January 25, 2016

Wow this week was really awesome. It was awesome for a lot of reasons but it was super awesome because arturo and leonardo got baptized. Like I said their mom Raquel needs to have a little more time but she is going to be baptized the 6th. But wow the baptisms of Arturo and Leonardo was super awesome. I had the chance to baptize Leonardo and Hermano Canchari my pension got to baptize Arturo. That was super fun but super crazy because they were so excited to be baptized they wouldnt keep still. haha Especially with leonardo. haha He was shaking super bad and he was just ready to get baptized. But when we were in the water I decided to say a prayer with him so that he would stop shaking so bad. haha it was kind of funny because the water was freezing and he just was super nervous. Well we start to say the prayer and by the end he was still and quiet and he was ready to be baptized. Also when I baptized him I felt like he was super calm and when he came out of the water he just had a big smile on his face. That was super awesome to see but after that he wanted to stay in the water a little longer. hahaha So I had to lift him out of the water and that just made me laugh so much because he wanted to stay in the freezing cold water but finally he got out and we started to change. After the baptism it was time to give their testimonies. Arturo got up and started to say the things that he felt and wow did I feel the spirit so strong because he has changed so much and he told us that he wants to plan to be a missionary when he gets older. He felt the spirit too and started to cry but he was super strong and that was amazing to see. Leonardo was a little bit more shy and didnt really want to get up and say something. But I gave him my plaque and when he put it on he went up and started to say what he felt and all of a sudden he just stops talking for like a minute. I think he was thinking about the covenant that he made with god and he started to say I want to be a missionary too and I want to be a better person. He felt the change take place in his life in that moment. He felt the spirit and started to testify of the things that he felt. Really that moment was something that I will cherish forever because I felt so happy that these two brothers felt the spirit and I just saw that they were so happy to do that. Something that hit me this week is that the spirit can touch anybody's heart and I am so happy to have had experienced that. I love the work and I am so happy that I am having these moments almost every day. I have never felt so happy in my life. I am here to represent Jesus Christ and through his power I am here to change lives. I love this chance to know these people that I have never known in my life before. This week was super great and I hope this week goes wonderful for everyone back at home. Well that is all for this week and I am super pumped. hahaha I love the heck out of all of you and Hope your week is awesome.
Elder Nieman

 Arturo y Leonardo baptism day

 After the baptism

 Leonardo with Elder Nieman's plaque. He wants to be a missionary someday :)

Me with one of the coolest people ever. She is super small and always has a smile on her face when we pass.

January 18, 2016

Well this week has been really good. We did so many things but I will just tell a couple things. First we went to the temple and that was just super awesome. And the biggest thing was that I saw Yolanda and Jaime there. haha It was so awesome to see them after such a long time. I was so happy to see them and they told me of what was happening in Villa Hermosa. Wow there has been a lot of people that have been getting baptized. That was super cool because Yolandas family is starting to hear the message of the missionaries. That surprised me a lot because they didnt want to hear anything from us. But now they are starting to accept the gospel. That was super awesome and I am super happy about that. Also this week we had interviews with president Boswell and I dont know how he does it but he always finds a way to help me. Also if you guys wanted to know he told me my release date. I think when he said that he saw my face change into a weird face and he just started to laugh. haha but wow I am going to work so hard in these next couple months because the time just flies by. haha But wow that was super great to talk to my leader. Well this week has been super great because we are just working super hard. This week we didnt get as many lessons as we wanted but we sure did find a lot of new people to teach. This week we found these two teens that have come from the jungle. They are super awesome and I have a really good feeling about them. haha they are learning spanish... because they speak a different language in their village. They speak Wanpis. hahaha Sometimes they dont understand what we are saying but for the most part they understand. ohhhh I forgot to tell what their names were but their names are Eldo and Efrain. It is super cool because they are teaching me a little bit of Wanpis. haha but wow they sure are awesome because they came to church yesterday and we put a baptismal date for the 6th of February. That day there is a white night where there a lot of people that are going to be baptized. I know we can help them make that goal but we just got to wait to see how they feel. Also Arturo and Leonardo are going to be baptized this week. Their mom is going to be baptized on the 6th because we just felt like she needed a little bit more time. But this week will be super interesting because I hope everything will go great with the baptism. Well we will see. Also this week we have a training that is going to be a training of all the missionaries in the world. I am sure that it will be super awesome to hear the church leaders talk with every missionary. I cant wait to see what happens there. Well just working super hard and I love the work. Well I love every single one of you and I will talk to you guys next week.
Elder Nieman

