Elder Nissinen: Superman and Sacrament Meeting

This picture was a cool idea by my companion. Funny story is that I accidentally left that name tag there and didn't realize it until we were down at the bottom. So my name tag is literally at the highest peak in West Africa haha!

Dear family and friends,

Thanks for all the great pictures and info about your Trek! It's sounds like you guys had a wonderful, hard time and learned a lot from it. Most importantly, your testimony was strengthened. I'm happy to hear it wasn't easy and you worked hard to "pull" through. Remember what you learned!

This is Clement. He's Joe's age. He works very hard selling FanIce (a frozen treat in Ghana) to pay for his school fees. He's an inspiration to me. I tear up thinking about his work ethic. Great kid. Need more like him.

I'm doing as good as I can get right now. We've got so many serious investigators and so many upcoming baptisms, it's just rockin'!

The other day we were climbing on our bikes up a really rough terrain to visit a member. For whatever reason none of my brakes worked. I knew the ride down was going to be interesting. As we were going down, I quickly realized I was in trouble. I could either smash my companion or run into a rock to stop me. I went for the rock and sailed over the handlebars, landing on my back in some rows of corn. It was pretty cool if you ask me. I didn't get hurt, so it was kind of funny. Felt like Superman for a second or two.

The highlight of my week was Sunday. Rumors were going around that President Gay (one of the Seventy) was coming to visit our branch. Elder Effiong and I were assigned to give talks also. President Gay never came, but we had 8 investigators come! It was such a joy. The best part of it had to be when Sarah and her two kids came together. After church we were talking, and the mother is super dedicated to be baptized. We're so excited! Our investigator's class was so full we had to force our recent converts to another classroom!

Elder Effiong and I are doing great together. He feels like he will be transferred, but I hope he stays for a bit longer so he can be here to finish teaching all these great investigators.

On the 30th of this month, we are baptizing a guy named Raphael. He's been to church 6 times, and is totally ready for it. We're also baptizing a young girl named Felicia. She stays with her grandmother and has always come to church, but for some reason wasn't baptized when she was 8.

Again, things can't get too much brighter around here. I say it time and time again, but I really don't want things to change for me for a while! Ho is fantastic.

On a side note, our zone climbed the highest peak in Ghana and West Africa today. We got some sweet pictures and the views were outstanding.