I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THIS HAPPENED TO HIS BIKE!?! - 11/11/18

Woah another week has gone by!

Monday was pretty chill. Just some usual choir practice and then we ate some grub with some missionaries and went to 天母 and helped out a recent convert say a prayer for her new business that it will do well! It was super cool. After we got back to 淡水 we just got some groceries, worked out and got ready for the night! We had one lesson at night with a really interesting dude we are teaching. He's interesting and we are still determining if he's actually interested or not but we'll figure it out soon enough. Today was awesome I love being in 台灣!!!

Tuesday was turnt. It was my 5th birthday on the mission! We had a lesson with a really good guy we've been teaching I'm excited about his potential! Didn't really do anything else besides finding but we talked to another guy with a skateboard and he had some cool tricks to show us! It was super cool he was a good guy! I shared a quick testimony of The Book of Mormon and he seemed to really dig it. The people in Taiwan are seriously the best!

Wednesday was a spiritual day! We had zone council in 北投 and it was super good! We got some great training from all the companionships and our theme for this transfer is "#become" and I love that! The word become is so powerful and this emphasis on personal development is right up my alley since Heber 2.0 needs to be formed! Today I also had a full-length conversation in Chinese! We were walking back to the MRT with some sisters and one of them is a missionary from Taiwan so she speaks just about all Chinese and I talked with her about a bunch of stuff and it was cool! I feel good when I can converse with people and communicate! We also had English class too today. My topic this week was "Try, try, again" and I ended up sharing a story about me working up the courage to ask a girl out. All my students love when I share stories about my life. It is so fun to teach them! I am so glad that I can provide this service for the people here!

Thursday was crazy. Definitely didn't go to plan though. The day started out with us helping a dude move across town and he wasn't lying when he said he had some heavy stuff. We got it done! For some reason when we were doing that service it reminded me of when I pushed a car through the neighborhood back home one time. I'm not sure why but that was a good memory. After the moving though we had to get changed into our work clothes and that took only about 20 minutes but when we went back outside to leave to a lesson Elder Pope's bike was stolen!! In broad daylight! That's what got our plans so off because we had to go find a bike for him to use and so we found an old sister missionaries bike that we got fixed up and now the problem is solved! Super crazy though that this is the 2nd bike stolen in 淡水 since I've been here! I lock mine up and stuff so it's all good. I'm not super worried about it. We also spent a lot of time walking today and that definitely took a lot out of us. We made it!

Friday was busy! We had a 6 week follow up with President and all of the missionaries that came to Taiwan the same time I did. It was super good to see them again and catch up with how they are doing. From what I can gather everyone is doing well and I am too! After the follow-up meeting, we took care of some things and made our way back to town. Since Elder Pope was still bike-less we had to walk around a little bit but no biggie it all worked out with the schedule we had. The follow-up meeting took up a lot of time and so we didn't have time to do much else but it was such a fun day! I made a lot of people smile and laugh today and it brings me joy to help others smile! We are here on earth to be happy and have joy :)

Saturday was a wild day. Started off with a cultural activity at the local hospital with some members of the ward. It was such a good time. Lots of smiles. After we were done we had to get Elder Pope's refurbished bike back to our part of town so I rented a U-Bike (a city bike share thing) and we got back to our place! But not before Elder Pope's bike basically shut down and a part of the rear gear mechanism just snapped off the bike in two places so we had to deal with those problems. The solution came in the form of us going to 北投 to get another old missionaries bike. Eventually, we got all the problems solved and now things are back to normal! No more riding the busses and back to biking. Hurrah!

Sunday was super good! Church went well and I love the 淡水 ward so much! We had a super fun activity after church where we played games and got to have fun with the members of the ward! That used a lot of time though so when we got back we had to still do planning and our scripture study but it all worked out! We also got to meet with some members and share a message with them. Super fun stuff and then the rest of the night was spent having a super awesome talk with Elder Pope about what we are gonna do to become even better missionaries and have the spirit always with us! I am super excited for what the future will bring for us! The future is bright here in Taiwan!

I love you all so much and I hope you all see blessings from the Lord every day! If you ever need anything, send me an email!

宋長老
Elder Ciminski

THE CHAPEL FLOODED!! - 11/5/18

This week was super eventful!

Monday we had choir practice again at 金華 and then afterward we went and did some really cool barbecue stuff. It's a cool joint where you grill your own meat in these little grills in the table. It was super good but super expensive compared to other meals we have (it was 626 kuai as opposed to the usual 80-100 kuai we spend). It was good though! After that, we just rode over to Costco on the MRT! It was my first time being in a Costco ever and man it was so big! We eventually made our way back to 淡水 and got our groceries then went back to the apartment and rested up! We didn't do much after preparation day ended so that's all I'll say about Monday. Though today while I was singing in the choir I just had an overwhelming feeling come over me that I never want being a missionary to end! Thankfully I have a long ways to go before that happens. I love being here so much!!

