October 3rd: October!

Hola Familia,

We are on the north side of Panamá, toward the east; only part of this are is ''city''... We just got back from an adventure in a place called Portobelo. It is an old historic site where some of the pictures are from. We climbed a mountain and were dripping as we reached the top due to the humidity of a jungle. There was also one point where we saw some huge looking spiders, and as we were leaving we saw one that looked half dead on the leg of Elder Savio. That was a fun adventure.

This week we had been working pretty hard to get people to conference, but not one of our investigators went... But we were able to feel great joy because after the second session (which had some great talks for less active people) we saw the mom of a less active family we met this week. She went! it was interesting meeting her because most inactive people can barely talk about the restored gospel, but she seemed like a strong member only recently inacive....

Elder Harmer and I have found a few new positive people. Hopefully they will progress, but it looks like there really isn't anyone else that I will be able to baptize before I leave.. We will probably move the baptisms of the two children to next Saturday though in order to finish reviewing the lessons...

We had done divisions on Tuesday, the newbie, Elder Zimmerman from Utah came with me. I think he will be a great missionary. Oh! did you guys know that the guy James B Martino who gave the prayer on the Sunday Morning session is the guy in the photo? now you do! I thought that was pretty exciting.

Hey, 2 questions...: Do you guys know when I will be released? and my license expires on my birthday, so I don't know if there is anything need to be done for that...Jon, I don't really know what places from memory, but I trust your judgment. Do you know when I can sign up for classes?

Bueno, I guess that's all until next week...

Love,
Elder Niendorf

September 26th: Still Here!

Hola Familia,

I did not have changes, and neither did my companion. This means that Elder Harmer should be my companion 'till the transfer is over. I will be here in Cativá for another 6 weeks. We are both very excited for General Conference as well. We hope to be able to get lots of people to attend. There were a lot of changes in the Zone during transfers...We now have sister missionaries in Colón. Another exciting fact about transfers was that I saw and was able to converse with a convert I baptized a year ago; she served a mini mission in Santiago, Veraguas and just finished. She isn't sure about a full time mission, though...

This week we haven't really had too much success in getting the positive people we have to progress. We do have two baptisms lined up for October, though; they are the grandchildren of an active member, and they attend with her every week. The family we were really hoping to baptize this change hasn't gone to church yet, but we had a good lesson with them about the first 3 principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We had a wall of rain attack us yesterday, wich was pretty fun. It is rainy season, and just about every day we get a lot of water...Thanks to Jon for verifying that, hopefully I'll be able to be his roommate. When should I be able to select my classes and stuff? I don't really know my password or anything (I think I still have my I-number though). I will need a job as soon as I get home too...

Love you all tons...

Elder Niendorf

September 19th: Love!

Hola Familia,

This week went by so fast that I hardly realized that it was p day again. Life is pretty great working with people that really have sincere desire to change. It is also great but a lot tought when people just have the desire to change but they can't bring themselves to put forth works of repentance. We are teaching a few families, but only one mother and her daughter went to church. At least we can help them to progress pretty soon.

I am glad to hear everything is going well in the family. I talked to Elder Warburton last night to say happy Chilean Independence day. He is also half chilean on his mother's side, and he was my Zone Leader 2 and 3 changes ago and now I am his last Zone Leader (he goes home on Thursday.)

We are working well with the zone. We have been doing probably two divisions every week. I went to the Barriada Kuna's area, where there are obviously a lot of Kunas. I had been there last year for one day when my companion Elder Rodriguez was finishing his mission. A few people actually remembered me too.

Well, once again this computer does not have the ability to read my SD card, so pictures will have to wait...I haven't taken any good ones though...Hey, Jon, I was wondering if you had been able to check up my status at BYUI....

Anyways, I love you all tons. See you in six weeks...

Love,

Elder Niendorf

September 12th: Next Wednesday is changes...

Hola Familia,

I hope all is going well. We have had an interesting week. We got three baptisms, one the husband of a member, and another couple that we got married also got batpized. This computer is pretty wack, so I don't know if I will be able to send any photos of the baptism. But I had never been so nervous before a baptism. Everything went very well, I baptized the Hno. Franco, the new husband. My comp. baptized the husband of the member (a big guy), and the new wife's brother, a 19 year old recent convert, baptized her. Oh, also I did my second confirmation in my life, the husband of the member had asked that I do it. I love my life, so many new experiences.

