I can't believe this is happening... - 8/6/18

This is the week!! The week I get to leave the MTC and embark on the next part of my missionary adventures! And that next part is in the Kansas, Wichita mission! I am so excited to leave the MTC but only because I can go bring the gospel to people that need it the most! Thank you for all the prayers on my behalf I appreciate it so much!

The last week here was pretty eventful, we taught a bunch of lessons and said a ton of goodbyes! Our lessons went well and I think I am ready to go! As ready as I can be though. Since I'm sure I won't speak Chinese in Kansas a lot I have bought a whole bunch of flashcards so I can study and I have a lot of resource books to utilize for the plan I created. It is called the "Let's Not Lose the Language" plan! So I will press forward and put my trust in the Lord because if I do my part the Lord will make up the rest!

Also this week we got our beloved new name tags in all characters! Though, since I changed my character mid-way through I actually got two sets of name tags! One is of my old name and the other set is for my name I have now. I am going to send home the old one since I have no use for it. Speaking of sending stuff home, I will be sending the package to you all today after I finish packing. So be on the lookout for that soon! It isn't a lot, but just some extra things I don't need and in the spirit of Walter Mitty, I need to make weight choices.

I have been doing some research about the Kansas mission and I will only have two hours of writing home per P-day and so that will be an adjustment. I will be in a device mission without a device! It will all work out though I am sure. I will work with the mission president and he will help me out. All in all, I am excited to go to Kansas though everyone laughs at me when I say I am going there I know it is for a reason and I just need to go find it! 

I think that's all for this week! I love you all so much!!! 

Elder Ciminski

I GOT LEFT BEHIND *LATE TO CLASS* - 7/30/18

So, not too much to report this week. Just another week in the MTC. Though our time is almost up so I am stoked about that. Since I hyped up Christmas last week I will start by talking about that.

So Christmas went well. Everyone got their travel plans except for all of the Taiwan missionaries. It is super strange because we should have gotten them and yet no reassignment or any travel plans. Nothing. Not gonna lie I am a little worried. A few other Elders and I went to talk to the travel office to try and figure out why. So they took a look and they said that we should get them this week, either Thursday or Friday, but if we get reassigned that might show up earlier. They did say they are anticipating us getting our visas by the 8th (when I am supposed to leave) so I am praying and hoping that we get them. We would be the first group in months to get them on time. I am reminded of a conference talk, "I don't know everything, but I know enough". I don't know everything about the travel situation with the church, but I know enough to know that they will come eventually. I just need to be patient. So when I hear this week they usually let us write home to let you all know.  If we leave on Monday and can't write for P-Day then I will for sure send you a quick email with the details. Here's hoping for the best! Thank you for your prayers.

This week we had so many lessons. We finished up teaching Timo and Sister Zhang (Our two teachers role-playing investigators they taught) and we also finished teaching Sister Lai in TRC (TRC is where people come into the MTC to be taught by missionaries. Most of them are BYU students and such, some are members and some aren't). All of the lessons went well, I am becoming confident in the language, not prideful though, Chinese is still hard!! My companion and I got to bless the sacrament in Chinese last Sunday which was a cool experience too!! Chinese is a beautiful language. During my stay at the MTC I have memorized James 1:5, Moroni 10:4-5 and the First Vision in Chinese! Those help in lessons a lot and saying the First Vision in Chinese brings the Spirit so much!! This week is the last week of our teaching so we are going to work hard and get it done! We teach four lessons in class, 1 Skype TRC, and 3 in person TRC lessons this week! Lots to prepare, but it will get done! Not to mention my companion is teaching district council this Sunday (in English though). Even though it's a lot I love doing this work because it not only helps me grow but helps so many other people too!!

Now that it's summer the MTC has so many missionaries its a zoo sometimes. I am making so many friends and reconnecting with old ones. I saw a kid from high school that was on the Youth Committee with me! He is in the same residence hall as I am and on the same floor too! Crazy! I have met so many new people that are so cool hopefully after the MTC when we go around the world I'll still be able to keep in touch with them. A bunch are going to BYU too! I'm not thinking too much about the future right now because it's not the time for that but I know it's gonna be great!

