透過天堂的眼睛，看你的生活 (Season 14 Episode 2) - 2/10/20

Greetings and salutations, 大家好!

Monday was an awesome day! We had a killer preparation day and we are starting a new tradition of going to Costco with the other Elders for shopping and lunch. So we did that and I bought some food to make for this week that will be a bit healthier and help me re-establish my previous habits. Aside from that, we just hung out around home and wrote some emails and I took a nap which was very nice. Then at night we had a lesson with a friend and it was so awesome! Elder Ellis and I were both able to teach and the spirit was so strong during the lesson. Ultimately the Holy Ghost is the teacher but we did everything we could to make sure the Spirit was present. We also got more member stuff sorted out and called some potentials. We had a cool experience that touched me. We were biking home and I stopped and talked to a guy walking down the street. He was a very nice guy and at the end of the contact he gave us some face masks to help keep us safe and healthy. It was such a nice act of charity, a man we had just met, sharing with us his face masks because he cared about us. That made me smile.

Tuesday was a good day and it went by so fast. We had our normal studies and then had lunch with a member we brought back to church! He is doing well and the lunch was very tasty. It was raining though which made it harder to talk to people. However the people we had the chance to talk with were all so nice and one said I spoke Chinese so fluently and someone else asked me if I was born and raised in Taiwan. I am so grateful to have received these high compliments but in the end I know the real reason behind my lanaguge and it's the gracious blessings of Heavenly Father. The gift of tongues is a real thing. I have seen it time and time again and can really testify of it.

Wednesday was pretty sweet! We had a good time doing studies and I had some good meals I cooked myself! So it was way awesome. Because of the Wuhan Virus we have to keep off the streets and avoid talking to people. So it is pretty wild, and another thing that makes my mission way interesting. We continued to press forward in member work and getting things rolling on that. It's going to start taking off soon. We also had District Dinner and then English Group also! So it was a fun day and another adventure for sure.

Thursday was a good day. And, as every 6th day of the month does, it marks another month being on my mission and this time around marks month 20. Super wild but the work doesn't ever slow down! We had District Council and a lesson that made the day go by pretty quick. We also got lots more done in regards to members and also called lots of people. We still got some setups so that was a big blessing. As I was biking around I got such a feeling of gratitude for being able to be in Taiwan. I absolutely love living in Asia and am so grateful that I have been called to serve here.

Friday was amazing. We had a busy day with weekly planning and 2 appointments also. One appointment was with a less active and it went pretty well! The other appointment was with a friend we met with earlier this week, and he brought a friend with him who wants to learn more! It was such an amazing miracle and I have really noticed a difference in the lessons we teach when we use the pamphlets and when we don't. We have been using the pamphlets every lesson now and it has brought the spirit so much more. So I'm glad I have finally come around and have started using this! We also helped our older friend set a baptismal goal! So it was such a day of miracles.

Another awesome day! Saturday we had a great day getting studies done and getting stood up twice. That was ok because at night we had a member dinner with my favorite family in 竹北! They fed us pizza and chicken and we had a great time chatting and Elder Ellis got some good Chinese practice! It was a fun time and I always feel such a great spirt when I'm at that home. Other than that we called people and tried to do other finding things besides street contacting. The progress is slower but it's better than nothing and worth being safer.

Sunday was way wild. We went to church at the normal time in the morning and then before you knew it it was 5:30PM and we were leaving the chapel for the first time. What happened was that we had our own ward's meetings and then did some Come Follow Me with the foreign members in our ward. Afterwards we had a lunch get-together and then as we were walking out to head home we ran into a guy that Elder Ellis had contacted this last week and so we ended up turning around and going to two more hours of church with him. Then after that ward finished we had another meeting that lasted an hour. AND THEN we did our studies at the chapel so we could get them done on time. So when we finally got home we ate dinner then headed back to the chapel for the night and got the rest of our member spreadsheet sorted out! It feels way good to finally have that done and now we can start calling everybody and bring back the sheep that have strayed! So we spent all our day except for dinner at the chapel but we got a lot done and that felt good.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

我的baby出生了! (Season 14 Episode 1) - 2/3/20

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was a very good day. For Preparation Day we did not do that much. I did get a hair cut and got some shopping done and got some great deals along the way! In addition to that, we also wrote some emails and hung out at the chapel until we went back home for a bit and got some good housekeeping items out of the way. For our meals, we were blessed once again to have 2 Member-provided meals. Every time it is always so good and so even though I am noticeably gaining weight I am content with it. When New Year is over I can start controlling myself again and get back to normal. For now, I am happy with everything.