So their marriage was quite an ordeal, there were so many problems that came up that we almost thought that it had failed. At the very end, the judge who is a member said that we HAD to show up before 5 pm and it was 5:01 when we saw the husband near the building (he had just gotten off work at 430 and the bus wasn't going to leave, so he walked.) We rushed upstairs and everything turned out well.

The only bad news is that one of our most positive families had some members in our last lesson. But the dad, who was into the message, told us last night that he needs time to think due to some commentaries he had received that he wouldn't tell us about... Other than that we don't really have anyone positive progressing right now. I still have my journal updated up to every day.

My area is called Cativá, in the zone/province of Colón. We had some problems with missionaries, so President Ward came out to try and sort everythign out...But me and my companion Elder Harmer are loving our ward and the work here. We are probably going to have to focus on finding new people this week though, some investigators seem to just slip through our fingers and there's nothing we can do about it...
Joshua never writes me but I still love him.

Love you tons,
Elder Niendorf

September 6th: Hoy es P-Day

Hola Familia, I hope all is going well. I think I forgot to tell you guys last week that this week we were going to the temple, so yesterday was a normal work day and today is pday (as you can tell). So this internet here in the city works super well, so I think I was able to eliminate the virus and have now uploaded photos. Hna. Ochs, Elder James B. Martino with my companion in the Consejos with the other Zone Leaders at President's house, my last companion, and A Nice Sunset photo. Apparently one of my converts last year is on a mini mission in Santiago, Veraguas, another province. They had sone a project here in Panama that they had done in Centro America. It was called Sonrisas para Panama. She went to that and in preparing to go on a mission in 2 years. There were 0 baptisms Saturday, but 3 of them were just moved to this week, one for sure and 2 if the marriage goes well. The other one is going to have to wait until she goes to church more...But we are super excited because the one for sure (if tomorrow's interview goes well) will probably be a future bishop, he is well off, and had lived in Brooklyn for maybe 10 years... We have several other investigator, some more interesting that others. One, the father of a family came to church and apparently cried during fast and testimony meeting. Another asked us a weird question that made us laugh about the law of moses and touching the Book of Mormon. I will share more as they progress, but I am really loving this area, I can hardly believe that there are only 2 weeks left in this transfer.... Anyways I will continue organizing the flash drive and SD memory that is now clean... Love you all tons, oh, and early HAPPY Birthday DAD! Thanks for being a great example and helping me reach where I am now. Love, Elder Niendorf

August 29th: 22 Months!

Hola Familia,

This week has been really good, and this month has passed by faster than any other on the mission so far. Yesterday I completed 22 months, and in about a month is General Conference.
Saturday was a baptism of a young Kuna girl of 15. She would probably get a long well with Joshua....just kidding. I cannot send photos AGAIN because this stikin computer also doesnt want to read my card...hopefully this is not due to the virus on it...

Zone Conference was Thursday, and it was super good because Elder James B. Martino and his wife came. They talked a lot about obedience and getting investigators taught in the houses of the members, giving the statistic that 2 of every 3 here in latino america that are taught in members' houses get baptized. So we are looking forward to helping all the misisonaries progress in getting more baptisms with the help of members. Consejos, or mission counsel, was held the day after in the mission home, and Elder Martino was awesome in that too. I got a picture with him that I will try to send whenever it is that I find a decent computer here in Colón....

I can't really think of much else to write, the rest of the week was pretty much the same. just a few problems in the Zone are causing a bit of stress. The rain will be coming more and more rapidly soon, in the last week it has only rained a bit a couple of times...no new news; the next week we should have 4 baptisms, the next Saturday...
Well, that's all folks.

Love,
Elder Niendorf

August 22nd: New Week!

