December 23, 2015

This week was very interesting and really one that I will never forget in my life. There were so many things that happend and I think I have learned a big lesson. I just want to start off saying all the good things that happend this week, Well Coqui and Daniela got baptized and they are so happy. Cristian didnt get baptized but we will keep on working with him. Well it was so cool to see Coqui and Daniela get baptized. My companion baptized Daniala and Coquis brother baptized him. That day was so filled with the spirit and it was super great to hear what they had to say about their baptisms. I feel like we have just created an eternal family. They have been so strong and have had so many challenges in this process. Through this whole process they kept on saying oh we can't get married and then the next day they said yes we can. haha It was kind of back and forth but I am sure happy that they made the decision to be married and then the next day baptized in the true church. It was so great to hear the testimony of Coqui because he is a person that is really focused on his family and really wants to work hard to give his family happiness and peace. Something special that happend to Coqui is that President Boswell did his interview. He was so ready and it was really cool to see the change in him. Well he went in for his interview with President and we just waited. We waited and finally he left and told us that he was going to be baptized. President told us that he was truely a chosen person and that he was very impressed with the attitude of Coqui. I feel so happy to be part of his conversion. I just feel a connection with the people I baptize. I feel like that relationship is going to continue for the rest of my life. I really enjoyed this week but then again I also had a bunch of challenges. I think this week I learned one of the biggest lessons in my life and I feel like the moment I had will stay with me forever. I feel like that is what the mission does a lot of times. It changes you through many things. I now know what I need to change and I feel like it will be for the good. I just hope everything will be ok. I really do feel the spirit in my life and I feel it help me make decisions. I really dont know what I would do without the spirit in my life. I will always follow its promptings and always search for ways to strengthen my relationship with the spirit. Well really that is all that happend this week. This letter might be a little short but hey I will just talk with you guys on Christmas. haha But yeah I think I am going to do the pre call today. So just be ready for anything. haha because I still dont know when I am going to call. Also I am with the zone leaders and I will stay with them for a week. So I will be in another area. That is to bad but hey I am still going to enjoy the heck out of it. Well I do love you all and I hope you guys have a wonderful week. Love you all.
Elder Nieman

December 14, 2015

This week was good and I feel like we have accomplished a lot of good things. Well just to start out with saying wow the time is getting shorter and faster every week. Just to answer your questions. I will probably call you guys on the 22nd to plan when we are going to skype. Also I am not sure where I am going to be for Christmas this year. hahaha because my companion is going home the 23rd and I might be spending my Christmas in another area and not with anyone I know. hahaha How sad. haha but we will see how that goes. I am very excited to see you guys that day. Well I am super pumped for this week cause we might be having some baptisms this week. haha I dont want to say yeah we are going to have baptisms this week because it always ends up being that we dont have baptisms. hahaha But I feel confident that we will. Well like I said last week we were teaching Coqui and Daniela and their date to be baptized is this week. They are going to get married this friday and then they are going to be baptized this saturday. I feel pretty good and feel so happy to have seen their progression in these last couple of weeks. I think that they are a wonderful family that wants to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ. It is really cool to go over to their house and see their little 3 year old screaming Hermanos Hermanos. haha and then he comes up to us and just gives us big hugs. haha Lots of times the kids here remind me of my nephews. It is so cool to feel close to my nephews even though they are far away. Well I can just see these people in a year making covenents in the temple and then getting sealed in the temple. I am always thinking about Gods plan and what it can do for so many people and really I am seeing how it affects so many lives here in Peru. And one of the most important is that I have seen it in my family. I always share with the people that my family has been super blessed by applying the teachings of Jesus Christ. Of course we might have had little problems in the family but it always got better when we used what our saviour has taught us. I am grateful for that and I am very grateful for all of you. Wow but I hope that this week goes according to plan. Also we have been talking and teaching a kid named Cristian. He is 18 and he has been learning about the gospel. Honestly in this week he just told us he wanted to be baptized. My companion and I just looked at each other and just said of course. There has been so many things happening in this week and I can see the blessing of the Lord coming to my life. Well if all goes according to plan Cristian should be baptized this week also. But we will see how it goes and i just hope they can finish until the end. Well also we have been teaching a less active that has problems with alcohal. He doesnt want to leave it but we started to teach the word of wisdom and I could feel the spirit so strong. We were really direct but that helped him out so much. Yesterday he came to church and I feel like he is striving to become better. I hope that he keeps on going and I will pray super hard for him. Well a lot of things have happend this week but I cant tell them all. Maybe next week I will tell you all about it. haha Well that is all I have for this week and I hope this next week goes great for you all.

I love you all
Elder Nieman

 My Pension is super funny and pretty cool.

 I bought some Peruvian clothes. Ha!

Helping my Pension wash his car.

December 7, 2015

Well to start off, I got your package. I am doing pretty good with not opening it but we will see how that goes. haha I love the tree. I put it up immediately. haha but wow I can't believe some things. I was going through the pictures and I didnt recognize some of them. For example. Ethan, Wow It has been super long since I have seen him. He is super tall and big. That surprised me so much. haha It is so crazy to see so many people grow up. I am going to come home and it is going to be so different. haha but wow that was a really cool decoration. It really put style in my garage. haha Well the package looks awesome and really I can see me waiting to open it... but then again I do see me opening every present today. ha We will see. Oh and just to tell you all that we are going to have Pday the 22nd of December. We are going to have an activity with the President so we will see how that goes. Well I just want to say that this week was great. I am really trying to help my companion finish. Even though it seems like he is a walking zombie and has kind of lost it.... hahaha but hey that is how it is for some people. Well I just love talking and teaching these people. This week I did splits with Elder Downs and he came to my area. haha Really I had no idea what I was going to do because still I am getting to know the area. But that was really nice because we got to visit some people and it gave me a chance to get to know the area better. It was super funny because I just love walking around with a north american because the people just stare at us. haha I think i have gotten used to it but there are so many people that just look at us. But it was just really good to find new people and invite people to baptism. Also something that happend this week is that we are teaching a kid named David. He is really awesome and we are teaching him the lessons. Well he has a baptismal date for this week. He is super pumped about that and I think he is going to accomplish his goal and enter in the baptismal font. That is going to be so great because all these times that we have taught him, he has had some challenges in his life. I really feel like the gospel has helped him so much and he just seems like a really good person. Well we are planning on the 12th for him to be baptized. We will see how this week goes with him and I will keep on praying for him to be sure about his decision. Also this week we were teaching Coqui and Daniela. And can I tell you that they are super great. Haha we were teaching them about the word of wisdom and we started to say that we can't consume Alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs and .... Coffee and tea. haha When we said that they kind of freaked out. It was kind of funny because they were super confused. But when they settled down we just started to teach them why. We taught and taught and finally we stopped teaching. They just stand there and the next thing they do was super awesome. They took their packages of tea and coffee, and started to rip it all up. They started to put it in the garbage and they just said yeah we can live this commandment. hahaha that was super awesome and I can just see them progressing. Well I absolutly love the experiences that I have in the mission. Each one teaches me a great lesson. I feel grateful to be here preaching the gospel and sharing the truth with everyone. I hope this week goes good and I really hope everyone is alright back at home. I love you all and hope that you have a great week.