Tuesday was a mellow day. Nothing much happened but we did teach 3 lessons and they all went well though. I kinda called the shots and talked more today and it felt super good to participate more! I feel like it helped me, and the friends we taught understood me so it's all good! The weather was super good today though it's starting to cool down more and it's super comfortable. This week is transfer week. Even though I'm not moving or anything it's an exciting time because all my MTC friends are going to be coming in now and it's an exciting time!

Wednesday started out super good. We did a solid 8K run up to a super cool temple thing up in a mountain nearby. The run itself was rough since I'm super out of shape (and I'm coming down with a cold) but it was so beautiful. It was a light sprinkle and we even saw a double rainbow! I did get a blister which isn't fun but then again things aren't always easy! The run was super good. Other than that we just did studies and prep for English class! Just the usual Wednesday activities but we made crepes for dinner with the district and it was a good time :)

Thursday was transfer day! Elder Pope and I didn't move but we did get a new roommate! Elder Hogge moved out which I'm bummed about. He was such a great guy I'm gonna miss him! Now we have Elder Weber and he's a cool dude also it'll be fun to get to know him more. Since we weren't affected by the transfers at all it was a normal day for us. We did a lot of the usual things we usually do but we rode a lot of public transportation which I actually enjoy a lot. So that was fun! My cold is getting a little better every day and I can't wait to be over it! The last awesome thing from today is that I am no longer in the youngest group on the island! We got 2 new generations of missionaries because the visa issue has been resolved for the time being so now people aren't getting visa waited! That means that the groups that came in today have had either 1 transfer of wait or none. I am also a level 3 missionary since I am starting my third transfer! Such an awesome day! 

Friday was such a blessed day! We had a mission conference with Elder Homer (a general authority seventy) and President Owen who is the Young Men General President! They shared some marvelous things and I left the meeting so inspired and encouraged to become the best me that I can be. That was a point Elder Homer made and when he said that he was looking into my eyes and kinda lingered. So I definitely took that statement to heart! I gotta become Heber 2.0! Another awesome part of today was seeing all of my friends from the MTC district 6 weeks behind me that just arrived in Taiwan! It was such a joyful reunion and I was so happy to see them all! Today was honestly such an awesome day I am so happy to have been able to live it! 

Saturday was super interesting. We had a baptismal service for one of the sister's friends. It was a super great service and Elder Pope and I had some of our people being taught there as well so it was awesome! The interesting part is that we went to get dinner and brought it back to the chapel and after we ate it in the basement we went up the stairs to the third floor and little did we know that water had begun to leak from an unknown source and it was flooding the top floor! So we had to start the baptism late because we were bailing out water with whatever we could find! The problem got managed thankfully and the baptism was performed and so everything was kosher in the end! Definitely an interesting turn of events though. 

Sunday was mega good we got to go to the recent convert fireside! I love going to these because I get to see other missionaries but even more so is the musical numbers people perform! Music has really been a way for me to feel the spirit a lot since I've begun my mission and I wish I could sing more! Even though I don't have the best voice I love taking advantage of every opportunity I have. Today was awesome and a great way to conclude out another amazing week in the best mission in the world! 

Love you all so much have a blessed week and if you need anything lemme know! 

宋長老

Elder Ciminski

I GOT TO SKATEBOARD!! - 10/29/18

Hello everyone! This week was super rad with lots going down!

Monday. You guessed it it was preparation day! We spent the morning at the Jinhua building because it was the first practice for the Christmas choir program the mission does! I don't know how I always get roped into these singing gigs, but it's super fun! The music sounds really good so it will be a blessing to be a part of it. For the rest of the preparation day, we went to the big university in 台北 and then came back to 淡水 and got our groceries at the grocery store (typing the Elder Calhoun voice is impossible but just imagine a best two years quote right there.) Then we got back to work! We did some contact attempts at the local university but no luck at getting someone to set up. That's ok though I was able to street contact a guy and he was holding a skateboard and I asked if he knew any cool tricks. I said I could do a few and he asked me to show him! I did a 180, an ollie and a pop shuvit and it impressed him enough to talk to us! That was super cool and Elder Pope was impressed because he didn't know I skateboarded. Today was a great start to this new week!