 Yolanda and Jaime with their family at the temple. They were showing Yolanda's sister around and buying some Hymn books

At the temple with my good buddy Elder Cardenas (and someone's butt...sorry about that hahaha!)

January 12, 2016

Well this week has been super great and we worked super hard. I feel like this week we were able to find a lot of people and just talk with everyone. Wow but i am so tired. hahaha but i just got to keep on going. Wow this is so crazy because we are just inviting people to be baptized and we are just helping out so many people. I dont know if you guys remember this but when I came to this area I felt really good and I had the feeling in my stomach that I am going to change these people. I now see that I am helping out so many people. That just helps me out so much to overcome the challenges that i have had during this time. Wow it is a miracle to see the faces of these people and just to preach with all my heart. I feel so good right now and I hope I can keep on going hard. haha I dont think we realize sometimes but we have a light in our hearts and we also can have a light in our presence if we show the example to others. If we try our hardest to become better and keep the commandments. I feel so happy to be a missionary and to be a light to everyone. But what I see in every member is that they have that light too. It gives me goose bumps every time a member shares their testimony. I think that is the best way to share the gospel. You dont need a huge knowledge of the scriptures or you dont need to recognize every verse the bible to share the gospel. You only need the spirit and your testimony. That is something that I have learned starting in the MTC. I just know that is how it is done. I love this work and I love sharing my testimony with everyone. Well some things that have happend this week is that we found a family that is super awesome. We knock on the door and they let us in. A little later the mom told us that she was waiting for us. haha It was kind of surprising but she told us that a less active member was sharing the gospel with her. She was learning so many things. We finally got to her house and I could see her relief to see missionaries. That was super cool and I cant wait to start working with them. It is super crazy how our heavenly father works and how he shows us the way to the people that really want to hear the message. Wow this week was just a blessing because we are just working super hard and we are seeing the results. I love this work and I know I am here for a purpose. I also hope everything is going well back at home and I just love you all. Also be careful on the icy roads. Hayden get work done. hahahaha I love that boy, Hayden you are the man. Yeah but talk to you next week. ohhh and we are going to the temple again. woooooooooo today. Well hope everything is going great and talk to you later.
Elder Nieman

 FHE with Daniela and Coqui. Right now is the heat of the summer in Peru. Notice how hot Josh looks and most everyone else is in long sleeves and jackets! haha!  

 Josh got novelty dress socks from Santa...he's not sure about them :)

