ANOTHER BAPTISM! (Season 5 Episode 4) - 2/18/19

Another week in the books!

Monday was a pretty good preparation day! We got the usual things done in the morning and then hopped on the train to go to 花蓮 and spend time with the missionaries up there. We did some emailing and lunch at the chapel and then we headed to the beach and played some frisbee and then went down to the water. I waded a bit and went to a different part of the beach than before and it was super cool. Another Elder found a fish clinging to life and he picked it up and saved it's life! Just another day on the job, it was pretty cool though. I really like standing on the beach and letting the waves hit me and roll back and forth. It's so relaxing and throw in some rocks to skip and I'm in heaven! It started to rain on our way back so going out to work tonight I had on my rain coat and some waterproof gloves I found on the ground earlier this week that work perfectly! I kept very dry and now don't really mind the rain that much. Goes to show how having the proper tools and preparations can change the outlook of the situation! Though I am looking forward to the summer a bit. Even though it will be scorching I'm an Arizona boy and the heat is always better than the cold!

Tuesday was a pretty great day. Due to the fact it is Tuesday we had district council in the wonderful land of 玉里! The weather was amazing compared to yesterday and 玉里 is a great place to be! The Zone Leaders came down as well and it turned out really well. I got some inspiration for how we can potentially help the people we are teaching so I will qualify that a great success! For lunch we were also able to eat 八方 and that's one of my favorite places to eat and since 鳳林 doesn't have it it's a treat whenever I can eat it! After our arrival back to our area we made a visit to one of our investigators who we haven't met with in a long time and were able to share a short message with them from the Book of Mormon! It was pretty cool but than right after we got stood up for a lesson with someone else. Such is life, ups and downs, wins and losses. All in all I can't complain I've been given so many blessings the little things don't matter in the end! Just like that one Hope Works speech, it won't matter in a thousand years.

Super great day on Wednesday! We started off the day going to a members home to read the Come Follow Me scriptures for the week. A few other members came also and we read the chapters. It was quite a stretch for me since I haven't studied characters but after a while, I was recognizing more and more. I still needed a lot of help though but I made it through! Nothing else super special happened today but we had an English Class today, my first one in 2 months! It was a little less than ideal since it's been so long since either Elder Crimm or I have taught. Now that we had 2 people come we can get back into the swing of it. Because I am English Unit Leader for our area I really wanna leave this English class better than I found it! I have some ideas but I also need to seek inspiration from Heavenly Father too. He knows the ways already! For now, I am thankful for the chance to have taught an English class. I really love teaching (not just English class, but teaching in general)! Now the hope is the students keep coming!

Happy Valentine's Day! Thursday was a good day. We did lots of biking but it feels good for the legs to get a good spin in. We did a lot of planning for English class today so we can have a great lesson next week! We also tried to visit one of our friends but they weren't home so we couldn't share with her so that just led to more English planning. I got a good feeling about this English class! At night we paid a visit to a returning member and invited him to church and he said he would try. His mom is having some problems so if she is doing well enough he will come. Then we did some exploring of a part of our area we haven't been too. When we do that it kind of feels like the Maze Runner because we are "running" out farther and farther, not necessarily to escape the maze but to find some cool people! And we always have to make it back in time at night! It's a stretch but it makes sense to me. And lastly, we saw a snake tonight on a road! It was pretty long just cruising around. Thankfully it was chill and didn't come after us!

Friday was a pretty interesting day. We had to spend a lot of time inside today for various planning things. We did our Weekly Planning Session and it went really well. We are scheduled to have a baptism next Saturday! Today I was also presented an opportunity to develop my singing talent once again! In our zone group chat the Zone Leaders asked if anyone wanted to do a musical number for our Zone Conference next Thursday. Elder Pope jokingly volunteered me and Elder Crimm, and someone else also joked that we wanted to do it. The jokes on them because now we are both singing in Zone Conference next Thursday! It'll be a great time but we gotta get practicing! Not only do I have the same first name as Heber J. Grant but I also share his sentiments about singing and that expression of talents.

What a historic day Saturday was! We woke up to the announcement of the new preparation day options for communications with our families! I think it's a cool change because it allows the family to be more involved with the missionary and makes it better for the whole family! As for what we did today though we did a lot of biking and some visits to people as well. Nothing super exciting but it rained and I always enjoy a good rain mixed with bike riding. Today was also another SYL day which means that outside the apartment we only speak Chinese (or very little English)! I think these days are really helping my Chinese so that's a good sign. Onward and upward from here!

Wow Sunday was a whirlwind! We had an awesome church meeting and it was nice to have the schedules sent out in advance this week! We got it Thursday or so and I scanned it to make sure I wasn't speaking or anything... I hope you see where this is going. I rechecked the schedule 10 minutes before the meeting started and sure enough I was slated to share a testimony and spiritual thought during sacrament meeting! It all worked out. I shared some scriptures and talked a bit about service and helping others, and although I'm not a man of eloquence, I feel very good about my share and I hope it helped some others too. After church we learned about and organized the baptismal service for the friend that was going to be baptized this Saturday! Thankfully we were able to get train tickets up to 花蓮 and everything worked out. The service was great and I was able to be a witness and I just felt the spirit so strong throughout the whole time. Baptism is such an amazing thing! Even though the whole trip took up our whole day I don't regret it at all. To see someone be baptized is always worth it!!

