HE LEFT ME!!! (Season 10 Episode 1) - 8/26/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was a fun day. We had a good preparation day and a super fun part of it was playing badminton for a couple hours. I actually have grown to love badminton.  It's so fun to play! I'm not the best ever, but who cares. We also had the traditional Costco lunch and went to Decathlon also. So pretty much like every other preparation day, but it was still a good time. Spending time with friends and especially Elder Yang since I won't see him for a good bit. The night went by quick with 2 member visits and then English class planning. This week is gonna go by quick so I'm strapping in for the wild ride.

Tuesday was a special day! In the morning we learned that Sister Joy D. Jones is coming to the mission this week and she will be giving a special mission devotional for all the missionaries this Saturday! That should be a really nice time. We also had a cool companionship study with Chief Captain Peterson. He came for our exchange but our time was shorter than expected so we just did a study. It was cool to also have him attend our District Council. That was a big chunk of the day. The beginning was exciting and then the end was pretty slow. Elder Yang is pretty sad to leave and today he was a little reminiscent. I keep telling him he is blessed to get to go there but he doesn't have the vision yet. I can't wait to hear his miracle stories there. Overall it was a pretty good day!

Wednesday was pretty sad. It was Elder Yang's last day here with me in 三峽. He got all of his stuff all packed up and he's as ready as he can be. We splurged and went to an expensive burger place for dinner and it was probably the most american-like place I have been to yet. They even had protein style burgers. I'm sure when I bring Mom and Dad here someday Mom will enjoy that. We had English class and it was pretty good. Nothing crazy to report from it. It's been a day of reminiscing. Tomorrow will be a big day though.

Thursday was a big day! It was moving day for Elder Yang. He wanted me to help him get to the train station and so I accompanied him all the way to his platform. It was very sad to see him go but he's going to do great things in his new area. Once I dropped him off I spent a good second walking around the biggest train/MRT station trying to find my new companion. We eventually got united and got back to our area!! Elder Settles took some time and got settled in and we taught a lesson and did studies and had a member visit as well. It was a very tiring day! We had a big day and tomorrow should be more normal. Elder Settles is awesome and we are going to have a fun time for sure.

Friday was pretty good. We had a good day with a hospital visit, studies and some weekly planning and contacting! Elder Settles has been feeling a little uncomfortable for the last 2 months and so we finally got it checked out. Seems like his lymph nodes are swollen and a few other little things. We got some meds and next week we will go back and see what happens. Elder Settles is getting adjusted very well and he was able to hear more about our friends so it was a great time. Tonight I also bought some bike brakes and before we ship out Elder Yang's bike tomorrow I swapped the brakes on his bike. He doesn't know and won't know but he changed my mission and I wish I could do more for him but I'll do what I can.

Saturday was a wild day. We headed out and had a cool lesson with our friend Sam and he committed to come to church tomorrow! That was awesome and after the lesson we biked to the MRT and took Elder Yang's bike to the mission office to get it shipped down to him. As well we had a special mission devotional with Sister Joy D. Jones, primary general president. There were lots of cool things said and it was a sweet little meeting. We did go over on time sadly and we had to spend lots of time at the mission office getting miscellaneous things sorted out, but the sisters had a baptism tonight so by the time we got back to 土城 it was time for that baptism. Very great service and then we got dinner bought for us from a member friend! That ended out the day and it was super wild and fast. I also saw Leslie Born from Gilbert! She was at the chapel we had our devotional at and we walked out of the elevator and she was right there and just yelled out, "Heber!!!!!" Totally caught me off guard but it was so so good to see her! Today was also the 淡水 Ward Temple Day and I saw so many members from my first area! They remembered me and we took some pictures. What a great day.

Sunday was another wild day. Had a super great church meeting and Elder Settles got to meet the ward! And today I had an affirmation that the world is very small in the church. I met a returned missionary today from a ward that shares our chapel and after a little bit of talking I learned that she trained one of the sister missionaries in my MTC district! We took a picture and she sent it to that sister, small world! Today we also got Elder Settles a bike until his comes later this week and we did our studies and other things of that sort. Quite the day which also included getting hit by a scooter on my bike (no need to worry she was watching the light instead of the road and I didn't clear the road in time so it was only a slight tap and it is ok.) All is well!

