Monday was probably one of the funnest preparation days of my whole mission! We started off with a great Christmas choir practice at the mission office chapel and then afterwards I got to see some great friends serving in other areas and talk with them! Being a missionary is such an awesome thing you can meet so many great people! After we left the offices and stuff we rode the MRT to Costco and grabbed lunch with 12 other missionaries! We all had a good time and ate some good food! Then we had a massive dodgeball game with 14 missionaries that was so much fun! I can feel the soreness coming on already so that will be fun to deal with in the coming future. It was totally worth it in the end. Thanksgiving is this week and I am looking forward to it! Although every day is a day of Thanksgiving because God has blessed us so much with so many things! This week will be such a great week!
Tuesday was a busy day! Thankfully I have developed some decent time management skills and so time is becoming more of my slave instead of it being the other way around! We taught three lessons today, one was a first-time lesson and the second was with our friend we have been teaching for a while but he reset his baptismal goal and I have faith that he will make it! The third lesson was with a member family and we played a little game with them and helped them begin to realize how they can do simple acts of missionary work with their friends. Every member is a missionary and we are always blessed with opportunities to share the gospel. I think Mom is a great example of this because I am confident whenever she gets the chance she always talks about Noah being at college and then me here in Taiwan serving a mission and always brings up the church. There is power in the little things. Everyone can make a difference!
Wednesday was a great day because we had Zone Conference! We had 7 of the 8 zones in the mission altogether and we had an awesome Thanksgiving themed lunch with all the works! It was amazing and we also got a lot of spiritual fulfillment also! It was such a great time to see friends and grow stronger in the Army of the Lord! When we got back from Zone Conference it was time for English class and that went really well also. Providing that service is one of my favorite things to do as a missionary! Afterward, we actually got to walk back to the MRT station with one of our people we are teaching. We taught him lesson 3 along the way and he said he needed time but would be baptized so that was super great to hear! Today was such a blessed day God blessed us all so much!
Thanksgiving! Today was just like every other day in the fact that we didn't do anything special to celebrate but I got to share with 2 people how thankful I was for the Gospel in our lessons today! We also began a Zone Leader exchange so for today I was with Elder Swensen! He is a great guy and I have gleaned a lot of insights from him today. The best part of this Thanksgiving was that we had dinner at the Bishop's house and there were 8 missionaries there because the Sister Training Leaders were also on exchanges so we had all those missionaries plus 2 other cool people and it was a great time to be surrounded by friends and reflect on my many blessings! First major holiday on the books and it was amazing!
Friday was pretty sweet. Finished up our exchanges and then did some super good Weekly Planning! After that, we had some McDonald's for dinner with the other elders and then went down to the chapel so Elder Pope could practice a song for a special musical number my district is doing at a fireside coming up. I also practiced my own piano skills and they aren't too bad! I can do the right hand for almost all of the songs in the Hymns Made Easy book! We visited a member to round out the day and it was a great day! One thing I'm trying to improve is how much I stop my bike and talk to people and it's getting better. I can't always maintain the conversation but I can introduce the gospel and try to bless everyone I can! That's what matters to me. The last thing from today is that I hung up my Christmas tree today! It is hand drawn and pretty low key but it still holds with the family tradition of setting it up Black Friday!
Saturday felt like a Tour of Taiwan stage. We biked to the chapel in the morning to play some basketball with the youth and then rode home! Before I say any more, biking to the chapel one way is 6 kilometers. Then we grabbed some lunch and studied the gospel and then we rode back to the chapel for a chapel tour with a new friend who we can hopefully meet with more. Then we rode back to town for dinner and a family home evening and then went back to the chapel again for another lesson! And then you guessed it, biked back home. So if my math was right we biked 24 miles approximately! Needless to say, my legs are a little tired! An awesome day!!
Sunday was pretty laid back. Had the usual Sunday meetings and stuff like that and those were good. The topic today was Patriarchal Blessings and it made me reflect on my own blessing and how much it has really been a guide for my life. After the meetings, we had some activities to attend to so by the time we got home it was a little later than usual. Not to mention on the way home my chain jumped off my front chain ring! After walking for a bit some other cyclists stopped and asked if they could help so I described my problem and sure enough they just whipped it back into place and I was back on my way! After studies and dinner, we went to Shilin (士林) for some special choir practice for a different concert than the missionary one. So much music and singing! The Christmas Spirit definitely abounds and I love it! Even though it isn't super cold here (it kinda feels like an Arizona winter), the feeling is still the same! Christ is truly the reason for the season!
Monday was not preparation day! It felt a little weird having to work on a Monday but it is all worth it because of the temple trip we have on Wednesday! As for today, we had a District Council which was cool and lots of studies! We also did have a lesson with one of our super promising people being taught. He is such a great guy and we are very hopeful for his progression in the gospel. And lastly, our whole apartment got haircuts last night in preparation for our interviews tomorrow. It takes a lot of trust to let another missionary cut your hair but thankfully it all worked out and I'm looking 帥 once again!
Tuesday was pretty jam-packed! The best part of the day though was being interviewed by President Peterson. He is such a great man I am thankful he is leading this mission! We had a nice chat today and I was able to tell him I'm loving everything about Taiwan and am rejoicing every day! Because it's true! Being here is amazing. Another shining point of the day was checking the mailbox and I actually had mail! Thank you Sister Garr for the awesome letter! I also got my name tags with my full Chinese name on it too and I am very happy with them. Now I can wear all of my favorite names on one name tag! My English last name, Chinese last name and first name (which is the same as my English basically), and the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! Balance has been restored! We are going to the temple tomorrow but y'all will have to wait to see how that goes in my next email! (cliffhanger I know
)
I love you all so much I am praying for everyone back home!! 加油!!