Another full day in the books. Tuesday was pretty good our 2 meal appointments were way good and lasted over two hours, but it was nice. At one of them, we also had Family Home Evening and we played games and whatnot and it was lots of fun. I felt a great spirit in that home as we all had that time together. Aside from that we just did studies and filled up the rest of the time with what we could. Tomorrow marks the end of Chinese New Year and also the last day of the transfer! So crazy how time flies.

Wednesday was pretty laid back. Our lunch appointment ended up taking 4 hours between travel there and back and the actual meal. So that was a big chunk of time and then we had District Council and dinner right after. Then we ended the night with our English group! So the day went by super quick and it was my last full day with Elder Seamons. This time has flown by and I am grateful for it all. I learned a lot these last two transfers and am excited for the next chapter in this journey, training! It's been a wild ride and will only pick up more. I can't wait.

Thursday was a big day!! We were up early and out the door to drop the two moving elders off at the train station. Afterward, Elder Bell and I took the shuttle to the high-speed rail station and made our way to 台北. Once we got there we were busy getting stuff done. We had a meeting with President Peterson and all the trainers and then we got into the big meeting with all of us together, trainers and trainees. That was awesome and it definitely felt better being on the other side of things this time around. The last thing we did was obviously knowing who our new companions were! So my new companion is named Elder Ellis and he is from California and he's a solid dude! I already love him a lot and am excited to work with him and help him out. Once we got out of the meeting we had a circus act of trying to get 8 missionaries, 2 bikes, and 5 people's luggage all through the busy MRT and onto trains. It was a wild ride but we did it and for the night we just got my companion settled and some little grocery items taken care of. Since we got back late that was about all we had time for. So excited for the future!

Friday was so great. We had a busy day with getting studies in and our weekly planning as well as having a lesson with a super awesome guy! He's an aspiring rapper and he let us listen to one of his songs about Kobe. Good stuff. We had a way fun District Dinner and then a night of getting stood up by people and contacting more potentials! The grind still goes on and we are working on getting Elder Ellis settled in and he's doing a great job so far!

Saturday was pretty sick. We didn't have any appointments or anything going on so it was a day of studies and finding! We were able to hit our 20 conversation goal and it was awesome! We also had some great studies and did some awesome roleplays. I usually don't like roleplaying but it was nice to do it again. Recently I have been feeling super happy. I am happy with my companion, my mission, and everything else that's going on so I honestly have no complaints! I am grateful for Heavenly Father and his never-ending blessings I am so lucky to receive!

Sunday was super awesome. We had an awesome church meeting and afterward we had ward council. Elder Ellis also had a good time at church, he got to meet members and they all love him! Also, Ward Council was such a cool experience. Bishop gave us a few minutes to talk about missionary stuff and so I was talking about our vision for the transfer of working a lot with members and really helping this ward grow through that aspect. We asked who they knew that hadn't been to church in a while that we could go visit and start helping to come back. In the end they gave us 11 names! I was so grateful and astonished how willing they were to give us these names. They will be the focus of this week and we are going to have great experiences working with these members. That night we spent lots of time going through our member list and making it more up to date and then I got to see President Hilton from my MTC branch presidency! He and his wife are in Taiwan serving a mission now and it was so cool to see them and have a few minutes to catch up and let them know I've improved since the MTC! Overall it was a great day. I have been filled with such immense joy recently and I am really grateful for everything I have and all the blessings I have received.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

我感冒了，新年快樂! (Season 13 Episode 6) - 1/27/20

大家好! Greetings and salutations!

