December 29, 2014

Wow that was an amazing thing just to talk to you guys and just see your faces. It was so crazy to see how much things have changed and to see nixon say my name. When he said my name I dont know if you could see but so many tears came down my face and also when Tatum said Uncle joshi what did you get for christmas. That was diffinitly one of the highlights of my day. To see my Nephews growing up and seeing them just learn new things was really the best gift I could get on Christmas. My nephews are so special to me and I hope they know that everyday. Also what was really a good gift was talking to you guys. It was super cool cause when Ben started to speak spanish a little bit I understood everything he was saying. It was super cool and Benjamin thank you for the advise. Honestly after I spoke with you guys I feel like my spanish is perfect now. Haha but I did mess up when I was saying my testimony in Spanish but that is ok. I was literally the happiest person in the world and it was just really nice to talk to you guys. Sure it was hard to say goodbye and hit the end call button but really 6 months is not long at all. I said it in the airport when I called you guys to. I said oh Christmas isnt that long and really it didnt take long at all to get to this moment. It is going to fly. Just stay busy and dont think of me at all and it will go by fast. hahaha No of course think of me always. haha After I said goodbye everything was good but I did shed a few tears but then it was back to work. Work work work. I love to work and especially on Christmas when everyone is in their homes and with their families. We proselyted and really all the doors we knocked on nobody wanted to hear our message. haha but that is ok cause it really taught me a good lesson and it made me a man. Of course I was already a man before but this made me even a bigger man. haha wow. This Christmas was really special and it was really great to feel Christs love for me. It made me feel closer to him and really closer to you guys also. So many things that I am thankful for but really this Christmas made me think about the things that are most important in my life right now. It was great but now we are back to working and through working really hard and focusing on the work is what will bring me more happiness in my life and make this whole process go faster. I am sorry about this letter cause it isnt that long cause I told you all about what was happening on Christmas but this week we have a baptism maybe. It depends but either way we just need to be pacient and keep on working. Pray for Alysia that through the Spirit she can realize this is the true church. Well I love you all and really it is amazing to feel your love here even though you are far away. I love the mission and this gospel and I cant wait to serve my saviour each and every day for the next 2 years. Much love.

Elder Nieman

PS It was so funny when I swore in spanish in front of you guys. hahaha That is just part of learning a new language. hahaha

 y los Elderes

 Feliz Navidad de MIlli

El templo en la noche

December 22, 2014

Well yeah last week we had cambios and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Colque and he is from Bolivia also. He is really cool and he helps me out a lot. Haha but I still need to get to know him a lot better and just start getting used to everything. Honestly I miss Elder Alacama and it kind of sucked that he went but that is ok cause now I will be able to know more people and find out how people work. haha Yeah so since Elder Alacama went that means I have to direct the area and wow I thought I knew my area but directing an area is hard. I never realized how much I would have to think about which person needs us today and it just takes a lot out of you. Officially my training is over and now I am starting to become a missionary and honestly this past week has been crazy and super tiring. haha I just pass out on my bed when we arrive to our room. I hope that everything will be easier and I will be able to make decicions just like that. haha probably not and it might get even harder but hey that is good for my strength and I will grow by that. Sometimes it is really awkward cause I have to start out the lessons and find the investigators needs and sometimes I dont know what to say. So we will just be sitting there in silence not saying a word. Ohhh it is so painful but honestly I feel like my spanish is improving even more from that and I am happy that I get to practice my spanish even more. With Elder Alacama I didnt really talk that much with the people and Elder Alacama did all the talking. Now I have to do all the talking and when I cant think of a word to say I just have fun with it and start laughing. I really am trying to stay positive but sometimes it is just rough. haha

Well this week is Christmas and I really dont know what to expect. So many things happening at home that arent happening here is kind of weird to think about but I am sure I will be fine. This is going to be such a cool expirence for me even if I will be bawling my eyes out. hahahaha No I wont be doing that cause I never cry. haha I am actually pretty excited for the activity with the mission president tomorrow and just excited for Christmas and see how people celebrate it. Oh by the way my P day isnt today it is tomorrow. Today we proselyte and tomorrow we do something with president Boswell. I am also excited to talk with all of you and see how you are all doing. That is going to be so nice and I really cant wait to see your faces. This week I have been thinking all about you guys and all the traditions we do and I just think right now it is Christ that we should all think of. This is going to be a new thing for me and I cant wait to see how I react. haha even if it is bad or good. haha I am sure it will be good and it will humble me out even more. This week I dont really have any great stories but I just want you all to know that I love you all so much and honestly I hope this christmas you are thinking of ME. hahaha No really I hope you are thinking of Christ and what he has done for every single one of us. I have the oppúrtinity to share the gospel on christmas and remind people what Christmas is about. What a great responsiblity and great oppurtunity to feel the spirit and change peoples lives on Christmas. I would just want all of you to know that Christ is the light and joy of Christmas and we should all remember that he is our savior. He loves us and we love him and how we can share the love of christ is by giving and showing people the Love of Christ on Christmas day. This week will be interestiing but a good interesting. I love you all so much and I will talk to you in a couple days. Oh and also in a couple minutes cause I get a 5 minute call with you all.

