Great week! - 8/15/16

We had a small miracle happen this week. In order to save time, I include what I wrote to President Weed about it:

"We had a small miracle this week. We had all of our plans fall through and were wondering how to use the 90 minutes that we had before we had to help with a move. We decided to pray and ask, and my companion got a street name that had been in our plans earlier, but was slightly out of the way. We decided to go there and found a small neighborhood (we had never been here before) that was extremely spread out. The driveways were a 1/4 mile long and it was HOT! We were wondering why we were led there, so we decided to walk the length of the subdivision just to see what was there. Not long after we did, I felt a fairly strong prompting to knock a particular house. I ignored it and we kept walking. I got a second, softer one which I barely took note of. Then, when we were just about to pass the driveway I got one of the strongest promptings I ever had to knock the house! So, needless to say, we knocked it. The man invited us in and it turns out that he was a less-active that was not on our records. He is moving sometime this week and was feeling very overwhelmed with the task in front of him. They had a large home with a pool house, a detached garage, and six cars that all needed to be moved. His wife was gone for the day with a load to their new home (which probably added to his sense of being overwhelmed) and he had prayed not 15 minutes earlier for some help. We were an answer to his prayers! It was also an answer to a prayer of mine to know that Heavenly Father is pleased with me. We went back on Saturday (all of the preceding events occurred on Thursday) and helped him move, along with a few of the neighbor kids. We were also able to get his information so that his records can be sent to his new home in Western North Carolina. I am so grateful that we had this experience!"

It was amazing! Other than this, not much happened. We helped a family move into a new place that is about 3 miles up the road. They don't have much stuff so it didn't take long. It was kinda funny because they got most of their boxes from a liquor store that was throwing them out. So all of their boxes were sporting some sort of alcoholic drink. The Branch has been so supportive of them and so very helpful. I don't know what we would do without them!

We have transfer calls coming up this Saturday. We have no idea what will happen. This is the first transfer that is all President Weed so all bets are off! The actual transfer day is August 24th. It has been known for Missionaries to stay long periods of time in Currituck, but again with a new mission president...

That is all for this week.

Have a blessed week! (It is a southern thing. Don't question it)

Elder Ciminski

Baptism!!! - 8/8/16

The Baptism was amazing!!!!!! All five of them were baptized and loved it! President Weed and his wife were there so that was extra amazing! They said it was their first baptism that they had attended in the Mission!! Then on Sunday they were all confirmed, and I had the privilege of confirming the oldest daughter (furthest to the left in the picture). The youngest girl is 7 so she wasn't baptized, but she is looking forward to her dad baptizing her next year. They are so firmly rooted in the Gospel! We are going to try and start the Recent Convert lessons with them this week!

We also found a new investigator yesterday! It was nice to find a new investigator because we have been having a real struggle to find any for about a month now! We also tracted into a lady who had met with missionaries 10 years ago in Raleigh. What really set her apart is that she asked us for a Book of Mormon! No one ever does that!! The only problem is that it takes almost 20 miles to get to her place, so it is hard to get there with our daily allotment of 35 miles! We will find a way to make it work!

We have been getting a lot of rain! Apparently, it isn't that big of a deal for a storm to drop 2 inches of rain! I originally thought that it was a rare thing, but it's happened at least 6 times since I have been in Currituck! Crazy!

We got attacked by Mosquitoes last night. I have 8 bites on my face. It doesn't feel good at all. It was kinda crazy, we were walking up to a house and out of nowhere came a cloud of mosquitoes. No joke, no exaggeration. I have never seen so many in one place in my life!

Other than what I have already mentioned, no much has happened. Just a lot of walking and trying to find more people to teach! It is supposed to be cooler this week so I am happy for that!

With love,

Elder Ciminski

That awkward moment when you think you left your Mini-Missionary somewhere... - 8/1/16

...but then you realize he already went home...

...awkward.

