So Wednesday was our P-day and we got to go to the temple! I am so grateful for the temple and the blessings it brings. Today I thought a lot about the early saints and how much they sacrificed to receive the blessings of the temple and it made me realize how much I wish I could go even more frequently. For now, I'll just go as often as President allows but post-mission I will go as often as I can! It's just such an amazing blessing. The temple was the highlight of the day so that's most of what I'm gonna talk about today. If you can attend the temple do it! We also did go to a museum and turns out we snuck in a back entrance and never bought a ticket and at the end, a lady asked for a ticket and it was then that we realized we didn't pay in the first place because nobody asked us. Everyone just walked out and so I guess we fled the scene. We felt kinda bad but it's all good. Exciting things happening here!
Thursday was another exchange day! This time I went with Elder Weber and we had such an awesome day! We spent a lot of our time today finding at various colleges. There is one in our area that is about 5 kilometers away which when you are biking it is actually a pretty hefty distance. I wanted to go and so, despite hesitation from Elder Pope (during morning planning) and Elder Weber, we went. After 30 minutes of finding we had 3 people set up to meet again with us! It was super awesome and definitely a result of prayers and faith to find. And we also set up 2 more people at another college so in total we got 5 setups, which is a big improvement for our area. Since I am going to probably be leading the area after this transfer I am setting us up for future success! We also had the chance to administer a priesthood blessing in the hospital today and that was a good experience as well. Today was a blessed day and quite the spiritual experience. I am glad to be here and serving the Lord in this holy land.
Friday we had a busy day but super great nonetheless. When I woke up I got some interesting news that Elder Weber and I had a lesson at the chapel at 8 AM! If we get up at 7 that means we don't have too much time since it takes 30 minutes to ride there! We made it to the lesson on time and it all worked out good. The main reason today was busy was because we had to do Weekly Planning and that takes a few hours out of the day but we made some great plans and are ready to help others progress on the covenant path! We were in our apartment and decided to go on the roof and we climbed this ladder to a higher platform and it was so awesome to see the city from a perfect 360-degree view. I know I say it a lot but I'm so blessed to be here!! I am still loving it here!
Saturday was a great day. We started off the day playing basketball with the youth! This ward has some good ball players I definitely don't have the skills they have but I try my best and that's what matters. Afterwards we had some lunch with one of our member friends and he treated us to some Subway! All of the American food places here (Subway, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC) are the most expensive so we rarely eat there, but being treated is always nice. And nice on the budget as well! After some studies, we went across the river to 八里 and sang some Christmas carols to some members. That took up the rest of the night and at the end, we had a long ride back home but it was all good. If nothing else, my legs are getting stronger every day! On a funny side note, today was 81 degrees and the next 2 days are going to have the same high temperature. I thought it was December? Not summertime!
Sunday was a day of learning for me. We had some good church lessons and then afterward we went to a lesson at that college that we went to a few days ago. It went well and the brother we met with seemed very into the message. However, he is a masters degree student and that means that he is super busy. Hopefully, we can get a hold of him soon and continue teaching him. Now comes the learning experience. Since it was the first Sunday of the month it was the Recent Convert Fireside. Our district actually sang a song during it and it went very well! Leading up to it I was not in a good mood. We were running late getting to the fireside and I was not a big fan of that, and I got hit with the hardest test of not comparing myself to others in my mission. An elder who reported to the MTC at the same time as me already passed off his Book B test (the 2700 word set) and now it is fast becoming mission legend. A lot of people asked me about it and President even talked about it to me and how amazing he was. I totally agree that he is awesome for learning the language so fast but the comments seemed to inquire about my lack of progression. I am not sure if that was the intention but nonetheless it is so hard to not compare yourself with other missionaries, especially learning a language. The lesson came from a conference talk I read to try and get mentally back on track then some words from "I am a Child of God". Basically the key is rejoicing in your own life and your own progression with God. I guess I needed that reminder and it was definitely well received because I feel so much better about things.
So that was my week! Some learning moments mingled with other awesome experiences! I hope you all are seeing miracles in life and don't forget to read the Book of Mormon every day!
宋長老
Elder Ciminski
Thursday was another exchange day! This time I went with Elder Weber and we had such an awesome day! We spent a lot of our time today finding at various colleges. There is one in our area that is about 5 kilometers away which when you are biking it is actually a pretty hefty distance. I wanted to go and so, despite hesitation from Elder Pope (during morning planning) and Elder Weber, we went. After 30 minutes of finding we had 3 people set up to meet again with us! It was super awesome and definitely a result of prayers and faith to find. And we also set up 2 more people at another college so in total we got 5 setups, which is a big improvement for our area. Since I am going to probably be leading the area after this transfer I am setting us up for future success! We also had the chance to administer a priesthood blessing in the hospital today and that was a good experience as well. Today was a blessed day and quite the spiritual experience. I am glad to be here and serving the Lord in this holy land.
Friday we had a busy day but super great nonetheless. When I woke up I got some interesting news that Elder Weber and I had a lesson at the chapel at 8 AM! If we get up at 7 that means we don't have too much time since it takes 30 minutes to ride there! We made it to the lesson on time and it all worked out good. The main reason today was busy was because we had to do Weekly Planning and that takes a few hours out of the day but we made some great plans and are ready to help others progress on the covenant path! We were in our apartment and decided to go on the roof and we climbed this ladder to a higher platform and it was so awesome to see the city from a perfect 360-degree view. I know I say it a lot but I'm so blessed to be here!! I am still loving it here!
Saturday was a great day. We started off the day playing basketball with the youth! This ward has some good ball players I definitely don't have the skills they have but I try my best and that's what matters. Afterwards we had some lunch with one of our member friends and he treated us to some Subway! All of the American food places here (Subway, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC) are the most expensive so we rarely eat there, but being treated is always nice. And nice on the budget as well! After some studies, we went across the river to 八里 and sang some Christmas carols to some members. That took up the rest of the night and at the end, we had a long ride back home but it was all good. If nothing else, my legs are getting stronger every day! On a funny side note, today was 81 degrees and the next 2 days are going to have the same high temperature. I thought it was December? Not summertime!
Sunday was a day of learning for me. We had some good church lessons and then afterward we went to a lesson at that college that we went to a few days ago. It went well and the brother we met with seemed very into the message. However, he is a masters degree student and that means that he is super busy. Hopefully, we can get a hold of him soon and continue teaching him. Now comes the learning experience. Since it was the first Sunday of the month it was the Recent Convert Fireside. Our district actually sang a song during it and it went very well! Leading up to it I was not in a good mood. We were running late getting to the fireside and I was not a big fan of that, and I got hit with the hardest test of not comparing myself to others in my mission. An elder who reported to the MTC at the same time as me already passed off his Book B test (the 2700 word set) and now it is fast becoming mission legend. A lot of people asked me about it and President even talked about it to me and how amazing he was. I totally agree that he is awesome for learning the language so fast but the comments seemed to inquire about my lack of progression. I am not sure if that was the intention but nonetheless it is so hard to not compare yourself with other missionaries, especially learning a language. The lesson came from a conference talk I read to try and get mentally back on track then some words from "I am a Child of God". Basically the key is rejoicing in your own life and your own progression with God. I guess I needed that reminder and it was definitely well received because I feel so much better about things.
So that was my week! Some learning moments mingled with other awesome experiences! I hope you all are seeing miracles in life and don't forget to read the Book of Mormon every day!
宋長老
Elder Ciminski