So Tuesday I left the MTC (finally) and flew to Kansas! Overall the flight was fine, just a little air sick but nothing I can't handle. After we touched down in Kansas we were met by the Assistants and President McCuistion himself! He took us back to the mission home and we had an awesome dinner by his wife (she is from Mesa!) He also interviewed each of the new missionaries (about 16) and we also went over with the Assistants some stuff about the mission and the culture they have. Everyone got a kick out of my Chinese name tags so at least I have a good conversation starter until my English name tags arrive.
On Wednesday we met with President again to get everything in order and get a lot of new information and whatnot though a lot of it doesn't apply to me since I'm a visa-waiter (like car stuff and things like that) but I still listened and absorbed as much as I could. I also got my loaned device to use this transfer (including Facebook!) After the fire hose of information was turned off we met our trainers and had lunch! President had us all line up on one side and the trainers on the other and they pulled up our pictures and read a little bio about us and then a dramatic pause and then he told us our trainer! I was the last one on the list so I didn't have to guess too hard who my trainer was. My trainer's name is Elder Zolik and he is from Henderson, Nevada. He's been out a year and he's pretty cool. We drove back to our area in Lawrence which is where the University of Kansas is! So I may become a Jayhawk fan because of these 6 weeks, but we'll see. Once we got to the area we just got settled in the apartment then went to the ward building to meet the bishop and stuff since my companion and I are both new to the area (they call it whitewashing I guess).
On Thursday we got to work trying to visit as many people as we could but nobody answered so we went with the YSA elders (we work with them a lot) to a popular street called Massachusetts street, but we all just call it Mass. When we are there we have surveys with questions about our church that we have people fill out and if they are interested then they leave there name and number with us. It's a pretty interesting method which I'll have to remember for Taiwan since there is a lot of street contacting also. While we were on Mass we got caught in a big rain storm which was super cool we just hung out in a store until it wasn't super bad. After that, all the people left so there was nobody to talk to!
Friday and Saturday were contacting days just trying to meet people in our teaching pool but still not a lot of luck. I'm not getting discouraged because I'm putting in the effort and I'm trying so I can't ask for anything more! Plus missions are fun and there's always a silver lining to everything! There will always be another day
Sunday was awesome. We went to ward council in the morning and then church afterward. It's a small ward but a lot of nice people. After church, we had a lunch appointment and had some great food and then came back and did studies. After studies, we went to Mass to contact and we ran into someone that seems super promising! She asked us a bunch of questions and we basically taught her lesson 1 and 2 on the street and I gave her a book of Mormon and she said she was interested in hearing more! It was so awesome! I walked away so stoked and happy because I felt so good with the original lesson. I even said the first vision and stuff and she was totally receptive so today we are going to call her and try and set up a time we can teach her family! Hopefully, it works out!
I think that's about it for this week but one awesome thing that happened is that we got a bedding package from the mission home with sheets and stuff but it also had the softest blanket known to man in It! When I pulled it out I literally almost started crying I was so happy and I'll definitely take it with me to Taiwan. It's the little things that make the most difference! I am doing my language study also. So hopefully I don't lose all my Mandarin. With school starting next week hopefully, the YSA elders give me a call to teach in Mandarin!
I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!!
Elder Heber Ciminski