Monday was pretty chill. Which was actually pretty nice because I woke up feeling worse as compared to yesterday. So to have the day set aside to clean in preparation for Chinese New Year was really nice. That was pretty much all we did until our inspection and after that we got out and had some dinner with the District at a hot pot place. The food wasn't too bad but since I wasn't feeling the best I wasn't able to down that much food. What I did eat was pretty good. As for the night I wasn't feeling good so we stayed at the chapel and we started getting some member work things together in preparation for next transfer and contacting our investigators. So it was a chill day and hopefully I start feeling better soon.

Tuesday was a good day. We had some good times getting all our things done for the day. We were also able to have a District Council and it was fun. We did a good activity with listening and asking questions which was very insightful. Afterwards we ended up also having dinner with the Elders at another hot pot place. I don't go for the actual hot pot, but for all the sides like ice cream, soft serve, and popcorn. That's what makes it worth it, that and the people we are with. Other than that stuff, we got stood up by a guy and tried to find more people to teach. The usual missionary stuff!

Wednesday was pretty good. We had a pretty normal day and had a member treat us to lunch. That was a sweet bonus and we also had 2 lessons and only 1 stood us up. One of the lessons we had was so amazing. I felt the spirit super strong and it was so unreal. I just felt so amazing as I was teaching and helping this man learn more of Jesus Christ. The other lesson was interesting. Nothing extraordinary happened but I walked out and just felt super anxious and overwhelmed. It was so strange because I have never felt this way with so much intensity and I have no idea what the reason was. I felt so strange. It was just so wild. I can't even really describe it. So that was a little more of a downer note to the end the day. Tomorrow is a new day.

Thursday starts Chinese New Year! It was a fun day and we were blessed to have two awesome meals by members! We definitely ate a lot and had a good time. Aside from that, we did our studies and then got some other things done. We didn't get to talk to that many people but there's always tomorrow. One other fun part of the day was that we did our daily contacting in the Sheraton Hotel! It was super fancy and pretty cool to chill for a little bit in there.

Friday was pretty awesome. We spent the day eating food and doing studies! No joke we left the house and went over to our lunch appointment and managed to squeeze in a study before that. The lunch was so sweet. The member's house we went to was so fancy and I honestly felt pretty uncomfortable it was so nice. The food was pretty awesome and then we biked across 3 towns to get to our next appointment. We did some language study and then started our weekly planning but couldn't finish it because we had a dinner appointment with my favorite family in 竹北! So it was way worth it and we had a great time there. I love that family a lot! Then we ended the day with a lesson with a guy who turned out to be a Jehovah's Witness but was super nice. Nonetheless, I had an President Kimball moment and realized I really need to know the Bible better than I do now.

Another good day of eating food. We had another two member meals Saturday and I am starting to get tired of eating so much food! I can't stop eating because it is always so good. Doing missionary work during this time of year is hard though. Lots of people are gone and the streets are sometimes barren! Something you wouldn't expect from Taiwan but it does happen! So we did more behind-the-scenes stuff and more of me getting this area ready for a greenie and making plans to get us going on the right foot. It may not be the best but in these conditions you gotta adapt accordingly.

Sunday was way chill. We had church and then stayed at the chapel for 10 hours. We did studies and miscellaneous stuff and did all the things we needed to then we headed out to dinner at a members house and it was way fun. We played a fun game where we went in a circle and took turns saying idioms in Chinese. The challenge was that they all had to do with animals. So it was way fun. We spent a lot of time with the Third Ward Elders also so that is always a good time.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski
謝希伯長老

過年快到了!! (Season 13 Episode 5) - 1/20/20

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was a super chill preparation day. We didn't play frisbee but still ran a little in the morning. We called families and got ready for the day and then took a train to 新竹 and walked around a couple malls and ate some tacos at a Mexican food restaurant! The mall was cool because it had a legit Vans store in it. It felt like home and was such a cool vibe. I really liked it. We headed back and emailed for a bit and had dinner then chilled at the apartment before spending the night at the chapel calling people. We were blessed and got a couple appointments for this week so that will be nice.

Tuesday was another good day. We had two lessons that both ended up canceling or standing us up. The grind is like that sometimes. We also had District Council and that was super good. I have enjoyed our District this transfer and look forward to the next couple of weeks before transfers. That was pretty much the day! Nothing super crazy, just another normal day.

