February 29, 2016

Well this week was a little hard but I feel like we are really improving this area. We are trying to find new people to teach and it is great to talk with everyone. I really just love being happy to everyone here because sometimes they just laugh because I am just grinning super big. I love joking around with the people here but then after we help them have comfort through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes they arent very interested but we try our hardest to talk to them and help them feel the spirit. Really I never knew that unknown faces would be my friends. We are finding so many people that are super humble and super happy. I love those people and I just thank our heavenly father to know these people. Well this week was hard like I said but after every day I just think about the things that we did and just think that maybe we were an answer to a prayer. It is really cool to think that way. Ohhhh but after everyday a missionary that has given his all just passes out on the bed. hahahaah. I think it is better that way and it is just fun to pass out. haha Well this mission is really great and I am just learning so much. Well yesterday we got to teach one of our investigators named Angie. She has a date for March 19th or something like that. I kind of forgot. hahahah that is so funny. but anyways she is super awesome and really has had so many challenges in her life and every time we teach her, she just seems calm. Well it was great to teach her the plan of salvation and to teach her that she is going to see her family that have passed away again. She still has some doubts but really she is really searching for the answer. It is super awesome because when we kneel down to pray, she always prays with true intent and with all her heart. It is super great to see someone that is really trying to find the truth. I am pretty sure that she has found her answer but from the prayer that she did yesterday, She is going to have so many blessings in her life. It is super great to see the faith in people everyday. And sometimes it is sad because others dont have a lot of faith. But we always try to help those people. Well I absoulutly love the mission and every blessing that I have recieved until now. It is great to hear mom and dad that you are going to the temple more often. I am planning to go to the temple very frequently when I get back. Hey maybe we could go together everytime I go. Hey what a good idea. hahaha but I absoulutly love you all and I am happy to be Gods servant. Thank you for everything and I will talk to you next week.
Love you all forever
Elder Nieman
PS If my letters are getting shorter and you want to hear about more things just tell me. haha

 Temple with Maritza

My area Salamanca

A little bit higher - you can see the ocean from here

February 22, 2016

This week was really great and super fast. I can not believe how fast time is. Well this week has been really spirtual and I really liked how things went this week. This week we had the chance to take a convert to the temple. Her name is Maritza and she is super cool. She took one name to the temple. She went to go get baptized for her aunt. She was super stoked. Well we went to the temple this last thursday and wow was that day awesome. We went to go do her baptism and usually we get to be the witnesses there. It was really awesome because the brother that was baptizing was doing baptisms with all his family. His son went first and then his daughter. It was so cool to see a family doing baptisms for their passed away relatives. It reminds me when we did baptisms for the dead in Hawaii. That was super awesome but something really hit me when he was doing the baptisms. He started to baptize his daughter for his passed away relatives. It looked like he was super happy and then he got to the last name. The last name was his Mom that had passed away only the past week. When he did that baptism and started to say the words to the baptismal prayer, something just hit me and I just felt the spirit super strong. He did the baptizm and after it just looked like he was calm and happy. I cant imagine the joy that I would feel if I baptized for someone really close to me. I bet I would feel on top of the world. Wow that was super awesome to see and then after Maritza did her baptism and she felt super awesome. This is such a great way to help people have experiencias espirtuales. The temple is such an amazing and sacred place and I just love the idea of taking my family to the temple. It is going to be super awesome. but still I am in the mission and i am super focused in this work. hahahahaha but wow the mission is amazing and i love bringing souls to Christ. Well that is something that happend that was a highlight. Well I think that is all I have for this week and I hope you guys have a good week this week. I love you a bunch and I love all the emails that you have been sending me. If there is something that I can help you guys with, just tell me. hahah but Im not sure what I will be able to do since I am so far away. haha but I love you all and talk toyou guys next week.
Elder Nieman

February 15, 2016

Well I am in Salamanca and it is super awesome. First I want to tell you guys that yes we have hot water. yessssssss... but then the second day it stopped working and now I have to take cold showers. boooooooo hahahaha That is ok, I really like cold showers now. But wow my area is really crazy. It is a little like my area in Chosica and Villa Hermosa. This area has a huge mountain that we have to climb almost every day. It is really good excercise but really I am dying. hahaha I love it though because I can see the ocean from the top. Also I am guessing that we will have to climb a lot because we have a cool investigator at the top. Oh and this week has been super crazy because every year it gets super hot and the people here just start to throw water balloons and they throw paint too. haha So we will have to dodge a lot of those. Actually yesterday we were walking and a water balloon almost hit my companion in the face. haha it was a little funny but I had to hold my laugh. ha Well this week was really good and I feel like there are a lot of things that need to be better in this area. I really want to work hard to help this area explode. My companion is really awesome and super funny. He reminds me of Michael Scott from the office because he just does things that are super funny. His name is Elder Balcazar. He is from Trujillo and he is 26 years old. haha wow he is a lot older than me. But it is super great and I feel like we are going to get a lot of work done. Of course it was really hard to say goodbye to Coqui, Daniela, Arturo, Leonardo, Eldo and Efrain but hey i will see them again. I feel really focused and I feel like we are going to find a lot of new people to teach. Well this week was amazing because we started to do exactly that. We found a lot of new people and there was this one dude that was super awesome. His name is Cleiner. And wow he is chosen. We started to teach him and he was explaining that he has been listening to the missionaries in a different part of Peru but then he moved here to Salamanca. Well he was explaining that he wanted to be baptized and he wanted to join the church. He was telling us about the things that he has experienced and it was just amazing to find this man with such a strong testimony. The only problem was that he didnt know where to find the missionaries. So this sunday he comes to church and he starts to talk with us. Really that was a miracle that he could find the church because it is a bit confusing here with the roads. Well we started to teach and invited him to be baptized. He accepted and he is now preparing to be baptized the 13th of March. That was super great and I hope he can progress and he can be able to reach his goal. Well there were so many things that have happend this week and so many things that are going to happen in this next week. i am super happy and I am glad that I am here in this area to work super hard. I think that this might be one of my last areas. That is so crazy to think but I am going to stop thinking about that. hahaha Love you all and I hope your week goes great.
Elder Nieman