love Elder Nieman

 Oh the temptation! You can see that I opened the toothbrush because I really needed it.

 The tree is awesome.

Elder Downs and I

November 30, 2015

Well another week and it was pretty good but wow there are a lot of things to improve in this area. haha I am not going to lie that the ward is kind of falling apart but I think that is why I am here. I really do believe that I can help this ward have more unity. haha it is going to be interesting but already I am gaining so much experience. haha Oh and I would like to tell you guys that for thanksgiving I had the good old cow liver. I think it might have been the tastiest thanksgiving of my life. hahahaha Also yesterday we went to a ladies house and wow did she feed us good. ha we started up with a bowl of soup and then a pile of french fries and fried chicken. Really when I finished that, I was full but then she started coming out with more food and more things to eat. So we started to eat that and when we finished and we thought that she was done...boom, she comes out with a freaking watermelon and slices a huge piece and gives it to us. haha I will send you a picture because it was super huge. haha Also I am super red in that picture because I was laughing so hard because she kept on giving us stuff and when I saw the watermelon I just burst out laughing. ha But wow thanksgiving was pretty fun and really I enjoyed it. It made me think a lot of why it is so important to thank our heavenly father for the little things that he does for us. I was able to see the people here recieve the gospel and apply it to their lives. It is so important that if we know that the gospel is true, it is something that is going to give us blessings, We need to recieve the gospel and work our butts off to recieve all the blessings of the gospel. That is so awesome to see it in these peoples eyes. Well this week was awesome because we are teaching a couple that havent been married yet. Their names are Coki and Daniella. They are super awesome and I feel like I am building a good relationship with them. Well here in Peru it is super hard to get married because they have to do a lot of requests and have to go to the doctor. Also they have to pay a lot of money to get married. Well they almost have all their papers and have done all that they can do. But know we needed to help them know that the church was true. Daniella believes that it is the true church but Coki is missing a little bit. Well we start to teach them about Faith, Repentance and baptism. I feel like they felt the spirit because at the end of the lesson they started to think a lot. They started to think about how they can become clean from sin and enter the door to the eternal life. They started to think a lot and it felt like 5 minutes. They just looked at each other and I feel like they could read each others minds or something because they just started nodding their heads. hahaha It was kind of funny but finally they told us that they wanted to be baptized and they wanted to get married as fast as they could. We are still planning when they are going to get married but they are ready to be baptized. I feel blessed to be a servant of God and to help people enter the door, enter into happiness. Wow it was amazing and I hope I can carry the motivation into this next week. Well I feel like that is what has happend this week but the mission is awesome. Well that is all for this week and also my package arrived but I might get it tomorrow. But I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Elder Nieman

The watermelon lady

This is my room or others might call it a garage

November 23, 2015

Well this week was good but just to let you all know, I got transfered from Villa Hermosa. I really am going to miss all the people there but now it is time to focus on my new area. My new area is Santa Anita, Santa Anita. And you know what it is right next to my first area in Andahuaylas. hahaha I have seen a couple people I have know from my first area already. hahaha But wow it is good to be back here because the people here are just really awesome. Also I feel a lot more safer because I probably didnt tell you guys this when I was in Villa Hermosa but that place was really sketchy. hahaha it was a little dangerous but now everything is good. hahaha Well my new companion is Elder Moreyra and wow I am going to be killing him this transfer. He is ending his mission this transfer and yeah... I am super pumped about that. haha Really I am going to learn so much when I am with him but I am going to need to be really focused to help him complete his mission. But he is from Iquitos. He is from the jungle and he has a really cool and funny accent. The people from the jungle have a really wierd accent but it is super cool to listen to. Well this week I have just been trying to get used to the area and trying to get to know a lot of these people. Also this area isnt very big so I am pretty sure I got to know everyone in like the first day. That just means I am going to have to preach the gospel harder and with more of my heart. ha It will be great and I hope that everything goes wonderful. We have a lot of people to teach and I feel like these next couple of weeks will be great. We are helping a couple get married and there are just a lot of chosen people here. I think the biggest challenge with this area is that we will need to help the ward become more united. They are good people but they just need energy to work. Something really cool happend to me when I got to this area. When we started to proselyte and visit people, during all this time i felt something really strong in my heart that this is where I should be and this is the area that I should be in. I feel so connected to the people even though I dont know them. It just showed me that the transfers that we have are inspired and they truely come from God. President Boswell has recieved that feeling and now I have recieved that same revelation. I really feel like this area is for me and I think I can work really hard here. That is what I have been thinking in these days but wow i feel good right now. Well i believe that thanksgiving is this week or the last week but I just want to tell you guys that I am so thankful for God and you guys. There are so many things that I want to thank you guys for but that would take a very long time to complete. I just want you guys to know that I am thankful for my mission and our Heavenly father that loves us. It is so great to be in the mission and learn these things for myself. I see myself last year and now I just see myself more strong in faith and love for everyone. That is something that I am always going to do is just remember all t he things that God has given me and in return thank him everyday for these things. Well that is all that has happend this week but i really hope that your week is wonderful. I love you guys and I will talk to you guys next week. Oh and shout out to my Dad. I can barely see him because he is so thin. But wow dad you are amazing and if I was there I would have ran with you. That would have been so fun but you are the best to keep firm in your goals. Well I love you all and talk to you next week.
Elder Nieman

 My new companion, Elder Moreyra

This is pretty cool. One of the members drew me in a football uniform.