Love Elder Nieman

Elder Colque and I

December 15, 2014

Well tomorrow are cambios which are transfers. Probably Elder Alacama is going to go somewhere else and I am probably going to stay in Andahuaylas. I might get someone that I have to train which is really freaking me out but hey that is fine. I started to think how my training went a lot this week and really I feel like it went good but I really dont feel like I am ready. haha Elder Alacama has been so good and I am so grateful to have him as my trainer. Wow time flies by when you are walking and working your butt off. It is officially 4 months and honestly this last month went so fast and the next will probably go even faster. I have been thinking a lot about time and wondering if it will go faster or slower. I finally came to an answer that it doesnt matter and all you have to worry about is serving the Lord with all your heart and forgetting yourself. These past weeks have been the toughest but happiest moments of my life and it just makes me think that this isnt so bad. I cant believe that next week is Christmas and how it is going to be so different for me. I really actually started to freak out about that until me and my companion visited this family yesterday and they had a tree up and blasting christmas songs. I started to think about you all and started to be really homesick. HAha which isnt good at all but as I started to think, I wasnt focused on anyone else but myself. For a moment I looked up and I saw this family all smiling and everyone was having a great old time. Every thought in my head of homesickness went away and I said to myself this is what it is all about. I should be more thankful for things I have and start focusing on bringing people the happiness I feel every christmas. It was a really good night and I was so happy to see the joy in peoples faces. Of course I miss every single one of you but this is going to be so good for me to focus on things like eternal families and the light of christ and how this gospel blesses so many families. My heart is filled with love right now.

Also this week we invited someone to be baptized. Her name is Alysia and it was so cool cause as we were saying Do you want to be baptized she immediatly said yes and there was no doubt in her voice. It was so amazing and I love missionary work. Her date for baptism is on the 3 of January. So many things that happen in a week I cant tell you all of them. OOOh but there was this one time where we were walking pretty fast and these houses in Peru are really weird. Sometimes I have to duck to avoid them while we walk and I have to duck going through doors and just everything is so small. Well we were walking and I wasnt paying attention to what was in front of me. Well I ended up hitting this house with my head and it made a huge smacking noise. I am pretty sure I blacked out for a second cause when I opened my eyes I was sitting on the ground. hahaha That was a pretty crazy thing and probably not good cause ever since then I feel like I cant talk in spanish. hahah no just kidding but that hurt so bad. Also this week I received the package from grandpa. Woooooow I love and miss his cookies. haha Even though they were crushed I enjoyed every single one. They were so good. Other than all those I think that is all for this letter. Next week I get a pre call to you guys next monday and tell you the Skype thing. I am not sure when but I will tell you next week. Well I love you all and I hope your week is great.

Love you all
Elder Nieman

 Familia Cuya. They are so great 

This is us on a freaking moto!

December 8, 2014

Well this week it kind of hit me that it is December and I wont be in my home not doing any of the traditions or just the little things that we do as a family. I really didnt think about it that much but wow it will be interesting what happens on Christmas. Even though I havent been on the mission for that long I feel like I have felt every emotion that a human can feel. It just makes me think of Jesus Christ and how he suffered for all of the sins of the world. It is really the most amazing thing and I think some people forget what he did for us. This week I was teaching lesson 2 and lesson 2 is about the plan of salvation. I was teaching this married couple, Victor y Flora who are strongly catholic and arent interested in converting. When we were teaching about life on earth and what our purpose is. It got to the part where it talks about Jesus Christs atonement. When I started teaching Victor stopped me and said what is the atonment of Christ. It kind of caught me of guard and I kind of wanted to say something like are you serious. Haha but I didnt but when he asked that I felt something in my heart just kind of hit me. I told him that Jesus Christ made the most amazing sacrifice and heroic act in the history of the world. It was amazing cause I felt like the spirit could crush me like a grape. It was so strong and I knew that they could feel the spirit and it was just really cool cause after that moment I feel like this couple that wasnt really interested at all changed their minds and are actually thinking about it. I really love teaching lesson 2 cause it talks about the plan of salvation. I love telling people they can live with their families forever and that we can live with God. It is really amazing to seepeople change and just the people that hate you start to love you. People like Catholics and Jehovas Witnesses come up to me everyday and say that you are preaching the wrong stuff and I am lost and I just smile at them and say in my head they dont know the truth yet. I feel really bad for them and I wish they would listen to our message and realize it is true. It kind of scares me because I have seen them preaching in the streets and I wonder if they were to come to me with questions and ask me if I would be able to answer them. That brings me to the other thing I did this week. Cambios with Elder Netzley my zone leader. Cambios are like splits with other missionaries. But lately I have been doing a lot of switches with different people. But we got done with the day and it was really awesome cause we taught and I just thought it was a normal day. I asked Elder Netzley if there was a time he didnt know the answer and he just says the spirit will always lead you and in those times you wont even know what you are saying. Really I can not wait for that day. Something more that he told me is that I had a gift. It kind of sounds cocky but I really want to tell you guys this. He said I had a gift that whenever I started to teach or just started to talk about anything the spirit was present and that every single of his investigadors told him after the lesson that they felt something in their hearts and felt this force. When he told me that I just kind of gained a lot of confidence and just really made me think that God gives everyone gifts and if you dont know your gift it will come in a time in your life where you feel lost. I am so grateful to be serving and showing people the correct path. I love everyone here and I just want to say that the church is true. I love you all and I will talk to you next week. Oh and tell uncle jared and parker and mayzie and tre and britt that I loved their letters!
Love you all forever
Elder Nieman
This picture is Bernandino y Constanina. These two are married and recent converts. Bernandino is deaf and Constantina is blind. Talk about the perfect couple. Bernandino is 90 and Constantina is 92. Wow these two are moving to Venisuala for a couple months and they have been so great. We teach Bernandino on the computer and he is so happy all the time and he is such a funny little man. Constantina is so amazing to because of her faith in Jesus Christ. They are a family that I really love.

Bernandino y Constanina 

 We are very thankful for the calendar haha!

Our room is looking so good with all the decorations you sent. 
Thank you.