I have the best zone in the MTC hands down. We all get along together so well and they are all so rad. I love them all so much! A bunch of us have started playing sand volleyball together during exercise time and that is one of the best hours of the week. Though whenever I play I always think of Top Gun and the volleyball scene from that, though I can't out-ball Tom Cruise I can try!! We will have to see how today's games go. We have heard from some of the older workers here that they call the best people mandarin speaking because they know we are the best. I'm not getting cocky but I do agree since my zone is the best! It'll be sad to leave them.

So now for the weekly clickbait explanation. So on Friday, some Elders went back to the dorm to take a post-lunch nap and have some downtime. My companion was on splits with another Elder because they are performing a special musical number and so I was with the other Elder's companion at the dorm. I end up laying down and taking a nap. Well, as I was napping the time for our class came and everyone was running behind. They didn't want to be late so they rushed to class. BUT I WAS STILL NAPPING. So they get to class and they all ask, "where's Song Zhanglao?" Then in unison they all realize I was still sleeping so a few of the Elders came back to get me. When I woke up, literally two seconds later the door opens and they say that we were late to class, so at least I didn't wake up and just had to sit there alone. And we weren't too late to class. Only 15 minutes, so it wasn't too bad. This was the first time that's ever happened so don't think I have this habit of sleeping through class because I don't!!

I love you all so much! Remember Alma 1:25! Be steadfast, immovable and patient and Heavenly Father will bless you!

Elder Ciminski

The 2 oldest districts.  We took the picture this week because our Branch President is going to Africa to hike Kilimanjaro with his wife!

A beautiful Provo day.

CHRISTMAS IS THIS WEEK!! - 7/23/18

This week flew by!! I can't believe it! So much happened this week so hopefully, I don't forget anything!

On Tuesday we had a devotional from President M. Russell Ballard and he came and spoke to us about Joseph and Hyrum Smith. It was a cool message because I didn't know too much about Hyrum. He did so much for Joseph, it was very inspiring. President Ballard also said we should follow their example because they are the best missionary companionship. So I will try to emulate that but one thing I think that is crucial is that we have fun too! One of my favorite scenes from The Restoration movie is where Brigham Young is walking down the street talking to another man and they are talking about Joseph and he runs by with the group of kids and tips his cap. We can achieve a balance of fun and work! Not to mention that Joseph was a pro-stick-pull player! I think Joseph is an awesome example for us all. Another thing he mentioned was the faith that Lucy Mack Smith had for her two sons to be delivered from their enemies and I wrote in my notes that a mother's faith has no limit. Mom is an awesome example of faith, if I could have half of what she has I would have so much more than I do now! Mom is the best!

Wednesday we got our new missionaries! 18 Elders and 4 Sisters! They are an awesome bunch and I already love them all so much! Two of them are in the Air Force and one is a Marine! Another one is a Ranger in the Singapore Military!! I feel so much safer now! One of them is from Gilbert too and went to Highland! Also, there is Sister Player who you may remember from Roseville! We've been able to catch up a lot about California which is nice! And apparently, she went to BYU-H and hung out with Noah. Small world in the church! One goal I had for the new missionaries is to learn all of their names before they reported so I could get to know them quicker! I achieved my goal and I have been able to spend some time talking with each of them trying to offer advice and a friendly hand. They are all so awesome! I heard from them that I got brought up in both of the new district's council meetings on Sunday because of my efforts to be nice and they all appreciated it and said that if everyone could be like me then the world would be better off! I wasn't trying to get recognized for it but just trying to be a friend. I am just glad I can set an example for them and hopefully they can do the same with new districts arriving after I am gone. In getting to know Elder Hughes we learned that we have seen all of the same stupid movies like Wayne's World and Bill and Ted and even Encino Man! We bonded over that and now are constantly quoting those movies! So much fun! If this is the idea for ministering then I love it!

