Goals really do come true!

Wow! Hey guys! 

This week I have realized that hard work really pays off. We have had a very rewarding week. I think it's safe to say that it's been the most rewarding week I've had so far. It's been so great!

Our zone had a focus this week to find 50 new investigators. We have 10 teams in our zone, which means each of us needed to find 5. We haven't set a goal for 5 investigators in 1 week for awhile, they are usually around 3 or sometimes 4. So Hermana Meredith and I prayed and prayed that we would be able to meet our goal. Well, we went to work, and GUESS WHAT! We found 9 new investigators this week! That's right, NUEVE NUEVO INVESTIGADORES. And 8 of them speak spanish! We have really been blessed. The focus ends tonight, so we are hoping to find one more so we can double our goal. I have really seen how having faith, and then going to work can bring forth blessings. 

Yesterday our sweet Yeimy got baptized! She was so cute. She was so worried that she would get dropped in the water and drown, but we assured her that that wouldn't happen :) Even though she is 9 years old and still technically counts as a convert baptism, it has been really cool to be able to teach her because her dad is not a member and has become more and more interested. We know that him seeing her get baptized was special and may have sparked a little something. 

We had exchanges from Friday-Saturday and I stayed in North Minneapolis with Sister Larsen! I had to do all the talking in Spanish and I was very proud of myself for how I did. I saw this guy who looked Hispanic working on his bike in his garage. We went up to him and I had a regular, normal conversation with him and talked to him about who we are and read out of the Book of Mormon with him! We were there for about 20 minutes and it was just him and I talking completely in spanish. It was AWESOME! 

This week I had to give the doctrinal training in District Meeting. I thought allll week what I wanted to train on, and after many many different ideas, I taught about sanctification. This past month, President Barney told the mission that he wants us all to be more consecrated and to fast and pray about how we can be. So I found some awesome talks and scriptures about sancification and how I can be more sanctified as a missionary. It went really well and I learned a lot!   
                                     
                                                  (This was a practice preformace we did before Sunday)

Yesterday was another crazy Sunday! We had coordination, Hermana Meredith and I did a musical number in sacrament, we taught Young Women's, Yeimy got baptized, and then we had to teach a Noche De Hogar! President and Sister Barney came to the baptism and asked us if we had a dinner that night. We told them we didn't, so they invited us over to their house for dinner! Sister Barney made super yummy spaghetti. It was nice to have a good homemade American meal. So, it was a busy busy day, but all super great things. I love being a missionary :)

Also, it's gettin real hot here already. Saturday was 97 degrees and it's pretty humid too. A few months ago it was below 0, last month it was below freezing, and now it's 97 degrees. Crazy Minnesota! 

I've had a great week. We have worked real hard. We met/exceeded all of our goals. 1/1 baptisms, 1/1 date sets, 3/2 investigators to church, and 9/5 new investigators. Super cool!

This Thursday we have Mission Conference, and Elder Dyches from the 70 is coming. I got asked to play a musical number! So I'm gonna play Called to Serve. Wish me luuuuuuuck!!!😁

Thanks for the emails. Have a great week and have fun hiking today!

Love you,

Love Hermana Nissinen

Bienvenida Hermana Meredith!

This week has honestly gone by so fast. Everyday has been packed with so many things! It's been real fun.

Well as you know, Hermana Winterton got transferred to Rochester. Transfers are on Thursdays, so we had a few days to go around and say goodbye to people. I was pretty sad that she was getting transferred, but I met Hermana Meredith on Thursday and she is really sweet! She is from Bountiful Utah, and she goes home in August! She is an amazingggg violinist, and she is going to major in music so it's been pretty fun to talk music with her! We are going to do some songs together sometime. Change is hard, but I am excited to work with her and be her compañera😊

Last night we had President's Fireside. Hermana Winterton came up from Rochester and we got to do our musical number with Hermana Roman! We played "Paz en Cristo" (Peace in Christ). I don't have a video from the actual performance, but I do have one from us practicing that I will send. It was really fun and I'm super grateful we were still able to do it. Recent converts/converts in general are asked in advance to give a talk about their conversion stories. It was so cool. Missionaries are allowed to come if they are participating in the fireside or if they have an investigator to bring. The last half of this week has been crazy, as usual! I got my Tiwi card, so I have finally been able to drive! It's kinda nice haha. Except our Tiwi doesn't even work in our car, so that's even nicer. It's a tradition in the mission that if you have to go to transfers because you or your companion are getting transferred, after you switch and everything, you go with a bunch of missionaries to Chic Fil A. It's so fun cause there's so many missionaries there and you get to hang out with your new companion. Thursday night we taught English class, and we practiced buying things in the store. I had brought some clothes and shoes and stuff and pretended to work in the store and they had to buy them from me and what-not. It was super fun and cute! 