Tuesday was a rad day! We had a super great district council after studies. I love having district council every week because it gives me the chance to learn so much from other missionaries that have a lot more experience than me. It helps us all grow together and learn a lot! After studies, we started an exchange for Elder Pope to finish his exchanges for his district leader responsibilities. So I went with Elder Hogge and he's such a fun guy! He brings a lot of laughs but also a ton of knowledge that I wanna try to tap into! We had a super cool recent convert lesson and then got diddled trying to go to 八里 so we couldn't have our second lesson but it worked out because Elder Hogge had to contact a lot of people so he was able to get that done. Then, before you knew it it was time to go back home! A missionary once told me, "time flies when it's not yours!" And ain't that the truth!

Holy cow! Wednesday was AMAZING. The day started with a super nice run with Elder Hogge. That man is an animal! He is so quick! I was struggling to keep up with him! Nevertheless, it was good. We did some super neat studies today and I was able to learn a lot from Elder Hogge. He is someone I look up to a lot. Before we switched back I was able to have a nice conversation and we were just able to talk and he said some really nice things to me and I really felt the spirit a lot in this exchange. After we switched back we did some English prep and then had a district dinner. I love my district so much. I laugh so hard when I'm with them and it makes me so happy! Then as if my day couldn't get any better I taught an awesome English class! Then we had a super fun bike ride home. I love the feeling of flying down the street and hills. There's one big hill we go down that I just get super aerodynamic and I'd reckon I hit 50 kilometers an hour on it. I sometimes pass the scooters and cars going down the street, what a rush! Another super funny thing from today was we got stopped at a red light and a little before the light I saw a 發票 (a receipt that is kinda like a lottery ticket. If you have the right numbers you can win money. A lot of missionaries have big stacks of these because they give them out everywhere). I saw one of these and at the red light I jumped off my bike and ran back and picked it up. You never know it could maybe be a winner! Today was a day filled with joy and I loved every second of it!

Thursday was super good. We had interviews down at the mission office with 平會長 (President Peterson)! It was a super good thing. My interview with him was super short but we talked about how training was going and we set some goals for my language study and development! He used his calculator probably 5 times during the interview, we did a lot of calculations! Even though the interview was short I still felt a lot of love from him and I'm super glad he is my mission president! After interviews, I went to the distribution center across the street and bought a copy of the new book Saints! I am super excited to have it hard copy to read now! After we got back to 淡水 we did the normal missionary work we always do! Trying to find more people to teach and teaching the people we do have. Just another normal day in the life of a missionary!

Friday was a really busy day! We did a bunch of studies and got some Mackers for lunch courtesy of a member! We also had our weekly planning session and we got some sick plans for our friends that we are teaching! We also got to go to the temple! We went with some recent converts and got to watch them be baptized! Wow! It was such an awesome experience to be inside the temple again. It's been almost 3 months since I've been in one. The 台北 temple is so cool. A lot of the artwork inside is Chinese themed and you even take your shoes off in the foyer and everywhere you go in the temple you're without shoes! It was such an awesome experience I can't wait to go back as soon as I can!

Saturday was so fun! We had our ward Halloween activity and it was loads of fun. The kids all had awesome costumes and we had the whole third floor decked out for trick or treating and they had a blast! I love the 淡水 ward they are all like one big family! We all share so many laughs and just have a great time I always have so much fun with them! Today I also washed all my sheets and made my bed and I don't know why but afterward I just felt so happy. It's all about the little things in life! They truly bring the most joy. And lastly the weather is starting to cool off and it feels so good! Taiwan is the best place ever!

Sunday gave me so much joy. One experience in particular when we were biking home from the chapel. We got stopped at a red light and I'm looking around at the other people around me because the traffic lights here have a special place up front for the scooters and bikes and stuff so I'm just looking around and I see a family of 4 on a scooter and they got 2 little kids and they are both smiling super big so I wave at them and they just get so pumped up. So I kick down my kickstand and run over to give them a high 5 and knuckles and they just get so elated. When I get back on my bike I look over at them and both of the kids are super happy. Then when the light turns green they speed off and one of the kids holds out a thumbs up the whole way as he's riding off. That just made me so happy and I realized that's why I love being a missionary! I just love the people so much!

Well, that's all I got for this week I love you all and hope everything is going well!

宋長老

Elder Ciminski

SHUT UP LEGS!! - 10/22/18

A big 你好 from the beautiful island of Taiwan! Hope you all had an awesome week.