 Arturo and Leonardo

 Coqui and Daniela

 Saying goodbye to Eldo and Efrain

 Elder Balcazar and I

February 8, 2016

Haha first I will answer your questions. I got the pants you sent me and also mom I am in Santa Anita, not Villa Hermosa. hahahaha But that is ok because this transfer I know I am going to be leaving Santa Anita. I am getting transfered to San Luis. I still dont really know who is my companion but we will see how it goes. But wow these two transfers went by super fast and I have seen so many miracles. Well one of those miracles is that Eldo and Efrain got baptized on saturday. That was super cool because it was a white night. So many people got baptized too. But it was super awesome to see them get baptized and also I had the oppurtunity to baptize Efrain. He is super cool and it was just great to see the people that we found like 4 weeks ago get baptized. haha They are truely chosen to be members. They were also telling us that they want to be missionaries. That was super crazy and I just felt the spirit super strong that night. Especially when they were giving their testimonies. They wanted to say their testimonies in their native language so they started to speak Wanpis. hahaha it was actually super great because we didnt understand anything what they were saying but we could feel the spirit super strong. It made me think a lot that it really doesnt matter what language you are speaking all that matters is that you have the spirit with you. It was an experience that i will always remember. The other people that got baptized also had really strong testimonies and there were so many people that started to cry and started to share the feelings of their hearts. I cant believe that I am in this amazing work. Well 2 transfers have gone and now I am going to head to Salamanca San Luis. I am sure i am going to learn so many things and I am going to have more moments that I will cherish in my life. But now it is going to be super hard to say goodbye to everyone. We will see how it goes but I am super happy with the things that I have done in this area. Now the Lord wants me in a different part and I must obey. I just feel super happy to see the people that I have been teaching. They look super happy and I am just happy that I had the oppurtunity to help them. Well we will see them in 6 months when I am with you guys. hahaha mom dont squeal. hahaha but I love you all and I am just so grateful for this work. I know I am going to find new poeple to teach and I will try to help them come to Christ. Sorry this letter is a little short. haha but Hope you have a good week this week.

Elder Nieman

 Noche Blanca, White Night

Efrain after the baptism

February 1, 2016

Well this week was great and we are just getting alot of work done this week. Well this saturday is going to be awesome because we are going to try to have a white night with the zone. We will see how it goes but this week Eldo and Efrain from the jungle that speak another language are going to be baptized. They have been progressing so much and actually they have been reading the book of mormon a lot. They have told us that they were going to pray to see if the church and the book were true and they have received their answers. They are so awesome and they are so ready to be baptized. They are always so friendly and they teach us their language of Wanpis. haha I am learning to pray in Wanpis. hahaha I still need a lot of practice but it is super cool to hear them talk. But wow that is going to be so great to see their lives change and see how things will go in the future for them. I feel like they are just so humble and have accepted the gospel. They know that Joseph Smith was a profet and that they are in the truth. Every time we teach them they are so ready to learn and they just apply the things we teach them. Well I hope that will go good this week and we will just have to see this saturday. Also Hermana Raquel told us that she didnt feel ready to be baptized. That was kind of sad but we are going to visit her again and we will see what she says. It could be that she gets baptized this week and then it could be that she doesnt. Well either way I know she will get baptized someday. Every person has their time and I feel like she needs a little bit more time. This week was super awesome because we had a lot of people in sacrament meeting. Its normal to have like 3 or 4 but this week we had 9 people come to church. That was amazing because a less active member brought them. The less active member is called Victor and he is super awesome. He wants to come back to church and also wants to help people come to church. I felt so much joy when he walked in with the people that he brought and the people that he brought seemed to really enjoy the meeting. It is just amazing to see so many people work in this great cause and to see what they can accomplish in this life. I feel super awesome because when I first got to this area, the area was kind of broken up and the ward too but it is getting so much better and I just feel like we are working so hard. There is nothing more I could ask for but to feel the spirit of God in my life. It helps me to continue and helps me to invite everyone to come to Jesus Christ. Well this week has been great and I will have to talk more next week. But wow February, Crazy. Well I love the heck out of all of you and Hope your week is wonderful.
Elder Nieman

The excitement of Leonardo on his baptism day! Elder Nieman looks pretty happy too :)