Such a great week this week!! Being a missionary is awesome and I appreciate all of the prayers and support I am receiving! They truly make a difference every day.

宋長老
Elder Ciminski

ARAGOG STRIKES AGAIN! (Season 5 Episode 3) - 2/11/19

It's 過年 time and that means some crazy stories!

P-day was so amazing on Monday! We woke up in 吉安 and had a great morning. It was a little special though because of Chinese New Year and in the tradition of doing a lot of cleaning at this time of year, all the missionaries deep cleaned their apartments! Since we weren't at our own apartment we helped clean the other Elder's apartment and I had a lot of fun doing it. Cleaning is so fun and it feels great afterwards! I found some cool little trinkets I'm taking back to 鳳林 with me but one of those trinkets is a pair of slacks! So it's not all useless 😜. After the cleaning we went to the beach and played some football and frisbee. I had probably the best games of my whole life! In football we were going to 4 and the first to get 4 points wins. Of those 4 points I scored 3 kickoff return touchdowns and got 1 interception and ran it all the way down the field for the 4th touchdown. That good of a game reignited my dreams of playing rugby (sorry, Mom probably doesn't wanna hear that). In frisbee I made a sweet diving catch to score a point for my team and all in all today was a great day athletically for me. That made me super happy 😊 (it also paralleled nice with the Super Bowl going on at the same time. Which I forgot about until another missionary talked about it). We finished off the day with an amazing dinner with the Bishop's family and today is officially 過年 time so there was a lot of food and it turns into a game since they won't let you stop eating! The food was so good so I didn't mind eating a ton of it. Because of the New Year there are so many fireworks going off all day I love the atmosphere! At first impressions this is gonna be a great week!

Tuesday was such a cool day. I got to go to the land of my forefather. By that I mean I finally got to go to the area Elder Pope talked about the most (of his previous areas) when I was in training, 玉里! We are now in a district with those Elders and the Elders in 鹿野. And that means the 3 most remote areas of the mission have assembled into the three kingdoms. It's pretty awesome and we had a great District Council. The 鹿野 Elders couldn't make it so it was just 4 of us but we just talked about our areas and got to know each other more and our areas too. Even though it wasn't an actual training I felt so much upliftment because we can all relate to our areas and can really take our challenges and concerns and bring them in to receive awesome suggestions from others going through the same things. I am glad this district has been formed because it's going to do a lot of good! Travel ate up a lot of time but that's the reoccurring theme of being in this area. The travel time is great and the reimbursement amounts are super great! I wouldn't have it any other way, 鳳林 is heaven on earth.

Wednesday was a fun day. And with it being the 6th of the month it also is another month mark on my mission, number 8! Onward, ever onward! The work never ceases. Today we had a good time knocking. We did a little exploring and a dog started following us around and we ended taking some pretty awesome unplanned pictures (me and the dog), and it was a cool view! Then a bit later we ended up finding the house the previously mentioned dog was from and we talked with the lady living there. She seems pretty set in her religious preference but we still left her with a Book of Mormon and hopefully she'll feel impressed to read it! When we were leaving the house two of their other dogs came up and I started petting them and squatted down to get close to them. Then as we were walking away the lady said that one of the dogs bites people, but it didn't even hint at that with me, not even a bark or growl. As Elder Crimm and I were walking way all I said was, "I'm Daniel dude." It was super cool! I know all the times dogs haven't given me a hard time has been a blessing from Heavenly Father and I sure am grateful for it! I also saw some clovers that had heart shaped leaves so that was cute. Overall today was an awesome day!

What a day. Thursday was lots of biking and a lot of it probably wasn't necessary. We had set up with our friend previously talked about in previous weeks (the Book of Mormon miracle one) and we biked all the way to his house (45 minute ride) and when we show up his Grandma walks out and tells us he had "things" and had to leave. So it was a bummer that that happened. All is well we will learn for next time. We had an awesome dinner tonight as part of Chinese New Year celebrations and that was basically the day! Nothing super exciting since we also did Weekly Planning also. That went super well though I took some pages from my Kansas book and I feel super good about it all! We made a "Plan 2 Baptize" and I have the faith that if we follow the plan we will see some results!

Friday was a super great day. We had a great morning and had our apartment inspection with President! He video called us and we showed him our clean apartment and I'm pretty proud of it. When I first got here things were super dingy but after some hard work we've got it super clean! We have 3 guitars in the apartment which is fun. Elder Crimm plays one and I fixed up one of them and now I'm learning the guitar! It's pretty fun I got a PDF from Elder Crimm of a whole lesson book so I can really learn the basics and build up. As for today's events we had a great lunch with a member and his family and man, during Chinese New Year they feed you a ton. I ate so much I felt so uncomfortable after. The food was good though, I absolutely love Taiwan food. We walked around a lot today as well trying to find people and I was able to swap some more stories with Elder Crimm and get to know him a bit better so that was fun as well. All in all a really good day!