Monday was preparation day of course! We did the usual grocery shopping and other necessities then I went out with Elder Pope and I bought some running shoes because the other ones I had were getting run down (pun intended) and the new ones I got are the Nike Tanjun model. So some awesome Taiwanese running shoes are in my future! Elder Pope and I also got matching belt bags. They are actually the most convenient thing ever. It holds our tracts and phones and wallets all together and it's super cool. And only 100 kuai! After the morning purchases, we met up with some other Elders that came up to 淡水 and spent some time with them. That turned into a huge group of missionaries squadding up and having some good times. In total 8 sisters and 4 elders were present but half the time the other elders got separated so it was just elder Pope and I with 8 sisters, kinda weird but I had a good time meeting other missionaries I'm sure I'll serve around someday! Taiwan has the best missionaries for sure :) Preparation day ended with some 10 out of 10 naps and then we had a lesson with our super solid friend. He's so receptive and he basically knew the restoration already from reading the Introduction to the Book of Mormon. He's awesome and I love teaching him! Today was a super great start to the new week ahead!

Tuesday started off with a cool language learning experience! I was studying my flashcards and the word Endowment came up. That word is translated as 恩道門 (pronounced endaomen). The first character means "gift", the second "truth", and the third "door" or "gate". I just thought that was really cool because the Endowment we receive in the Temple is the gate to the gift of truth! Not only does that word sound like the English word but it means the same too! The rest of the day was pretty ok, not much happened. Though I learned that an Elder in the mission is a master gardener! As I was planning my English class I was planning on using the Hugh B. Brown story about the currant bush and I was able to get some info from the master gardener himself so that was pretty cool. Tomorrow is Zone Conference so it should be a super good day!

Woah today was awesome! We had zone conference today at Jinhua and it was amazing. I got to see some good friends and get some great insights into my life as a missionary and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! It was super inspiring and revelatory. After Zone Conference we came back to 淡水 and got some dinner then it was time for English class! I had a super great English class today and my spiritual share felt super good to me today. We also did a roleplay about short powerful lessons at Zone Conference and all throughout I felt the spirit so strong today. Testimony is a powerful force we can all possess and use as a weapon for good! Overall today was amazing! Can't think of anything better to be doing in my life than this!

Thursday was sweet. We got lunch treated to us and it was at KFC so that was cool. We also had 2 lessons which went well also! Our first one was with a cool dude named Jimmy and we taught him the restoration in English and it was so powerful. I always feel the Spirit so strong teaching the Restoration and reciting the First Vision! He liked it and committed to read the Book of Mormon and try to come to church this weekend. Our second lesson was with Robert and he is prepping for his baptism on November 10 and I actually promised him that if he read the Book of Mormon every day he would pass a test he needs to keep his job. I have really felt so much love for these people we meet and it's truly amazing. We talked to a cool man named Sean today and he set up with us to meet again! Nothing feels better than hearing people interested in listening to more of the Gospel! This is truly the most amazing work to be a part of.

Friday was pretty sweet! It started off with an awesome morning run and workout! There is truly a difference between exercising and not. I feel so much better when I exercise! After that, we had our studies and weekly planning session. We also had 2 lessons. One of them was with our super solid friend Ian. He is so cool and we taught him the Plan of Salvation today and when we asked if he had any questions he just said no and whenever we brought up a doctrinal point he knew it already! He is so cool and he reads the Book of Mormon like a madman. That was the highlight of the day for me! Teaching people is so powerful! I also had a cool experience with an answer to prayer! We were running late for a lesson and we were at our chapel and the lesson was far away and it was peak rush hour traffic and we had 25 minutes to get there. And the quickest way is through a night market and as I was riding down the road leading up to it I said a prayer asking to be able to make it on time and as I turned onto this super busy road a truck also pulled on right in front of me and it literally parted the sea of people and we made it through that market so quick that we arrived at the lesson right on time! It was such a cool experience and a prayer of thanks was definitely offered!

Saturday was pretty cool! Had a lesson at 8 AM which gave us just enough time to go for a run and shower and then leave! The lesson went well though which is good. After our studies, we had a lesson with our friend who was supposed to get baptized today but wasn't quite ready. Today he told us he won't get baptized for the foreseeable future. That was tough to hear but we are still praying for him to figure out these things for himself. On a side note, at the Starbucks we had the lesson at, I saw a dude watching Limitless! Brought back memories - what a good show! The last big thing we did was a ward dinner party! It was for everyone that helped and participated in the parade a few weeks back. Super good food and good people so it was an awesome combination! I gave away two copies of the Book of Mormon today and that lifted my spirits even higher than they already were! The joy from sharing the gospel is almost unrivaled!

