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

September 11, 2014

Every week gets going faster and faster and It gets me so so excited to get out of here and start teaching people in Peru. Well this week I got to get out of the CCM¡ My companion has been having some health problems and we had to go to the hospital. He has to get surgery and they are going to be sending him home to get the surgery done. All of that is super sad but it was really nice just to get out of the CCM and see different things. The police here arent afraid to show off their guns. haha oh my gosh but that was really interesting to see. I took some pictures but they arent good cause I wasnt sure if I was allowed to take any pictures so they might be a little... well not good at all. The hospital we went to in Mexico was pretty clean and the doctor we talked to seemed really nice and really seemed like a good doctor. It made me think a lot about if I might get sick and I would have to go home. I wouldnt want to be in that situation at all cause I am working so hard and I would just feel like all of the things I did was for nothing but anyways this week I had my ups and downs. Going out of the CCM was really relaxing and it was really nice to take a break. It made me think of me going out in the field and how much better it will be out in the field just being free to walk to other places other than the streets and buildings I always see in the CCM. The first couple weeks of the CCM were really nice but now it is getting old and I just want to get out. haha. I am pretty happy throughout the days and I think that helps out a lot cause even by smiling and just having so much fun here makes everything so worth it. I met this kid Elder osborne my first week and I forgot to tell his amazing story but I might need to shorten it up a bit. Well he was riding his 4 wheeler and he turned really hard and it rolled on top of him. He was all alone but he had a friend riding somewhere else. Well he started to suffocate and the only thing he had was his pocket knife and so he made the decision to start stabbing himself cause he didnt want to suffocate and die that way. He stabbed himself 12 times and sliced his throat. His friend came and found him before he about died and got some help. His dad gave him a preisthood blessing and prayed so much to our heavenly father. Through all the praying and blessings Elder osbourne survived and is here in the CCM today. The doctors said he couldnt walk ever again but through hard work he learned how to walk. Wow that is so amazing and when he told that story I was just amazed about how God and Jesus Christ can help us through anything. When he told that story I felt like I wanted to come home and I was really just wanting to come home. I think he was prompted to tell that story to me so I could get in my head that I can do this and Heavenly Father will be there for me. Elder Osbourne and me are pretty good friends now and I will have to send a picture of me and him but I dont have it yet.


That is an amazing story and I probably should have ended my letter with that but I am just going to talk more about how my week went. All my week was study study study. Oh and during gym time I do work out sometimes but then I play soccer with the Latinos and that is so much fun. Me and the Latinos are tight and we are all pretty good friends. Just so you know the Latinos dont kill us we have actually one them a couple times and it is just so much fun to play with them. Im not getting fat If that is what you were asking. hahaha but I do have to watch myself cause who knows how much calories are in the food we eat. The only thing that I thought was pretty good was the enchaladas but that is really all there is. ha I will have to get used to all of that when I am in Peru. Oh and the one time we have american food, we have freaking pizza. haha It wasnt that bad but still I do not like Pizza.That is it but Mom and Dad and family and friends I just want to tell you how much I love you all and how your prayers are affecting me more than you know. You guys are great. Haha by the way I am the only one in my district that hasnt recieved a letter. hahaha I am totally fine with that but I dont know whats up with all the mailing service. haha but I read mom and the sisters letters every night and I look at all the pictures that I have and it just really helps me out so much. Haha even though I love this watch that has wonderful diamonds on each corner and I just look fabulous I would like to buy a new one. I am good with whatever you guys want to do. Thank you for just being amazing people in my life that have helped me get through the thick and thin and I just want to thank you for helping me prepare for this. Well one more week and I will be off to Peru. Oh and that is crazy that it has been a month already. Well I guess there is 23 more to go. haha wow. BUt once again I love the heck out of all of you and I love all the emails I am getting from everyone. Dont be afraid to write me cause I do read them all and I try me best to answer everyone that writes me. Well I love you and I will talk to you in a week.


Love Elder Nieman

Here is an awesome dramatic picture of me

 Just to let you know. I can do laundry. ha!

 This is the hospital here

I love pizza. NOT!

