Monday was spectacular. Preparation days are always a fun day to relax and have a good time. When I was grocery shopping I was blessed that despite having to pick up a few more items than normal (toothpaste and shaving cream, both can be kinda expensive), I was still able to stay within my budget more than I thought and my goal of spending 1,000 dollars a week is still very attainable. We were also blessed with 2 member meals! One was an all you can eat barbecue which was very good. The other member meal was right after we ended Preparation Day but it was AMAZING. The members love to cook food and today they made Mexican food and we had fajitas. They had it all, Jalapenos, sweet pork, pico de gallo and so much more and it was such an amazing trip for my taste buds. I was filled with absolute pure joy with every bite. I made sure I ate as much as I could, and then some since I don't know when that opportunity will come again! Definitely the best member meal I've had. That was all the exciting parts of the day, another great day in the books!
Tuesday was a great day of work! We hit our magic number once again and it was great! We were also able to have District Council and we had a great discussion about consecration and focus. It was a good time and this transfer I definitely feel that I have improved in my capacity as a District Leader. In the end, it's about the service for the other missionaries and I was able to provide a service by conducting a baptismal interview for the Sister's investigator! Their friend was so ready and I was glad to play the smallest of parts in that baptismal process! I am constantly grateful for Heavenly Father and the inspiration he gives me. I was inspired with a solution to a problem I had been encountering with my missionary tracts and now it's all solved thanks to Him! His hand is always in our lives and He cares about all our little worries and concerns. All we have to do is reach out and ask for His help. He is ready and willing to give.
Wednesday was a fun day! The rain came down and the way big, deep puddles came up! There is supposedly a typhoon hitting us tomorrow so that'll be fun to see. As for the day, we did our normal studies and contacted people and tried to find new people to teach. We were very blessed when an English class student of mine set up a time to meet out of the blue after I told her Jesus Christ could help her with her studies (which is definitely true). So we are grateful to have added her into our teaching pool. Due to the upcoming storm and rain, not a lot of people came to English class but it was still fun because we taught the little kids the Hello Song from primary! I was able to play the right hand (or just the top note) of it and anyone who knows my piano skills knows what a miracle that was. We weren't able to talk to as many people but we had some great things happen in other aspects of the work!
Thursday was busy! We had 4 appointments set up for the afternoon. Only two ended up actually happening (2 of them were member visits and surprisingly those 2 were the ones that didn't work out), but as a result of our efforts, we were able to add 2 more people to our teaching pool! Heavenly Father is blessing us so much. I am so grateful! The weather was also very interesting. Before all that at 5:30 in the morning Elder Yang and I were awakened from our peaceful slumber by another 6.0 magnitude earthquake! It was whack because I was half asleep and I just said out loud "地震", which means earthquake and Elder Yang grunted in agreement and then we both went back to sleep. It definitely did shake though. Tomorrow a strong typhoon should hit us also so if this is what the Second Coming will be like I'm just glad I'm living life the right way.
Friday was a pretty underwhelming day. The big typhoon that was supposed to come didn't really make it and we just saw a bit of rain and a bit of wind. Just like any other day. So it wasn't bad at all and we had a good day doing studies and also our weekly planning session! 三峽 was a ghost town though so we weren't really able to contact a lot of people. We did talk to a man from Thailand and he told us about how he lives here for work and he has a wife and 2 kids back in Thailand. It made me think of Dad and how we have had to be separated sometimes for work reasons. I'm grateful that we can all be together now! We also saw a big blessing that came in the form of a mother setting up for next Monday to meet with us! She has 3 kids and her husband as well. I am excited to introduce them to the Gospel and help them!
Saturday felt like another small Tour de Taiwan stage. Lots of biking around. We went to a place we went about a week or so ago to try and visit a potential and they live on top of the biggest and steepest hill I have ever climbed. Give me a jersey or something because I fly up that thing. We found out he wasn't home so we just did some language study and then biked to the chapel for a farewell party for Elder Yang! Right when the party was about to start we got a call from our Ward Mission Leader and he had been involved in a motorcycle wreck so we went to make sure he was all good and then flew back to the chapel super fast. The party itself was chill but we left a few minutes later than we hoped so we had to sprint home to make it on time. My legs are really feeling it but the work of the Lord never ceases. Sleep will fix that problem.
Sunday was another good Sabbath. We had a nice church meeting and was able to be filled spiritually heading into this next week. After church, we had our ward council meeting. After all the meetings we biked home and it was pretty tough because we had a way big headwind. Of course, because a day can't be perfect, the part of my bike that shifts the gears (on the handlebars) broke and so my chain dropped into 8 and I couldn't get it into any other gear. So I had to grind all the rest of the way home and it was pretty grueling. I got it fixed and got a new system so it's all good now thankfully! We also had a lesson and did studies and planning for English class. Overall a very good day!
Elder Heber Chase Ciminski
謝希伯長老