Sunday was a superb day! It started off with Elder Pope's other tire on his bike being flat so we didn't ride to church on our bikes but we took the bus. Super convenient since suit season just started so we have to wear suits to our meetings with the President and also to church. I have nothing against wearing a suit, it can just get uncomfortable sometimes. Nevertheless, we made it to church and after church, we went to the MRT station where the bikes of fallen missionaries are laid to rest (the bikes that missionaries leave when they go home). We snagged a front tire for Elder Pope and got home and switched it out and we were back in business. We had to ride to 八里 for a dinner and we were supposed to have a lesson but that didn't go entirely to plan either so we had to take the ferry to make it back to 淡水. We made it back safely with time to spare and it all ended up kosher! I have a motivation to learn the basics of bike repair so I can help people fix their bikes and not cause as big of an issue. So I guess I should probably learn how to do some stuff...any help would be much appreciated.

This week was amazing I love my mission so much and love the heart of Asia otherwise known as Taiwan! It is good for me to be here!

Love you all,
宋希伯

HE GAVE US DRUGS!!! - 10/15/18

Hello everyone! I hope your week was as amazing as mine!

Monday we were gonna wake up early and go watch the sunrise at the wharf but when we got up it was raining and so we ditched that idea and went back to sleep. When we got up for reals we did a little study and then went grocery shopping! We did our shopping earlier because we had to go do a district lunch and go hike another mountain! This one wasn't as crazy as the one last week but the view was awesome. It was of Taipei and the Taipei World Trade Center (or 101) was super front and center so that was super nice! That was the rest of our day basically then at 6:30 we got back to work and went out finding. We met some awesome people at the colleges in town and one kid that set up with us asked to take a selfie with us so that was fun. I then took one with him. Hopefully these set ups all go well!

Tuesday was pretty run of the mill. Did usual stuff but also had 2 bomb lessons with some super cool people! My Chinese is getting better every day so I'm able to understand and speak a little bit more every lesson! There's honestly not much to say about Tuesday except we got a package of new copies of the Book of Mormon and these are the new translation ones! They recently revamped the translation and we just got a fat box of them. I can't wait to be able to read it!

Wednesday was pretty dang good. We spent the whole day doing studies and English prep. Hopping around from 7s and McDonald's around town till we ended up at our 3rd 7 of the day to finish up language study and prepare for English class. After we finished that it was time for dinner and we rode over to eat with the District. It was Thai food and since I'm not a big fan of that, I picked up some other food and took it with me. While we were riding to dinner though we got stopped by this dude who was pretty wild. He made handmade pottery and sold it and it was actually pretty dope! But his street shop neighbor started talking to us and started noticing how I looked a little confused and then he just went off and started calling me out for not understanding and he said some pretty harsh things that I didn't get until Elder Pope told me. I don't really care. I still smiled and moved on. English class went well and we talked about sleep and then related it to getting a fresh start through the atonement of Jesus Christ and I really felt the spirit as I testified of Jesus. He is truly our Savior and through Him, we can become happier and better people!

Thursday was quite the busy day. We had 4 lessons scheduled but sadly only 2 happened. We also had District Council so between all of our visits and stuff we barely had time for our studies! The first lesson we had went well. The person we were teaching seemed not interested but he brought a friend with him today so we are still gonna try and set up another time with him. Perseverance is crucial! Our second lesson was with a super promising guy and today was our second meeting with him. He came asking us questions about Jesus Christ and his Second Coming. It was pretty wild but thankfully my personal study for the day was a lot about that so we were able to read some scriptures and help him learn more about Jesus Christ and we asked him if he would follow Christ's example and be baptized and he said yes! A lot of the people we have baptismal goals with I am a little worried about but I'm not worried about this friend and I'm gonna have faith in all of our other people with goals will happen as well! Elder Pope's bike broke today so we had to go to the local bike shop and get it fixed. While we were walking to it we saw the sister's bikes and I noticed one of the bikes didn't have grips on it (they were on exchanges so it was a lesser used bike used mostly for exchanges). While we were at the bike store I decided to buy some grips for that bike (I also bought a slick bicycling hat that Dad would be proud of ) but after we left with Elder Pope's revamped bike and us both thinking it would be cool to work in a bike shop. We couldn't find the sister's bikes again! Eventually, I got the grips to them and they were appreciative and it felt so good to do service for others! Today was an awesome day filled with the Spirit! We also had District Council and that was super awesome too. This area is the best ever! In the best mission in the world!

Friday was an unexciting day. We did have a lesson though which was a pass off from the Sisters and the dude tried to give us bing lang. Bing lang is basically the Taiwanese equivalent of chewing tobacco and it makes your teeth red and gnarly and gross. This guy tried to give us some and when we said no, he kept on trying to force us to do this stuff but we kept on saying no. He got a little offended but this old guy walked up to him and told him to respect our wishes and we were so grateful for him. Turns out he is from New York and now I know that New Yorkers got your back! Wild lesson, but he said he would come to General Conference so that's good! The rest of the day we didn't get to do a lot since we had to do weekly planning. Elder Pope and I also talked a lot today about life stuff and we were able to bond and grow closer through that! Elder Pope is truly an awesome guy and I love him a bunch! We also had this old missionary that went home about 9 weeks go pop by our apartment and visit us. I didn't know him but he reminded me a lot of Chicken Joe from Surfs Up. A super chill dude but cool. I can't wait to watch Conference tomorrow!