Saturday was such a great day! We just did some knocking and whatnot up until our dinner! Tonight it was the last New Year's dinner with members! And this one was with 陳榮光 and his family! Their family is so cool we had a great time talking and we even heard Brother 陳's conversion story. He's been doing stunts and other cool stuff his whole life, but I loved what he said about the gospel changing his life along with his wife's life also. He hasn't had it easy either, lots of accidents and such that made him angry before he heard the Gospel, but he's always so happy and I truly believe it's because of the Gospel. I know that the Gospel has made my life have so much more happiness, so I know it can be that way for others also. Lastly, on a fun side note when we got to their house they had a Maze Runner movie playing, I think it was The Death Cure, it looked really good so I'll have to check it out someday. I've definitely cherished those little exposures to "worldy" things as I have gone further along in my mission. Tender mercies? I think so.

Sunday was a slow Sabbath. They usually are and I think it's pretty nice. We had a great church service and I blessed the Sacrament again. The prayers are becoming more familiar in Chinese and I can understand the meaning so it is more than just sounds. It makes a difference! I am glad I have had the chance to do it so much and become more familiar with them. Aside from church, nothing super exciting happened. Except for the fact we killed 2 more spiders as big as my hand. The first one of the day I got on video but the second one I missed! I flubbed up and I'm pretty bummed because it was quite the ordeal killing the second one. It was in a corner in the roof and we ended up taking one of Elder Crimm's sandals and throwing it at the spider to get it to hopefully fall on the ground and then when it fell we put a box full of heavy things on top of it to crush it. It was pretty gnarly but I will sleep better knowing that two less giant spiders are crawling around the chapel! Hopefully we don't have any more run-ins with Aragog and his posse.

The Chinese New Year time is over and it was exciting! Lots of fireworks going off all over the place and a lot of people coming too see their families. It was an exciting time and it was great to experience the culture even more! 新年快樂!

宋長老

Elder Ciminski

WE HAD ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE! (Season 5 Episode 2) - 2/4/19

Another week another crazy adventure on the Isla Formosa!

Monday we had an awesome preparation day. The Elders from 吉安 came and slept over at our apartment Sunday night so we could party in 鳳林! We had a super cool adventure biking around and taking lots of pictures on bridges, underneath them and every place in between! It was a super fun day and we were blessed with amazing weather. Recently it's been cold and cloudy and really feeling like winter but today it was sunny, warm and felt so awesome. I definitely am thanking Heavenly Father for that blessing. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed, I gave another haircut (I'm a good missionary barber if I do say so myself). Then when we got back to work we knocked the whole time. I'm tired of not being able to teach people and I really want to teach someone I'm really busting my chops to find and begin teaching. So I'm going to do whatever it takes to make it happen. Stay tuned for the results of this effort!

Tuesday was a great day. We had lots of scheduled finding time today and so we were able to get a lot of knocking done. We did get stood up by our hopeful friend from last week (the one that lives very far away and already had a Book of Mormon), but that just gave us more time to knock. We need all the time to find we can get. We have a very shallow teaching pool and I want to make sure that changes because I want to teach! Although with Chinese New Year coming up people are very busy and getting appointments is going to be challenging. It will give us some time to do member work.  And some members are generous enough to feed us! Back to today though, we also had a fun run-in with fireworks! As we were knocking some kids were running around and lighting off crackers and whatnot and we were caught in the thick of it! They were popping all around us and it was awesome! It's an exciting time to be in Taiwan!

Wednesday was a great day. I feel like I really made today count. We didn't have any lessons or anything and we once again had no students show up for English class. It's all good though. Whatever spare time we had today we spent knocking. We had some cool conversations and handed out a lot of tracts. We also walked up a cool hill and it had an amazing view of the valley and surrounding mountains so of course, I had to get a picture! Taiwan is so beautiful even when it's all cloudy. Words are inadequate to express how grateful and fortunate I am to be here. Sometimes when knocking I feel like I'm really testing the definition of insanity. We try the same things without different results. Just because the results aren't changing right now I know that they will soon. I have faith that Heavenly Father has put prepared people in this area. The last point for today is I am starting to speak more Chinese and despite my stutter making its presence known occasionally, I press forward and I'm feeling like I'm improving a lot! There's always a silver lining to everything . Speaking of the language, we had a small earthquake today during language study! I was sitting at my desk (we did it inside today since Elder Crimm's back is hurting), and all the sudden things started shaking for about 10 seconds! It was pretty small but still a unique experience, only my second Taiwan earthquake!

Thursday we had an awesome Zone Council in 台東! That meant that our day was pretty much taken up by train travel, council, dinner and our train back. It was a great time though and we talked about planning and making sure we are doing meaningful things. I really enjoyed it because that's a focus I want to have is making sure that everything I do is furthering our area and contributing to that growth. It will definitely have a lot of future application in my personal ministry. We had dinner at Sam's Burger again and I got the granddaddy of all burgers. I didn't finish it though because I had too much to eat before dinner but I got some good leftovers to enjoy later! That was pretty much today, travel and council. It was nice to see Elder Pope once again and other members of the Zone I don't get to see too often. In my opinio,n our zone is the best in the mission so I feel very lucky to be a part of it and learn so much from others.