 Cute little boy with my stuff haha. This was in Villa Hermosa with investigators. We started to teach them but then I left.

Look! I am sewing like crazy...not too bad.

November 16, 2015

Well this week was really good and it sounds like this will be my last week here in Villa Hermosa. I am not sure but I will probably be going. We get our transfers today and like always makes me super nervous but I am sure that I will end up going to a place where the Lord wants me to go. Well this week was really awesome because we got to teach a lot and find a lotof new people. It was kind of depressing because the people we found were really awesome and I am pretty sure they are going to be baptized pretty soon but for the most part I am happy because I was able to plant the seed. But anyways we met a lot of humble people this week and it was kind of funny cause there were a lot of old people that we found. hahaha I love old people and I think they are super funny. They also have super awesome stories like one guy was talking about his teenage years and he was talking how he hunted for his food with a spear. hahaha that was super crazy and it was really cool to hear. ha But right now we found a woman named Leoncia and she is super awesome. She is cathlic but wanted to hear our message. So we start to teach her and she was super awesome because she understood everything that we said. She was participating and answering all the questions. At the end of it we invited her to baptism and she accepted a date for the 9 of December. Wooooooo that was pretty cool and I am so happy that she is going to make that decisiobn to be baptized. After that I gave her a handshake and she started to kiss my hand. hahahah it was pretty funny because she had a super strong grip and I couldnt pull my hand away. haha Finally I got away and I was free. hahha but she is super awesome and always someone that I will remember. If I go I think my companion is going to invite me to her baptism. That would be super awesome. Well also this week I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and really I wasnt that prepared. haha Like always but when I got up and started talking, it got easier to talk about what I needed to say. Also my bishop said Good bye in english like 5 times because he wanted me to say good bye to everyone. haha Well what I started to say was something really simple. I started to say just having a good attitude and a smile on your face can show to others that you have a hope in your life and that the church really does help you in your life. It is so simple but in the end it makes a huge diference. I hope I left them a good message and it was a good expireance to talk to my ward. I am going to miss this ward a lot and I have been in this area for long time. I really hope I dont go but it will always be like this. haha but we will have to see next week. Well I think that is all for this week and I would just like to tell you guys that I love you and I hope you have a wonderful week this week.
Love Elder Nieman

November 9, 2015

This week was super great and I think I just noticed that I always start off my letters with that. haha But wow this week was great and really want to tell you all about my experiences. First I think I am going to send you the statement that I sent to Sister Cantwell. She asked me what are some of my greatest experiences. I want to put that in this letter because that is what happend this week. But yeah here it is:

I would love to share some of my experiences that I have had but that is kind of hard to pick just one cause everyday I see miracles. Everyday I feel the spirit and everyday I truely feel like a true light here in Peru. I would say before my mission that I knew that this church is true but now I not only know it is true, I FEEL it is true. Everyday walking on the streets is a blessing that my Father in Heaven has given me. It helps me feel like I am literally saving lives and I am helping people come to Christ. One of the people that I have been teaching and has been baptized told me this week that she is going to be sealed in the temple. I just helped someone create a eternal family. But I do always have to remember that it wasnt by me but it was by the power of God and the Holy Ghost that helped Yolanda to be baptized and then make the decision to be sealed in the temple. Honestly that is something that I will always remember in this life and the life after. Well that is what I love about the mission and I hope your lesson goes wonderful.

Mom, if you wanted to wait to hear that in Relief Society... sorry. hahaha but that was super awesome to hear from Yolanda and her husband Jaime. They are preparing to be sealed in the temple and I think I will be able to go to their sealing. That would be so amazing but I just absolutly love what I get to see in the mission. Even if I dont get to see a lot of the results in the mission I always remember that I have helped someone recieve the restored gospel. The way my companion and I teach is so awesome because we always have the spirit with us. Ohhhh and this week was super crazy cause we taught a teen from the jungle. haha It was super cool cause he told us all about the things that happen in the jungle. haha Also he started to speak a freaking weird language, it was weird because he was making clicking noises. hahaha but we started to teach him and I guess never in his life he has heard of the bible or Jesus Christ. It was really weird because we had to teach him stuff super super basico. But he started to tell us that he has never learned that there was a god or that we could heal people. His mom is really sick and he is very interested to hear how Jesus healed a lot of people. That was something super awesome this week and I am sure I will be able to tell you more about him next week. Well that is what happend this week and I hope everyones week is wonderful. Also shout out to my sister Shellie. It is her birthday today and I want everyone to know that I never forget her birthday. Even though I am pretty sure it is on the 6th. hahahah but no Happy birthday sister. love ya.