But it was a good week with him. A lot of crazy stuff happened. To start off the car got a virus or something. It keeps on giving us weird notifications like "Hill-Start Assist Disabled" or "Fog-Lights On" (we don't have fog lights). It isn't affecting the operation of it so we will leave it be. :) We also got a lot of crazy weather. We probably got 5 inches of rain out of three systems. At one point the road was completely covered with water in Camden. We are safe and it cooled off the weather so I don't mind.

THEY PASSED THEIR BAPTISMAL INTERVIEWS!!!!! ALL FIVE OF THEM!!!!! So they will be getting baptized this Friday in Elizabeth City!! We are so excited for them!!! They all have strong testimonies and I know that they will go on to do wonderful things!!! I don't know what else to say about them except that we are so happy for them!!!

There is one problem with them getting baptized.... we won't have any solid investigators after that!!!!!! We are doing a lot of finding and have even taught a couple of lessons, but we don't have any new investigators from it! Our less-actives are progressing! We are doing a Book of Mormon reading challenge with a less-active to try and get them feeling the Spirit again. We are hoping that once they feel the Spirit they will make Church a priority again. Another person returning to activity came to church again yesterday, for all three hours!!!!! And they want us to teach their spouse the gospel!!! Things are moving along at least in that category!!!

We did some service for a family this last Wednesday... we cleaned one of their Tractors!!!!!

This is the one we are going to go back and clean this Wednesday. Those rear wheels are taller than me!! 

We went and watched a sunrise this morning just past milepost 11.5 in Nags Head this morning. It was the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. And some of the most picturesque beaches I have ever seen. So I know where we are going on our next big family vacation. And I know when off-season is so it won't be so busy. 😏

Nothing else major happened this week. Expect a lot of pictures since we are emailing in Nags Head in the Family History Center here!

I love you all!!!

Elder Ciminski

Us and the mini missionary, Henry.

Best morning in a long time.

The Beach

The Beach

No pictures. - 7/25/15

I am so annoyed with the pictures. Especially since every week it's only my computer. My companion never has any problems. I really wish I could send pictures. :( I can't figure out what I am doing wrong!

We had interviews this week. I do like President Weed. He is going to be great for the mission, and his wife as well. I am excited to see what changes occur as he is here for longer and gets the hang of things!

This week was an interesting one. We have been working with one less-active for a while now and he came to church, and the same gentleman who came last week also came this week! My companion and I don't know what we did to get him back to church (probably nothing, it was all the Spirit), especially because he was marked as a do-not-contact less than a year ago! The only reason we stopped by is because we didn't have that info so we weren't deterred! Aside from our less-active work, we aren't doing much. It's difficult to find investigators here and the fact that there is more Church members than active Branch members doesn't help! The family we are teaching are still progressing and are overcoming the opposition they are being faced with.  They are still on track for their August 5th date! We are so excited!

We had a linger longer (basically a lunch) after church yesterday. It was interesting. I have never been to one. The food was good! Fried chicken for days...literally. I am pretty sure that there was at least 15 chickens worth of thighs, wings, legs, you name it! I do love the Branch here. They are awesome!

So the other day we were sitting on Caratoke Highway up by our trailer waiting to turn left onto Shortcut road and I was looking at all of the tags on the cars around us and realized that most were from elsewhere! Here is the total:

Connecticut - 1
Texas - 1
New Jersey- 1
New York - 1
Maryland - 1
Pennsylvania - 2
Virginia - 3
West Virginia - 2

No North Carolina! There are so many tourists and they all drive through our area to get to OBX!!!!

I have learned a lot about crops out here! Did you know that all corn has to be hand picked? That is because there is no machine that can separate it! We are going to help a member clean his tractors this week. I never thought that I would be doing farm work on my mission! We are eating a lot more corn than seafood, much to my dismay, but a member took us out to a really nice seafood place that was SUPER good called Coinjock Marina in Waterlily. I got a fried platter. It had a Crab Cake, Shrimp, Clam Strips, Scallops, 2 Hushpuppies, and Pollack, all fried. SO GOOD!... especially the clam strips. Those were my favorite. It is right off the Intercoastal waterway so there were several yachts sitting at the adjacent pier. Pretty cool.