Friday we had a pretty busy day with lots to get done. We were able to make some visits and even had a surprise lesson with someone we found a couple weeks ago! That was a pretty cool thing. We also biked 10 kilometers to 光復 and taught a lesson there as well. So 2 lessons in one day is definitely something to be happy about! I'm definitely pleased. This weekend is gonna be pretty crazy though, it is Chinese New Year next week but the people have started celebrating way early and it turns into just a whole February holiday. We also have church in 花蓮 and 2 different people treating us to food both Sunday and Monday. I'm excited for my first 過年 in Taiwan!

Saturday was an interesting day. We had to get a lot of behind the scenes stuff done. With the Chinese New Year coming up we had to shop for groceries since the grocery store won't be open most likely. Basically, everything closes down so there will be lots of time to celebrate and have a good time! We also had weekly planning today as well as trying to teach English class. Once again we didn't have any students so it was just more piano practice time for me! My skills are slowly improving I can muddle my way through a lot of the hymns. We also had a lesson scheduled but when we showed up everyone was drunk so that didn't go as planned, and since there was a lot of smoking as well, I think my lungs got a little more black. The last part of the day we caught a train to 花蓮 and will be here until Monday night. On the train, this crazy drunk dude sat right next to Elder Crimm and I and started talking with us and we were the only ones in the train car so it was very awkward. We just kinda let him do his thing and we did ours. Taiwan definitely isn't short in the memorable experiences category.

Sunday was such an awesome Sabbath! It started off amazing when I woke up and looked out the window it was such a beautiful sunrise and it blew me away I had to take pictures of it, of course. We had some good studies in the morning as well and by the time we finished it all, it was time for church! Because it was fast Sunday we attended in 花蓮. It was a good fast and testimony meeting and I definitely feel renewed and refreshed going into this new week. After church was done we helped the Elders make some arts and crafts for their various member dinners during this New Years week. Then we went to a member dinner of our own! It was so delicious. So much good food and I definitely ate my share. The members in Taiwan are so giving to missionaries it is amazing. We went street contacting the rest of the night and actually got one person to set up and hear more about the gospel so I quantify that an absolute success!

This last week was pretty interesting and this next week is going to be great too! I love you all and can't wait to share it with you!

宋長老
Elder Ciminski

TOUR DE TAIWAN STAGE 1 (Season 5 Episode 1) - 1/28/19

Woah this week was wild! Hopefully my writing will capture it all.

So Monday we had preparation day and we spent it at the chapel in 花蓮 all day. We had a super good time we played some basketball and just talked with other missionaries about random stuff. It was really fun! Before we went up I sent some letters from the post office, I am still a firm believer in snail mail! I love writing and receiving it. And it's really cheap so even better! Today was a really fun day I enjoyed it all. Last night we got transfer details and I already knew I was staying here (and President keeps saying I'll stay for 4 transfers. Like I said before though I'm taking it transfer by transfer). The work we did tonight was just knocking around but it was also a full moon tonight and I was looking at a moon and it just kind of hit me how big the solar system is and how many other things are out there but God knows them all individually. How amazing is that! Someone who knows all of that to care about us individually and loves us so much just fills me with so much joy.

Tuesday was very interesting. We spent the morning doing service for our group leader. We moved some boxes onto a truck and went with him all the way down to 花蓮 basically to drop them off at this little shop place I guess he is turning into his own bike repair shop. It's actually super cool! The drive down the highway was so amazing. I just had my arm out the window and feeling the nice crisp winter wind and seeing more of the beautiful island just filled me with such an all-around joy. We had District Council not too long afterward so we got dropped off at the chapel which was really nice. District Council was nice, but a little sad since 鳳林 will be moving into a new district with 玉里 and 鹿野. These three areas are the three most remote in the whole mission so we are nick-naming ourselves "The 偏僻 Kingdoms" since we are all so remote. It'll be a good time though since we are all in the same boat we can have better discussions about our areas and help each other more. It'll be super cool! On our way back to the train station to come home some members from 台北 treated us to some stinky tofu randomly. Tasty and a super nice gesture! Once we got home we had to do personal and companionship study after dinner so that was the rest of our day. An interesting day but sometimes missions will have those!

Wednesday was pretty dang awesome. We saw such a cool miracle! We went to a part of our area pretty far away (approximately an hour away as the biker bikes). Neither Elder Crimm or I were familiar with this place so we decided to go and check it out today. As we were knocking doors I saw a kid sweeping his driveway a few doors down and just felt like talking with him. So after the door we were at didn't answer I walked over to start talking with him. I ended up helping him sweep his driveway and we talked about the gospel (he also had some American pop music playing in the background so that was a tender mercy), and he eventually invited us inside to share a quick message. While inside, we shared a scripture and he set up to hear more on Saturday! What makes it even cooler is as I was sitting there looking at this kid's super cool house I noticed a bookcase way across the room and noticed one book in particular. I recognized it after a second and then when we walked out on the way I walked over to this case and pulled out a BOOK OF MORMON he already had in his house! I invited him to read the introduction before Saturday and he said he would! Heavenly Father has blessed me with a keen sense of observation and it has proved helpful many times on my mission and I am grateful for that gift. That was a little long of a story but it was so cool I just had to share it! Miracles happen! God is a God of miracles!