Wednesday was awesome. Lots went down. Right off the bat we biked out to a further part of the area and spent most of the day out there. We got studies done and had 1 hour to knock. When I was in Kansas I hated knocking, but now I love it. We were blessed with a set up for this weekend through our knocking efforts. So grateful for that. When we got back to town, we had dinner and then English group! English group was so amazing. We had more than 10 new students and had a great talk. Afterward, I talked with a man that came for the first time and he set up for tomorrow night! He said our spiritual share touched his heart and now he can continue to feel that when he meets with us! I'm excited.

Thursday was a great day. We had interviews with President Peterson and we had a good talk about member work and then he told me some stuff about what's happening next transfer in the area. All I'll say is that it's gonna be super exciting! After that, we started an exchange with the Assistants and I was with my good pal Elder Vander Linden from the MTC! Its been a while since we've been around each other so it was a good time to catch up and get work done! We talked to a lot of people but sadly they weren't really down to learn more. Bummer. We also had 2 lessons and they both didn't happen. Double bummer.

Friday went by so fast. We woke up and had a stellar game of frisbee and I had 2 great runs to get there and back. On the way home I did my classic last-mile pickup and ended up running 6:08. So after probably around 5 miles of running at roughly 6:40 pace (including frisbee), being able to drop that mile time is really fun. I'm feeling good and loving the feeling of running. When we got back we got ready for the day and then took a train to 台北 to switch back with the Assistants. So the beginning of our day was train riding then we came back and did studies and weekly planning before having District Dinner and having a few other little things to do during the night. So it was pretty sweet and we had a good day! I'm stoked for everything that's coming up and with the Chinese new year coming up time is going to fly!

Saturday was so great! We had a busy day and lots to do. We started off with a less active member visit and then got the normal stuff out of the way before having a killer first lesson with a guy. We tried a new teaching method that I had read about and it was so great. I felt the spirit so strong as we taught the Restoration. He was willing to set up again and start reading the Book of Mormon! I have become a firm believer in putting in steady, consistent effort and keeping the ball rolling. It has been paying off and we have consistently been able to find at least 1 new person to teach every week. Now we need to step up our teaching and help the people we find progress as best as we can. During the night we had the chance to attend 2 baptismal services and I got to help baptize the Sister's investigator! It was powerful and I felt so great to be able to exercise my priesthood and help someone else receive something so great and impactful. So that made for a great night and capped off a great day!

Sunday was pretty chill. We had a good morning at the chapel participating in church services and whatnot and then we had the afternoon to get stood up by a guy and get our studies done. We also typed up a report to send to our Ward Missionary group chat about our investigators and then we had a super good dinner at our Stake President's house! We spent 2 hours there and the Zone Leaders were there too so we talked a lot about missionary work and how our areas can help the members more so it was pretty fruitful. Then we ended the night contacting our friends. Nothing super crazy going on but I am coming down with something so that's a bummer.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

新年快樂 my friends (Season 13 Episode 3) - 1/6/20

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was pretty fun! We had a fun preparation day. Our big activity for the day was biking to Costco and getting some food! Not just lunch food but grocery food! So biking back was fun with 16 pounds of things on my bike and it was pouring rain too. Totally worth it though and we made it back alive. We then went to the chapel and sent off emails and chilled until we went to a dinner for Elder Seamons' birthday and a member took us to a very nice place. Since he set it up for right as preparation day technically ended it took up pretty much the whole night and afterward all we did was call some less active members and text our investigators. It was fun and special for Elder Seamons.

Tuesday was a pretty cool day. The last day of 2019! Pretty crazy that this year is already over and we are moving on to the next one. I'm glad for the last year and am excited to move forward to the next one. I have some good goals and am excited to work to hit them! As for the work, we had District Council and then started an exchange. I went to work with my District Leader Elder Bell. We had a good day just talking to people and talking to each other. We were also able to pop in on a member and meet her for the first time! Pretty great day! The wind was brutal and was so, so cold and it ripped through me but totally worth it.