宋長老
Elder Ciminski
Tuesday was a busy day! Thankfully I have developed some decent time management skills and so time is becoming more of my slave instead of it being the other way around! We taught three lessons today, one was a first-time lesson and the second was with our friend we have been teaching for a while but he reset his baptismal goal and I have faith that he will make it! The third lesson was with a member family and we played a little game with them and helped them begin to realize how they can do simple acts of missionary work with their friends. Every member is a missionary and we are always blessed with opportunities to share the gospel. I think Mom is a great example of this because I am confident whenever she gets the chance she always talks about Noah being at college and then me here in Taiwan serving a mission and always brings up the church. There is power in the little things. Everyone can make a difference!
Wednesday was a great day because we had Zone Conference! We had 7 of the 8 zones in the mission altogether and we had an awesome Thanksgiving themed lunch with all the works! It was amazing and we also got a lot of spiritual fulfillment also! It was such a great time to see friends and grow stronger in the Army of the Lord! When we got back from Zone Conference it was time for English class and that went really well also. Providing that service is one of my favorite things to do as a missionary! Afterward, we actually got to walk back to the MRT station with one of our people we are teaching. We taught him lesson 3 along the way and he said he needed time but would be baptized so that was super great to hear! Today was such a blessed day God blessed us all so much!
Thanksgiving! Today was just like every other day in the fact that we didn't do anything special to celebrate but I got to share with 2 people how thankful I was for the Gospel in our lessons today! We also began a Zone Leader exchange so for today I was with Elder Swensen! He is a great guy and I have gleaned a lot of insights from him today. The best part of this Thanksgiving was that we had dinner at the Bishop's house and there were 8 missionaries there because the Sister Training Leaders were also on exchanges so we had all those missionaries plus 2 other cool people and it was a great time to be surrounded by friends and reflect on my many blessings! First major holiday on the books and it was amazing!
Friday was pretty sweet. Finished up our exchanges and then did some super good Weekly Planning! After that, we had some McDonald's for dinner with the other elders and then went down to the chapel so Elder Pope could practice a song for a special musical number my district is doing at a fireside coming up. I also practiced my own piano skills and they aren't too bad! I can do the right hand for almost all of the songs in the Hymns Made Easy book! We visited a member to round out the day and it was a great day! One thing I'm trying to improve is how much I stop my bike and talk to people and it's getting better. I can't always maintain the conversation but I can introduce the gospel and try to bless everyone I can! That's what matters to me. The last thing from today is that I hung up my Christmas tree today! It is hand drawn and pretty low key but it still holds with the family tradition of setting it up Black Friday!
Saturday felt like a Tour of Taiwan stage. We biked to the chapel in the morning to play some basketball with the youth and then rode home! Before I say any more, biking to the chapel one way is 6 kilometers. Then we grabbed some lunch and studied the gospel and then we rode back to the chapel for a chapel tour with a new friend who we can hopefully meet with more. Then we rode back to town for dinner and a family home evening and then went back to the chapel again for another lesson! And then you guessed it, biked back home. So if my math was right we biked 24 miles approximately! Needless to say, my legs are a little tired! An awesome day!!
Sunday was pretty laid back. Had the usual Sunday meetings and stuff like that and those were good. The topic today was Patriarchal Blessings and it made me reflect on my own blessing and how much it has really been a guide for my life. After the meetings, we had some activities to attend to so by the time we got home it was a little later than usual. Not to mention on the way home my chain jumped off my front chain ring! After walking for a bit some other cyclists stopped and asked if they could help so I described my problem and sure enough they just whipped it back into place and I was back on my way! After studies and dinner, we went to Shilin (士林) for some special choir practice for a different concert than the missionary one. So much music and singing! The Christmas Spirit definitely abounds and I love it! Even though it isn't super cold here (it kinda feels like an Arizona winter), the feeling is still the same! Christ is truly the reason for the season!
Monday was not preparation day! It felt a little weird having to work on a Monday but it is all worth it because of the temple trip we have on Wednesday! As for today, we had a District Council which was cool and lots of studies! We also did have a lesson with one of our super promising people being taught. He is such a great guy and we are very hopeful for his progression in the gospel. And lastly, our whole apartment got haircuts last night in preparation for our interviews tomorrow. It takes a lot of trust to let another missionary cut your hair but thankfully it all worked out and I'm looking 帥 once again!
Tuesday was pretty jam-packed! The best part of the day though was being interviewed by President Peterson. He is such a great man I am thankful he is leading this mission! We had a nice chat today and I was able to tell him I'm loving everything about Taiwan and am rejoicing every day! Because it's true! Being here is amazing. Another shining point of the day was checking the mailbox and I actually had mail! Thank you Sister Garr for the awesome letter! I also got my name tags with my full Chinese name on it too and I am very happy with them. Now I can wear all of my favorite names on one name tag! My English last name, Chinese last name and first name (which is the same as my English basically), and the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! Balance has been restored! We are going to the temple tomorrow but y'all will have to wait to see how that goes in my next email! (cliffhanger I know
I love you all so much I am praying for everyone back home!! 加油!!
宋長老
Elder Ciminski