Saturday was awesome!  We got to watch conference and it was amazing! I love the focus now on family-centered gospel learning! The messages were super awesome and I know that President Nelson is truly the Prophet and the mantle he holds gives him the authority to lead this whole church and I sustain him as he does that! After Conference, we did studies the rest of the day and had dinner with an awesome member who is a super cool guy! He served his mission in New York and was actually across the river on 9/11 and he saw everything go down and witnessed that event first hand. He has a picture of him and some other missionaries with the towers burning behind them. It was super wild and I almost didn't believe him when he first told us, but it's true and we got to know him real well tonight. Even though we didn't get to do a lot today it was still an amazing day!

Sunday was a good day! Not much happened but we finished up watching conference! It was cool to see Elder Carpenter speak since he is from our ward in Colorado! He's the one who invited me to write in my journal every day on my mission and so far I haven't missed a day. Super cool stuff and I loved hearing President Nelson speak. He's so powerful and I loved hearing his message about using the correct name of the Church! I definitely could be better about that. After Conference, it was just studies and eating so nothing else exciting!

I love you all a bunch and am constantly praying for you all!

我愛你們!
宋長老

I STREET RACED IN TAIWAN AND WON!! - 10/8/18

你們好!

Monday was a physically demanding Preparation Day! We woke up early and did a hike in the Yang Ming Shan National Park. The hike was 2.5 kilometers up and it was tough! They had stairs but that was still pretty physically demanding and the last kilometer was almost vertical. No joke it was so steep! We reached the top and it was so worth it. The view was absolutely breathtaking. After the hike we grabbed some grub and walked around town! Then the Assistants and Office Elders came up to Danshui and we spent some time with them. We went to this fish place where the fish eat your feet and stuff. Super strange but relaxing and super fun! Once all that was over we did our grocery shopping and then I got a haircut! When I reunited with my generation of missionaries they all said I looked "rugged" with how long my hair had gotten. They were right, my hair was super long so I got it all buzzed off! Man I like it. Super low maintenance! Once P-day ended we had an awesome FHE with a recent convert and then did a little finding before ending another awesome day in 淡水!

Tuesday was a spiritually filling day! We had a Zone Council meeting in Beitou and it was super inspiring and I definitely learned a bunch! After the spiritual feast, we had a dessert with District Council! I learned a lot and definitely have renewed motivation to be the best missionary I can be! After District Council, we started our Zone Leader exchange and I went with Elder Swensen and we had an awesome night. We stopped and talked to a bunch of people and I learned a lot about talking with everyone and how important that is. We had to do some studies and stuff but we were able to meet some cool people and we gave 2 people English names because they asked us to! So now there is a Trevor and a Garret in Taiwan! It was super cool. It was a super awesome day! I love it.

Wednesday was the best day ever! We finished up our exchange and I taught a lesson with Elder Swensen and our friend accepted a baptismal goal! I am super happy for him and I hope he can keep to his goal of November 10! Before our exchange ended we did some studies and then met at the Chapel to switch back. Right after we switched back we were supposed to have a lesson at the church and that didn't happen because the guy never showed up! Maybe he'll come around and send us a line to meet up! We had to do some English class prep and then we did a District dinner and it was so fun! We shared a lot of laughs and had a good time. Afterward, we went and taught English class and my class was awesome! I love teaching class it brings me so much happiness and joy! It was an awesome way to end the best day ever!

Thursday was pretty chill. It was raining pretty much all day and so that made it super fun to bike around. We had two lessons today and both of those went super well. One of them especially I feel like he will progress a lot! Then the other lesson we invited him to set a baptismal goal and he accepted it! It is for December 1. I'm praying every day for the people that have a baptismal date that they can keep it! We also found some cool people today and had some interesting conversations with them. All in all, a super good day to be a missionary in Taiwan!

