Into the fire!!! - 8/13/18

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week! I'm gonna do a little day by day to make sure I don't miss anything!

So Tuesday I left the MTC (finally) and flew to Kansas! Overall the flight was fine, just a little air sick but nothing I can't handle. After we touched down in Kansas we were met by the Assistants and President McCuistion himself! He took us back to the mission home and we had an awesome dinner by his wife (she is from Mesa!) He also interviewed each of the new missionaries (about 16) and we also went over with the Assistants some stuff about the mission and the culture they have. Everyone got a kick out of my Chinese name tags so at least I have a good conversation starter until my English name tags arrive. 

On Wednesday we met with President again to get everything in order and get a lot of new information and whatnot though a lot of it doesn't apply to me since I'm a visa-waiter (like car stuff and things like that) but I still listened and absorbed as much as I could. I also got my loaned device to use this transfer (including Facebook!) After the fire hose of information was turned off we met our trainers and had lunch! President had us all line up on one side and the trainers on the other and they pulled up our pictures and read a little bio about us and then a dramatic pause and then he told us our trainer! I was the last one on the list so I didn't have to guess too hard who my trainer was. My trainer's name is Elder Zolik and he is from Henderson, Nevada. He's been out a year and he's pretty cool. We drove back to our area in Lawrence which is where the University of Kansas is! So I may become a Jayhawk fan because of these 6 weeks, but we'll see. Once we got to the area we just got settled in the apartment then went to the ward building to meet the bishop and stuff since my companion and I are both new to the area (they call it whitewashing I guess). 

On Thursday we got to work trying to visit as many people as we could but nobody answered so we went with the YSA elders (we work with them a lot) to a popular street called Massachusetts street, but we all just call it Mass. When we are there we have surveys with questions about our church that we have people fill out and if they are interested then they leave there name and number with us. It's a pretty interesting method which I'll have to remember for Taiwan since there is a lot of street contacting also. While we were on Mass we got caught in a big rain storm which was super cool we just hung out in a store until it wasn't super bad. After that, all the people left so there was nobody to talk to!

Friday and Saturday were contacting days just trying to meet people in our teaching pool but still not a lot of luck. I'm not getting discouraged because I'm putting in the effort and I'm trying so I can't ask for anything more! Plus missions are fun and there's always a silver lining to everything! There will always be another day 

Sunday was awesome. We went to ward council in the morning and then church afterward. It's a small ward but a lot of nice people. After church, we had a lunch appointment and had some great food and then came back and did studies. After studies, we went to Mass to contact and we ran into someone that seems super promising! She asked us a bunch of questions and we basically taught her lesson 1 and 2 on the street and I gave her a book of Mormon and she said she was interested in hearing more! It was so awesome! I walked away so stoked and happy because I felt so good with the original lesson. I even said the first vision and stuff and she was totally receptive so today we are going to call her and try and set up a time we can teach her family! Hopefully, it works out! 

I think that's about it for this week but one awesome thing that happened is that we got a bedding package from the mission home with sheets and stuff but it also had the softest blanket known to man in It! When I pulled it out I literally almost started crying I was so happy and I'll definitely take it with me to Taiwan. It's the little things that make the most difference! I am doing my language study also. So hopefully I don't lose all my Mandarin. With school starting next week hopefully, the YSA elders give me a call to teach in Mandarin! 

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!! 

Elder Heber Ciminski

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!