My lessons this week have been going well too! In one of our lessons we read from the Mo'ermenjing this week and of course, our investigator was in the Isaiah chapters so of course, I can't even explain it in English but trying to explain it in Chinese was so hard!!! It went well though and last week my companion and I taught 8 lessons! Grinding it out!

BEST STORY OF THE WEEK. So the bathroom on the third floor where my classroom is was closed and so Elder Engel and I went to the fourth floor and as we are walking down the stairs I hear someone call out, "Elder Ciminski!" and I whip around and I couldn't believe my eyes! It was one of my best friends from John Adams Academy! Jonah Lay (now Elder Lay) but now I see him around all the time and it's like we never moved away! We picked up right where we left off! Definitely one of the highlights of my week!

Now for the clickbait explanation. This week we get our travel plans and visa reassignment areas! So we call that Christmas and the younger districts right Christmas song parodies and sing it to us. I can't wait to see what the future holds for my mission! Wherever I go it is where I need to be! The Lord knows all and has his hand in all things.

I love you all so much!!
Elder Ciminski

Me and my companion, Elder Engel

I GOT ESCORTED OUT OF MY RESIDENCE IN MY ROBE!! - 7/16/18

This week was crazy! Lot's of things happening over here at the MTC!

The first item of business is that my district is now the oldest district! We get a new set of Mandarin missionaries this week (including some old friends!) it is exciting and I can't wait to meet all of them and get to know them! As a result of the oldest district leaving we got new Zone Leaders and District Leaders and all of that jazz. I am fortunate enough to be able to be assigned as my district's District Leader! I am excited to serve and help my district in any way I can!

Like I mentioned before the oldest district left this morning. Most of them are going to reassignment areas until they get their visas for Taiwan. It was sad to say goodbye because I have spent the last 6 weeks getting to know them and loving them. Lot's of good memories for sure. A lot of them are going to BYU so I will see them after! It isn't goodbye! Only see you later :)

So now the reason for my clickbait. We were walking back from exercise time on Thursday and they were doing a test drill so we had to wait outside to get cleared and we finally did and so I went to get in the shower so I could get ready for the day. Then all of the sudden, as I'm cleaning up, the alarm goes off again! I think it's a drill so I continue showering but pick up the pace a little then before you know it a security person walks in and yells, "IF YOU'RE IN THE SHOWER GET OUT!!" So I have time to put on my compression shorts and my robe and then I had to get out of there! So that's why I have a picture of me in my robe outside *facepalm*.

We have learned that Elder Wolthius is a pro harmonica player and he can play it with no hands!!

Not much else happened this week but I did finish the Book of Mormon so I hit my goal! It was so nice to read it all the way through again. You still have three weeks left if you are behind!

My last point is about the accident I had two years ago. The anniversary of that was this past week (if I remember properly) and so I took some time to think about it this week. I came within millimeters of dying, but I didn't. The situation could have been much worse, but it wasn't. I know I was saved to help fulfill God's plan on the Earth. One of those things being serving a mission! I am so happy to still be alive and I am so happy to get to give my life to the Lord for this time! He knows us and he cares about us! Nothing is impossible if he is on our side!

I love you all so much!
Elder Ciminski

23 MONTHS LEFT TO GRIND! - 7/9/18

This week was another great week for the books! It is crazy that I have already been out for over a month! Time flies when you're serving the Lord I guess! That also means I have 23 months left to grind and work my hardest so it's time to refocus and recenter and get back to work!

This week my companion and I taught our two investigators (who are actually just our teachers role playing), their names are Timo and Zhang Jiemei (Jiemei is the word for Sister in mandarin). So teaching Timo this week we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and in his life he is trying to study English so he can go to England and study there at a university. So as we were teaching him the Word of Wisdom we learned he likes to drink coffee and tea. We taught him and used some scriptures to say that he couldn't drink these things because the prophets have commanded it and we follow the words of the prophets (all of this in Chinese by the way). One thing that hit me during our lesson was how much love I have for Timo. Even though he is my teacher pretending to be this person I still have so much love and want him to receive the gospel! At the end of the lesson, I got a prompting to promise him something. So, following the direction of the Spirit, I promised him that if he lived the Word of Wisdom he would be able to go to England to study. It seemed really bold to me but then I remembered that as a missionary I have every right to make those promises because I am doing the Lord's work and he has given me that power. All of this in a role-play scenario. Man, I can't wait to get to Taiwan and love the people out there that I teach and hopefully they will accept the gospel!

