Happy Pday!! Feelin like a new Elder with a shorter haircut. We´ve been baking all week, but thanks to good ol Banana Boat I´m still unburnt and even whiter under the collar. Plus we´ve been chugging water like crazy! I thought I learned to love water after Soccer Condicioning Camp, but here there´s no way to go without it! I´m also on the lookout for the Brazilian-version of Otter Pops. If you think they´re cheap at home, it´s pocket change here - sounds like it´s for a Mormon Elder haha

We had a good week. Elder T. and I got some crazy rage where we just went out and contacted everyone we could on the streets. We even went into a few sketchy invaded apartments to knock doors haha. We didn´t have much luck, but we´re pretty happy with the work we´re doing. 

We´ve also been going into different parts of the area that I´ve rarely stepped in. Our area´s so big haha. We´ve got a part of town that´s 99 percent Bolivians and Peruans, sooooooo we´ve been working Elder T´s Spanish to contact and teach some lessons. I feel so gringo during those lessons haha. Kinda like a mental nightmare of Mrs. Paisley´s Spanish class - but who knew I´d actually use it in Brazil?! We have another part of town that´s mostly Japanese......we´re fresh out of Japanese-speakers......oh well. 

Adriano unfortanately cancelled our lesson we were gonna have, but him and his wife came to church yesterday, and we´ve got a firm appointment with them tomorrow. We´re planning on bringing in the big guns. Yeah you know you always wish things would go a little better, but we can´t be too hard on ourselves. We´re working hard. We´re being obedient. Some of the biggest blessings I´m seeing is what´s happening with you guys. A lot of missionaries I know don´t have a really good family life.

Interviews with President are this week too. I´m getting ready for another Well do you have any problems? Are you obedient? Your family´s good? Good? Onto the people who aren´t hahaha 

And we´ve got one special incident that just might help us baptize this month. Frank. He got baptized just over 3 months ago right before I got in the area. He never got confirmed. The Sunday after his baptism was General Conference, and the only other time he went to church was Stake Conference. And I think the church has a policy that if someone´s not confirmed within 3 months, he´s gotta be rebaptized. Not sure how that all works. I don´t even know what you call him! A recently-baptized-new-investigating-convert? Plus we weren´t able to get ahold of him in the past because of the holidays and he´s only home late at night, and our nights are always packed. We´ll see what the APs have to say about our mysterious box here.

Thanks for the emails, GO DUCKS!!!! There´s another Oregonian in my mission and he got super trunky after I told him the Ducks were going to the BCS Championship haha. I´ll keep rootin for them! Congrats on all the archery, pingpong, piano, and school victories. You guys are awesome! Dad maybe you can have Mom do some of that Voodoo foot-rubbing stuff to help get that bug out haha. I´m glad the letters got to ya. 

Hope you all have a great week!

Love Elder Nissinen