Stayin'!

Awesome P-day zone activity at the beach today!  Way fun!

Most of our Zone today!

Dear Family and Friends,

We were fortunate to be able to have Elder and Sister Vinson, a General Authority, come tour our mission this week. On Tuesday him and his wife, as well as President and Sister Heid, came and spoke to us. All of the talks were basically on obedience. I loved them all! It was a 3 1/2 hour meeting, but it flew by for me. I really enjoyed all the messages shared. Elder Vinson is really impressive by his knowledge of the gospel and Preach My Gospel. He didn't have a written prepared talk. He spoke by the Spirit, rattling off scriptures, page numbers, and quotes. I learned a lot from him,  but one memorable thing he taught was how the parable of the Good Samaritan is actually about The Plan of Salvation! Mind = Blown. Afterwords, President Heid assigned 4 missionaries to have a personal interview with Elder Vinson. I was "lucky" to be one of those! I was nervous, but it turned out to really relaxed and brief. President Heid liked the flashcards I had made, so he showed them to Elder Vinson too. Elder Vinson is an awesome man! 

As for the rest of the week, it turned out to be about the same as the last. Elder Madsen was "Senior Companion", so he was leading in just about everything. He actually did a really great job. I'm proud of his efforts in not giving up. Saturday was the hardest day of my mission. Everything fell apart and nothing worked out. We taught like 3 lessons the entire day, but Elder Madsen was dedicated and pushed through it well. 

We've readjusted to the circumstances. This week we are going to where possibly no missionary has gone before!! There's a part in the edge of our area that I believe has never been trodden by missionary foot, and as we all know, desperate times calls for desperate measures! We plan to go out with Seth, who lives over in that area, later this week. It should be fun! 

The few progressing investigators we do have are doing great. We've discussed serious baptismal dates for them, and even had a few of them choose their date themselves. Good things to come! 

I am not getting transferred, which I can honestly say is good for me. Elder Madsen and I need more time together, and this area at this time is stretching me and my skills. Had I'd left, it would have been too easy I believe. 

Please put your hands together, because ELDER MADSEN HAS FINISHED HIS TRAINING! That's something that'll only happen once, so it's significant. 

Found this guy the other day.  If Joe keeps up with his pushups, he'll be just like him!

We call him Hulk Hogan.  I mean, I'm already a toothpick,
 but he magnifies it!

By the way...I can eat anything now, no problem. Speaking of food, last night at a member's house they gave us a stick of Orbit gum to chew. As missionaries we don't chew gum, but we were just chilling inside their house, so we had some for like 20 minutes. It was AMAZING! Totally honest, I was giddy. Like I was smiling ear to ear chewing this gum. It's been 6 months since my last piece. I forgot how to chew it too. I think I looked more like a goat or cow than a human. Really funny! 

I discovered a food called "Red Red".  It's by far the best meal I've eaten here! A little tricky to find, but it's so good.  It's red beans with gari and fried plantain.  I don't know why it took me 6 months to find it though! 

A question I get asked a lot from letters back home.  What do you love most about your mission??????? That question is impossible to answer. I love everything! The country, the people, the work itself. Everything, if looked at in the right light, is fun. I really love my mission. Being around people all day is a lot of fun. Teaching the gospel and seeing it sink into peoples' lives is fun. I love it all! 

Sounds like everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!.Good ol' President's Day is a fun one too. Have a great week! Take care of that truck, Joe. I was getting a little edgy seeing wood in the back of that thing. Keep up the hard work. Jacob, don't worry about the ladies. Treat them like investigators... sometimes they're aren't many, sometimes there are. Sometimes they call you, sometimes they don't! Haha.... 

I'll be keeping my eyes out for Ninnie's package this week!

Love always, 

Elder Nissinen