but I didn't get any of us in white. Everything happened so fast between the wedding, quickly dressing for the baptism, and the reception. Elder B.  and the 1st Counselor in the Bishopric confirmed the H's on Sunday. And right after Sacrament meeting, the bishop interviewed D. and K. for the Priesthood, and D. paid his tithing! Talk about conversion!!!! 

And, on top of that, D. B. (the returning less-active father who baptized his daughters), is getting his patriarchal blessing soon! He got interviewed right after the H.'s

Other than the H.'s, this week was kinda blech. Elder B. had some weird knee problems, and he could hardly walk for a couple days. In his sleep, his knee would instinctively bend up, so he wasn't getting any circulation to it, like it was super "asleep." So when he woke up in the middle of the night and moved his knee down, it felt like a pulled muscle and a bruise. But he's feeling a lot better after not biking for a few days, and we're ready to work :) I'm sick of sitting at home - there's nothing to do!! haha

Oh, and I got your Valentine's Day package on Friday - LOVED IT!!!! Sister H. liked the Andy Griffith calendar too. Elder B. just rolled his eyes when he saw it. :) And the shirt fits great!! I'm grateful that the white blends in with my other shirts too. 

Hope everyone has a fun and safe week!!   Love Elder Nissinen

The first thing I read in your emails was about snow. Seriously?!?! That's so cool!!! I bet you all had a blast these last couple days. As for Hesperia, we got a little rain for an hour or two, but the rest of California has gotten a lot more.

 

Before I say more, I found out that one of the sister missionaries in my ward, Sister H. , LOVES the Andy Griffith show. Her favorite episodes are High Noon in Mayberry (Season 3), and Opie the Birdkeeper (Season 4 episode 1). But that was just one of the highlights. I think I've either convinced my companion to watch it, or I've driven him crazy. Oh well :)

 

This weekend we'll have a baptism!!! The H's are all squared to go to get married and then baptized an hour later. Dante and his son Keyshawn have asked me to baptize them, while Elder B. is gonna baptize his fiancé J.

 

One thing though. When I baptized A. last weekend, I accidentally left my long sleeve white shirt and white tie at the building, and when I went to get it back, it was missing. Elder B.  will let me borrow another one of his white ties, but could you send me another shirt and tie for the future? That'd be great.

 

The B's daughters went to mutual for the first time this week - LOVED IT! They're even talking about going to Girls Camp this summer. The whole ward is fellowshipping everyone we're bringing to church. The Lord has really blessed us this week.

 

On Wednesday we did a service project over at a member's house. We dug a 20 by 10 foot trench, 6 inches deep. And the ground in Hesperia is SOLID DUST. So all four of us missionaries took 4 hours to do it all. I'll attach a picture of when we were done. But the next day, Elder B. back was out. He must've pulled a muscle or something. He was hunched over all day, so we had to stay inside on Thursday. I was SO BORED!!! While he was napping, I even tried playing chess with myself - that's how desperate I got haha. But he was fine the next day.

 

I called the FBI about the status on the FBI Clearance, and after being on hold, they told me that I have to wait another week for them to disclose that information. After 4 weeks, and I have to wait another. Heavenly Father is sure teaching me patience :)

 

I found one of the coolest scriptures last week. Check out D&C 128:22. Imagine Joseph Smith like a modern-day Captain Moroni doing a war-cry  --  the Prophet's such a boss!!! I think it's my new favorite scriptures now.

 

But one of the neatest experiences this week was with one of our recent converts, C. She's been trying to give up smoking for a long time, and she hasn't been real successful. So we talked with her to help her be motivated to stop once and for all. After getting past the scientific reasons why it's bot a good idea to smoke, ultimately it came down to this: Addictions prevent us from receiving the most revelation we can. The same can apply to us, and I asked myself this question after the lesson: Is there anything that's blocking us from receiving the most revelation and guidance from the Spirit that we can and should be? Is there any static that's interfering with the still small voice of the Holy Ghost? If so, cut it out! Choose to live on higher ground, and choose to live up to the grand potential we have as children of God. That's what the Gospel helps us do.

 

Missionary work is awesome. I love every second of it.

 

I love you all. I hope the snow lasts. That sled is a beast!!! If it snowed here, I'd probably ask you to send it here, because these hills are intense!

 

Have a great and safe week.      Love Elder Fuss

 

 

It got so cold and windy that I was bundled up with everything I had: beanie, scarf, gloves, and both layers of my coat. The wind makes it twice as hard to bike. But this week is should be getting a lot better. The last two days I've been sweating in just a short sleeve shirt

Hey family!