Wednesday was fun! We had our exchange pretty much the whole day and switched back at English group. So for the day we did studies, got stood up by 2 people (a total of 3 by the end of the day), and had a good discussion between each other. Elder Bell and I are on the same wavelength about a lot of things so we had a very constructive conversation about many things. I'm not sure why but there weren't a lot of people out so we didn't get to talk to that many people but you win some and lose some. I am excited for the year and am glad for my goals. 2020 here we come!

Another day another exchange. Thursday we started another exchange, but this time with our Zone Leaders! I went with Elder Huang, one of my previous companion's trainees. So it is cool how we are now back around each other. We had a good day talking to people and we even had a surprise lesson with someone who we originally set up for the next day. It was a great lesson and the only bummer is that he doesn't live in our area, let alone the mission boundaries. We will get him passed off to the other missionaries down yonder. Recently, I have been receiving more answers to questions and I really feel like Heavenly Father is answering my prayers and guiding me. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who still speaks with his children.

Friday was a busy day! We woke up and played frisbee and then had a chill morning. We had a good exchange evaluation before switching back to normal and having a good day following. We got stood up by two people but did have one awesome lesson with a friend. Elder Seamons and I have a good vision for this friend and we are doing what we can to help him. Aside from that, the best part of the day was a District Dinner minus our sisters. So it was just boys night and we had a great time. Joking and laughing and having a good time. It's times like those I look back on fondly. We are heading into a busy weekend and it's gonna be totally awesome!

Saturday was a full day! We had a less active visit in the morning before language study and then coming home for lunch and weekly planning! At night we called people and then played basketball with some kids before ending off the day with a boys night dinner at Hot Pot! Always a good time hanging with boys and enjoying some good food. I also felt pretty good since I was able to tick off lots of to-do list items and get prepped for the coming week. Lots of it was language-related things. This week I got a big compliment from a man on the street, he said my Chinese sounded fluent and very good. So that really lifted me up and has really pushed me to go harder in language study these last few months.

Sunday was a pretty chill day. We had church and that went well. With the New Year our time got switched a little and now we have Sunday School first and then Sacrament Meeting second so that's a fun adjustment. After church, we met with a less active and then went to Ward Council and then went with the Stake President to go visit a less active family! After all the excitement we got studies and dinner done before having the night to find and talk to people. Nothing super exciting but still not bad! 

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

從神而來的祝福 (Season 13 Episode 4) - 1/13/20

Greetings and Salutations!

Monday was a very chill day. I had a good run in the morning and played frisbee as well. We got back at got ready for the day and called our families before heading out and getting shopping done. After that, we went to the chapel and chilled on the computers writing emails until dinner and that was our preparation day time! As for the night we just headed to 湖口 and called people and whatnot. It was fun to get out of 竹北 a little and switch up the scenery. It also marks 19 months of being a missionary. What a fun feat to have achieved. Thanks go to Heavenly Father for keeping me alive this long and blessing me along the way.

A good day Tuesday. We had District Council and that was cool. I also had a great lunch and surprisingly it was one of the highlights of the day (dinner was awesome too). Who would've thought I would have liked tofu like I do now?? We also met some cool people on the street. We got one set up with a physics teacher who was wearing a Nikola Tesla shirt. He seems super cool! We had dinner with the other Elders again and it was fun hanging with them. I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord and the little blessings I see every day. I wish I could recognize each one and praise God for every single one.

Wednesday was a fun day. Pretty wild because we had an exchange! So when we went to frisbee we switched and I went with Elder Xia and we spent the day together up until English group. We had a fun day doing the normal stuff and one of their friends had a baptismal interview and then we had 2 other lessons that all went pretty well. English group was good as well and we had a fair amount of students come which was nice. We had a good discussion and I felt like it was a great quality class.

Thursday was a killer day. We didn't have much going and so we just found for most of the day and we were blessed immensely. We ended the day with 28 gospel conversations and 5 setups (4 for tomorrow). I feel like we didn't do anything differently in terms of how we found, we were just blessed by our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful that I was able to talk to some awesome people and bear testimony of the Book of Mormon and help them spark that interest. The hope is that all these children of God begin progressing and developing a desire to keep on learning! On another note, it was a big day because I got my "death letter", or the email and whatnot that tells me when I'm going home and filling out the form so the office can buy my plane tickets. I've seen so many missionaries get theirs and now to be getting mine is wild. Only a finite time left, but so much left to do.