December 1, 2014

Hahaha embarassing I forgot which day was Thanksgiving. Well Happy thanksgiving this week and I just want everyone to know that I love everyone and I am grateful for your emails and just all the support I have recieved. This week was a little long but hey it is over and it is P day. This week we had 22 lessons and 22 lessons is really good for the area I am in. So many expirences I have but dont have the time to share them all. By the way my spanish is here.... hahah yeah right but wow something happend this week and I just started to talk and I feel like my spanish is here. I still need to study a bunch but it feels really good that I am not totally lost. haha This week was thanksgiving and I really didnt think about the day until a hermana said to me happy thanksgiving. Haha and wow now it is December and I really feel like I am getting into missionary life. I am so happy right now and really I have been happy ever since I left on my mission. I really enjoy talking with everyone and just starting to build relationships here. On Thanksgiving day we didnt do anything cause Peru doesnt celebrate that day cause of course it is an american Holiday. But we had an activity in the chappel and woow it was so much fun. We played games and us missionaries preached and it was so great. There was this game where we had to race and when I was racing Elder Martinez I slipped on the floor and banged up my leg pretty bad. It was so funny though cause it was in front of the whole ward. It was really embarrasing but I just thought that is how I am. I am always falling. haha But that was really good cause a lot of investigators were there and they said they really enjoyed their time.

This week I had cambios or transfers with Elder Martinez. Elder Martinez is Argentinian. Haha I spelled that weird but he speaks so much different than everybody. It is so hard to understand but Elder Martinez is one of my best friends on the mission so far. He has helped me in dificult times and just has been a great friend. But we started to proselyte in his area and wow I realized I have a rough area. Everybody accepted us in their home and gave us food and was so nice. Haha my area is great but it was really good to expirence something different. ohhhhh I saw a monkey in the street and got to play with it for a second. Monkeys have personalities and it was so cool to play with one. His name was Cesar and he was so awesome but anyways to the lessons. In one of these lessons we were teaching and I started to talk and teach but when I ran out of words I look to Elder Martinez and expect him to say something. haha he just looks at me and smiles and I swear we were there for about two minutes while I tried to translate in my mind the words I wanted to say. haha It was so awkward but really good for me cause in the next lesson when I ran out of words, I didnt pause, I kept on going and it felt really awesome to speak. Elder Martinez really knows how to push someone and his companion Elder llkjjjsjdie (haha his name is so hard to spell) but Elder ajhdkjjfls is really lucky to have him.

Other stuff that happend this week is I recieved my package from Santa. haha Thank you for sending me that package and really I am trying not to look and peek but it is kind of hard when my companion sees chocolate. Seriously every missionary is crazy about packages and just start attacking your package if you have one. So I havent looked at any of the presents but most of the candy you sent me is gone. I was so mad but that is how it is. I will send a picture of my pacience with the gifts. haha oh and the snowman is so awesome and I have started to look up the scriptures today. Well that is all I have for this week but I love you all for eternity and the plan of Salvation, The plan of God, The plan of happiness can help me live with all of you forever. I am grateful for this gospel and all of you. So many things but I will talk to you in another week.

Love Elder Nieman

 Oscar and his familia. They are way awesome

 Yeah, it's a monkey! It climbed all over me and tried to take my plaque

Yeah, there ya go. I'm not peeking and my 18 year streak of snooping is broken!

November 23, 2014

I keep on saying it every week and I am sorry if you are getting sick of hearing it but everything is going so fast. I really cant describe how quick everything is going. I am staying super busy with walking and teaching and walking and teaching. I have actually really gotten used to being tired. haha It was really weird cause I forgot it was thanksgiving this week. I didnt even figure it out until I looked at the calender and it was the third thursday. I thought it was at the begining of the month. It is just going by so fast but then again I have my days where it feels so long. This week was so good and I feel my tounge being loosed. Also I just understand a lot better than I did before. A lot of things happend this week and I might not be able to tell you all of them in the time I have but I will try. This week we had a multizona and Elder Wadell from the quorum of the seventy came and spoke to us. He was so tall and I think he was bigger than Presidente Boswell. Well it was so awsome to have him come and just talk in spanish for 5 hours. haha My head hurt so bad after that but amazingly I heard every word and understood it. Before he talked he shook everyones hand and that was a pretty cool thing. He was super funny and it just seemed like he really cared about what our problems were. Everything he said helped me appreciate more of the things I am doing on this mission. It really made my whole week a lot better. That was probably the best thing that happend this week but also we had a baptism. Elder Martinez baptized this little peruvian boy named Nickolas. He was so young but his testimony was amazing. Before he was baptized my ward mission leader turned to me and asked if I could teach a lesson on the holy ghost. I accepted but I was really nervous to talk cause it is spanish and I dont really like spanish right now. haha but when I started to talk the words just came to my mouth and I said what I wanted to say. After I was done with the lesson everyone had tears in their eyes. I am so thankful for the spirit and really if I go through all my mission without a baptism and it is just me teaching with the spirit and having others feel the spirit, I will be totally fine with that. It makes me so happy and I have never expirenced this happiness before. This week was really good for me to understand that it doesnt matter how many baptisms you have, it is just having people feel the spirit. Dont get me wrong baptisms are great and really that is why I am here but I like to focus on having people feel the happiness I feel each day. I am so thankful to be serving a mission right now.

I might not be able to get through all your questions mom but I will try. If I dont today then you can just ask me on christmas. I think that will be easier. But anyways, I probably walk 30 miles or even more each day. It depends on how many lessons we have. We take a bus to the church but that is really the only time we do. When we conducta, that is going door to door and asking people if they want to hear the message we have. There are 4 others that are in our ward which is our district. On my P day we either go somewhere like a market or play soccer and I heard that we get to go to some ruins some time so that will be fun. When we went to the temple that was on a thursday and we got up in morning and went to the session. Well I am running out of time but I love you all and keep on writing me cause I read all of them and I try to respond to all of them.
Love Elder Nieman

 Ward mission leaders and other ward leaders

 Spider in a box...they get bigger!