Hope everyone survived Finals week and skiing. This week went really well. It was mostly a "housekeeping" week because the new set of sisters came in on Wednesday. We have Sister H. and Sister K.  who just came from the MTC. Sister H. is from Mobil, Alabama, and Sister K.  is from Oahu Hawaii. We're excited to have them both, and they've been hitting the ground running since they've gotten here. 

I really like making those dinner thank you notes because I make the tie pattern from the
same tie I'm wearing that day.  This is the one I'm leaving behind tonight! 



I found out this week that Satan has an inside connection with McDonalds. Last week we committed the Hicks family to live the Word of Wisdom, but we found out that D. the father had a little testing experience. He walked into McDonalds, and this guy offered him a free cup of McCafe. The "free" part of it got to him, and as soon as he drank it, he felt bad. But he recommitted himself to live the Word of Wisdom. Out of all things, a free cup of coffee from McDonalds....But that's been the only hiccup from the H family. They're doing great! Last night we taught about tithing and fast offerings, and they committed to live that too - no problem. D. even bore his testimony yesterday at church. He told of an 

experience where he felt a prompting to move his car a little forward as he was driving on the highway. And after he sped up, a van slammed into the fender of his car. It hardly did any damage, but him or his 7 year old could've been really hurt. He bore a super strong testimony of the church and the blessings he's already received from it. It's so awesome!!!

 

There's something weird that happens in California chapels: you never know if the sound system is going to work. Yesterday everyone had to bear their testimonies without microphones, so it felt like one of those sermons that Joseph Smith or Brigham would give before the time of mikes. But it was cool.

 

Friday night I got this phone call from a recent convert. She asked me if I could baptize her 8 year old daughter who was getting baptized with the other children in the stake. Of course I said yes, but it was an all-of-a-sudden thing. I hardly know the girl's mom, but I felt honored to be a part of it. It was a really good baptism - I only had to baptize her twice! (she had a dress on...) haha

 

Everything's been going great. The B.  family is good - they invited a family to hear the gospel, and we taught them the Restoration last night. It's a huge family, at least 5 are old enough to be baptized. We'll have to pass them off soon, because the family doesn't live inside even our stake boundaries. The B's are really good missionaries - they read the scriptures everyday, and are sharing the gospel with all their friends.

 

Hope everyone has an awesome week! Love you!

 

Elder Nissinen

 Hi everyone!

I actually guessed right this time: I'm staying in the Mojave River ward with Elder B.  for another transfer. And, even better, we got to keep our house!! This last week the senior missionary over housing randomly stopped by, inspected the house, and said it'd be perfect for sisters. But thankfully our zone leaders plead our case to him. The closest apartments are outside the ward boundaries, so it would've been a lose-lose situation: we would lose our house AND have to bike a couple miles to actually get in our area. But, happily ever after, we're staying in the mansion all to ourselves :) As for the new sisters, we haven't met them yet. They don't come till Wednesday because one of them is fresh from the MTC. But I do know the trainer is Sister H.  from Alabama. I hear she has a deep southern accent too. I'm still a District Leader, and all of the missionaries are still sisters, but they're all brand-new, which means I'm starting over fresh. I really like change on the mission.

The reason why I titled this email is because, well, the B.'s backed out of their baptism...

                                     

                                                 JUST KIDDING! But we did have a    couple close-calls. All the daughters passed their interviews with flying colors, and everything was set. Elder B.  and I decided to stop by Friday night and make sure everything was good to go. When we got there, we saw Brother B.  on the bed in pain. Turns out that his heavy headboard on his bed fell on top of him and pinned him against the wall. His back was really hurt. We gave him a blessing, and immediately he said that he felt the Spirit give him a hug, and that he knew everything was gonna be ok for him to baptize his daughters. His faith was so strong. Nothing was gonna stop him from being a part of his daughters' baptism. And on Saturday morning, he was up and moving (a little sore), but able to do the baptism. A miracle!!! I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, and confirmed one of the daughters yesterday in sacrament meeting. It was such an awesome weekend to be a part of it all. Brother Breese even called us that night and thanked us for everything. True conversion right there!! And, even better, at church the whole family stayed for all three hours!! Because they have an 8 year old autistic son, they've only stayed for sacrament meeting because the boy can't sit still for more than 30 seconds. But we finally convinced them to go to Sunday School, and Elder B.  and I volunteered to take Gavin (the 8 year old) to Primary. We tried having him sit in a class with other kids his age, but it reminded me of Ernest T. Bass in Helen Crump's class haha. So we walked around the church building instead. It was a test of patience, that's for sure. The ward council is gonna help us out and probably assign Gavin his own teacher. But the rest of the family loved their classes, and the daughters made some friends in Young Womens. The B's  daughters doubled the YW in the ward, which made them all excited for new faces. And even the YM started flirting with them already - sheesh! I guess it's pretty dry up here in the High Desert haha.