Friday was a great day! We were pretty busy and that was nice. We had a member lunch that went a lot longer than anticipated but it was really tasty. We managed to squeeze in our studies and weekly planning session as well before having a night of lessons. Sadly only 1 out of the 4 lessons ended up happening, but the one that did happen was really cool. It was with a high school kid and it was a cool lesson. Really felt the spirit and he was down to learn more which is awesome. We had another guy's night dinner and did what we could to find to round out the day. Just another day doing the good work.

Saturday was super fun. Lots of biking. We had a good morning and got stood up by a lesson, but such is life sometimes. We then biked out to 湖口 and enjoyed a day out there. We found some members and ended up talking to this guy from Australia named Michael. He was pretty cool but wasn't interested in the gospel. At night we had a member dinner and then stopped by a less active member's house to invite them to church tomorrow. Sadly they have stuff already but we will keep on trying. Then we made the long bike home and called it a day!

Sundays always feel different on the mission. I haven't pinpointed why yet but this one was no exception. We did have some great meetings and a cool Come Follow Me discussion and I really saw and felt the power of using the new videos in coordination with the discussion. Such powerful tools! Aside from that, we did studies, finding, and some more finding. Those new people aren't gonna find themselves ya know. We are working hard and trying our best. I know we will continue to see blessings as a result of it.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski
謝希伯長老

I'm losing ideas for these titles... (Season 13 Episode 2) - 12/30/19

Greetings and salutations!

Christmas! Wednesday was great. We started early and called families and then Elder Seamons gave me a gift before we left the house. He gave me BYU stance socks and it was so cool, I am so grateful! We then headed to the temple and the temple was so great. I felt the Spirit super strong and really enjoyed my time in the House of the Lord. We finished up and grabbed lunch as a District and then made our way back home. A chill rest of the day led up to English group and then Elder Seamons and I had a talk for the rest of our day. Christmas was amazing. It felt like a normal day but when every day is spent serving the Lord and remembering Christ, Christmas is a bit more normal. It was still special and I'm glad the temple was included in it.

Thursday was a pretty good day. We had lots of finding time and we tried our best to make the most of it. We ended up with 24 conversations and got some potentials and phone numbers so we will earnestly try to make something from it! I also picked up a parcel from 7/11 and now my watch is fixed! So happy about that and so glad for the work we did Thursday. It was hard, tiring, but rewarding.

Friday was fun. We had a busy day and had some good goals to go with it. We had 2 member visits and even though we had our big weekly planning session we still managed to get 20 conversations and lots of people's contact info! One cool experience though was when we were outside the train station and we saw a kid on a skateboard and I immediately went to go talk to him. We chatted a little and I asked if I could try his skateboard (like I do every time), and he said yeah so I nailed my classic pop shuvit and then we shared a great scripture from the Book of Mormon and got his info! So cool how we are just normal people who leave home to be missionaries. We all have our pasts and interests and I can use mine to share the gospel. Such a cool thing!

Another day gone by. Saturday was pretty cool, we had a pass off lesson for the other Elders and then another lesson of our own! After that, we had a last-minute set up with a kid we talked to yesterday and he brought his friend and we played basketball and then shared the first lesson with them. They seemed way down to set up but they have tests and stuff till next month so that's a bummer. Aside from that, we were finding and eating meals. Not much else you can do when you don't have that many people to teach :)

Sunday was a crazy day. We had church in the morning and then right after we got picked up by a member who drove us out to 桃園 for Elder Seamons to perform the baptism of a girl he met when he was in middle school! That was a cool experience and riding there and back in a car was a lot nicer than a train. When we got back it was a late lunch and then studies. Some finding and planning for English group and then dinner at the end of the day. Super busy and fun day though. Despite not a lot of finding time we got 2 setups and lots of conversations and contact info.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老