Dear Family and Friends, 

Well, it's been another sweat week - I mean sweet week! The Harmattan is going away, so it's warming back up again. 

Elder Kambwiri, Elder Bergeson's companion. He's still in his training. He's the first missionary in our mission from Malawi. Neat guy! 

Elder Madsen and I worked real hard this week. One of our weaknesses has always been member-present lessons and contacting. We focused on those two things this week and were able to get some really nice work done! We found several new investigators who have already accepted baptismal dates next month. We basically had a member with us every day of the week. Hard work pays off! All that means now is that we have a much bigger teaching pool, so our workload has only increased. 

On Wednesday I went on exchanges with an elder from Mozambique in his area. Jacob, people there speak Portuguese! I told him all day I wish my brother was there to speak with him. He's still learning English. Elder Madsen was with our District Leader in our area all day. He did really well. I was proud that he could handle the area and the phone all by himself and get a lot of work done without me by his side. 

This week I was looking inside a little pharmacy at the medicine they have. One bottle of "black seed" read this: "Science has proven that this Black Seed formula will kill every disease except death". Ha! One of the funniest things I've read in my life. 

Elder Madsen got a little sick Friday, so I took him to the hospital. He just had some bacterial infection like I did. We were only there for a few hours and then we went home and he slept for the rest of the day. He's back to normal now, so that's good. The Sanders bought us american pancake mix, maple syrup, and 2 boxes of Kraft mac and cheese to help Madsen recover! The four of us in the apartment sure enjoyed that!!! We even added extra flour to help the pancake mix last longer! 

My poor companion!

Other than his hiccup, our work has been nothing shy of BUSY. It's so fun working hard for the Lord, right Jacob?

 To answer your questions: 

1. Cold showers are great. I don't mind.

2. I think the package arrives any day now, so I'll get it next monday

3. Yes, I still have money! I exchanged some of it today for a good rate, but I still have plenty more (I think $40)

4. No crazy food this week that I can think of. Other than Elder Sanders buying me a little bag of M&M's and an actual chicken burger with an actual chicken breast with fries! That was really a treat. 

5. Ant problems are always here (why does everyone ask about the ants?!)

6. I don't need a backpack. 

7. Transfers are in 4 weeks. I don't know if I will be transferred or not. There's a chance. 

8. I haven't seen Liongitau since before Christmas, but we've texted and called a few times. 

9. I haven't heard of any crazy terrorists in Ghana... 

One thing I thought of this week:

In life, we can either dwell on the negatives that we can't control, or the positives we can control. In our mission, our attitude is having the glass "half-full" instead of "half-empty". Sometimes we get caught up in the negatives of daily life and forget the blessings we've been given. Trust me, it's easy as a missionary to have your glass "half-empty". I'm personally so glad for the hard days I've had at Wendy's and on the farm. It forced me to have the "half-full" mindset. I challenge all of you to focus on the glass being "half-full". Have a little pep in your step. SMILE! 

Anyways, congrats on having no school. MLK rocks huh! Have a great week everyone. 

Love, Elder Nissinen