Monday was really fun. We had a good morning preparing for this week by getting a haircut, buying groceries and taking care of a return at Carrefour (way easier than returning something in America, Taiwan for the win). Our big plans for the day we had a zone activity playing kickball! It was super fun and we had the whole zone there except for one companionship. The game was loads of fun. I kicked a little league home run and our team did super great! Afterwards, we played frisbee for a little bit, but everyone was super tired at that point so we called it a day. It was a lot of fun being together as a zone and learning more about everyone. For our night plans, we had a member dinner and did English planning. So nothing super crazy but still a good time to get stuff done.
Tuesday was a good day. Had some lessons fall through but we were able to meet up with our Ward Mission Leader and scout out some potential English class locations. I am still hoping we can move it to the Chapel but since nothing is set in stone we want to cover all of our bases. We also did a lot of biking. Half exploring, half trying to find a place to do studies that weren't the usual places we always go to. It's fun biking in the city and I feel like a little cell in the organism of the city and it's a cool feeling. My street knowledge is getting better and I am to the point I can look at the map once and get there without looking again. God has blessed me with great directional sense and location memory. Maybe I could be a bike messenger someday.
Wednesday we saw the beginnings of a potential typhoon! I really hope we see one this week like the forecast is saying because I really wanna experience one! We will have to see. Our day was pretty fixed and we were able to have a lesson with an investigator who said they would be willing to come to church so that is good! English class was okay. We started late because we had to talk about moving places. I still have faith Heavenly Father will allow us to move to the Chapel. I trust that even though the distance is far we will see miracles as we go about the work. We will have to see what God's will is but I trust Him with all my heart.
Thursday was a day filled with God's hand. I started off in the morning my prayer asking Heavenly Father to allow me to be an instrument and a tool in his hands. As we left the apartment we biked to 土城 and I was able to have lunch with a friend from high school! At the time he had moved to our school from Taiwan and now he has come back to visit and we grabbed some curry. He asked me a lot of questions about missionary work and what I do. I was able to share with him a lot of what we do and I invited him to read the Book of Mormon! After lunch we continued our bike ride and I soon discovered my back tire was a little crooked and as a result, my brake pad was rubbing on my wheel and I spent a solid 10 minutes trying to figure it out. I eventually did thanks to some divinely given inspiration and we were once again on our way. We were running late at this point and I got a call from the sisters in my district and they had run into a flat tire problem. Since we hadn't gotten to the meeting yet and already running late I decided to go help them. We got there and as I got to work both my tire irons broke! I was so disappointed but the problem was still solved and I resolved to get better tools (I am now armed with metal tire irons and so that shouldn't be an issue again). We arrived at the meeting over an hour late and I have no regrets. I'm grateful Heavenly Father allowed me to be a help to my district members today and even though it wasn't to the full extent I had hoped I know the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants is true, the Lord requires a heart and a willing mind. I was willing to help and the Lord looks kindly on that! I hope for more chances to serve like this in the future.
Friday was an awesome day! We were able to participate in a Mini MTC event for a whole bunch of youth to come learn about missionary work! We were able to participate by taking companionships of youth and going back to our areas and showing them missionary life on the streets! It was very fun taking my 3 young men around and doing stuff with them. One of the youth was from 淡水! He didn't remember me though, which isn't super surprising but I was also able to see youth from 鳳林!!! I was beyond thrilled to see them and it brought back so many awesome memories. I also saw some of my favorite 花蓮 members and I basically relived my whole mission today. I am so grateful for my mission and all the amazing people I have been able to meet in my journey so far. I am also grateful for Heavenly Father blessing me to hit every single mode of public transportation on time, it may seem like a small thing but it's those small things that mean the most.
Saturday was pretty interesting. Had a pretty set in stone stay with doing studies and then making up our weekly planning from yesterday. That took us right up to our Ward Family Home Evening and then we just contacted people to end of the day. Pretty mellow but we did finally decide to move our English class to the Chapel. When we told the bishop he just said we could find a better place in 三峽 later and just switch back. I'm grateful we are provided with this chance to be at the Chapel and I am confident we will see many blessings come as a result of having class at a dedicated Chapel of the Lord.
Sunday was a super good Sabbath day. We went to the chapel early for a lesson before church and when we got there we heard from our investigator that he wasn't gonna be coming for church. Kind of a bummer but we were able to plan the rest of the day and also reset his time for later in the afternoon. Church was the usual stuff and afterwards, we had our weekly coordination meeting and also ate some lunch and then planned English class with a member. When we got home we were blessed immensely because about 10 minutes after we got home it started raining very hard, the hardest I have seen in Taiwan. We were able to be inside doing personal study as opposed to being outside biking in the rain! Our day was pretty busy after that with a lesson, studies, and mealtime and ending off the day with contacting. I am grateful for Heavenly Father's ever present influence in my daily life.
Elder Heber Chase Ciminski
謝希伯長老