I got both of the packages this week - I LOVED them!! The Nike T-shirt is super sweet, and Elder B. has already dived into the pretzels. I got my English name tags this week, and I went crazy with those Barney Fife pictures. And I can take a hint. Sending me Sister S.'s picture to put on the back of my name tag......original......what's her email address? haha

Ninnie's package was also great! Again, my cupboards are full of snacks and sweets. I may have to start handing them out to kids at church, because I haven't even gone through all the Halloween candy yet! I love the snowballs too! Elder B.  and I immediately had a mini-comp inventory (ask the missionaries at home what that is), and we threw snowballs at each other in the kitchen. We're both very different in personalities and work ethics. But we're being more open with each other for this transfer.

Again, the H.'s  are doing better than ever. There's golden investigators, and then there's the Hicks. Haven't missed a sunday, activity, or church meeting yet - and loving every minute of it. They committed to live the Word of Wisdom no problem, and they're totally set on the 15th for their wedding/baptism day! And I just love talking with black people :)

The R.'s  haven't moved yet. They just put their house on the market, but they love inviting us over. There's about 3 families that ask us to call them if someone didn't sign up on the dinner calendar, and the R.'s are one of them. They want to have a board-game night real soon too.

There's also this returning less-active family called the B.'s  And they have a ping pong table in the center of their house. It's like the centerpiece of their house. And you'll be proud to know that I'm undefeated in this ward. The bishop recently challenged me to a match, and he's an Institute Director. They play a lot of ping pong. But don't worry. :) I hope Finals go great today - I'm praying for you all! Good luck!

I will HAVE to see the Saratov Approach movie when I come home. One of the missionaries is in a lot of church movies too. Hope we can chat for a little bit today :)

 Love you!   Love Elder Fuss

     

                          The best dinner yet!!!  Sister R's Chicken pot pie.  Just like mom's!

                                               Ninnie's awesome package!

 A

This transfer has gone by so fast! I can't believe this is the last week of it. Chances are I'll be staying here with Elder B. for another transfer, but I've been wrong before. Who knows. Our ward is also getting sisters, which means we'll have to split the boundaries for them to work in. And if these sisters are in my district, it means that I'll have another sister companionship in it - crazy!

 

SorryI couldn't email yesterday. All the libraries were closed, but our zone leaders let us take a little time to email today.

 

But these last few days have been great!! The B.'s  daughters are all set to get baptized this Saturday. They're super pumped, and it'll be an exciting day for their whole family. We did a practice interview for each of them last week, and they all said they personally feel that they want to be baptized because of the blessings they know they'll have as a family. We talked to the father and he's excited to go to the temple and be sealed to his family. Right after he said that, I gave him a huge hug, because the temple is the biggest milestone for them - baptism is only the beginning!

 

The H.'s are also doing great. The sons are going to activities, and the family hasn't missed a Sunday yet, even with Stake Conference. Oh, and we got to hear from Elder Andersen and President Eyering at the broadcast! There was a ton of technical difficulties because the satellite dish was broken and the internet was shaky, but a lot of what was talked about was strengthening families. I love how our family is doing a Come to Christ resolution, it works perfectly. Also, the General Authories asked that all the California stakes fast in Februrary to have more moisture. I guess there's a drought here, and it's been the driest year in a while. 

 

The R.'s are amazing! They're selling their house, so Elder B.  and I spent the whole day Friday tearing down and rebuilding their fence. We hadn't done service in a while, so it felt great to spend time working in the sun. And the R.'s  really appreciated it. Sister R.  made your Chicken Pot Pie that night - I ate SO MUCH of it! When I took a bite I thought I was at home for a second. And the rest of the Rileys loved it too! And their address is  Hesperia CA 92345.

 

Elder B. informed me that I talked in my sleep again, and this time I think it's the most bizarre. I said, "The principle taught in the book of Isaiah is YOLO. You could rename it into the book of YOLO." I have NO IDEA where that came from. I haven't even been reading in Isaiah!

 

Yesterday for P-day we decided to go thrift shopping. There's a ton of thrift shops in Hesperia, and we hit at least 5. I didn't find much. I did get a Michael Jordan basketball card for $6. Maybe B has it already, idk. I also bought a polo shirt so in case I do stay in Mojave River, we're going to golf next transfer for a p-day. I've been itching to go.

 

Well, that's pretty much all that's been going on the last couple days. We actually need the sisters to help us out - there's so much work! And it's so awesome. Elder B. and I have been quoting Dumb & Dumber and Napoleon Dynamite back and forth to each other ever since we found out that we've seen them. :)

 

Love you all! I do have some time to do a little chatting if you can.