Friday morning we went to Currans for their $2.50 breakfast. You know you are out of MSF money when they decline your card because there's no more money on it😁😁😁😁 (*hint hint*). Lol but then we had district meeting and then went to the Veteran's Home for a BBQ and to play games with them! One of the elders put a bunch of fun sheet music on a Google drive folder and shared it with me, and they had asked me to play for them, so I had a lot of fun playing Disney Songs, Maple Leaf Rag, Kiss the Rain, and I even played My Heart Will Go On hahaha. The guys there are all pretty old, and when I was playing a guy in the front row started unbuttoning his shirt (he had an undershirt on) and undoing his pants (he had boxers thank goodness). It was hilariousssss. The ladies were helping him out and I just continued playing haha. I felt bad for him though because he just didn't know what he was doing! One of the funniest moments on my mission haha.

Saturday morning we had a zone service activity in Bloomington. We split up into teams and we had to go to a few houses and do yard cleanup for some old ladies. We raked, pulled weeds, and cleaned up their gardens. After that we hurried back up to Minneapolis for a baptism that I had to play at! Afterwards we went over to a member's house for a lunch/dinner BBQ and they had cornhole. I was very much grateful for all the time I had spent playing cornhole cause I kinda whooped the elders butt in it hahahaha. It was fun to play it again. I miss playing it with you guys! 

Yeimy had her baptismal interview yesterday! Whoop whoop! She's so ready. This Sunday she is getting baptized, and then the Richfield Hermanas have an investigator getting baptized at the same time. 2 convert baptisms in our ward! We are very excited.

Last night we had President's Fireside. Hermana Winterton came up from Rochester and we got to do our musical number with Hermana Roman! We played "Paz en Cristo" (Peace in Christ). I don't have a video from the actual performance, but I do have one from us practicing that I will send. It was really fun and I'm super grateful we were still able to do it. Recent converts/converts in general are asked in advance to give a talk about their conversion stories. It was so cool. Missionaries are allowed to come if they are participating in the fireside or if they have an investigator to bring.

I love this Gospel and being a missionary soooo much! This week was kind of hard with changes, but I know that I will learn and grow a lot. Thank you for your support and love and everything! It means so much to me.

I love you guys,

Love Hermana Nissinen

(Another name I have been called by from a few kids is "Hermana Cinnamon." Lol I can't find a Spanish word that sounds like my name so I just go with whatever they want to call me.)

Transfers :(

Hiiiiiii!

It was SO fun talking to you guys yesterday! I'm grateful everything worked out and we were able to have good connection and all! It's always hard to say goodbye, but until Christmas, right?😉💕

Since we just talked yesterday and we dont have much time today, my email will be a bit shorter. I also have some sad news... Hermana Winterton is getting transferred :( I'm sad, but I'm excited for her! I will be companions with Hermana Meredith. I'll be staying in North Minneapolis and taking over the area! It will be good for me.

Anyways, you pretty much heard about my week, but it was super fun! We had some good lessons and some cool contacting experiences. 

This past weekend was crazy! Saturday morning we woke up at 5:30 and went to Eagen as a district to volunteer for a 5K. Hermana Winterton and I were the "lead sisters" so we had to help organize all the missionaries there. We just stood and cheered people on! Later that day we went to St. Paul for a Mother's Day party, and then went to a birthday party after that! Super fun! It was great to see the ward together and it gave us a cool opportunity to meet a lot of Hispanics that live in our area. 

This week is going to be crazy, but I am excited for the things ahead. I'm so glad I got to be with Hermana Winterton for 2 transfers. She is a huge example to me and I love her so much! I'm going to miss her, but I know we will be able to still see each other around the mission! I'm so grateful for all of you guys and all of your support and encouragement. I really appreciate it. Thank you as well for all of your advice about missionary work. It was a blast being able to see you! 

Thank you Aunt Ninnie for the package.  It totally brighten my day!

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love Hermana Nissinen

Buenos días!

I'm glad to hear you had a great trip and traveled home safely! It looked super fun! I appreciate all the letters and stories. Haha sounds like you all had a really fun time together! Sorry dad that you were pretty sick. That's not fun, but the Priesthood is awesome huh? 

My week wasn't quite as exciting as yours, but we did have a pretty good week. We've been working hard and knocking a whole bunch of doors. Our numbers have been showing it, cause we have found quite a few new investigators these past 2 weeks! On Thursday, our Zone had a cool finding hour. Each companionship was given instructions on what we need to do to prepare for this hour. We first had to have a prayer of repentance, and then more prayers about where we think we should find and write down apartments/streets and compare them with your companion to choose a few spots to go to. It was awesome! Hermana Winterton and I went to this one neighborhood, and a guy named Seh  came out and said he recognized us (we had never seen him before). He said that he just moved here 2 months ago from Liberia and had met with the missionaries there and had a date to get baptized but then moved here. Once he got here, he didn't know where the church was. It was super cool to meet him! It just made me think about how those missionaries in Liberia probably wouldn't have thought that we would run into him and teach him, but its just amazing to me how worldwide this church is. Its just so cool!

We have a few progressing investigators, but none of them kept their lessons this week and they didn't come to church. If you could please pray for Jamie, Miguel, and Kelly, that would be MUCH appreciated! 

We didn't do a whole lot to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. On Friday we went to the Veteran's home and had a fiesta there, where we helped them make salsa and guacamole! We also watched them hit the piñata and that was pretty hilarious. We were going to do that cool contacting thing on Saturday at the Mexican Market, buuuuuut Bishop didn't think it would be very safe for us to go there, so yeah. It was still a good day though!