Hola Familia,

It sounds like everything is going great with all of you. I am glad to hear about what is going on with you guys. Here as a Zone Leader there really aren't too many changes as a missionary. There are just more responsibilities. I like the fact that I don't really have to worry about district meeting as much in the sense of having to teach every week, and this week we have Zone Conference with an area 70, E. Martino. As Zone Leaders we are also going to have mission counsel with him the day after. My companion E. Harmer has about 3 months less than me in the mission, and he is a pretty good leader, and I am learning a lot from him. He is my 5th American companion.

Anyway, we have had a pretty good work week. We have found about 5 families, a few of which seem pretty positive. This saturday we have a baptism with a Kuna girl, 15 yrs old. There is a sector of my area that is full of the Kuna indigious people. Another family is from the 'waymi'? indiginous group... There is a lot of ánimo in the ward to help the ward grow, and hopefully everyone will be able to apply that desire and convert it into work.
I had a question: Normally, how much does it cost to buy garments in the US? here it is 1 dollar a piece...

Well, there are more problems with my USBs, but it looks like things can be cleared up, I will just spend a bit of time right now in that. I will try to send another email with some photos. Remember that I am always praying for you guys, and hope that everyone is happy.

Love,
Elder Niendorf

New Area!

Hola Familia,

Well, I am in a new area. This place is called Cátiva in the Zone of Colón. I am now a Zone Leader and will be here like this until hte end of my mission. It was sort of a big surprise because I wasn't expecting this at all. Bur my new companion is a cool guy named Elder Harmer. He is from South Jordan, Utah. He is probably going to be the hardest working companion I will have had, and it will definitely be much easier for me to get up on time because he is very obedient.

In this area we have some pretty interesting people. There are a lot of Kuna people in certain parts, and several members that are as well. We have an investigator, husband of a member, who had lived in New York for I think 10 years, so we get to teach him in English (tiene plata).

On Saturday we went to a place called La Feria where there was a stake and community clean up project where we basically went around picking up a lot of garbage. I encountered some smells that I think are among the worst I ever have smelled, and some areas with black waters made me wonder if ever anyone had cleaned up there before.... But the difference made at the end was surprising. I didn't get any photos, but it was cool.

Oh yeah, before I left I told E. Pac that my new area would have a super dirty house, and it came true. we spent the rest of the first day here cleaning up, and it turns out that I think I am really going to like this place. I have my hammock back up and am sleeping in it again.

I think that that might be all for now. I hope all goes well. I didn't give Hna. Ochs the letter I wrote, but basically the ties I sent are recuerdos that you guys can use if you want, I will probably reclaim most of them when I get back. This computer does not have an Sd slot so probably I wont be able to send any photos this week. I will try to find a way to do so next week...

Love,

Elder Niendorf

hello!

Hola Familia,

I hope all is going well. Yesterday was another good Sunday. We had 135 attendence. About a month ago were were only reaching 80. Also, we had the last confirmation of the person who had had her baby. Tuesday we did go to the temple, and afterwards we went to Causeway. That's about it for this week.

These are my last two days here in my area. I have taken pictures with some of them, and I will miss them. But there are only 12 weeks left, so I will be able to communicate with most of them by Facebook pretty soon anyway.

So my time as a district leader has been good. I will probably find out mednesday how my mission will end depending on where they send me. I also have to print off some stuff for some people so this is about all I will send for this week. Next week should have some more news.

Well, until next week..

Love,

Elder Niendorf

August!