 

Love Elder Nissinen

 

P.S. "I heard you were kinda sensitive." -Opie

"Me, sensitive? There's one thing I'm NOT sensitive. Talk about being misunderstood." -Barney

"You are a little flustered." - Andy

"That's spirit! I'm a very spirited person! Big difference you know." -Barney

Hi everyone!! We just got back from the Redlands temple - it's so awesome!! It's been way too long since I last went in the MTC. It's a smaller one compared to Portland, but the Spirit is the same anywhere. And this was the first session that had more than one room. I learned a ton this time. I'll send some pictures we took. Hopefully you got the SD card I sent on Saturday.

 

Besides the headache from doing more visa paperwork, this last week and a half have been awesome! Stake conference for us is this weekend, and it's being broadcasted in from Salt Lake! All of the stakes in our mission will be a part of that broadcast, so who knows what's gonna happen. Also because of stake conference, we had to push back the Breese daughters' baptism for next Saturday. But the good news is that the father, who's been coming back to church, repenting, and doing great in keeping the commandments, will be baptizing his daughters!

 

Also, last week, we found another new investigator whom we set a baptismal date with. He's the husband of a returning less-active convert, and he's super pumped to get baptized. But here's some bitter-sweet news: we're getting another set of missionaries in the ward - Sisters! They'll be coming in at the end of the month with transfers. Elder B.  and I are just hoping we don't lose our house to them!

 

Oh by the way Mom, Elder B.  LOVES those cinnamon-white-chocolate pretzels you sent for Christmas. They've become our "planning snacks" to help us focus :)

 

I heard about this super cool movie coming out about a true-story of missionaries who got kidnapped. It's called The Saratov Approach. A member showed us the trailer for it, and it looks SWEET! You'll have to check it out and let me know how it is.

 

We had a great miracle happen this week. On Tuesday after District Meeting, we went to Freddy's (a steakburger place) for lunch. After we ordered and sat down, a lady came up to us and handed each of us a gift card to the place. She wasn't a member, but she had friends whose sons are on missions, so she felt prompted to buy us gift cards. Missionaries are blessed in so many ways!

 

The H. family are doing great! They've been soaking up everything we're teaching them. The parents even take notes in the back of their Book of Mormons while we're teaching! They love church, and if I didn't tell you already, they're getting married AND baptized on the SAME DAY!!! February 15th is the day.

 

Last night some members took us out for a Mexican dinner. The restaurant reminded me a lot of Juan Colorado's back home. Last night was the first time I'd been to a sit-down restaurant on my mission! It felt so weird!!!

 

I don't have much time today because the temple took a while, and we haven't gone shopping yet. I won't have much time to reply. Hope everyone has a great week, and you'll hear from me again on Monday.

 

Love you all!!!

 

Elder Fuss 

Hi everyone! This area is on FFFFFFIIIIIIIIIRRRRRREEEEE!!!!!!!

 

My first Baptism!!!  It was so AWESOME!!!

Did I ever tell you that I love missionary work? It's a ton of fun, hard work, and every moment of discouragement is worth it!

 

This week we met with a family who's friends of a recent convert. They went to the Ward Christmas Party, Relief Society party, H.'s  baptism, and to church last week, and they loved everything!! They're totally prepared to receive the gospel, and they accepted a baptismal date! The father and mother have to get married first, and they're dating anniversary is February 15th. The question isn't if but when, and it's awesome!! They're the H. family, and they're a black family. The whole family came to church for the first time, and the father especially loved Elders Quorum. He even asked us if we could teach him how to say a prayer so that when we're asked for volunteers, he can give the opening or closing prayer. I just love that family!!!

Last Monday we had Nerf war game.  Super Fun!

 

And Brother R.  probably texted you last Monday, but I got your package!! I especially love the choice of ties. I hope I don't have to get rid of any when I go to Brazil. Thank you!

 

Elder B. was sick on Thursday and Saturday this week. He woke up throwing up and having an upset stomach, so he spent most of those days sleeping. Let me tell you, it's super boring when your companion is sick. So I read a couple Ensigns, studied Portuguese, and made him lunch - there's not a whole lot else you can do haha. But it gave me an opportunity to serve him.

 

I've been doing some crazy things in my sleep. In the MTC I was translating and teaching in Portuguese, in Granite Hills I was teaching and testifying in English, and now in Mojave River I'm asking people to say the closing prayer and quoting Preach My Gospel - in my sleep!!! Is there something wrong with me? hahaha

 

Next week P-day isn't going to be on Monday. We get to go to the temple next Thursday, so President has made Thursday P-day and Monday be a regular day. So I'll be emailing then.

Missionary work is Hard Work!!!

 

There's a ton of work in this area, and Elder B.  and I have been busy nonstop (except for those couple sick days). Everything's been going great!! Hope you all had an awesome New Years and a great first day back at school!! (Woohooo!)

 

Love Elder Nissinen

Being District Leader is hard work too!!!