Friday honestly felt a little bit unproductive. We had to do weekly planning and on top of that, we had our usual studies so we didn't get to work until 6 o'clock. Then we rode over to Bali which took about 1 hour. So for those of you doing the math, at around 7 o'clock we started contacting people on the phone to see if we could visit them. No luck. As we were biking around there was this kid (about 14 or 15 years old) that started following us on his bike! I raced him down the street a few times and we had a good time! While biking on the road with him I talked to him about his family and stuff and then told him about the Book of Mormon and gave him our little handout about it and told him it could bless him and his family and he seemed to like that. So maybe he'll be able to read it and see those blessings! That was one of my favorite moments so far in Taiwan! Racing a kid down the street and telling him about Jesus Christ and His gospel! It was amazing. Other than that nothing much happened today but I did walk down a super narrow alley with rats running around in it so that was an interesting experience!

Saturday was quite an exciting day. We were in a parade! We had about 20 missionaries from a few different zones all come together and be in a parade celebrating the new LRT transportation opening up later this year. It was super cool to be with our ward members and other missionaries representing! President Peterson even came down and joined us in walking through the parade! When he saw my new haircut he said "Woahhhhhhh!" and just rubbed my head. It was pretty funny but he said it looked good and so I guess I have his stamp of approval lol! The parade was super fun and a great missionary opportunity! That was basically all of our time today though we did a little street finding which is pretty normal. The best thing from today was that while we were going down the street in the parade I saw a guy wearing an In-N-Out hat! No joke it was so awesome! I jumped off my bike and ran over and talked to him! He asked if I liked it and of course, I said "Yes! I used to work there!" Then he asked me if I missed it and I said I did a lot. It was so cool to see some INO gear in Taiwan!

Sunday was so sweet! It was fast Sunday today so I was able to fast and even though I may have been physically in want of nourishment, Heavenly Father made up for it in spiritual nourishment! The whole day was filled with cool experiences. I was asked by a member of the Bishopric to share my testimony today and that went well! I shared a scripture and shared some simple thoughts about it. Good stuff! After church, we had a baptismal service for an 8-year-old member of the ward. The members here are super organized and it was an awesome service. Elder Pope and I got to witness the baptism. Later in the night, we had a recent convert fireside and it was super good. I didn't understand too much of it but there was a bunch of musical numbers and I felt the spirit so strongly during the music numbers. One of them was my favorite song, Savior Redeemer of My Soul! President Peterson's dad sang an awesome musical number too. It was just so great! Oh, and I guess Church is 2 hours now. Crazy! We haven't watched Conference and won't until next week, but I am excited!

Anyways this week was amazing and I hope y'all had an awesome week too! Wonderful things are happening in Taiwan and I love it here!

宋希伯

BIKING THROUGH TAIWAN *ALMOST GONE WRONG* - 10/1/18

Hello from the beautiful island of Taiwan! This week was super awesome!

P-day was so much fun. Not gonna lie it was way better than my Kansas ones. We started off with touring an old museum sort of thing with a recent convert and it was super fun to learn more about Taiwan and its history. We also had lunch with that same member and that was super delicious. Taiwan food is different from American food for sure but it is super good! After lunch, we went with the other missionaries (we were with the elders that live with us and then the sisters in our area as well) to the fisherman's wharf area and hopped on a ferry to Bali. Bali is a touristy place and has lots of things to take in. It was super fun though we had a good time walking around and seeing everything! After we caught the ferry back, the Elders split up from the Sisters and we did our grocery shopping for the week. Taiwanese grocery shopping is definitely interesting but I got what I needed and it's all good! That was basically all we did outside on P-day we came back to the flat and I took a nap and then when I woke up it was time to go to work! We went to the college in town and we actually found a cool guy named Ian (that's his English name) and we were able to share the gospel with him! We also had a teaching appointment at the chapel with Robert (his English name) and he set a baptismal goal for November 10! I was able to teach some of the Restoration using the Chinese I have and I got the message across so that was uplifting for me! That wrapped up the day basically, it rained a lot today too and biking in it was fun. It was quite refreshing!

Tuesday was a fun day. We started the morning with studies and then we got a text from a member saying he needed our help opening up the chapel. So we biked over to the chapel and helped him out but there were people at the chapel the whole time so he didn't end up needing our help. We were able to do some companionship study and grab some lunch at Bafang (it's basically like the McDonald's of Taiwan. They have dumplings and potstickers and other super good stuff). Then we had district meeting! My first one! That was super cool.  We have the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders in our district and then my companion is the District Leader so I am pretty low on the totem pole in the District. But it's cool.  I can learn a lot from everyone. After District Meeting, we took off and did some language study at a 7-Eleven near the college. Then we bumped over to the college and had some curry for dinner. Then we walked around the college and ended the day with an appointment! One thing I've learned from missionary work here and something Elder Hogge says is that missionaries here are the worst loiterers. We hang out at 7-Elevens and other convenience stores and never buy anything. But it's a good place to study and the only downside is that we hear the same 5 TV commercials the whole time. There are worse things that could happen. In other new,s there is a typhoon coming in scheduled for Friday and so we are getting rained on here and there in preparation for that. It'll be a good time!