FHE with Raquel, Arturo and Leonardo 

January 4, 2016

so just to start off, I am sorry that I am not capitalizing my letters. the button here doesnt work. hahahaha but wow this week was amazing and I really got to work hard especially when it was the new year. Oh and happy new year to everyone. wow 2016 it is so crazy how time has gone by so fast. well some really crazy things happend this week but to start off is that we worked super super hard. i have a new companion and his name is elder Nuñez. He is awesome and really he is ready to work hard with me. He is from Iquitos also. hahaha I have no idea why but I have had a lot of companions from the jungle. haha but he talks super cool. haha He is the only member in his family and he has a big testimony. It is super cool to get to know so many people. but wow this week we just started with fire. haha we contacted a lot of people in the streets and usually that was a hard thing to do last year at new years because normaly the people love to drink here. haha funny story, we were walking and we hear this music. we start to walk and we see two men that were drunk by a window and they were on the top floor. well they see me and start yelling gringo gringo. haha it was funny and I just started to wave and started to say whats up. haha and then they started to say that it was really bad to drink and they shouldnt be doing those things. so I just hold up my book of mormon and started to point at my book of mormon. when I did that they start to yell wooowoow that is a servant of god. hahahaha that was super funny and we just kept on rolling after that. well this week we found a lot of people and I see this transfer is going to be full of work. we are working with a family and their names are raquel, arturo and leonardo. they are super humble people and it was so awesome to see them progress. they have been coming to church and they have been accepting the gospel. well this week raquel was telling us about what was happening to her son arturo before we were teaching them. she told us that he didnt believe in god and was being a rebel. she was taking him to a priest. but every time they talked to the priest he just got worse and worse. so finally she was talking with our pension and our pension gave us the reference and we went. she said to us that the first time that we went to her house almost immediatly her son changed. he started to smile and started to get more interested. these last couple of weeks we have been going to his house and the things we have left for him to read, he has begun to teach us about the gospel. haha He teaches us and we listen. Isnt that funny but then he also told us that he wants to be a missionary like us too. wow that is so amazing to see someone change like that. they have a baptismal date for the 23rd of January. i feel good about them and I believe that they are going to accomplish it. but we will see, we just need to pray a lot and hope that they can achieve that goal. well that is all that has been happening in this week. I love you guys so much and wow it was awesome to talk to you guys. I hope that your week is good and I will talk to you next week. also sorry but I dont think I want to send pictures now because the computer erased almost all my pictures. ohhh wow that sucks. hahahahah but I will try to get something worked out. haha
Love you all
elder Nieman

Foto Navidad - Central and Santa Anita zones

Elder Nieman update December 28, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Joshua emailed this morning and we were able to talk back and forth for a while. He didn't have time to write a group letter but he is doing very well and is expecting to be assigned a new companion today. He spent this last week with his zone leader and his companion. We were able to meet them during the Skype call on Christmas day. They were very nice and I thanked them for taking care of my boy during this transition period. Thank you for sending extra wishes to him during this time. It was definitely a unique Christmas week for him and I know he appreciates the support he receives from his family and friends.

It was so fun to see Josh and hear his voice on Christmas Day! Robert set up the Skype call so that we could see his beautiful face on a 55 inch screen! Most of his family were here to join in this happy and exciting occasion. We were able to give each family member a little one on one time with Josh. He couldn't believe how big (Nixon) and chubby (Griffin) his nephews were. He did several double takes throughout the call :) He has a noticeable Spanish accent and he paused several times to think of the English word that he wanted to use in his sentences. He is about as Peruvian as an American can get ;) Joshua is positively in the missionary "zone" and is having very spiritual and uplifting experiences and also learning many life lessons. He absolutely loves the work he is doing and has a genuine love for the people he teaches and those he comes in contact with. We have felt the Spirit in the words he writes in his weekly emails and we also felt that same strong Spirit as we visited with him over 4300 miles away through Skype. It truly is amazing to see and hear the transformation in Joshua's understanding, passion and testimony for the gospel. He is the same cheerful, funny and smiley Josh that we know and love but he wanted us to know that he feels a difference in his heart and spirit. He emphasized his desire to continue throughout his life on the path of discipleship and devotion to his Savior Jesus Christ. We miss him so much but know he will be forever blessed for his dedication to his call as a missionary. We also have received many blessings from having a missionary son. He is a wonderful example to us all. Again, we thank you for your love, support and prayers for our Joshua.

Love Julie and Robert

Just a reminder that you can go to his blog to see all of his letters and pictures from Day 1 to Day 508...but who's counting :)

Coqui and Daniela on their baptism day

Happy Christmas Day Skype!

Joshua saw Nixon & Griffin wearing these Super Hero shirts during the Skype call. He loved it!  

Nix revealing his Super Hero identity! The shirts say: "My hero wears a white shirt and a missionary name tag". (The Superman logo is made from a Peru Flag) A big thank you goes to Zac Kohler (Josh's uncle) who created these shirts for Josh's five nephews and were specially made for them to wear during our Christmas Skype

  Elder Nieman is always in our hearts and remembered throughout the year in our front entry.