Thursday was the first day of the new transfer! And that meant I could wear a different tie! I'm not sure if any of you noticed but I wore the same tie every day last transfer. It actually got hard towards the end, but I stuck it out! Let's just say though, I probably won't wear that tie again for a long time... Today was a weird day because we had an activity for our ward in 花蓮 and today was transfer day too so the bikes we usually use in the city were all taken. That led to us biking 20 miles from 鳳林 all the way to 花蓮! It was a long ride (an hour and 40 minutes) but we saw some amazing scenery and I felt super good after finishing. The activity was also super awesome because it was centered on motivating youth to go on missions! That's one of President Peterson's biggest goals for us as missionaries is to strengthen the church in Taiwan and help the youth go on missions. It's super awesome to be a part of this amazing countries church growth! After the activity, there was a train that could take our bikes back on it to 鳳林 so we didn't have to bike back thankfully! Despite being busy and not having a lot of actually missionary time today (we also did weekly planning today too), I feel super good about how things are going and I am ready for my next transfer in this awesome area!

Friday was a good day. Nothing too exciting happened but I did cut my hair once again. I recently read a talk from Tad R. Callister about becoming a consecrated missionary (what it is with him and giving great talks???) Part of the talk that really hit home was laying pride on the sacrificial altar of missionary work. I really do like my hair, especially when it is long and I can do stuff with it. After reading the white handbook for grooming I decided it was too long so I took my longest guard on my clippers to it. It was definitely a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be but hair grows back. No worries, now it is a more appropriate length that I am happy with. That's one of many things I will be changing this transfer to be a better missionary. Some will be physical, like hair, and others will be more internal, like not thinking about trivial things that don't matter at the time. Nonetheless, this next transfer is only the beginning of the transformation. It'll be exciting to see all the great things that will happen!

Saturday was a day of letdowns. We started the day with 3 lessons scheduled and ended the day having taught none of them. Plus another English class with no students. Those two parts of the day were kinda tough but I still end up feeling so much joy at the end of the day. It's awesome how that works out. A few days ago I found a straw hat on the road and decided to keep it and clean it up. I wore it out walking around town today and I feel like a pioneer with it, people should start calling me "Brother Heber". That would be pretty funny. The mission has given me lots of time to reflect on my previous years and now I have a small flicker of desire to go on Trek but now my time has passed. The pioneers are a great example for us all we would do well to learn about their faith and their stories. They still have application today! Church history in its entirety is super cool to study. I guess that's some of my thoughts from the day, kinda all over the place but that's how it is sometimes! 

Sunday was pretty slow. We had an awesome church meeting in the morning and after that, the day was pretty slow and relaxing. We did our studies and then waited for a member to get back to us about a potential visit to our investigator. We did actually end up making the visit and it was such a good visit. We went over the time limit we established and the members that came with us provided such a strong testimony. When they finished sharing we all just sat there and I was feeling the spirit so strongly. It was such a powerful lesson and I know it helped our friend feel the spirit too and will help her progress towards baptism more. That was definitely the best part of the day. The Spirit is such an amazing thing and it is such a great privilege we have as members of the church to have the chance to always have it with us. I am trying to always feel the spirit and it is my wish for everyone to do the same! Without the spirit it's like going on a dangerous expedition with no directional tools. It's so necessary!

I love you all a bunch and I'm always praying for you! I know you pray for me and I can feel the power of those prayers when I need it most. Thank you!

宋長老

Elder Ciminski

I CAN'T EVEN THINK OF A TITLE FOR THIS. - 1/21/19

You probably already know what I am going to say about this week. It was awesome as always!!

Monday we had such a fun day. The night before we took a train to 花蓮 to stay the night and make preparation day a little more convenient. So I woke up, got my study done, worked out and got ready for the day and then we all got up and headed out because we did a hike! This hike was notorious for causing some strong ankle pain and stuff so I was worried about my knees because they aren't the best. Long story short we had an amazing hike but my knees are hurting a bit. I bought knee braces today for future hikes so I won't feel uncomfortable. After that we did the usual game of ultimate frisbee and spent time with a lot of missionaries having some fun! After that we just came back to our area, got stood up for our lesson, and then spent the rest of the time arranging times to meet with members of our small group this week. Even with getting stood up today was a great way to start the week!