Another thing that happened this week was that some guys in our zone have gotten into these silly debates about frivolous things like dinosaurs and deep doctrine questions that have no real answers. I have tried to avoid these discussions because the Spirit isn't in it because it gets contentious with people taking sides and arguing about these things with no solid answers. As I was exiting one of these conversations I had a thought that even though I don't know everything, I have faith in God and his Plan of Happiness for us. Someday we will be able to receive all of the answers we want but for now, while we can't know everything, there is no point in bringing contention into any situation. Some people question things, but I have faith.

In one of my first emails home, I issued a challenge to read the Book of Mormon before August 8. How is everyone doing? I think reading this book is like a triathlon, 1 Nephi through Mosiah is the Swim portion, Alma is the bike portion, and then Helaman to Moroni is the run!  Right now I am all the way through Helaman chapter 10, so I am in the run portion! Being able to read from this holy book every day has been such a blessing. I have learned a lot about defending myself, having my voice be heard, and also learning how to be a missionary from some of the best like Ammon and Alma and Amulek.  I know that you can learn a lot from it too! This book was written for our day and every verse is included for a reason! So go find the reason and feel the Spirit! If you aren't on pace to finish it by August 8 don't worry about it! Read from it every day! It will help you so much.

In an effort to grow my spiritual knowledge I have begun to read old conference talks starting from the beginning in the Gospel Library app. So the beginning is April of 1971. And wow. Just wow. The messages ring as true today as they do in 1971. One of my favorites is from Spencer W. Kimball titled, "Voices of the Past, of the Present, of the Future". In this talk, he talks about how the voices of the world can get super loud and we need to use our own voices to be a light and a beacon! I am glad to be able to have my voice be heard in proclaiming the gospel! Another talk I enjoyed was from Bruce R. McConkie titled, "The Lord's People Receive Revelation" and in this one, he talks a lot about how religion is only received from revelation and we need to have revelation in our own lives. As our prophet has said, we are all entitled to receive revelation if we are on the covenant path and if we "be a good boy, be a good girl, remember and honor our covenants, and keep the commandments" (that's from Elder Bednar in one of his MTC Devotionals). There are so many more awesome talks and I haven't even finished 1972 yet so go take a look! (N. Eldon Tanner gave one about judging that was super good. That could be a starting point).

So every week on Wednesday during the evening class we see all of the EFY kids doing their Games Night and I will admit I get distracted sometimes because I used to be one of those kids, having great spiritual moments and making new friends. This week I realized that I don't want my mission to be like EFY. At EFY people go, return home motivated to be better, but almost always revert back to their old ways. I don't want my mission to be like that. This is going to be my Ebenezer. My reminder that I am a different person, a better person, one who is closer to Christ and having gained an even deeper conversion to the gospel!

This week is mostly just the spiritual lessons I have learned, but MTC life is good. The food is alright and the Zone is awesome, the new guys in the youngest district are awesome and one asked if I wanted to room with him at BYU when we get back! I am totally stoked for it because they are all rad. As well, this week the oldest districts got their visa reassignments, two are going to Orlando, two going to Ventura, CA and the fifth and final is going to Seattle. I am interested to see where I will be reassigned when the time comes! A lot of people don't like the idea of it but I am willing. The Lord knows all and if I get reassigned somewhere it is for a reason! This Sunday we get new leadership so thus far the only thing I have done is been the Branch Technology Specialist, so maybe I'll be Zone Leader or District Leader. Who knows? I just wanna serve and if it's in the tech area then so be it!

I think that is all for this week so I love you all and wish you the best! JIA YOU!!

Elder Ciminski

Me!