 Millie, our pensionista's daughter. She's adorable and really likes to make this face

Hanging out on the rooftops

November 17, 2014

This week was great and it flew by so fast. Every day seems so long sometimes and then I find myself at the end of the week. It is really crazy how fast it goes. I thought a lot about if there will be times were it feels like my mission is never going to end or if it will just fly by. It is super crazy that I have three months in my mission and November is flying by so fast. Next thing I will know it will be december and then march and then a year and then boom.. I am home. I am not thinking much about that, it is just a lot of the missionaries say that. Well I am enjoying everything right now except for the humidity. It is so hard to sleep because of all the humidity and it is so hot in our room. Even with the fan going. haha and it is only going to get hotter. ahhh. Also it is kind of hard to sleep knowing that cockroaches and spiders are crawling on you. haha that hasnt happend yet but the bugs I have seen so far make me think that every night. Anyways there are so many things that I am trying to remember this week to tell you but its really hard for me to remember. Last weeks P day was really exhausting. We went to a market were there was nothing but people and shops. I would have taken a picture but I guess that is a really good place to steal stuff so I didnt take anything expensive. Each day is an adventure.

So this week we had an activity for members in the ward and also investigators. We played games and it was actually super fun. At the end of all the games Elder Alacama turns to me and says teach everyone a lesson. haha There was about 80 people there and I didnt prepare anything at all. I was super nervous and really I didnt know what to say but when I started the spirit just took over. My lesson was about faith and how we need to have faith in Jesus Christs atonement. After I was done with all of the lesson, Elder Netzley who is from Cache Valley came up to me and said I didnt make any mistakes and everything was perfect. Yesss. haha I was so happy and many people came up to me and thanked me for the lesson. The members in my ward call me powerful Nieman. haha It so cool and it really boosted up my confidence. Well I really do try my best with these letters but that is all I can think of that happend this week. Oh and one more thing we had a baptismal date for this Saturday but Nayeli is her name didnt come to church. But that is ok cause I know she is coming next week and next week we should be having a baptism which is super awesome. But I will talk to you next week.

Love you all
Elder Nieman

November 10, 2014

Woow. It is getting really hot down here. haha One day I asked my companion if it gets hotter than this day. He just started laughing and said that it was cold right now. haha Well I guess during these next couple of months it gets super hot. Dont worry I will make sure to drink plenty of water. Well this week was really boring but it was full of hard work and really it kind of beat me up. haha This week I went to immigrations and had to sit in a office for like half a day for two days. It was super long and just really boring. Although we had Immigrations Elder Alacama and I taught 15 lessons which is pretty good for only working for 3 days. I am going to have to return to that dreadful place in three weeks but then I am done for the rest of the mission. Also this week was transfers and we got a new elder in the house. I am staying with Elder Alacama for another six weeks and Elder Dzul left and we got Elder leufjiesfusdf. Haha it is a really weird name and I forgot how it was spelled. Elder lercher (but spelled with like the whole alphabet) is really intelligent. When I was getting to know him I asked what he did in high school and he said he was home schooled. So I said oh so your mom or dad taught you and he just looks at me with a weird look and says I taught myself. hahahaha What the crap. He just got here to Peru and he speaks really really good. It is kind of hard to see someone learn so much faster than me but it is ok cause he is like one of the smartest people on the earth. ok Amen

I really loved this week cause I had the chance to go to the temple. The temple is one of the most amazing places on this earth. When I entered so much peace and happiness came to me and really I felt like I was home. Through out the whole session I really felt close to you guys. I remembered when I went through for the first time and how happy and how my life was. Now I thought about the people in my life I care about. I thought about my family, friends and it didnt hit me until I got out but I thought a lot about my investigators. It is seriously one of the greatest places on this earth and I cant wait to go again. I am also extremely grateful cause the temple is in my mission and not many other missions get to go. It is just great and it really made me relax and realize why I am here on my mission. In my mission the goal is baptisms but it is mostly getting people to the temple. It is so great cause I get to help people be worthy enough to go to the house of the Lord and for that I am proud to be serving.

That is all I really have for this week and I really hope my letters are helping you understand what is going on and what is happening. Everything is going good for me and I really hope it is all going good for all of you too. I hope I remembered to answer all your questions and all that. It is great to be a missionary right now.

Love you all
Elder Nieman

 I really like the temple

 We play soccer at 5 a.m.

I found really really good ice cream...finally!

November 3, 2014

This week was good and really nothing really happend that was really amazing but I am just going to talk until I feel like there is enough words. This part is mostly for mom cause I know it will make her feel good. Last week in my letter to the mission president I said I was having a rough time with adapting to new stuff and learning the language and just a bunch of other things. I thought that he only read a couple letters each week and didnt really respond to any of the letters. Well that night we get a call. Haha we kind of freaked out cause we were jamming out to Motab but on the caller ID was Presidente Boswell. My companion answers and gives the phone to me. haha I was feeling like I did something wrong but when I answered I heard his voice and he says helloooo Elder Nieman, it is so good to hear your voice. haha my mission president is really the best and he has helped me so much already with so many things. He talked to me for about 30 minutes saying I have only been in Peru for a month and of course the language isnt here yet. But if I pray and study and work hard it will come. I also learned that he reads all the missionaries emails each week. All 230 missionaries. He stays up until 12 in the night reading and praying on what he can do to help. He is really the nicest person anyone can meet and really shows christlike behavior everyday. I wanted to tell you this cause I am being taken care of. I have so many people here in Peru that are helping me. My pension, my companion and other missionaries are here for me. It really makes me feel so good and I am so happy to be serving in this mission.