Yesterday at church it was our turn to translate sacrament meeting. I've only had to do it a few times before, but Hermana Winterton usually did the majority of it cause I wasn't very good at it! So yesterday we did it, and I did half of the meeting! She had to still help me of course, but it was awesome cause I was actually able to do it and understand what was being said! The speaker in the hallway where we translate isn't very loud, so we have to stand on a chair the whole time to hear what they are saying haha. I have a few pictures. It definitely helps ya stay awake during sacrament meeting! 

Last week for P-day we went to the global market and Spanish market with the elders and had lunch and shopped around (which is where we bought our Mexican dresses). Then we played like 3 or 4 hours of volleyball and football! Haha today we are having a Zone P-day at the park and playing sports and having a big picnic. It should be pretty fun! 

I'm excited to work hard this week. We met with the bishop yesterday about who he wants us to see and what-not, and so we are trying to work hard with the less-actives (you're right B, they are goldmines!) and ask all of them for referrals. 

I've been thinking a lot about Joe and Okie this week and how awesome of missionaries they are going to be! I am honestly soooooo excited for you guys! 

Also, we get to call this Sunday!!! Woohoo! We haven't quite figured out exactly what time we can call yet, but when we figure it out I will let you know. Probably sometime in the evening like after church. 

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week back at school and work. Joe, keep it up with Duolingo and I will try to send you more Spanish things that I got from the CCM. Also, pay Kim to teach ya some Spanish over the summer😉 She is a great resource!

Love you!

Love Hermana Nissinen

FELICIDADES JOE Y OKIE

Hey ya'll! 

Thanks for emailing me even though you are out of town. I appreciate it. Even though I wish I was with you guys this week, I hope you have tons of fun!

First, Joe and Okie, I am SOOOO excited for you 2! So crazy! I'm really grateful I could watch/Skype in and see it. It was awesome. I was way off on both of my guesses, but im way happier with where you are called to serve. This week, I will write up a whole list of tips and tricks and things about the Mexico MTC. I probably said some things in my emails when I was there, but I will write in more detail about certain things. YOU WILL LOVE IT! Estoy muy emocionada a hablar con ustedes en español❤🇲🇽

Entonces, I definitely had the most adventurous week on my mission so far! With it being the car fast week for the Minneapolis Zone, we tried to go as much as we could with not using the car. Or district made a goal that if we went 150 miles on bikes this week, we would be able to take a temple trip soon. So, skirts on, helmets buckled, tires pumped, and each companionship biked just over 50 miles to reach our 150. Man was it fun! Hermana Winterton and I got pretty good at it. Since our area is huge, we knew there was no way we could bike all of it (it would literally take us like all day). Haha so we got real good at using public transportation! Last Wednesday night was one of the funnest nights on my mission. Hermana Winterton and I biked to our appointment which was just over 5 miles away. We got in, taught and visited, and didn't realize how late it was when we left! We needed to be home in the next 15-20 minutes and we knew we weren't going to be able to bike it in that time (we aren't the fastest lol). We decided to take the bus home. We rode to the nearest stop, loaded our bikes, and got home in time. We really didn't know what the heck we were doing, and us 2 hermanas in Minneapolis late (ish) at night riding bikes around and trying to find the right bus was such a fun adventure! Every Friday we have service in Minnehaha. Usually it takes us like 45 minutes to drive there, so we definitely weren't gonna bike it. Instead, we rode our bikes to the bus station, caught the bus to downtown Minne, took the train to Minnehaha, and rode to where our service was. We got to it right in time. BIEN CRAZY! We did the same thing coming back home, and it was awesome. We will definitely be using bikes/busses/trains even more. 

Everyday this week our Zone Leaders put out a bike challenge. One day it was to take a selfie on our bikes with a cool background or whatever, but our favorite was the "fly-by pass-along card" challenge. You had to give someone a pass - along card while biking and pedaling the whole time. You can't stop pedaling. I put some pamphlets in my skirt, Hna Winterton had the phone recording, and we rode around and passed them out to people at bus stations. Haha it was a blast! I even got real good at riding no-handed which helped😉 

Besides our fun adventures on bikes, we found 5 new investigators this week, and 4 speak Spanish! We saw some cool miracles from it. We put in the work, and the Lord blessed. We had interviews with President Barney this week. He is a very inspired man. Things are looking good with Hna Winterton and I staying another transfer together, so cross your fingers and pray that we will because we want to go eternal so bad! We also had Stake Conference this weekend. Elder Schweitzer of the 70 and his wife came and spoke. He's a really awesome guy who knows some deep stuff. A lot of the talks were on ministering which is way cool. 

After stake conference on Sunday we went to the Vega's house for lunch. They had a huge pot outside full of oil, and they were just straight up throwing dead fish in there and fryin it up. They also made shrimp soup. MAN was it good! I even sucked the eyes from the fish😋 Joe and Okie, be prepared to eat some real good Mexican food. 

I love you guys! Thanks for the pics. I am excited for this next week. Have fun!

Love Hermana Nissinen