Wow, preparation days in this area are way more exciting than 花蓮. We had a solid morning and I got to talk to the family. I got surprised by being able to talk to Grandma and Grandpa! That was so awesome and I love them so much. We also went to the famous Taipei 101 building and hung out with a lot of missionaries. We ate some McDonald's and some Krispy Kreme! Perks of being in the city is you got the American places like Krispy Kreme and Jamba Juice, not as tasty as America but it suffices. We then went to a store that has a bunch of sports things and I got a couple things (all for less than 300 kuai. A steal!!) Then we came back and started working for the night. We were able to talk with people and I am beginning to understand how we can help this area grow. I feel that responsibility on my shoulders and I know with Elder Yang's help and Heavenly Father we will do wonders in this area.
Tuesday was a busy day and pretty eventful! In the morning I had to go to the mission office for a training meeting about how to be a District Leader and it was really good. I am stoked and super ready to help my District this transfer, it's going to be way fun! After the meeting, we came back home and did our studies for the day, and a crazy thing happened when we were doing language study. We were at a McDonald's and nearby were some English speaking people who were being pretty rowdy and honestly talking about very inappropriate things. My companion couldn't understand them but I could, and I was just overcome with the most anxious feeling and just felt dark. It was terrible and I asked them to be more quiet and they didn't so I ended up just asking Elder Yang if we could leave. It was such a crazy experience. The night was incredible though because we had 2 lessons and we got to be outside in an awesome place for golden hour! I took some awesome pictures and we had some awesome lessons. I am grateful to be in this area and to be able to be with Elder Yang and do the Lord's work here.
Another full day Wednesday. Right after we left the house we were finally able to go grab my bike after way too long without it. That took longer than expected so we had a filled day doing studies, English planning, and talking to people and teaching English! I am back teaching the advanced class and man they are a tough crowd. They had lots to share and whatnot, including how I can be a better teacher. It was awesome it just helps me better tailor the lessons to their wants and needs. I also made the resolution to run every day I can because when we were biking around the college I saw the track and I decided then and there to go back tomorrow and time a mile and see where I am at and then train and when I leave this area go back and see how much I can improve. I am way excited to have this goal! And even better, our apartment complex has a gym with treadmills!
Wow, what a day (not to mention my year mark too!!) From the time we stepped out the door to when we walked in was full speed. When we left in the morning we had to bike 1.5 hours to our Zone Council. It was way worth it though because we stopped at a really good curry place and ate with my District! That was way cool and we finally made it to Zone Council. It was a good meeting and we had some good discussion about stuff, and the sisters made us all brownies so that was a nice surprise. When we biked all the way back we had dinner and did our studies and contacted people and that was the day! I love being in the city. Always something to do and lots of people to interact with. In regards to my running, I did go to the track and time myself. My mile was a pretty decent time of 6:29 but I felt like junk after. I'm definitely out of shape and need to get back into it! Now I have my benchmark and can train and improve going forward.
Super cool day Friday. We had a pretty crammed day spent doing studies but we still had some finding time and we saw something really cool happen. I was just biking aimlessly around 三峽. Not like in a lost sort of way but trying to find a new venue to call people at, and I saw a man on a scooter and even though I originally biked past him, before I knew it I was turning my bike around and I had a cool chat with him. And he said he could meet tomorrow! Way cool experience following a prompting and seeing a cool thing come from it. We also had our weekly coordination meeting today so that really filled up our day with things. We only have 4 investigators right now so we will be finding a lot more and growing that! We also had a lesson this morning and our investigator read the first 22 chapters of 1 Nephi since the last meeting and she marked so many scriptures and shared them with us today and she set a baptismal goal for July 27. And when we told her about the importance of a priesthood baptism she totally understood it. Things are looking up for our area!
Another awesome Saturday in the books. Started off with a solid lesson with the man from yesterday. He liked the message and had some good questions about missionary work as well as church and the Book of Mormon. And he set up again for next week! It was a small miracle meeting with him because he accidentally gave us the wrong phone number and he was a few minutes late we tried to call him and the number was "empty" and so Elder Yang thought to leave but I had a thought to wait until 11:05. And sure enough, right on the dot, he walked in and we had the lesson! So awesome! Today we also did some planning and studies as well as lots of former calling. We did get one set up from it and a couple more potential setups from it so it was a great success! Aside from the awesome missionary work we got done today I also had a very Danny Macaskill-esque moment on my bike today. At the college there is a little coral for bikes to enter and it's a sharp u-turn type thing (to make sure scooters can't get in), and I have been trying to bike through it for almost a week now and today I finally did it. Halfway through the turn, I got jammed and had to do a nose pivot to reposition my bike but I rolled away and felt like a champ. It's the little things that make you feel good!
Sunday was very productive. We had a great church meeting with ward council following it up and we were able to discuss at that time the ware mission plan! This ward is really missionary minded and trying to help us and it's so awesome to see. I was also able to ask some returned missionaries who all went to America on their missions for some English studying tips for my companion. We were able to call some people and confirm stuff for tomorrow so that's why I say it was so productive!
Elder Heber Chase Ciminski
謝希伯長老