This week was really good and I am trying to think of things that happend but I will just write down some little things cause I cant really think. Oh Happy birthday to my man Tatum. 4 years old and really I cant believe how big he is getting. When I get back it is going to be so weird to see him. I hope he knows his uncle josh loves him and I hope he knows that I am going to be there for all his other birthdays. Also happy birthday to my awesome sister shellie on the 6th. You are truely an amazing sister and I wish I could be there and say happy birthday but hey I can do that in 2 years. hahaha Shellie I dont know why but you always think I dont know your birthday. Happy birthday to my sister on the 9th of november. haha I love you.

This week was really good cause I actually felt like I was teaching pretty good. The more I learn spanish the more I think english is a really weird language. haha but spanish is really weird but it's really simple. The problem is just memorizing words and putting them into grammer. Back to the teaching we taught this guy named Cesar. He had a lot of doubts and really had a hard time with understanding. We taught him lesson 1 and throughout the lesson I saw his face change and really the spirit was with us. I taught a lot that lesson which is really good for practice but it really felt like I was pretty fluent. There was a time in the lesson were Elder Alacama was saying the first vision. It was really cool to see this man with doubts just change like that. When Elder Alacama said this is my beloved so hear him I saw the change in him and now he is super interested he came to church on sunday and really I feel like he is going to be baptized soon.

Well everything is going great and even though we are kind of in a slump with baptisms, I enjoy everyday and I love to teach. Especially when I can get the words out I want to say. Oh yeah and if you guys are getting tired of looking at my beautiful face and you want me to send a picture of member or ugly dogs or other things I see just tell me. Well I think that is a pretty good sized letter. Tell me if you want more information or just ask anything and I will answer them.

Love you all forever
Elder Nieman

 In front of our church

This was really weird. It had the texture of slime.

October 27, 2014

Everyday is a freaking rollercoaster. haha I miss lagoon. One day I totally understand and I can talk and there are no problems and then other days I start talking and the people give me a weird look and say they dont understand. haha it sucks but I love it and I like messing up cause that is how I am going to learn. YES¡¡¡ I finally made someone cry. I think every begining missionary wants someone to cry because of the spirit. haha no just kidding but it was really cool this week cause I taught a lesson on diligencia. Wow I didnt even notice I wrote that in spanish. Diligence. haha my spelling sucks. But yeah we go up to the door and this married couple who are members invite us in and when we get done with the opening prayer my companion turns to me and just smiles. haha I was totally caught off guard. Well it took a while to start but when I started to go I could feel the language just spit out of me. I dont even remember what I said but I guess it was really good cause they felt the spirit and actually learned something from me. It is super cool when we put all our trust in the lord and really come closer with him through prayer and studying the scriptures he will help us. That was the first time I felt like a tool for the lord. It was also a really good confidence builder but then the next day it was really hard to talk and understand. haha oh well I will keep on trying. All of our investigators are progressing and they all came to church on sunday. Me and my companion were pretty pumped and it looks like we will be getting some baptisms soon. It is really exciting and I am so happy to be here and just helping people. Even on the bad days and it feels like all is coming to an end I can still feel the spirit. I love our heavenly father cause he is helping me so much. I feel like everything is going well and this week I will have the oppurtunity to go to the temple. I am so excited to go to that amazing place.

Other things that happend this week was Elder Martinezs birthday was this week. It was intresting to see how they celebrate birthdays and just how they do stuff. haha after the celebration my roommates found the hand sanitzer and got some matches and started to light their hands on fire. They really wanted me to do it but I looked at their hands and they were all burnt. Yeah I quickly declined that offer but it was really funny to see them freak out. Oh my there cake is the best thing I have ever tasted. I really cant describe how mean of a cake they bake. A lot of the food here is so good and then there are some other things that arent so good but hey I will need to get used to that. HAHA when I get finished with my food at the pensionista they ask if I want more and when I say I am alright, they just laugh and bring out another plate. haha So much food and it is so hard to finish it all but that is ok cause I like the food. Update on me getting fat nope. It is never going to happen. This is so random but This week I thought a lot about you all and how much love you give me through all your letters. It really helps me out and I just want to say thank you. This has been difficult but it always lifts me up to see all your letters. I truely with all my heart love all of you guys. I know I say that every week but I just want you all to know that I mean it and you guys are the best. I couldnt have asked for better people in my life than you guys. Well that is all I have for this week and I will talk to you next week.

Love you all forever
Elder Nieman

Service is the best!

Another service project

October 20, 2014

These weeks just get faster and faster. Do you guys realize I have been in Peru for a month. It is really flying by for me and I am not sure about you guys but It is going pretty fast even though it has been a month and a half. This last week was alright. I got to do so many things but I can only tell a little. This week my companion had to go to immigrations so that meant I would do cambios with another companion in another area. His name was Elder Soto. He was really cool but didnt speak any english at all. It was actually really good for me cause after I changed back to my companion I understood everything he was saying and what all the people were saying. The language is coming and it really gives me the chills when I speak cause I can understand and I can talk a little bit. Haha it is actually alot more easier to understand than talk for me. Which is really frustrating but I know my talking will come. But anyways with Elder Soto we went to his area which was in La Molina. La molina is so much richer than my area. It was really weird going from not that rich to freaking rich. I really liked La molina and it was really nice to expirence a different area and teach new people. I also saw the temple for the first time and wow it is so beautiful. When I saw it I really felt like all my stress and all my worries went away. It was so amazing and I cant wait to go to the temple. Oh and by the way I love my new watch and so do a lot more other people. Soooo yeah I dont have my watch anymore. Sooo you might need to send me another one. haha no just kidding but I really like it and I gave my cute diamond one to my pensionista for her birthday. I will have to send a picture of our awesome watches. Oh man though the stuff in the package was so good. I laughed so hard when I read the letter and it said here are some fastbreak bars for a couple weeks. hahaha which I had already ate before I read the letter. Wow I miss american junk food. haha The food here is actually some of the best food I have had and it is really delicious. Well at least most of it. The drinks that have weird clumps in them arent my favorite but hey I will get over it. but thank you and I am glad I have such a wonderful and supportive family that send me really good stuff. I love you all.

