Exciting news for Uncle Joshi!

Email from Joni:

So congratulations Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle Uncle UNCLE Josh, you're gonna be an uncle again!! Baby is due mid November!! Well, have a good week!! Love you!!

Love, Joni Hayden and Baby Downs

Email from Uncle Josh:

what...WHAT THE CRAP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IAM SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAYDEN IS SO CUTE. WELL I LOVE THE HEAVENS OUT OF YOU GUYS. WOWOWOWOWOW HOW WEIRD IS IT THAT MY LITTLE SISTER IS PREGO. THAT IS HOW YOU SAY PREGNANT IN SPANISH HAHAHA JKJKJK WOW I LOVE YOU MUCH VERY VERY MUCH. YEAH AMEN CHAU AND TELL ME THAT YOU ARE GOING TO NAME IT...JOSHUA JR

March 28, 2016

Wowowowow this week was amazing until yesterday when they told us the transfers. hahaha But this week was super awesome because we had a lot of things happen first I will start with the sad part. haha But I am getting transfered. I am going to Surco, Los Sauces. I still dont know what my companions name is but it will be great. I am going to be a district leader. It will be interesting but we will see how it goes. Well This week was absoulutly amazing because Kenny got baptized. woooooo he was super happy and I think he is going to have a great future in the church. He was really chosen to be baptized. I just feel super awesome to help so many people here in Peru. He progressed so fast but he was just super happy and when we gave him the holy ghost he was just smiling. haha it was super great. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for the things that you are doing helping my investigatos fulfill with their comitments. And now for the biggest miracle that happend this week. So Friday night we are there eating dinner with the zone leaders and all of a sudden we hear the phone ring. Elder Miller answers the phone and ends the phone call. He just stays there for a second and tells me that I am invited to a baptism in Santa Anita. I was so pumped and so happy but I didnt know who was going to be baptized until we arrived at the church. I was so happy to see that Hermana Raquel was the one who was going to get baptized. It gave me goose bumps. We were trying so hard and teaching her so much but she kept on telling us that she needed more time. That just tells me that every person has their time but God always helps them on their way. Well I was super happy to see her and also her kids. Arturo and Leonardo. They came running up to me giving me hugs and it was super awesome to hear that they were progressing so much in the church. They have bought suits and it was super awesome to see them with their mom. They looked so happy and they just seemed really united. Well also I got to see a lot of other people that I have known. Wow it was so great to see so many people. Just giving a bunch of hugs and just talking about a lot of stuff. But it was so great to be the witness for sister Raquel. She looked calm and she was super ready. When she got baptized, I said how do you feel. I love this question because they usually say something that makes me feel the spirit. But the thing Raquel said was amazing. hahah I am not going to lie, almost put me in tears. hahaha But she said she felt close to God but she felt so much closer to her kids. It is amazing to this single mom that has had to carry her kids throughout her life, she has had to work so hard to keep them going and in that moment she says she feels even more closer to her kids. I can say that God helps out so many people feel the spirit and helps them overcome their obstacles. I know that they are a family really strong and I am so grateful to experience and see the change in these peoples lives. Well I absoulutly love the mission and I cant wait to start again in Surco. haha I hope to help everyone in that area but it will be a little hard to leave here. haha but that is all that happend in this week and I hope to talk to you guys next. I love you all and I am super pumped for general conference. Wooooo
Elder Nieman

 Raquel, her kids, and us. Woooooo!

 Kenny's baptism

Kenny and us

March 21, 2016

Well this week has been super great. hahah there has been a lot of things that have been happening. But the biggest thing was that Angie got baptized. Her name is actually spelled Anyi but I wrote that so that you can pronounce her name good. But wow that was super awesome because she wanted me to baptize her too. It was super awesome but I am sorry because 2 times it has happend that my pictures got erased and I dont want that to happen again. I will try my best to send pictures but if not then ok. hahah but wow that was a night that I will always remember. She has a strong testimony in the gospel and even though her family didnt want her to be baptized, she followed through and she made the convenant with our heavenly father. Thank you for your prayers because they honestly worked. But really every time when they share their testimony, it is one of the moments I feel the spirit so strongly in my mission. She was explaining that before the baptism she felt something really weird and she had a lot of nerves. But something that I like to do before every baptism is that I like to say a prayer in the baptismal font. When she was praying she explained in her testimony that she felt like God was by her side and she just got super calm. She started to say that she knew that the church was true and she told everyone that she wants her family to listen to us. Her family was present in that moment and wow after the baptism they came up to us and said they wanted to start listening to the lessons and wanted to learn. It was kind of funny because we have tried to talk to them but really they didnt want anything with the church. But now we have an appointment with them and they seem pretty ready to learn. I am so happy for Anyi and I feel like she is going to be a wonderful member in the church. She is going to learn so much and I hope that she can continue learning. Well that was the highlight of the week. Oh and I guess my birthday was pretty awesome and we did a lot of things. hahaha I lit off the confetti in our room and now our room is super dirty. hahahaha I have a video of that but I cant send it to you guys because it is a little big. But wow that was super awesome and I cant believe I am 20. I am so grown up ahhaah I want to cry. nooooooo because I am a man and men dont cry. hahaha but wow it was super awesome and this year they didnt throw eggs at me luckily. haha But this week was pretty great and also this next week is going to be great because we have another baptism planned for this week. Kenny went to the baptism of Anyi and he told us after that he wants to get baptized. He is super awesome because he is going to institute. He really wants to learn and he is really chosen. But we still need your prayers and we will see how it goes. Well I love you all and thank you for all the birthday wishes. I will talk to you guys next week and i hope everything goes great for you guys in this week.