WE HAD A RAVE AT THE MTC!! - 7/2/18

ni hao wo de jiating! Hello my family, hope this email finds you all well! This week is a little less exciting but I'll try my best!

To start with, I have learned the celestial language and about the celestial instrument. Mandarin is the celestial language (obviously) but the celestial instrument is the harp! At our Tuesday devotional, we had a special harp music number and it was incredible. So that cemented my suspicions about the harp being the most beautiful instrument. If only I had musical talents besides a half decent singing voice. I think going to the MTC choir is helping me, but who knows. One last thought about music. For some reason, I am really wanting to listen to Frank Sinatra but obviously, I can't. But I'll still sing his songs under my breath. However, on the computers, we can listen to the MoTab from the website and I found the broadway section (Alex Boye does The Circle of Life, go check it out). LOL gotta do what you gotta do I guess.

The next thing probably isn't surprising but I am probably the youngest person at the MTC. I have yet to meet an Elder who is younger than me. So I have that going for me at least! Just that one claim to fame but I'll take what I can get.

Up next. TOMMY BONNER IS IN AN LDS.ORG VIDEO!! He is in a video under the missionary work section under the LDS.org media library! So we know a celebrity now! I saw the video and was freaking out. It was such a cool coincidence!

My district got to host this week! We got to help some of the 450+ new missionaries that came to the MTC this week. It was super hot here and so carrying the luggage kinda sucked but serving was fun! A lot of Spanish speaking missionaries came in and I only had to deal with one emotional family! This whole experience reminded me of when I reported only 3.5 weeks ago. It seems like so long ago but that's the mission life is I guess. The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days! That saying is so true, I doubted it at first, but it's so true.

And part of the 450+ new missionaries was 8 new Elders for our newest district. So that means I am in the middle district now! No more being a baby! One of the new Elders is from Parker! Small world. They seem cool. They kinda stay in their rooms, but I think this week they will start socializing more. I hope so because hanging out as a zone is so much fun!

One other Elder that reported this week is also famous. His name is Elder Troutner and he is a Nike Cross Nationals champion in cross country! Literally one of the best runners in the nation is here! His best time in the 5K is like 14:14 or something insane like that. It makes me want to run more.

Now that some of the more serious stuff is over with we can transition to the more fun stuff!

We made up a new activity called "residences races" where we race around our floor of the residence hall and see who can do it the fastest. I am in the top 5 with a time of 11.06 seconds. This is the type of stuff we do to keep from going crazy, but it's all within the rules too!

Elder Watts doing the Residence Races.

I changed my Chinese name this week to 宋 because in Asia, Si with any tone has a bad connotation because it means death. So I didn't want to risk it and changed it to my high school Chinese last name! Also, I found the literal translation of my first name because some people have the language study Bible and my name is in Luke 3 and so I learned that Heber is 希伯 (XiBo)! So that's super cool! Chinese is honestly such an awesome language and it makes so much more sense than English grammar-wise. Bless.

So the funniest story of the week comes from a few days ago. I am doing personal study and all the sudden I think I'm seeing double because two sisters are wearing the exact same dress. No joke. THE SAME DRESS and they had the same hair color and looked identical. I was laughing so hard because they were companions too! It was so hilarious.

One little thing before my conclusion topic. So I think Y'all know how I used to spin my pen around my thumb a bunch. Well during a Sunday night film I did it 117 times in a row! I felt so accomplished. It's the little things in life.

So my last topic is about the expansiveness of the Church. Here at the MTC, I have met so many people from all over the world! We have Elders in our residence from Samoa (they are so awesome I love the island culture so much!) and some from Tonga (don't get them and Samoa mixed up. It's not good!) and I even met a Sister from South Africa (which is actually one of my top three places I want to travel to when I'm older! So we had an awesome talk about it and she told me about some good places to visit when I eventually go there!)  I learned from her that tennis shoes are actually called "tacky's" totally weird but I love it! I love learning those types of things because it reminds me how diverse the church is and there is no one mold for how a member should be! We all have our unique things that make us, us.  We shouldn't lose that and we need to remember its okay to be unique! Anyways that's my thought of the week hope you liked it!