I really like the mission right now. Even though I speak really really bad I love what the mission teaches and what it is doing for my life. I havent felt this way for a long time and I really feel like I am helping so many people. There are going to be so many struggles and and really there will be times I want to come home and just quit but I cant wait for those times cause that is when I will become stronger. I really liked this week cause we met this man that is so intrested and he wants to learn more. His name is Bernando. We invited him to come to church and automatically he said he will be there. Sunday rolls around and we see him with a big grin on his face and just so happy. After sacrament meeting he comes up to me and just gives me a big hug. He starts saying how beautiful that was and how he loves our church already. At that moment it really hit me that this reason is why I am here doing this work. It is so amazing to see the peoples faces when they recieve the gospel. We told him we would stop by his house later that day and when we did his whole family was sitting there and waiting to hear what we had to say. We havent invited them to be baptized yet but he keeps on telling us how he wants to be a part of the church. It was really cool and I am so happy I am out here helping people like him. Well this week was good and I hope all the weeks are like this but they probably wont but that is ok. I love you all and I do try my very hardest to answer all your emails. I love all my friends and just everyone that has sent me support. I love you all and I am so excited to tell you more and more expirences I have.

Love Elder Nieman

 Wonderful picture of me in my glory

This place was super awesome!

 

October 13, 2014

Well this week went a lot better than the other week. I am starting to understand a lot more and I just feel like the spanish is coming. Haha but next week I will probably say oh that week sucked, I am never going to learn spanish. That is just how it is lately I have some good days but then other days arent as fun. This week I have a story about when we taught Familia Cuya. They are two old people that are so nice and they were the first family we taught when I got here. After our lesson the wife turns to me and says can you give me a blessing for health. I think she saw the worry on my face cause it was true I was nervous to say it in spanish. But she says I could say it in english. Haha those words were the best thing I heard this week. I kind of looked at her weird and said if she was sure she wanted the blessing in english. She said yes and me and my companion started with the blessing and when I finished she automatically turned to me and said I understood what you were saying. It took me a couple seconds but I realized that we were speaking the same language. The language of the spirit and through the spirit we can do anything. It was really cool to have her have so much faith in me to say that blessing. It was really the highlight of the week. Later that week we saw her and she said once we left she felt this energy and power overwhelm her and she thanked us like a ton of times. It was really good to hear and boosted my confidence but anyways this week was alright. I am still trying to adjust to the enviroment and just life here but everything is fantastic. I really do love the missionary life and just everything that you learn and what you can improve on. I had a chance to finally watch confrence and it was so good. Luckliy they had a computadora that had it in english. It was really weird though cause throughout the talks given I was getting so much out of the talks. At home I took GC for granted and I am so grateful for General Confrence. I loved all the talks and I just love this gospel. There wasnt much that happend this week but I did get pooped on by a freaking pidgen. I was so mad and it was in the middle of a conductas. Haha I was super embarrased but I had to go back to the room and change. Well today is my happy 2 month anniversary. 22 more to go. haha I really try not to focus on that to much but it does come in my mind every once in a while. I really do love all of you and I hope I showed that love when I was back home. You have so much time to think when you are out here and it really hits you on what you have got. I really am so grateful for all of you and I hope you are enjoying everything back home like chocalate and Ice cream and just freaking american food. I actually really like all the food. This week we had crab that our Pension caught himself. haha so that was pretty awesome but then we had heart. haha I really dont mind the weird food and I love trying new stuff but anyways I love you all and I hope your next week is going fantastic.

Love you all forever
Elder Nieman

 My district after soccer

 Just chillin on the rooftops

Elder Martinez and Elder Dzul. Also me and my companion

October 6, 2014

Oh this week was really interesting. I dont really know what is going on at all and I can say this is the hardest thing I will do. Well that is until I learn the language fully. This week was kind of a downer for me but hey I am going to have a lot of those on my mission. But this week was the first time I felt hopeless and felt like I wasnt going to be able to do this. I am not going to lie to you cause that is bad but I broke down quite a few times. I know I am not supposed to tell you all the negative but I know you guys know that I will be fine. One of these past days I was having a really hard time cause I didnt understand and I couldnt really think. We went back to our room and I immediately kneeled down and prayed to our heavenly father. I prayed for about a hour asking for help asking for some way I can get through this. After I prayed we went to one of our meetings at a members house. We watched a mormon message in spanish. haha I didnt know what they were saying but I remember watching this one before. It is by Elder Crisoferson. haha I botched that name. But in this video it told a story of a farmer that cut down this beautiful tree and the tree asked why did you cut me down. Why did you do this to me. The farmer then says in order for us to become beautiful and perfect again we must be cut down. By being cut down it will make us stronger and it will make us more like HIm. Right now I am being cut down and I might not know why I am being cut down but I know I will become stronger from this whole experience. After that day I was a lot more positive and felt differently about learning spanish and just being on a mission. If you havent seen it then go watch it cause it is really good. (See video below)