We are getting a mini missionary this week. I don't know if I mentioned it last week, but he is coming from Mt. Pleasant ward and we are excited to have him! He gets here tomorrow and leaves on Sunday. It will be nice to have a third male so we can visit whomever we want! :D

Longer email this week, I am trying to write better big emails. Have a wonderful week!

With love and XOXOXOXO,

Elder Ciminski

Week ..... ? (can't keep track) - 7/18/16

This week was rocky. We didn't feel very productive this week. We haven't been able to get out as much as we would like. Normally we like to leave the trailer at around Noon-1 o'clock and not come back until 9, but lately, our dinners have been such that we have to come back earlier. Then, due to mileage limitations, we have to stay in the area. We are trying to make the most of it that we can. I found some more funny records this week. Missionaries are funny people!

The family we're teaching is still progressing.  They are still working and moving towards baptism and that is what really matters.

I picked corn this week! The Branch had a service project and we got to pick corn for a couple hours! It was pretty cool and harder than I thought it would be! And Muddier! But that is because we got two HUGE storms this week. Both were very windy and loud. We had the power go out twice in one night! But that could be because we live in a trailer park!

We also have interviews with President Weed this week. I am excited for those. He seems like he is going to be a good Mission President! We are also getting a Mini-Missionary next week!

That is all. I cant send pictures this week because the computers we have won't let me. Some of the things I wanted to say need a picture, so I can't include those. I am so sorry about that. I hope that y'all have a good week!

With love,

Elder Ciminski

I love this place! - 7/11/16

I seriously love this place and the branch especially. I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and I realized how awesome and blessed it is to be serving in the Currituck Branch. Everyone is so nice and I never want to leave!

We had to reset the baptismal date for August 5. We think this is the last time that we will have to reset it. They know everything that is expected of them and how often we need to be coming by in order to make it and they committed to do what they can to make it happen! They are so ready! They are practically already members of the Branch for how well they fit in! The Branch is so supportive in giving them rides to church every week (they don't have a car) and in coming with us to lessons. I am so excited!

We went on an exchange this week and I went down to Nags Head with the Spanish Elders and got to drive! :D It was a surprise because the other Elder who I was with had an expired license. So I had the keys! We drove 140 miles that day, from Elizabeth City to Nags head then down to Manteo then to Kitty Hawk then back. No crash! You guys do not know what uncomfortable is like until some guy is making fun of you in a language you cannot understand. I think it was about how tall I was. I also went to a lesson on the exchange and that was weird. Again, I couldn't contribute anything because I don't know Spanish. But I did have a good time.

We also got transfer calls and I will be staying for another 6 weeks at least! Yay!

Elder Ciminski

Sooo.... - 7/4/16

The family we are teaching with a date for baptism are still doing well. We are meeting with them tonight. They are so awesome and so prepared and I feel honored to be teaching them! The Branch is excited for them as well and is doing a great job of fellowshipping them! Other than them though there isn't much going on for us. We have been doing a lot of tracting and have meet some potential investigators, but there is a lot of time between those meetings that we are just trying to find new people to teach. But we are working hard and that is what matters.

So we were tracting in a neighborhood that we haven't ever been in and we found a Mormon.org card in a door that previous missionaries had left! Apparently the blue doesn't get sun bleached!

But other than those finds it has been really stormy this week. We lost power one night while we were asleep. The only reason we know is because all of the clocks needed to be reset when we woke up! But they don't last very long. The weather is so volatile here next to the ocean you never know what is going to happen!

Anyway, I am glad that all is going well for you guys! 

Elder Ciminski

One of the potential investigator records that we found.

Super confused because it was raining...? but sunny?