I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Elder Ciminski

PS I met a Sister Brown from Eagar! Totally small world because her bothers know Michael and Ben and so we had a good chat about that! She is going to Japan!

Our MTC rave celebrating Elder Cribbs' birthday!

JOSEPH SMITH WAS A TREASURE HUNTER!! *CONFIRMED* - 6/25/18

This week was wild!! But they just keep flying by so I'm just trying to hang on. At the beginning of this week I was thinking a lot about being positive and stuff and then it hit me, "missions are supposed to be fun!!" And in meeting with the branch presidency and other people they all mention how happy I am and they thank me for smiling a lot. I love that and hope that I can always keep that with me. Especially since Pres. Larsen mentioned in my setting apart to avoid negativity like the plague. Being happy is so much better than being sad or gloomy! How could you not be happy when you have this gospel in your life and people that love you!

This past week the oldest district here (leaving this week) got their visa reassignment missions. Taiwan is a hard place to get Visas for so almost all of the districts get reassigned until they receive theirs. Many are going to California but some are going to New York as well. There is a chance I will get reassigned too. There isn't anything I can do about it, but if the Lord needs me somewhere else for a time then so be it! Like Nephi said, "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." I am his tool for these two years so I don't care what happens!

So now for the explanation of this week's clickbait. The MTC choir director was telling us the story of Joseph Smith because we were singing Praise to the Man for devotional. He was telling us how Joseph went on a treasure hunt to look for gold with a group that hired him and tried to use his tools in that effort. While on their journey they stayed at the home of Isaac Hale. It was then that Joseph met Emma and soon got married! So Joseph never found the gold he was originally looking for, but he did find treasure in the form of his wife!

As many have heard I am sure but this week is the annual New Mission President Seminar held at the Provo MTC! That means that all the new mission presidents going out this summer and their wives come and learn from the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12! My new mission president is here and I got to meet him! He is a very nice man and he served in the Taichung mission in Taiwan so now he can experience Taipei (Fun fact: The new Taichung president served in Taipei, so they pulled a little switch-a-roo). He talked to us about obedience and how we will be using the white handbook and Preach My Gospel as the standard for our rules. I love that! Others are worried he is going to be super strict, but I didn't go on a mission for me. I went for the people of Taiwan and whatever he says I am sure will be so we can help those beautiful saints in Taiwan! "I will go and do" is how I feel right now in a nutshell. After his brief remarks to us he and his wife went around and shook all the missionaries hands and talked with us for a brief moment. When he shook my hand I said it was nice to meet him and I am Elder Ciminski. He then put his arm on my shoulder and said "You will be a great missionary. I can tell." and smiled then walked off. Talk about pressure!  I am going to go and make the days count and serve the people! I think it was Elder Holland that said nobody could say that they worked harder on their mission than him. Well, I am going to try and beat Elder Holland and work harder than him! Let the games begin.

One side note about the mission presidents. One of them is named President Guthrie and he is going to Houston South. What is so significant about him you might ask? Well no big deal but HE PITCHED TWO GAMES OF THE 2014 WORLD SERIES. Yeah, no big deal but he was a pro baseball player. How cool is that! In the World Series, he pitched for the Royals and they played the Giants. Not only do I like the Giants but 2 other Elders in our zone are big fans too! Some got to meet him but I wasn't with them. Bummer.

My last story is from this last Saturday. My companion and I were about to teach our PI (our teacher pretending to be an investigator) and we were saying a prayer in the hallway and during the prayer, we hear a bunch of footsteps coming down the hallway and so I say amen real quick and we both look up and it's Elder Uchtdorf! He walked right by us! He smiled and said hello to me and my companion and we both said hello back. It was crazy. We were both a little distracted during the lesson but we got over it and taught the Jiu'en Jihua (Plan of Salvation) really well!

I think that's it for this week! I love you all!!

Si Zhanglao (Elder Ciminski)
司長老