Elder Nieman

 Me in my new suit, Elder Mamani and members

 My area - Villa Hermosa

Playing some soccer

November 2, 2015

This week was so great but I want to start of saying happy birthday to my good old nephew. hahaha He is getting so old and I cant believe he is 5 years old. Wow that is so crazy how the time goes by so fast and I am just happy that it is his birthday today. Tell him I love him and that his uncle Josh is thinking of him. Well this week was pretty cool and I could really feel the guidance of God with me. I could feel like our heavenly father has been helping us accomplish our goals and have success. This week my companion and I were really wondering how we could achieve our goals for this week. Normaly we have to teach 20 lessons with investigators and 10 new people to teach each week. Also we needed to contact like freaking crazy. We werent achieving that so we just decided to find ways to find new people to teach and new ways we could contact. haha Some of the things we came up with were pretty funny but it was so fun to think of the ways we could find people. So at the begining of this week we started to pray diligently and with real intent. I think a lot of us get used to praying for the same things but this week we really concentrated on praying for specific things. Every time we leave we say a prayer and we say the things that we know we can achieve but we would need the spirit with us to do so. I can tell you guys that God has been directing us in this week. I could feel us opening our mouths and teaching like crazy. Well we started to teach and teach and we reached a point where we only needed one more lesson and one investigator to find. Yesterday was so crazy cause my companion and I were going crazy in the streets saying one more one more. hahaha It was kind of funny because we were like running to find this next person to teach. But really we got tired so we decided to sit down to rest for a bit because we were freakin tired. So we sat down in a park and started to decide where we were going to go. While we were waiting and resting we saw two people walking closer and closer to the place we were sitting. haha We started to whisper there they are. haha I hope you guys can imagine us just getting excited because these two people were walking towards us. It was like the Best Two Years when Elder Calhoon was going to contact for the first time. When he starts yelling hes got something in his pocket,,, ITS GUM. hahaha That is exactly how we were. Well they get closer and we notice that one of them is someone that we have talked to before. So we start to talk with them and we start to talk about the gospel and all that. It was so awesome because we started to teach the lesson and when we finished they told us that they wanted to learn more. Woooooooo That was probably the best ending of a week for us. So by the end of this week we taught 20 investigators and found 10 people to teach. That was so amazing and really I could feel the spirit of the Lord with me. That was a expirence that I will always remember. haha I love you all and I hope you all are doing well. I really hope that in this week you can feel the comfort of the Lord and feel my love for all of you. You guys are so awesome and I will talk to you next week. Also I have my suit but I have no idea what is up with this computer but I cant send pictures. I will keep trying. Talk to you all next week.

Elder Nieman
Oh and tell Shellie happy birthday on the 6th of november. hahaha no the 9th. I love you Shellie and I hope your birthday is amazing. haha Loves

October 27, 2015

Wow first of all, I would like to say I am so sorry because I didnt know that our P day wasn't going to be until today. haha I hope you didnt have a heart attack or anything like that but everything is alright. Well this week was amazing and of course I had some challenges that I had to overcome but for the most part, It was amazing. We are working super hard and really I feel really good about the work we are doing. We went to the temple today and it was so great to be in the house of the lord. I really hope that everyone that has a temple recommend goes often to the temple to ponder in the things that we have to do and the things that our heavenly father has given us. It was so amazing and I always feel the spirit so strong in the temple. But wow today was a pretty good day. Oh yeah, I know you guys can do it (read the BoM before Joshi gets home) because I never thought I would be reading the book of mormon so many times. I have read it about 4 times in my mission so far. Wow that is so crazy but it is the best book on the earth. haha but really it is. Yeah I really hope that I am helping you guys. i really can see my mission is going to affect a lot of things in my life. I can see it helping you guys when I get home and when I start a family. It is so weird because I know how I am going to raise my kids. Of course it wont be easy but i know that my wife and me are going to have a eternal family like us. That is so special and I love the gospel. I love the heck out of you guys.

Well this week we tried looking for more investigators and really we have found a lot of people that want to hear our message. This week was pretty funny because we got to talk to a guy named Edward and he was really fired up. haha He started telling us Why are there so many churches in the world, and literally he was screaming this. hahaha but he started to go off that we are the same as all the other churches and there isnt a difference. haha Well we just listened until he stopped talking and when he stopped we just stared at him for a second waiting to see if he was going to continue, haha but he didnt. Well we start to teach about the restoration and started to explain why our church is so different than the other churches. I know the message that we are carrying everyday and preaching everyday is the message that these people need. It is the only message that is right and it is the only message of Jesus Christ. I love how we can turn someone from freaking out and crazy to someone humble and thirsty to read and find out the truth. That is what this message does. I have the wonderful oppurtunity to teach this message with my companion and the holy ghost. Well when we finished teaching about the restoration, he started to say oooooooo that makes so much sense. haha He is super interested in knowing more about the church and I am just so happy that we helped him calm down. haha I feel pretty great in the mission and I am really getting used to everything here. haha I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I sure do love the mission and my God. Well I hope you guys have a great week this week and I will talk to you next week.

Love you all forever.
Elder Nieman

October 19, 2015

Well this week was pretty amazing and I just felt the spirit a lot this week. First, hahaha I misjudged my companion completely because he is the funniest person I have ever met. Really I dont think I have laughed this much in my whole mission. He still is a pretty weird dude but now I just think he is getting super funny. haha Or it just might be me getting weird. Well either one I am just happy. Well I really love the miracles that always happen in the mission. I cant believe that I have the oppurtunity to help so many people here in Peru. This week we have been just working super hard and I just feel like we are gaining a lot of confidence with the people we are working with. This week we really focused on service. I believe that we made it a goal to help every person that was struggling with their bags or just climbing the stairs here. There are so many stairs here it is so crazy and steep but I love it. Sometimes the people here have to carry all their things and all the things that they bought up these stairs. So what we did was every time we saw someone carrying their stuff we would go over and help them. haha it was kind of funny because sometimes they would say no I can do it I can do it, but all we would do is start to take their bags out of their hands. hahahaha I am not sure if they found that funny or if they were very grateful but hey we did it anyway because we are missionaries and we want to help everyone. Well we did so many contacts this week and I really feel good with all the contacts that we have done. I really felt happy and I am pretty sure the people softened their hearts. We found some new investigators this week also and I see some really good potential with them. One of the contacts that we had was with two siblings. Maraleni and Raul. We started to contact them and they started to explain that Raul wasnt married but was living with his partner and with Maraleni she had her husband pass away about 5 years ago. We started to teach them all about the family and started to show them the family A proclamation to the world. They didnt think that marriage was important but when they were reading they started to tell us that it was something that they needed to do and they wanted to learn more and more about the gospel and the church. Also we offered to give service. They needed help so we went again another day. The service was pretty fun because we had to destroy a part of a house and also a little hill. haha But wow when we finished with the service we started to teach them about the gospel and how the family can be together forever. It was so amazing because they were so accepting and humble to the message. They want to learn more about what father in heaven wants them to do. I love the gospel and I feel a peace when I teach it. That was such an amazing experience and I cant wait to meet with them again. Well I love the spirit and all the things that we teach and learn in the gospel. My testimony is growing every day and now I am at a point were I cant stop learning. There are so many things and I cant wait to learn more in my life. Well that is all for this week and I hope you guys have a wonderful week. I love you all foreverrrrrrrrr

Elder Nieman

 Elder Mamani and I

 We went painting

 Us with our funny hats haha!