September 4, 2014

So first off I want to tell a story. Every week we are supposed to write a talk in spanish and on Sunday, during sacrament meeting they just come up to you and say will you say a talk. Well being the way I am I didnt write a talk and I thought it would be impossible for me to get called on. So sunday rolls around and we are just sitting listening to out branch president talk. Oh and by the way all sacrament meeting is in spanish and everything is spanish. My branch president says We would love to hear from Elder Nieman. OOOOO shoot! Well I go up there and I was way nervous but I ended up getting through the whole thing in spanish. It was amazing but it taught me a lesson to always be prepared but it went really good and i felt like I could speak spanish pretty good. It was kind of cool but it was really kind of an embarrasing moment for me. Sometimes I help my companion translate his talk in spanish. That makes me feel like I know spanish pretty good. Wow this week flew by for me and every day gets faster and faster for me. I just cant wait to get out in the field and make a fool out of myself by trying to speak spanish. hahaha but wow I really do think I am getting the hang of things and just getting into all the spiritual stuff. When I first got here I though spanish was what I needed to learn but as I go through the MTC I realize that it is the gospel that we really need to learn. Faith in my Heavenly Father is what is going to help me learn spanish. I have learned more spanish than I did in school. haha I am working so hard with everything and just doing my best and being very very patient. I think so much through out the day what my family is doing or my friends or what will change in the next two years. I try not to think to much about that cause I know the Lord will bless me and everyone around me for the service I am doing. Even though I am not out in the field I feel like I am helping so many people. haha that is kind of weird to think about but it is true. Oh I miss all of you and I know when Brooks is born that might be kind of hard for me but I know everything that I learn here on my mission will help get through a lot of things to come in my life. I cant wait to see Brooks and Shellies baby. That will bring me so much joy. Ok another story, well you know how I said I didnt have a watch well we went to the store and looked at all the watchs. haha all of them where girly and covered with diamonds and pink and just really meant for hermanas but I needed to get a watch so I bought a watch and It is a really cute watch with diamonds on each corner. haha It doesnt look to bad but I will send you a picture of it. So I forgot to answer your question about the temple. We go on the last week we are here but the temple is closed right now so we will just visit the visitors center. Thats ok but it would have been really cool to go through the temple. haha the food is alright. I might have overreacted but it is still pretty gross. haha I know it will get better in Peru cause I talk to the president of the MTC a lot and he has lived in peru for 9 years and says that it is the best food he has ever tasted. So I am looking forward for that. I just think that my mission is going to change so many things about what I think about my life and what I want to do with my life. Haha I am so random writing you letters but this week I got a haircut also. haha I feel like I am getting really close with my district and just everyone here at the MTC. A lot of these guys have gotten me through a lot while I have stayed here and they are just so amazing and its always good to laugh a lot in the CCM. It erases a lot of the stress and just everything that is going on. I cant believe I am half way through the CCM. It seems like it went way slow at first but now it is just starting to go faster and faster cause we are so focused on our goal. Oh and to give you a weekly update about me getting fat... nope I am not at all. Oh my have any of you had nutella before. It is one of the most amazing things here at the CCM. If I could I would have it for every meal. Another subject change but it is really cool to teach already even though we arent out in the field. I can just feel the spirit when I teach and just start getting into the gospel. I have started to read the spanish BOM and the english BOM side by side and it really helps with things. My teacher Hermano Soto is one of the most amazing teachers here at the CCM. He teaches us some really good stuff and also he is hilarious. He talks way fast though in spanish and it is really hard to understand but It seems like I am getting used to the language and understanding more and more. I feel like learning spanish here is the best way cause everyone is speaking spanish always. I wish I could be there for all the big things that are about to happen but I just know that this is where I am supposed to be. I am doing so much better than all the other weeks and I feel more peace and I feel very close to my heavenly father But anyways just let me know how things are doing and what I need to know. I love you all so much and I just wish everyone a happy P Day or whatever you are doing.
Love Elder Nieman

 It's raining so hard my umbrella is bending

 Me getting my first haircut on my mission

 I am in the CCM hood haha

 I am happy to be awake

 Haha my watch

I am very creative with photography