Wednesday was probably the best day in Taiwan yet! We started off the day with some awesome studies. One of the biggest things I learned from Kansas is that studies are so great and I really fell in love with the scriptures there! So now studies are one of my most favorite times of the week.  After studies we had a lesson near the college and the lesson went well. After the lesson, we had lunch with some other Elders and then I got my English Class prepared and ready to teach later in the day. Since we didn't do the rest of our studies before our lesson we did the rest of our studies at a Starbucks near our flat and it was super zen. It is so quiet and peaceful and studying there is awesome. The rest of the day flew by because we had dinner at a members house and then had our English classes. On the way to our dinner, it started pouring rain and we got drenched on our bikes and it was honestly super fun. We showed up absolutely drenched but it was alright. Then my English Class went well also! I had some help teaching today but I think that next week I'll be on my own. It is fun everyone is so nice and teaching them English makes me so happy. So today was an awesome day and Taiwan is great!

Thursday was AMAZING. We had such a good day. After our usual studies we had lunch provided for us by a new member. It was some more curry and after we ate we taught her a new member lesson which went well. My Chinese is slowly improving and I'm able to contribute more and more to lessons. After our lunch, we finished our studies and then we tried to talk with people near the college. We had a cool experience where we made a mutually binding promise with Heavenly Father to have gospel conversations and we were blessed with 3 solid gospel discussions and that definitely bolstered my faith. Like Elder Pope says, "We shouldn't have faith-building experiences but experiences built on faith". So I had that experience because of my faith that it could happen! We grabbed some dinner and then biked to the chapel for a new member lesson and a lesson with a new person being taught. Both went well! Our lesson with the person being taught went so well. It was his first meeting with us and we taught him about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We also told him about the Book of Mormon and he loved it. I was able to contribute a lot more because he spoke English also. I felt the spirit so much and it made my whole day great! Biking home it rained a bunch and it was a perfect cherry on top.

Friday was a good day. Lots of studies and planning today. Today was our weekly planning session and it went super awesome! This week's session was technically my second one in Danshui but this week I was actually awake and not nodding off (I did the first one my first full day on the island. Dang jetlag). It was super effective and Elder Pope and I really feel good about this next week! I love having planning like that. It's how I know we had the spirit and it was revelatory! Now we just need to go execute our plans. Other than our planning we did some street contacting and talked to some awesome people! Today was also supposedly typhoon day but I guess it juked out Taiwan and is gonna hit Japan. Oh well, it still rained here!

Saturday was an epic day. We started it off by going to a funeral. I never thought I would go to a funeral on my mission, but today I did. It was for the mom of a member in the ward. The deceased wasn't a member of the church but hopefully, in the Spirit World she will accept it! After the funeral, we went to a 7-Eleven and did some study and also had a lesson at the same 7. That lesson went super awesome! Then we went to a Starbucks for a back to back lesson which also went well. And then we went to a different Starbucks for our third lesson of the day! All of our lessons today went superb. We grabbed some dinner and then went to the chapel for our 4th lesson, and that's when our luck ran out. The dude never showed up! Luckily our 5th lesson showed up and that wrapped up the day! We were super busy and that's how I like it! I also like the slight fall breeze I feel when biking at night :)

Sunday was pretty chill! We went to church in the morning and that was really cool. It was the Primary Program and the theme was 我是神的孩子 or I Am A Child Of God. So far my only two Sundays here in Taiwan have been around that theme. It's a super great message to remember. We are all children of God and have a divine identity to him. How awesome is that! After church, we had Correlation Meeting and then had a little lunch provided by some members at the church then we went to another members house that had invited us over for lunch. It was all super tasty and one thing about eating food in Taiwan is that whenever someone treats you to food, they always make sure you eat until you're full. I get full easy here so it isn't too hard for them. When we got back to the apartment we did some studies then had a lesson with one of our friends who has a baptism goal. We talked about that a little bit today and went over the interview questions. Then out of nowhere, he asked me if I would baptize him! Wow! I was caught off guard a little but agreed to do it! So if he holds his date then I'll be baptizing him. This friend is super cool (he says I look like Matt Damon 😁😁). After the awesome lesson we didn't have much time to do anything after finishing some studies and dinner but we were able to go finding at the college campus and that wrapped up an awesome last day of the week!

This week was amazing and I love Taiwan! The people are the kindest you'll ever meet and it's just so amazing! It's hard to put into words! I love you all so much and stay tuned for next week's installment of "'Elder Ciminski Official"!

宋希伯