 As promised Mom...we played with the silly string!

Well we cleaned our room and this came out of one of our blankets!

October 5, 2015

Well this week was really good and right now Elder Licota has left. It is kind of weird to see someone go home. I feel like it is really awesome that he has completed his mission and it was really great to learn some new things from him. He was a really good companion but now I am just waiting to hear who is my next companion. Like always it makes me a little nervous but I am sure that my next companion is going to be awesome. Well all this week has been full of goodbyes and just full of my companion saying I am going home in 2 days and you are going to be staying in the mission. hahahah He is a funny dude and really I am still so happy to be in the mission cause I know that my mission isnt over yet. Well this week was really great to ponder in the things that were said in General Confernce. I was so pumped to hear every single speaker and I have learned so much. I am so grateful for Thomas Monson and he is truely a prophet of god. The talk that I really liked was of course Elder Holland. He always makes his talks so powerful and I am so happy to have you in my life mom. I think that every missionary started to cry because they all started to think of their moms. I hope you know that I am thinking about you a lot mom. But wow it was a really good talk. And finally I loved the talk from Elder Bednar. My homeboy that I know personally. hahaha It was really cool to hear him speak and think that he has come to this mission to talk to us. The thing that I really liked about his talk was that he has so much love for his friends. He knows without a doubt that the 12 apostles and Thomas Monson are called of God. Every word they say comes from God and that is such a great oppurtunity to hear what our father in heaven wants us to hear. It was really powerful and it touched my heart and also it got me pumped up to start preaching the gospel because I am called of God also. But wow that was a really good conference and now I only have one more left. How crazy is that but right now I just have to work my butt off.

Well also this week we were able to teach Jacky and Jasmin. They are super awesome and the lesson we had was amazing. But there is always something that happens in the lesson when the devil tries to get in the way. haha it was kind of funny but the next time we will get the job done. Well we were teaching about faith and we were going to get to baptism. The spirit was so awesome and strong and I was thinking throughout all the lesson that we are going to give them a baptismal date. haha Well when the time got to the moment where we were going to put the date.... something happend that made me so mad but it was actually kind of funny. Well outside their room is a bar. And usually a lot of college students go there to get their drink on. haha Well right as we started to say will you be baptized on this date, the college students put on this loud music and started to scream and shout and started to scream really bad words. hahahahah I was so mad and I tried really hard not to laugh but I couldnt hold it in. My companion started to laugh and then me and then everyone in the room. hahah I was so mad but in that moment and right now that I think of it,,, It is really funny. But that is ok cause this week we are going to set a date for them and I know they are going to accept. I have learned so many times that the spirit is so important in this work and every lesson we should try to invite the spirit every time. I love feeling his presence and I love the feelings I get when I feel it. It is something that is really hard to explain but it is so wonderful. Well that is all for this week and I just want to say to all of you that I love the heck out of you all and I hope you have a wonderful week this week.
Elder Nieman

 Watching General Conference

Saying good-bye to Elder Licota

September 28, 2015

Well I have just been thinking a lot about this week and really it is hard not to think of you guys when my companion is a little homesick and is ending his mission. haha I think every missionary goes through that phase when they are ending but it is good expirence. What I am thinking right now is how I am going to end my mission. I still have a lot of time left and I really need to work hard to help these people. haha sometimes it is really hard to see someone ending but then that just helps you learn. I feel like I am developing a lot of attributes and feel like it is going to help me so much in the future. What I tell myself everyday is to keep on working hard until I die. haha but that is how it is going to be like when I get home. And the truth, when dad sent me that last letter with the whole apartment thing I freaked out. hahahaha but it was pretty funny and it gave me some time to think of what I am going to do when I get home. haha but right now I am just going to keep on working and I will think about that later. ha I am so excited to have my trials when I get home so then I can grow and I can learn what God wants me to learn. I can overcome any obstacle and any temptation that comes my way because I know that Jesus Christ lives. That is a knowledge that I will always keep in my heart that our Saviour Jesus Christ lives. Well this week was great and this next week is going to be even greater with general confrence. It is going to be crazy because there will be 3 new apostles. Really I am going to miss all those great men that served for the Lord but I am so excited to see who God has chosen to be his witness. Well this week we have been doing really good and we are teaching the people like crazy. I love teaching the people and it just makes me think of what a difference as missionaries we are making. I love bringing a hope into the lives of these people. Well this week we had transfers with the zone leaders and it was great to go into the leaders area. I went with Elder Cowan and my companion stayed in our area. Well that day was pretty fun and we did some pretty crazy but spirtual stuff. haha but it was great to share my testimony with everyone. It was pretty funny cause everyone was just looking at me and Elder Cowan because we are two americans that are just walking in the streets. Some of the kids here just like yelling hello gringo or how are you but also they start saying words that arent so good. hahaha I think it is pretty funny cause we just start speaking in Spanish to them. Sometimes we ask if their parents are home and they go and call them and we end up contacting the parents. It is really funny how god works sometimes because through small connections brings things to fall into place and those small connections turn into big miracles. I believe the best way to help these people feel the spirit is through their children and through their families. So many people here dont know that the family can be together forever. Every time we contact we bring up that families can be together forever. Even with the people that are kind of hard and dont really want to hear, I see their eyes light up and I know they want to accept it but always we have to go little by little. Wow what an awesome expirence and I love bringing that truth to everyone here. Well that is all I have for this week and I am really happy to preach the gospel. But wow it is almost October. How crazy is that. Oh and also my companion is going home the 6th of October. On the 6th I will have a new companion. Well I love your letters and your love.