Hola Familia, This has been a pretty good week for me. Tuesday we were pretty busy with several visits. We got to see the sister and her newborn baby (she didn't get confirmed yet because she is still feeling ill). That was pretty cool, since the last time I got to know a pregnant woman before and after birth was mom with Josh and I don't have much memory of that. Also, I did my first confirmation in the mission when I confirmed her son, and it was a pretty intense experience in the sense that I actually felt a bit dizzy afterwards... I did Divisions with an area in my district called Kuna Nega, which has mostly people of that indigenous group the Kunas. I was with an Elder Cerrato (who is just like Joshua, speaks English and is form Honduras...) that also served in San Blas and had learned more Kuna than me. I did 4 baptismal interviews, and in our Zone of 16 missionaries we got 14 baptisms in total for the month of July. Why hasn't Josh written to me in forever? Time doesn't fly unless I don't think about, so I try not to dwell on the 3 months that remain. Saturday was pretty hectic because we decided to do an activity after the baptism to celebrate all the recent baptisms. We went to the Centro Comercial Los Andes to pick up the cake, soda, and ice cream, but we forgot that it was the end of the month where everyone receives their money and goes shopping, so it was hard to get a taxi back to my area (busses were all too full to take back a cake and stuff) so I saw a member from La Paz my area of over a year ago, so since my current area is pretty close to that one I got to chat with her and see how everything was going there. That was pretty cool. Then were got back and did the baptism, which went very smoothly. Yesterday we had 124 people in church! The highest in all my 4 months here. 6 out of 9 recent converts showed up, and several less active people we have been visiting (including one that we have been visiting since my first week in the area) So I felt a lot of joy yesterday for all that. It was great. Today is district meeting, internet, and washing clothes because tomorrow we are going to the temple as a Zone and then to Causeway (a place I went to last year in La Paz, with bicycles along the place la Cinta Costera, very pretty). Next Wednesday is transfers so the Monday after that I will tell you guys what my last area is in my penultimate transfer. That's all for now, love you guys, until next week, Elder Niendorf

July 25th: End of July

Hola Familia,

Just to let you know, this month has passed by super fast. This computer doesn't read my memory for photos. Ummm, yeah so I read your emails, I hear mom already got my intinerary I sent you. I don't believe it though...It feels like only a dream that this mission will end.

This went by super fast. There wasn't too much that stuck out to me this week, just that we had two baptisms and zero confirmations. The mother who is preganant felt stomach discomfort, so maybe they will get comfirmed this coming sunday or maybe the baby willl come first...And again very few member arrived, only 5 apart from the baptizing family.

I did divisions again, this time to do another baptismal interview. It was my favorite one so far with a 14 year old boy. He was definitely ready, so the conversation went great.

My companion and I get along very well, very few times do we have little arguments, but I think that comes with being with the same person for 3 months straight. I also am learning a bit more guitar.

Oh, I almost forgot that we did a killer service, carrying up building material up a hill of about 83 steps. 8 missionaries and 3 members arrived to help. I enjoyed the physical challenge, and we also helped to mix the cement when the bishop arrive later. Next week there should be more photos.

Until next week...

Love,

Elder Niendorf

July 18th: Servicio

Hola Familia,

This Saturday there was a service where we waere taking dirt from a mountain to make room for a house. In sacrament meeting we had the three people with baptismal dates for july arrive. Arisel, who has a son to be baptized with her this coming saturday (if she doesn't give birth first), she arrived late, so we were getting pretty nervous. But the other is the son of a less active family who is 9, and the three (mom, daughter and son) arrived, so we were pretty happy yesteday.

We had divisions with the zone leaders, and that was fun. we had some good experiences, like teaching a father-in-training (he just seemed to talk about everything in general, we didn't get to share much doctrine). With my zl, we also found another kitten, cold in the rain. we took it back to hte house to bathe it and give it food. This is my second kitten, since sunday elder pac and I had found one and had kept it as well, for 4 days! It was fun and )I will include photos as well (i don't remember if i mentioned the kitten last week.)

Concerning time, I have 3 minutes left, so I will finish organizing music again (my folder get very diaorganized) but until next week...

Love,

Elder Niendorf

July 11th: Pday Again...

Hola Familia,

Well, this week was interesting in a few things. As you might see the rain came, at first pretty hard and in a next photo you see the river that formed outside of our house. At one point the rain suddenly began leaking a lot onto my bed and we had to put pots and containers and rush to move off the extra stuffs I had on my bed. This week we also crossed a small river. A member had a reference for us, so we decided to take off our sockes and shoes to take the shortcut to get there with her from her house...

Saturday we had again service where we helped the family on the hill move more dirt, and I had a good time because I was actually able to do some of the digging. At one point I threw a javelin-like tool at the wall and some of the dirt caved in, it was pretty cool.

Our investigator who WAS going to get baptized this coming Saturday didn't come to church, so we are going to have to move it back a week. She still feels a bit unsure, but I think everything will work out alright. Concerning English Classes, only one student showed up again, so this coming week may be the last week....