Tuesday was sweet because we had District Council in 花蓮 and got to grow more as a District. The Sisters weren't there today so I volunteered my very limited piano abilities... let's just say I got a long way to go. I still think I'm progressing well since I have really only learned on my mission and time is limited. After our District Council, we just came back to our area and got to work! We tried to visit some members and they were all sleeping. They are also all pretty aged so I don't blame them. We did go knocking though and ended up having an awesome with a girl who is a student at a college in 花蓮 but we talked about the Bible and we all shared our favorite story from it. It was super cool and she ended up expressing interest in the Gospel so it's super exciting! It was a great rebound from my lame attempts at contacting early in the night. Whenever I tried to talk I would stutter and for lack of a better way to put it I was a man of a stammering tongue like Moses. It was a blow to my confidence but I got over it and I'll try to improve in the future. Not every day can be perfect but that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up! Every day is a great day when you're serving a mission in the best country ever!

Wednesday was a crazy day. Some interesting experiences. The first being I had a dream last night but in my dream, I heard my alarm tone I wake up to every morning. Hearing this triggered something in my head so I actually woke up in real life! It doesn't stop there, I started saying my morning prayer and during this prayer I actually had this thought come to me, "wait. Did my alarm even go off?" and when I finished the prayer I checked my phone and it was only 4 AM! So I got some more sleep but it was a funny experience. The other crazy thing is we finally took care of the spider in the chapel that was bigger than my hand. We mustered the courage to take care of it and when we went to go do it IT HAD MOVED. We both freaked out but I was even more scared because this thing could have been anywhere. We finally located it and it was positioned perfectly in between water jugs and the wall. So I filmed and did my best Bear Grylls imitation while Elder Crimm squashed the thing. It was so wild I am just relieved the problem is resolved. Nonetheless it ,was an awesome day! 

Thursday was a more administrative day. We had studies then did our weekly planning session. So lots of discussion and planning for our people we are teaching. After we finished that however, we had a cool visit with our 小組 leader and his family. Our message centered around thanking them for all they put into our group. They honestly do so much and I feel like they don't always get the thanks they deserve so it felt good to express to them how we felt. They were very grateful. That was pretty much the day though. Nothing super exciting but I loved it! Got some good biking miles in today. I think I might be biking more miles than dad is 😜!

Friday was a pretty good day. We had our normal Friday basketball and share experience. Except this time we shared with the mom before we played and then the kids after. It was super cool and I have hope for all of them to progress. That was a lot of the day though by the time we finished studies and things like that. There isn't too much to share from the day but I was reading the Life of Heber C. Kimball and came across such a powerful quote that hit me hard. This is the Lord talking to Heber and it says, "therefore thy name is written in heaven, no more to be blotted out forever, because of these things; and this Spirit and blessing shall rest down upon thy posterity for ever and ever: for they shall be called after thy name..." This hit me so hard especially when I read that they will be called after his name. I guess it is pretty obvious why that stuck out to me but I am continually striving to add upon my great name and give it a fame that cannot be slain! Our names are so important we shouldn't do anything to mess up something so important!

Saturday was a slower day. We spent the day trying to visit some members and that ended up well. They really enjoy talking so the control is a tad difficult but it was nice to just hear what they had to say. It makes me wonder how many people actually listen to them and have conversations with them. After the visits and stuff like that we went to teach a lesson, and the people weren't home so we got stood up. It wasn't the worst situation ever because as a result we got to meet a cool family and they shared some oranges with us and we shared the message of the Restoration with them! The father believes that all Christian churches are the same, which is a common belief here, but we will hopefully be able to fix that belief and help him realize what makes our church the only true and living church upon the face of the Earth! Today was a good day, lots of biking and talking with people. A pretty normal day in the life of a Taiwan missionary!

Sunday was super cool! We had a cool church meeting and had a cool Come Follow Me lesson. I love the new program. I just wish I had an English copy of the orange book I could use for myself! I'll hopefully acquire one soon. After church we talked with a member for a bit and she was showing us videos of her husband's work because they were recently in China doing stuff. He is the member that does all the motorcycle racing and stunts and stuff. So the videos were super cool it looks like a lot of fun! After we got home though we did the usual routine and then went on a visit with our group leader to a member whose brother died recently. We sang some songs and said a prayer with him, I hope it helped him feel better. We then went and biked around a bit and tried to knock some doors to close the day. Some more rejection but it's all good. Like I mentioned before I'm planting seeds! On a side note I was watching a video from the LDS Media Library about Zions Camp and it was cool to see it put to visual form. That was definitely quite the experience for those involved but it helped prepare the leaders and future leaders of the church in that time. It was super cool!

That's all I got for this week I hope you all are doing great! I'm sending prayers your way always. 加油!

宋長老

Elder Ciminski

I GOT CAT-CALLED - 1/14/19

This week was lots of meetings and traveling but a great week to be a missionary!

Monday we had a great preparation day in 花蓮. We had a delicious lunch with all the missionaries in the city and then went to the beach again to play some frisbee! I absolutely love playing frisbee it's so much fun! Then we sat and watched the ocean all together and just hung out and talked with everyone. There were some surfers out catching some waves as well. The whole atmosphere was amazing. The sound of the ocean is one of my favorites. That was basically the day though, we did play some Uno with some Elders at their apartment and that was surprisingly fun. Elder Crimm has some fun twists that make it a blast. That was basically the day though the night wasn't exciting. Just tried finding and got told no a bunch. No worries though we are trying and that's what matters.