Love Elder Nieman

 Making pizza

Eating Chaufa out of a bag...it was a lot of food!

September 21, 2015

This week was good. First I am going to start off with P day last week and yes I bought a suit. I ended up paying with the money that you sent me. The women is going to send it to me the 28th of September. She was super cool and I think the suit will be awesome. She was a member so she gave me a discount to. haha but yeah that is all for the suit. But wow this week was really good and really I love making new friendships with these people. I feel like it will be hard to say goodbye to all of them but hey that wont be for a very long time. I will probably leave in november because this transfer my companion is ending his mission. Well I hope I make the most of it while I am here. Something that I enjoyed this week is that we visited a family and all of them are so awesome. They are very humble and I love teaching them. We started to teach about the things we need to do to preach the gospel. One we need to search the scriptures, two we need to pray for guidance, third we need to fast for the people we are going to teach and lastly we need to open our mouths without fear and preach the gospel. When we were teaching this lesson I felt the spirit so strong and really I knew that he was feeling the same. After he told us that his brother is falling away from God and he is starting to do things that arent very good for someone to do. He paused and he started to think a lot about the things we have taught and he told us that he is going to start preaching the gospel to his brother. When he said that it gave me goose bumps and I was really happy for him that he made that decision. I just hope that he does all those things to help him touch the soul of his brother. Really I love teaching that we can all teach the gospel because all of us have the spirit with us. Sometimes it is really hard to share your feelings because we might be afraid of what they will say. But if we do these four things and we trust in the Lord, he will always give us his spirit to speak to everyone. He will touch the heart of the person but what we need to do is open our mouths and declare of what we know to be true. I love the chance to be a missionary because really I have no fear to preach the gospel know and I hope that I can continue in this path. Well that was pretty awesome this week and also we got to hear from Elder Godoy from the seventy. He was a really awesome person but it was a little hard to understand because he doesnt know spanish very well. His native language is Portugese. haha slaughtered that word but overall he was a funny guy and very spiritual. He taught me a lot of things and I hope I can apply them all. Really I have gotten used to the mission life and I am very grateful to be in this mission. It is teaching me a lot of things and it will be interesting when I get home and how I will do things differently when I get back. Well really that is all for this week and I love the heck out of all of you. I hope your week has been great and really I love all the letters that you send me.

Elder Nieman

 The sons of my pension

The train

September 14, 2015

Wow I think the highlight of my week is happening right now when I am reading the letter from mom. Congrats to Parker Lowe. Woooooooo That is so awesome that he got baptized and I really wished I could be there but really it is so great that he made that step to follow Christ. You are the man Parker. I hope he knows that I am so happy for him and I hope he keeps on doing the things that he is doing. Well that was probably one of the biggest miracles that happend in my week. It makes me think about my baptism and then it makes me think of the people that we have baptized so far. It really fills me with joy and that motivates me to help more people make that decision to be baptized. Well so in this week there hasnt been a lot of things going on but like always I love searching for the miracles. Well let me tell you all that every week in the mission is different but that just means that you are recieving different kinds of answers to your prayers. This week was kind of hard because we couldnt find some of our investigators. I am sure that we will find them this week but this week nothing. haha but that is how it is. Well this week we got to contact a lot and really I love to contact the people here. Sometimes the contacts are super great but then others no. hahaha it is super funny sometimes because I feel like Elder Calhoun in the Best Two Years. Running around trying to make people listen. haha Other times the people just laugh because they have never seen an american before. haha When I started my mission that offended me but now I just laugh with them. Really I love looking back on the things I have been doing last year. This time last year I was preparing to leave for Peru and I had no idea what I was going to do. I had a lot of fear to preach the gospel but now I see the bigger picture. In many ways the Lord shapes us. It may take a year to shape us or it might take our whole lives but everyday we are trying to become like him. We make mistakes but that doesnt mean that we dont have hope. The Lord helps us out so much and sometimes we forget to thank him for the people we are right now. I felt like a year ago I was an 18 year old that didnt really know what to do with his life. But now I see what our heavenly father wants me to do. It is something so amazing and big I cant explain the feeling. Well back to the contacting. I have had many moments in my mission where I had to contact a lot. So many different children of our heavenly father. So many souls that we need to help. It is something overwhelming but the expirence is something that makes it all worth it. Well this week we were contacting and we ran into these two women. It kind of caught me by surprise cause my companion just stopped in his steps and started talking to these random people. We had an appointment we had to get to but we contacted them. They were really good people and really wanted to hear the message. We start to talk to them of what they want to do in this life and what they want to accomplish. They told us that they wanted more unity with their families. What a great moment to testify about the eternal family. So we start teaching about that and they seem like they want to hear more. We have an appointment this week with them and I am excited to see how that goes. This week has been great and I am so happy to be teaching everyday. Well this letter is going to be a little short but I love you all and hope you have a good week. Also happy birthday to Brooks this week. I am sorry that I dont know what day it was but I know that it was this week or the next week. I hope that he knows that I love him and I hope that he knows who I am. haha Wow one year and when I get back he will almost be 2. How crazy. Also to answer your question dad. That is Lomo Saltado and it is super good. I love it and I hope you will be able to cook it. Also Jacky and Jasmin are cousins and they are doing great. They went to an activity and loved it so that is really great. Well that is all your questions I think but I love you all and talk to you next week.