Anyways Peruuuuuuu. haha oh I love everything here. I love the people and I just love drunk people. haha that is kind of random but they are litterally the funniest people ever. This one guy comes up to me and starts yelling that I am Moroni and I should make him stronger with my magic power. I did pretty good at not laughing until he picked up a garbage bag and started to throw it up and down and he started to run out in the streets with oncoming traffic. He was so nuts. He threw the garbage bag at the cars and started yelling at everyone. Yeah we had to run pretty fast to get away from him. Everything this week has been really good though. I am starting to get to know a lot of the members and a lot of our investagodoras. They are all so happy and they love life. Haha The only thing that I dont like is that they call me gringo, americano, and sometimes they just look at me like I am a monster. haha everyone is so short and their doors are really tiny to. I am getting off subject though. I feel like a lot of people here do not like americans. haha That is ok. This one lady we had lunch with hates americans and the first thing she said to me was... You have beautiful eyes. So that is a really good sign. Also a lot of people like it when I smile at them. They just start laughing and saying oh gringo. haha I really like the work we are doing and I am so excited to learn spanish and actually start to communicate better. Oh and to answer your question I do have a sweater and I use my jacket a lot to. WHat it sounds like it is going to get a lot hotter. We didnt get to watch confrence which I though was kind of weird but that is ok cause we ended up teaching a bunch of families that day. I noticed something this week. The children love missionaries. They just come up to you and give you hugs. haha it is adorable. The food here is really good and I havent had anything that weird. We did have I think pig ears or some type of ear but it was pretty good. I am not getting that sick either which is good but I might later. It sounds like everything at home is going really great and I am just happy for all of you. You guys are the greatest and I love every single one of you. My family and my friends are the greatest thing that I could ever have.

I love you all forever
Elder Nieman

 Enjoying the food. It is way good.

My glow stick works really good. My companion has never seen a glow stick before so he wanted to know as soon as I opened it. haha

"The Will of God"

First week in Peru!

This week was pretty cool and awesome and just a lot of walking. haha Wow it is really nice to get out of the MTC and starting to teach people. I love the people here and how happy they are. Well at least most of them. When I got off the plane in Peru and started to hear the people talk, I had no idea what they were saying at all. I have no clue what anyone is saying and it is really hard to think that I will be able to understand. It is very different than Mexico. I just wish I could understand them better so I can teach better. It kind of sucks just sitting there and watching two people or more have a conversation in spanish. Im not frustrated I am just really wondering if I am going to understand any of these people ever. This week has been really confusing but really awesome to. I invited someone to be baptized and they said yes. It was really cool and it was incredible that they understood me. I know the language will come but for now it is really hard cause I dont understand. I pray every night for the gift of tongues but I know I need to study hard. Anyways my new companion is Elder Alacama. He is from Bolivia and he is super awesome. I have no idea what he says most of the time but that is ok cause that is how I am going to learn better. Haha he is super happy all the time and I can tell he will be a wonderful companion to work with. I also think he has a lot of patience which is good for a trainer to have. Peru is freaking awesome though. I just love the culture and I like how everything here is different. HAHA it looks like I am going to be taking cold showers for the next couple of months cause the showers are way cold and freezing. I have to be more quick also cause we need to cross the streets with cars coming cause the roads here are not good at all. ha but I will be safe dont worry. The food is super good and I havent got super sick yet. haha There is a lot of rice and we usually have chicken a lot but we also have hamburgers which is way awesome. The drinks are really weird and they taste like dish water. haha but that is ok. We have pensions here that make our food and do our laundary so I dont really have to do anything. It is super nice. My pensions name is Walle. He is the coolest person I have ever met. He helps me learn spanish and just is a really awesome person. His whole family is really nice to me and the other elders. The other elders I am living with are Elder Martinez and Elder Jenkins. They are both really cool and they are super funny. Oh and one more thing there are so many dogs here. You have to be careful cause they come up and try to attack you. haha I already got bit by one of them but all I had to do was hit him with my book of mormon. haha I am fine though so dont worry. I love everything so far which is a good sign since it has only been the first week. I am so happy that we got the chance to talk with each other at the airport though it really lifted my spirit and made me stronger. There was so much I wanted to say but I had no time so I just want to say I love you all forever. I am running out of time but I will talk for a couple more minutes. Also I got the package and It was awesome to finally have some american food. I got it right as I came to the mission home. I am glad that everyone is doing good and I just want you all to know that I love you all and I just wish you guys could be here to watch me grow cause I can feel it in me. Except for the spanish I am never going to understand that. haha but no I am super excited to learn more and more and teach more and more.

Love you all forever
Love Elder Nieman

 My mission president and Elder Alacama

Outside my apartment window

Hermano Soto is the best teacher and made my CCM experience enjoyable. I can call him one of my best friends.

Joshua has arrived in Peru!

September 23, 2014 (Mexico CCM)
Today I leave for Peru and I am super excited but still pretty nervous. That is fine cause I have the spirit with me all the time. Mom and Dad I am planning on calling you tonight but it might be a process cause I need to buy a calling card or something like that but I will try my best to call. I have a book of mormon and I am going to try to give it to someone in the airport. haha that will be interesting but we will see. It was a challenge that my district came up with and we are going to try to hand one out. Oh and I packed all my stuff just like you (Dad) so I am pretty good with that. Mom wanted to know if Elder Osborne was in my district and he isn’t. He is going to Peru North mission. All my district is going to Peru East and a couple more from another district but it will be great just to get out of here and start. I am super excited.