Love you all
Elder Nieman

 Anyi's baptism

 Anyi and us

Cake time!

March 14, 2016

Well just to start off, I would like to thank all of you for your birthday wishes and i might not have time to respond to everyone but I sure will try. Wow this week was amazing and I really have learned so many things. This week we had a baptism and Kleiner got baptized this week. Kleiner is super awesome and really he has a strong testimony in the gospel. He has come so far and he has finally reached to his goal of baptism. He has been super awesome and has listened so much. It was something really special because when we put the date of his baptism, we didnt know this but one of his best friends was going to return from his mission the 10th. We put the date for the 13th of march and he was explaining in his testimony that it was an answer from god that his friend should baptize him and that he should make this covenant with the lord. It was super great to see all his family there because they arent members and they just showed their support for him. It was super great to feel the spirit when he was testifying of the truth. Hahah it was kind of funny too because his girlfriend that came is a member and I told them after his baptism that in a year see you guys in the temple. hahahah it was kind of funny because they just looked at me like already? And I am like yup you need to go there someday. hahaha But really I do see them getting sealed pretty soon. Well that was something super cool and also we are getting Angie ready for baptism for this week. She is super happy and really excited to get baptized but then again anything can happen but I will pray and try my hardest to help her. It would be good if you guys could pray for her also. But wow she is super awesome and it is just great to make new friends here in Peru everyday. Really I do feel a connection super strong with these people. Especially with the people that we contact and they arent smiling and kind of act a little rude but at the end of the conversation we are laughing and we are sharing the gospel with them. It is super awesome and I really feel like I am making eternal friendships here in good old Peru. hahaha but wow this week has been super great to help everyone and also to listen to Elder Uceda and Elder Robbins from the seventy. Wow they are super powerful and I learned so much. hahaha mostly they talked about our companionships. He told us that if we werent getting along with our companions then we are asking for a divorce in our future. Wooooww how crazy is that but he told us that the mission is a university and the class that we are taking is Marriage 505. hahahah but thank goodness that i am getting along with my compie. hahaha he is super awesome and i really learn so much everyday from him. Well that is all that happend for this week and I love the heck out of all of you. Thank you for the birthday wishes and wow 20. I am getting old. But really I have to start shaving my beard everyday because I am a man and I am growing facial hair like crazy. hahahah But love you all and have a good week.

Elder Nieman

Hiked a hill called San Cristobal

March 7, 2016

Well this week was absoulutly amazing. We had a great improvement in a lot of things but I am just happy that we got to help a lot of people come to church. Ohhhh and to answer your question about the whole 20 thing. Woow that is super great. I dont even feel like I am 20. I still feel like 18. It is super weird but we will see how that goes. Also this week we went with the missionaries from the MTC. I went with two north americans and it was super fun. We just started to contact a lot and it was cool to see them talk to the people even though they didnt know a lot of the language. It just shows a lot of the braveness of the missionaries to talk a different language every day. They were sure to declare the message to everyone. Well we started to contact and we found a teenager that was called Joquin. He was super awesome and when we started to teach him, I just felt like he was going to be baptized. So I told the missionaries in english that they should invite him to be baptized. They kind of got scared but it was super awesome to see them teach about baptism and invite him to be baptized. He accepted the invitation and now he is preparing to be baptized. That was super awesome and something that I will always remember. Well that is one of the things that i Liked this week. The other thing is that we had a bunch of investigators come to sacrament meeting. They were super happy to learn and partake of the sacrament. But something really awesome happend in the second class. The investigators were introducing themselves to everyone and it came to one of our investigators that is called Angie. She is super awesome and she has been preparing to be baptized. She starts to introduce herself, she says, Well my name is angie and I have been coming to church for these past weeks. And then she just says out of the blue, I know this church is true and I have felt the spirit in this church and I am sure that this is the truth. She just said that and everyone was just surprised. HAhahah That was super awesome to hear and I cant wait to prepare her more to get her baptized. Also we are teaching her dad and they just look like they are going to make it to the goal. I love the way the spirit can touch anyone in this world and it can tell them all the things that they need to know. Well this week was full of awesome experiences and I feel like this next week is going to be super awesome too. We have planned the baptism of Cleiner this week and he is super pumped. I cant wait to see him do this convent with god and I just hope everything goes according to plan. Well that is all that happend this week but I am sure that your guys week will just go super awesome. I am praying for you guys everyday and I love the heck out of you all. I will talk to you next week.ç

Elder Nieman

 My companion enjoyed his heart cookie

Super good chicken made by a member