Tuesday was pretty average. I did get to go for a run this morning and that felt good. I hope to make it more of a habit and maybe even get some speed back in my legs! Before I got ready for the day I gave myself a quick haircut (perks of having your own clippers).  Other than that nothing too monumental happened, but we saw so many dogs today! A lot of dogs out here are super wild, but I'm not scared at any time. I feel like Daniel and just know that I won't have anything happen to me. Most of these dogs just want some love and attention, it's pretty hard to come by here. That was pretty much the day but tomorrow starts the busy next few days!

Wednesday was crazy. We had interviews with President Peterson and that was a cool experience. He gave us all new Language Study copies of The Book of Mormon and I was so happy! They are hardbound, have the newest Chinese translation they just finished and look so awesome! Who would have thought I would be so excited for a new book. I definitely am! President also said if he can he will leave me in this area for 4 transfers which means I'll move May 30. If that happened though I wouldn't mind at all. This area is great for learning and growing if I am fortunate to stay here for long enough it will be a great opportunity for me. However, he was saying the same sort of things about wanting to leave missionaries in areas longer before I left 淡水. So I'll still take it transfer by transfer and we'll see what happens. Other than interviews, we didn't do much today due to the troublesome train times and trying to teach English class (which nobody showed up to). Even though we get rejected a lot in this area I take solace in the fact that I am trying and doing what I can. People have agency and they use it according to their own will, I can't change that. Someday they will come to realize the truth of what we have to offer!

Thursday was such an amazing day. In the morning I went running again and have come to realize how much I miss it. There are some things I have been surprised to find that I miss about home, cross country and track being two of those things. It's been good to start running again and start the morning off great. Today we had zone council in 台東 which meant we had to take a train for 2 hours to get down there and then our train didn't leave till approximately 7 o'clock. So our whole day was spent traveling or hanging out with other missionaries. It was so much fun though we went to a burger place altogether and had such a good time talking and spending time together. They had American music playing so that wasn't too bad either 😉. I enjoy being around other missionaries it's just so empowering and makes me motivated and so happy to be a missionary. I was able to see Elder Pope today and talk with him as well. He's doing good and it was so good to see him! So many other cool things happened today it's hard to sum up here. That's what my hard copy journal is for though! I'm making so many amazing memories everyday I gotta write it all down!

Friday was a super fun day. I did another run this morning, my legs aren't used to all this work all the sudden, but I love the feeling. So I will keep on doing it! We also had our weekly basketball and spiritual share combo with our teaching friends. It didn't go super as planned, at the games they started smoking and chewing betel nut with their friends they brought with them. I didn't like that and if it happens next week we might cancel the activity and reestablish our purpose and expectations with them. Since it is ultimately about the spiritual aspect and not the basketball. On a lighter note though, I got cat-called today. We were biking by a school and I was waving at some kids playing ball and then a few groups of girls noticed me and I was still waving so they all started waving and calling out cat-calling type noises and things like that as I rode by. That definitely gave me a good laugh and a smile to wear the rest of the day. Turns out one of the students was a daughter of a member in our small group (she didn't call out though). Lots of good experiences to be remembered for sure. This area is great in a lot of aspects. Including those types of memories.

Saturday was a super uneventful day in all honesty. We walked around and did studies and also set up and waited for an English class... that never happened since nobody showed up once again. That's okay though we will have a class eventually I just don't know when. After that less than successful attempt we did our weekly planning session and had some dinner and basically, by the time we got out the door and on our bikes for the first time, it was 8 PM. I was determined to go make something awesome happen. And we did it! We knocked only 4 houses but the very last one was a kind man who is letting us come back Monday night to share more about Jesus and the Book of Mormon! Cool stuff happens with a little faith and a determination to go at all hazards to make it happen. The will of Heavenly Father is to gather Israel and spread the gospel and nothing will stop that work!

Sunday was a great day! We had church in the morning and Elder Crimm and I were blessed with the opportunity to bless the sacrament today. It brings me great joy to be able to use the Priesthood and help bless others lives. Like Heber C. Kimball said once, "being a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, I stood ready at all times to administer the ordinances of the Gospel." I have been really reading the book about his life recently and have found some great insights into how I can become a missionary as Heber was and become a servant of the Lord like him! I have been blessed to bear his name and like Helaman 5 states, "... that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good." What a privilege to wear the names of Jesus Christ, my family, and my ancestor every day on my nametag. Well, that was a thought I didn't think I would share today but there it is! Today was an awesome day and we taught two slightly crazy people today. Since most of our town is a little off their rockers I wasn't surprised.

This week was so amazing! I also want to invite all of you to read the talk by Tad R. Callister titled, "What is The Blueprint of Christ's Church?" It's such a great talk, just like all of his General Conference talks! If y'all have time give it a look. I love you all so much I keep you in my prayers everyday! And the last quote I'll end with is "I commend you for your duty, now God's blessing go with you."