Elder Nieman

Zone Central

September 7, 2015

Well there goes another week of the mission. I swear that every week goes faster and faster but when I am thinking about the time it goes super slow. Well this week was super fast and really there wasnt a lot of things that happend. I have a few things that happend that were awesome so I will just go ahead and tell you my expirences this week. Well first off I feel so awesome being a missionary. I realize that where ever I go I am always an example to everyone. I kind of got used to this but when I started thinking about it every time we are walking in the streets we have people looking at us and at times they come and talk to us but the thing is that they are always looking. Well yesterday in sacrament meeting the members were giving there testimonies and everything was good. Well I see this boy stand up. He is probably 7 years old and I remeber that earlier in the week that we ran into him one day and he was crying. I asked him what was wrong and he only told me that he didnt feel very good and felt lonely. So all I did was give him a hug and told him to go to his house to find his mom. Well he goes and this sunday he gets up to bare his testimony. He starts telling the expirence of me giving him a hug and when he went home he started to read his scriptures. He starts to testify that the scriptures give him comfort and that he can always read them when he is lonely. Also after that he started to thank the missionaries and started to say that he wants to be a missionary when he grows up. That touched my soul when he said that and really I felt the spirit so strong. I am so glad that we were able to find him and help him out a little. That was something really awesome and it was a reminder that I will always be an example to these people no matter how old they are. Also this week we got to find two new investigators. Their names are Jacky and Jasmin. They are really awesome and at first when we started to teach they were kind of hard to teach because they didnt really want to listen. But when we started to explain a little bit more of what we believe, they started to accept the teachings. At the end of the lesson they told us that they thought we didnt believe in the bible or God. hahaha It is so amazing to see how so many people think differently about this church but that is why we need to preach every day and help them understand the truth. Well I am so grateful for the spirit that helps me testify of the truths of this gospel and so thankful for my calling. I hope I can continue like this until I end my mission and then after my mission I can continue testifying of the truth. Well that is all for this week and I hope you week is great this week. I love you all and talk to you next week

Elder Nieman

Here's a little extra note that Josh wrote to his Mama and Papa :) 

les amo mama y papa. jaja La mision es lo maximo y espero que siga asi. siento el espiritu cada semana y espero que pueda seguir ensenando a la gente haha well there you go some of my spanish. It is reallly cool cause I can speak spanish. haha

Peruvian food is probably some of the best food I have ever tasted. Well at least most of the food. haha but I love Lomo Saltado. That is my favorite thing

August 31, 2015

    Yeah this week was great and really I am so happy cause I got to stay in my area. I am still with Elder Licota and really this next transfer is going to be sick. I really love this area and I hope to continue teaching the people here in Villa Hermosa. haha it is kind of funny cause in my talk last week I said goodbye to everyone cause really I thought I was going to go but I stayed. And yesterday I got a lot of this, Oh elder Nieman you are such a liar. haha it was kind of embarrassing but hey I am glad to be here still. I really love this ward and really everyone that we are teaching. Well it sounds like I am going to be here for 6 months in this area. ha because at the next transfer he is going to go home and end his mission. So it is set that I am going to be in this area for more than 5 months. Wooow that is a very long time in a area but I am sure I am going to love every single moment. Really this week we found lots of people to teach and it was so cool because we were inviting people to be baptized like crazy. We have a couple baptisms at the end of this month and I hope everything goes according to plan. I trust that we will be able to help them understand that the church is true. I am so grateful and super pumped to start teaching every single one of them. Well also this week was crazy because we got to listen to Elder Bednar and wow when he entered the room I felt the spirit so strong and i was so happy to hear from this apostle. He had so many things to teach us and really I had a lot of questions answered in that time. Also he is probably one of the funniest people I have ever known. hahaha He was cracking jokes here and there. haha It was so awesome and he always has messages so powerful and every message makes you think. That was an expirence that I will never forget. During all that time I was thinking about how the gospel is so perfect and how the church is on the earth and we should never forget that these men are called of God. He made me feel peace and helped me out so much even though he wasnt talking to me personally. Even though we didnt get to shake his hand or take a picture with him that was probably one of the most amazing times in my mission. To meet an apostle of God. He taught us how we should always ask with faith and never doubt. And how we should ask god for the things that he can help us out with, not just automatically by giving it to us. When we say our prayers we should always ask for guidance and not only for things that we want. I can never stop thinking about the truthfullness of the message we carry as missionaries. I love this work and really I hope to finish out my mission strong and go through my life with the same attitude that I have now. This is changing my life. Well that is all that happend this week and I really hope this week is awesome for you all. I hope to hear from everyone because I love to hear what is going on back at home. Oh and if you guys have a question that I havent answered yet, ha I am so sorry but i will try to work on that. haaha but love you all and talk to you next week.

Elder Nieman

 Our mission leader brought us pizza for Elder Licota's birthday

 Elder Pierson (Sky View buddy) is in my zone

Pday at the beach

August 24, 2015

Wow this week was super fantastic and I am so humbled to be here. Well there was a lot of things that happend this week and really a lot of things that are going to happen the next week. Today we find out who is leaving the area or who is going to stay in the area. I am a little nervous but we will see how that goes. haha but yeah anyways yesterday in church I gave a talk. This time it wasnt so surprising but it went pretty well. I love talking to the people cause I feel like I am helping them with the teachings that Jesus has taught when he was on the earth. I think I taught something really good and I hope that it touched their hearts. Well also this last sunday we confirmed Yolanda a member of the church. That was sick cause I got to confirm her a member. Really it is so intimidating to talk in front of people but when I started talking the spirit helped me bless her and confirm her. It was really an amazing expirence and I hope to do that again. Well overall I felt that church yesterday was great. Well my other story I have for this week is really sad but really a story that I would like to share. We are teaching a little kid that is less active. His name is Jefferson and we see him all over the place. He is always running around and just having fun. The best thing about him is that he always has a smile on his face. Well these last couple weeks have been kind of hard for him because he doesnt really have caring parents. His mom has left him and his dad likes to drink quite a lot. Also this week a bunch of people have robbed his house and that kind of left him with nothing. But when we went to his house to teach him, I saw something that struck my heart. When he opened the door I saw a huge smile on his face and he was getting ready to listen to us. I thought he would be a little bit more sad but he was so excited to hear us and just continued smiling. Well we start to teach him about how we should keep the commandments and through all the lesson he was listening intently. He was so happy to hear the message and when we ended we asked if he needed anything. He said to us that the only thing he needed was for us to come again and visit him more. When he said that, that just put tears in my eyes because I couldnt believe how humble this 10 year old boy was. The only thing he needed was to hear from us. He is such a great example to me and should be for his parents to. It is so crazy to see stuff like that but it is truely amazing to see these things in the mission. Now we are helping him try to attend church. He is awesome and really I want him to be in the church every sunday. Wow that was amazing and I love these expiriences. Well that is all that has happend this week but I am so grateful for this oppurtunity to teach this gospel. Ohhh and in 2 days Elder Bednar is coming to our mission. It will be a meeting with Lima east and Lime North. It is going to be so crazy and I will make sure to take a good selfie with Bednar. haha yeah right but that is all for this week and I love the heck out of all of you. Talk to you next weeek