With a family that we are teaching, the baby was super happy when we were teaching, and started biting everything, his dad, the couch, a book, my comp. and it was pretty funny. Sunday we adopted a stray kitten, as seen in the photo. We plan on cleaning her up a bit and trying to find a home. Se llama Liana.

Love you tons,

Elder Niendorf

No Habia Cambios

Hola Familia!

I am still here in Torrijos Carter, in the Zone of San Isirdro with Elder Pac, which I think was just perfect. Here, there really aren't towns. The general name for all this area would beSan Miguelito, the same as where I was over a year ago. To get to Allbrook, the terminal or central hub for all the buses in the country, it takes about an hour, but this area basically melts into to city. I really like this area.

We had a baptism! Sonia Robinson in the photo. I baptized her, and yesterday my companion confirmed her. The member that was going to do it left this weekend because a family member died, so we missionaries were the only others that she knows well...Oh, the Mission President had to come to do the baptismal interview, and took a picture for the blog. But it was a new experience, because we found out during the baptism that she has fear of water. She started panicking, which made me nervous, but after we started singing hymns, she relaxed enough to do the baptism; we had to do it kneeling, but after everything she said it was an 'experiencia bonita' and she shared her testimony yesterday!

Anyways, love you all tons.

Love,

Elder Niendorf

last Pday of the transfer

Hola Familia!

This week we sort of lost a positive family because they will be moving to the province of Darien, where the church can't be due to the drug trafficking problem. But on the other hand, this Saturday will be the baptism of Sonia, and she is excited/nervous about it. We also put another baptismal date for the 17th with a 26 year mother. She is pregnant, and we found out afterwards that her delivery date should be the 20th...so it might be a double baptism! jk...Her family are members, she was the only one who hadn't been baptized.

I did my first baptismal interview with a 9 yr old boy named Hyrum (like Joseph Smith's brother) and as you may have guessed his family are already members, and everything turned out well.

The fotos are of several things I don't remember all of them, but they include the temple, my comp burning his tie at 6 months, etc...

Love you all,

Elder Niendorf

A New Week

Hola Familia,

I can hardly believe that there is only one week left in the transfer. My companion and I are trying to work effectively, but we end up having some adventures as well. On Wednesday we went contacting in some hills, and crossed a little river. We kept looking for a way to get back over to a place called Nueva Libia, but as we popped out onto a street I recognized the bus stop nearby as the one the Zone Leaders (and other companionship in that area) stop at to go to their lunch appointment! It was fun. The next day I did divisions with someone from that area, I pointed to him the point where we got lost, and that night was the Fathers Day activity, which started almost two hours late.

On Friday we got to go to the Temple! A recent convert was going to go, so the Bishop invited us and we got permission from President Ward. We went to a session and got back to our house a bit late, but it was pretty cool being there with the ward because we are usually there as missionaries (Like tomorrow we are going as a Zone to the Temple.) There was food provided, and a member has a Samsung Galaxy phone and showed us the latest episode of Naruto! That was pretty cool.

Satuday we put a baptismal date! with the woman that had come to church 3 times (she was visiting familiy yesterday and did not come). Sonia is about 35 I'd say. She had had an experience hearing about eternal family relationships in church, and had something like a personal revelation that she might marry someone in this church. She had already known the message was true, but that thought of getting married made her nervous and maybe was why she didn't accept the date before...

Yesterday was Día de los Padres, so on just about every holiday most people buy cajas of beer, and put on their music very loud, and we almost had nothing to do yesterday. But we got invited to eat cake and ice cream at a birthday party (our second one this week!)

The photos are: two of Fathers day activity in the church(I am in one of them), one of the birthday party, and one we took today of my First district as district leader (and one showing it was a Hannah Montana birthday party).

I love you all. I hope you are doing well. I don't remember my password for BYUI, and I forgot to look for it last night...But if I am going to transfer to BYU provo, Hna Ward said I will just have to sign up on their website like normal, or something like that. One of these weeks I will ask for extra time on internet to look more into it...