I am guessing my pday will be Monday. If not I guess I will have to wait to tell you. Also I am really nervous to see who my Senior Companion is cause he might be a Latino and I wonder If I will be able to communicate well enough. My flight is a 6 hour plane ride and it leaves at 1150 p.m. We leave the CCM at 8 o clock this time and we will go through security and I will see if I can buy a calling card. I think I will get to Peru around 550 a.m. and I am not sure how long it takes to get to La Molina but all I know right now is that I have to get on a plane at 1150. Haha

I think Dear elder is a really good tool and I like getting letters that are actually in envelopes but all mail is good. I got your letter a couple weeks ago and I got one from Sister Burnham in the ward. It was really nice and I put your letter with the others the sisters and mom gave me. Sister Burnham said she was prompted to send me a letter. It was a really good letter and it made me feel good. Oh man I am going to Peru I am finally starting my mission like officially. It hits me every couple minutes but it is really cool that I made it through the CCM.

Ok I have to go right now so I love you all forever and I will try to call you tonight but if not I will talk to you guys next week

Love Elder Nieman



September 24, 2014 (Peru Lima East)

Hey I made it to Lima Peru and everything is going really great. Everything is so cool here and my house is really awesome. It was really nice to talk to you guys at the airport and I just want you all to know that gave me a lot of motivation. Peru is really smoggy and it is overcast right now. Oh and just to let you know my companions name is Elder Alacama and he is really nice and cool and I think he is going to help me out a bunch. I will have to send some pictures of when I left the CCM cause I didnt send you guys those pictures of Elder Osborne and Hermano Soto. I met my mission president also and he is the man. He is super nice and it feels like he loves me as a son. It really made me feel more calm about this whole situation. I have a picture of him too that I will have to send on Monday. Tomorrow I think we start teaching and I hope everything will go the way it should. I felt really confident in my spanish but now I feel like I dont know anything. That is ok I will learn.

Love you all
Love Elder Nieman

Last week in the CCM

I cant believe this is my last week in Mexico. I think it went by so fast. By this time next week I will be in Peru¡ I am so stoked and super excited. I am not nervous in any way. haha just kidding. But I think all will go well. I got my flight plans this week and I am leaving on tuesday night and my flight leaves at 1150. I will be flying all the way to Peru in one flight. 6 hours I will be on a plane but it is at night so I can sleep through most of the night. Oh and I am not sure if I should do this but I heard that I can call you guys from the airport. That might be around like 9 or 10 o clock. I am not sure but if you get a call from a random number than make sure to answer it. haha and there is a chance that I might not call. Two distircts are leaving to Lima Peru East. When I got my flight plans I just got so excited and so ready to go to Peru and speak some crappy spanish for a couple of months. haha but I know the language will come if I have faith in my Heavenly Father and if I give all my effort to the lord. I feel like every week I learn more and more spanish but it feels like I am saying the same words a lot. So that has kind of freaked me out but dont worry cause I have been studying some more vocab. Elder Sitterud is still here but he is leaving monday to go back to Salt lake and it will take him two months to recover. He might come back out but then he might not. This week I finished the Book of Mormon and wow. The book of mormon is so true and I feel the spirit every time I read it. When I finished the spirit was so strong and I could feel in my heart that this book is true. That was a really good moment cause I was really down that day and that kind of just boosted me back up. Today we went to the temple and that temple is such an awesome temple. I cant believe how beautiful it was and it was just amazing. Since it is going through some construction right now I wasnt able to go through it but we went on a tour through the visitors center. We saw the cristis i think that is how you spell it and so many other cool things. We watched a video about families and how families can be together forever and I just cried my eyes out. I could feel the spirit and I could feel your love back home. 2 years is a long time to be away from the people you love but it is going to be so awesome to live with all the people we love for eternity. I loved that video so much and gave me so much strength to keep on moving forward. I feel like every week is a blessing cause I get to look back on what I have learned and what I have done. Every day being out here will be challenging but I know everything is going to be ok and everything will be for the good and strengthen me every day.

Brooks is so amazing. I cant believe he is here and I cant believe that I wont get to hold or play with him for two years. He is so beautiful and I just love him already. Tatum and Bridger seem like they are treating their little brother really well. Brooks is going to be one and almost two when I get back. I just cant wait to love him and play with him and just try to be the best uncle I can be. I love being an uncle and I hope you all know that. When I opened up the email and saw his face it just brought tears to my eyes cause he was just in heaven. He was just with our heavenly father and I can see his brightness and his amazing joy just from the pictures you have sent. Thank you and dont forget to tell him that his uncle josh loves him and just let him know that his uncle josh is going to be there everyday of his life. Even when I am on a mission and he probably wont recognize me when I get back I cant wait to get to know him. Kaylee I just want you to know that you are so strong to do it without any medication. It is so amazing and I am so proud of you for doing that to bring Brooks into this Life. I hope you are alright and I hope that everybody is healthy. Wow just thinking about all this makes me think about when I start a family, I am going to try me best everyday to be the type of father and husband that just loves his family everyday. Wow I am so filled with emotion right now and I am so happy that everything went according to plan. I just know that Heavenly Father will help all of us. When I have my hard times I always look at the card Joni gave me and read the letters from all of you and it just helps me get through most of my days. Thank you for being such an amazing family. Also I want to let all my friends know that I love them so much and they have made me the man I am today. Well next time I send another one of these emails I will be in Peru probably really confused and hopefully just doing work.

I love you all forever

Elder Nieman

 The crew

 Elder Pearson and I

 Me and my boys

 Learning the gospel and language

 The Mexico City temple

Uncle Joshi's 4th nephew!  

Brooks Rigo Chaparro 

Born September 14, 2014 

7lbs 9oz 20 1/2 inches