宋長老

Elder Ciminski

I'M A TRACK STAR ONCE AGAIN - 1/7/19

This week was one of much travel and some fun adventures!

Monday was preparation day! We went to 花蓮 and played some board games with other missionaries, not the most exciting thing ever but it was relaxing. Elder Crimm and I wore our student outfits today and got a lot of weird looks, even more than we usually do. It was fun though. haha. I'm always a fan of people looking us funny and chuckling. Basically, P-day wasn't too exciting and after we began working we made some cookies to bring with us on a member visit tomorrow. So basically our day was super slow and we didn't do too much. Tomorrow is a new year and the start of my blackout year. One full year as a missionary, how awesome is that! I can't wait for everything 2019 has to offer. Let the fun begin!

Tuesday was a surprising day! We had District Council in 花蓮 so we were getting ready to hit the train and then our District Leader texted us and wanted to do exchanges after District Council. So we had to pack an overnight bag to stay the night in 花蓮! District Council was super good and then afterward we had a secondary meeting about an activity all the missionaries are putting on to help the youth get pumped for serving missions. They want to make a video and because everyone knows I'm a YouTuber they kinda put me in charge of it. So I get to use my skills to make an awesome video about missionary work! I'm super excited. I am working with 2 other missionaries who have video experience, it's gonna be so cool. After all the meetings though we started our exchange. I am with a native Taiwanese elder named Elder 方 (fang). He is a fun Elder to work with this should be a good exchange! So despite having a surprise exchange and meetings galore today was so awesome!

Wednesday was pretty good. We finished up our exchange in 花蓮 and made it down to our area safely. It is getting more and more troublesome to travel up to the city. They recently changed some of the train times and whatnot so it means we only have a few windows of times we can travel. It's a little difficult but with better and more thorough planning it will all work out just the same as before! We filled up our night with finishing studies, eating and then riding around to try and visit some potentials. We tried to teach an English class but nobody showed up... maybe next week will be better. 鳳林 is awesome I am learning so much from this area!

Thursday we did a lot of biking. We didn't have much going on so we biked about 40 minutes to try to find some people and didn't find anyone, then biked back to eat some dinner then biked 20 minutes to a lesson and 20 minutes back. This area has so much biking! It's good for my health though, maybe I have a lung disease like Elder Uchtdorf did and this is helping that become better. I'm just kidding but this area is definitely a lot more labor intensive. There is seemingly no return for the labor. I know that I am planting seeds for people to hear the gospel. Abinadi only had one convert but look who that one convert turned into! That thought came across my mind today and I am holding to it. The people in this area will be baptized someday! Even if it's not by me.

Friday was pretty abnormal. The sun was out and shining and it even felt a little warm! I can't even remember the last time I saw the sun before today. It turned out to be such a pleasant day. The highlight of it was probably playing basketball again with one of our investigator's kids and growing that relationship with them. We also shared an awesome message with them including my favorite Mormon Message called, "The Hope of God's Light". It was super awesome and they enjoyed it too! Another awesome thing was that I won a 100M dash! One of the kids we were playing ball with challenged us and I accepted so we lined up and he started before "go" was even said but we took off. I was going as fast as I could but he had the lead for a lot of it. Then towards the end, I came storming back and came out the winning end of a close finish. It was just like all of the Usain Bolt races I watched! It felt good to run like that again, I really ought to get back into it especially with a track so convenient to our apartment. Anyway, that was my awesome Friday! Lots of sport and gospel sharing.

Saturday was a quick day! We did our usual studies and then we grabbed some grub and did our weekly planning session! We got to talk about our friends and how we will help them progress in the gospel, good stuff! Afterward, we got some dinner and then went to the chapel for the rest of our hour. I played some piano and enjoyed the spirit of the hymns and songs from the children's songbook. Even though my piano skills are very poor I am improving! Afterward, however, we had a lesson and then went to the train station to catch a train to 花蓮. Because our small group goes up to the ward in 花蓮 every fast Sunday, but train times are very hard to align, we have to go up the night before in order to make sure we can go to church! It's fun to travel and stuff so I enjoy it. All part of the experience!

Sunday was a great day! We started off the morning hanging out with the Elders we crashed with last night. The Taiwan Taipei Mission has some pretty dang good missionaries I'm surrounded by so many amazing people! We did have church today and it was the first two-hour block for the ward we attend on fast Sundays. Since our small group already does 2 hours it wasn't a big adjustment but it's great to see the implementation of this change! How amazing it is to have a living prophet to lead and guide us. After church our Bishop told us to come to his office he said he had something he needed us for. Turns out he needed to give us all macaroni and cheese! Not just any macaroni and cheese. IT WAS KRAFT MACARONI AND CHEESE, LIKE FROM AMERICA. All 6 of us started freaking out we didn't expect it at all but it was such a miracle. I'm so grateful for it. After we traveled home and ate dinner we had a quick lesson (went very not as expected... that's all I'll say about it). Overall such an awesome day I'm so grateful I have been a missionary for these last 7 months (today is another month mark!) 

I love you all so much! I'm praying for y'all constantly. 加油!

宋長老

Elder Ciminski