Elder Nieman

Villa Hermosa - my area

August 17, 2015

Hahaa the mission is so funny because one week I am so down but this week was absoulutly amazing. My heart is full of joy for the oppurtunity to share this gospel. Well the big news that happend this week is that Yolanda got baptized and even better her husband got to baptize her. This week was a little hard because it was full of mixed emotions. But the lord always finds a way to help his children. Yolanda came to us on monday and told us straight up that she wants to be baptized. She told us that when she was studying the bible and the book of mormon she felt a joy in her heart and felt the spirit of the lord. The promptings told her that she should be baptized and should join the church of Jesus Christ. That made us so happy when she said that and really we started to plan out her baptism right then and there. Well the day passes and we go to teach her and then she tells us that she doesnt feel so sure if she should be baptized. She left the room in tears and that feeling was horrible and really I thought we werent going to have a baptism this week. haha Well something happend that was so amazing and probably one of the craziest things i have ever heard. When we left, she started to pray and started to think of the things we have taught and then she fell asleep. haha but she had a dream that showed Jesus Christ and it showed Jesus Christ stretching out his hand to her. And all of a sudden she woke up and Immediatly started looking for a picture of Jesus. She searched for pictures from her church and then from our church. She started telling her husband that she needs to find the Jesus that she saw in her dream and She searched and searched for pictures. Well finally she left her room and when she left there was a picture of Jesus Christ hanging in the other room. She told us that she had a moment looking at the picture and finally burst into tears. Her husband comes to see what is wrong but she starts saying this is him.. this is him. Wow how crazy is that. Well she was interviewed and this saturday she was baptized. That was truely amazing to see her get baptized because she has come so far. It was a true change of heart because she didnt make the decision because her husband is mormon or that we were teaching her, or that her family is a different religion but she made the decision between her and God. She is truly going to be an amazing member of the church and I am just so happy for her. And now she has been telling us that she is very interested in the temple. I know that they are going to get sealed in the temple someday and that day is going to be so special. I love the gospel and Love being a missionary. I have the oppurutnity to see miracles and change peoples hearts. I absoultly love all of you and I hope this week has been great for all of you. Well I am going to continue with the email that I sent mom and dad last week,,,,, oooooooooooooooooooooooooo we are half way there, woooooooooooooooooooooo living on a prayer... take my hand we will make it I swear........ wooooooooooooooooo living on a prayer. haha sometimes I laugh at how weird I am sometimes. haha but yeah it is weird that I am halfway there but I am so happy to give it my all in this next year. I love you all and I hope your week will be amazing.

Elder Nieman

 Hermana Yolanda and her husband

 Woooo Woooooo Hump Dayyee!

A big day for baptisms

Elders in my zone

August 10, 2015

Well this week was great and just really happy with the way things are going. Really not a lot of things happend this week. hahaha Well today I just had an interview with President Boswell and really he knows exactly what I need. I really dont know how he does it but he just helps me out so much. I dont know why this week was so different but I am sure with the advice I got from President, that advice will help me overcome so many things. The mission is awesome but sometimes it gets hard. haha All I have to do is keep on going. I have noticed that just smiling gets me through some days. It is kind of funny because a lot of people just look at me weird and I am smiling for no reason. It feels good and really helps me think of how the Lord felt. He had to smile through all the things that happend. He made miracles happen and taught the people what they needed. Even though he had so many people reject him, He kept on going. He is my example and I will always trust in him more than any other person in this world. He is my light and he has called me to serve these wonderful people in Peru. Wow that makes me so happy and filled with joy. Really I have the greatest calling in the world. I will keep on going and I will especially do that with a smile on my face. hahaha But yeahhhh sorry for the sad part of my letter but hey it happens every once in a while in the mission. But somehow the Lord always finds a way to motivate me. Wellll If you guys dont know yet I am going to be 1 years old in the mission this week. hahaha wow that is so weird and I am thinking of the things that were happening in this time last year. It feels so good cause I was so scared to leave for my mission. But now I see myself here in Peru, speaking the language and preaching the gospel everyday, I see a change in me and really I feel like this next year is going to fly by. I cant wait to see the changes I will have when I finish. I am going to be a different man looking at the world with more confidence. I just want to say that I love you all and I hope your week is great this week. Ohhhhhhh and one more thing freak..... Elder Bednar is coming to the mission on the 26th of august. Wooooooooooo i am going to meet an apostle of God. That is going to be something so crazy and I cant wait to hear what he has to say. Well I just hope that everything is going good back at home and I love the heck out of all of you. Families can be together forever and God lives, Those two things are so sacred to me and I will always remember that. Loves loves kisses kisses

Elder Nieman

 My companion and I

We went to the beach

HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!

We sent Joshua a Hump Day t-shirt and a small photo book with pictures and these "inspirational" tags.
(Razor explanation: I bought 24 disposable razors and every Fast Sunday I throw away one. This makes the countdown bearable!)

With this tag, we added some pictures of Joshua's favorite things...his  5 nephews!

 Inside the envelope tied to the stuffed camel is this comparison of a camel to a missionary. 

            Above: Other items included in Elder Nieman's Hump Day package...and 2 dozen brownies! 
Below: a poster for Elder Nieman to hang on his wall :)