Love you all,

Elder Niendorf

June 13th, 2011: New PDay Again

Hola Familia,

This week hasn't provided many fruits. Most of our appointments have fallen, and we had low numbers. but We continue working. My companion likes to teach an talk a lot. The bad thing about that is that sometimes he doesn't let me come in to share sometimes. Nevertheless I think he is turning out to be my favorite companion so far. We get along pretty well, and I wouldn't mind passing another transfer with him.

My companion is pretty good at starting lessons and overcoming awkward situations, moving them back toward the lesson, things that I can do but which is difficult for me to accomplish well. He is also good at giutar (his family and/or friends had a band).
Mostly during our companionship study we converse about sections in PreachMyGospel. A lot of times we end up talking theology about something in D&C or other canonical books, which is fun.
One thing that was interesting during a lesson I had during a lesson while we were on divisions was when we conversed with a less active member. she mentioned somethings that were causing her to fell down, unhappy and stuff, including going to church. We almost didn't get to converse with her because she is the kind of person who is reluctant to open up. I decided to pass a few moments not saying anything, and right as I started saying "Well, it's about time to go, who'll say the closing prayer" she started talking at the same time, sharing something.

Well, This computer won't reach my card either... If I cant move to another computer, I willl definitely send some next week (good ones too). Hey, I got permission to update myFacebook and personal email from the president, so I will end for now...I love you all.

Love,

Elder Niendorf

June 6th, 2011: Hola Familia

Bueno, This has been an interesting week. One of our invesitgators arrived to church, and she is still positive, but she seems to want to progress slowly. I can't remember stories to tell you guys most of the time, especially since most weeks are exactly the same as the week before.

We did a service moving dirt Saturday morning, and that was pretty fun. I like digging. Two other elders came to help widen a pathway up to a house so they came get ready to make it a concrete path. Yesterday my comanion and I had our wallets stolen in the path right next to two churches (the true church and a false one). That was a fun experience, and it has given me some cool perspective. but don't worry about me. I love this area, not because of anything special other than I find it somewhat easy to work here.

Healthwise, I had a cold for a few days, my head still hurts, but other than that I am well again. I did speak in church the first Sunday of this change with my companion. I love you all. I hope you have a good week. I will try to write more in these letters...Oh, and this computer doesn't read my sd card for pictures...

Love,

Elder Niendorf

Stake Conference Yesterday...

Hola Familia,

Yeah, so that family that we've been teaching came to stake conference yesterday, which was pretty awesome. I got to sing with Hna. Ward and 2 other elders (She sings sometimes because she is not good at Spanish) so that was fun. I hope that they continue to progress in the church. We don't have any other really positive families, mostly just individuals.

We have not taken any pictures recently. I completed 19 months on Saturday. Being a district leader is ineresting. I like how I get to feel more love for the other elders now that I have responsibility over them. I like being able to share stuff with them, the only thing that will get annoying is having to teach in district meeting every week...

Oh, and Interviews with Pres. and Hna. Ward were this week, so we got to talk with them. I also did Divisions with another area for the first time. I got to know some of their investigators, and hope to do divisions with the remaining area in my district. (we are three areas in total)

Well, that's all for now.

Love you,

Elder Niendorf

May 23rd: Nuevo Companero

Hola Familia,

I am still here in Torrijos Carter. Tuesday was Elder Taufa's birthday, and two different families bought him a cake (maybe I should start having extra birthdays during the year...). The next day was transfers. My new companion is Elder Pac from Guatemala. He has about 5 months on the mission, and I feel we will able to work very effectively together. He seems to like teaching, so that will help me especially since I have received more responsibility: I am now a District Leader. I am sort of excited for it, I didn't really want to be one, but at least it will be a change that will make the mission more interesting for me.

There were no investigators in church yesterday, which was a bummer...but we did end up having some pretty good lessons with our investigators. The mother of the dad in our very positive family passed away, but they really seem to recognize the good feeling we have when we are there. We had taught Plan of Salvation up to the life after this one when she died, so the next part we taught fell right where it needed to.

I think this transfer will go by pretty fast. I really like this area, and hope to stay here for two more transfers. I am glad all is going well with you guys. I am always happy to hear your thoughts and feelings. Mom, I did get new shoes. I will send a picture next week if I remember.

Love you,

Elder Niendorf -> Lv.2