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski 

謝希伯長老

*insert clickbait title here* (Season 9 Episode 6) - 8/19/19

Monday was a fun preparation day. Had a very nice morning and got all the weekly preparation out of the way. We went and got Elder Yang all his hairs cut and then headed out to 中和 to grab some food and pick up some goods. Those plans went short and so Elder Yang decided we were going to go to the South Zone Activity. We got a half invite and took it so it was us (belonging to West Zone) and then all of South Zone. It was fun though I have a lot of good friends in that zone so we were welcomed right in. We played some games and had a good time! We got back to our area and rested up and then headed out for the night and did studies and contacting. We tried to find a new place to go to but it turned into us accidentally leaving our area. We will have to be more careful next time 😬.

Tuesday was pretty full. We had a good day though which included District Council as well as a lesson! District Council was good, we talked about being Christlike and time wasn't on my side but I know that the Spirit impressed my district members with what they needed. Next week should be a fun council since President Peterson will be there and the Zone Leaders as well. Our lesson today was with a less active member's child who isn't baptized yet. We taught her the first lesson and Elder Yang is such an amazing teacher for little kids! I have no idea what I'm doing but he has all these little activites and stuff that help the kids so much. It was a great lesson on all accounts! Taiwan is a great place with lots of great things going on.

Wednesday was a good day. We had an amazing lunch at our Stake Presidents house! His family is way awesome and the food was delicious as always. Aside from that, we did our studies and then biked a different part of our area we haven't seen before. It was the winding road that started heading up into the mountain and I love climbing on a bike but we decided to turn back early because Elder Yang wasn't quite feeling his best. So we got rewarded and flew back down everything we climbed and then went to the chapel to prepare for English class. Today we didn't have any 三峽 people and I think we are to blame a little. As we were biking home, I thought (since biking is the best pondering time) if we had done everything we could to get people there. While we did some things and tried we didn't do everything we needed outside of class to have the results in class. So we will repent and do better for next week.

Thursday was a good day. Started off by taking Elder Yang on a run around 三峽! Mornings are so pleasant so running in one was nice. We also had 2 lessons. One with our golden boy Danny! He's such an awesome kid and he started reading the Book of Mormon on his own, what a legend! Our other lesson was super good too. Then at night we didn't have anything else going on so we decided to try a new finding tactic. We wrote some cards for formers in the college area and we went to their apartment complexes and dropped the cards off! It was fun and a unique way to hopefully find new people!

Good day Friday. We had our weekly planning session along with a visit with a less active member. Not a super special day so not much to write about. It was one of those super typical missionary days that all feel the same.

Saturday was pretty sweet. Had a little bit of a backwards day because when we left the house we went straight to an appointment and right after that one ended we went straight to Bishop's house for lunch and then did a study. We also switched it up and played basketball with one of our investigators! It was way fun and we had a good mid-day exercise. Upon returning home we got cleaned up and had dinner than went and met with a less-active and then did language study and that was the day! It flew by pretty quick, but it was a good day nonetheless.

Sunday was a chill day. We had church and a lesson. Aside from that we had our weekly Correlation Meeting and enjoyed a nice bike ride to church and back! Elder Yang ate a bad meal last night and so all day he was feeling the side effects of it. He kept on saying he feels like he needs to puke but he has yet to do it. So we definitely took it easy for him. What a trooper!

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski 

謝希伯長老

THE SECOND COMING!! (Season 9 Episode 5) - 8/12/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was spectacular. Preparation days are always a fun day to relax and have a good time. When I was grocery shopping I was blessed that despite having to pick up a few more items than normal (toothpaste and shaving cream, both can be kinda expensive), I was still able to stay within my budget more than I thought and my goal of spending 1,000 dollars a week is still very attainable. We were also blessed with 2 member meals! One was an all you can eat barbecue which was very good. The other member meal was right after we ended Preparation Day but it was AMAZING. The members love to cook food and today they made Mexican food and we had fajitas. They had it all, Jalapenos, sweet pork, pico de gallo and so much more and it was such an amazing trip for my taste buds. I was filled with absolute pure joy with every bite. I made sure I ate as much as I could, and then some since I don't know when that opportunity will come again! Definitely the best member meal I've had. That was all the exciting parts of the day, another great day in the books!

Tuesday was a great day of work! We hit our magic number once again and it was great! We were also able to have District Council and we had a great discussion about consecration and focus. It was a good time and this transfer I definitely feel that I have improved in my capacity as a District Leader. In the end, it's about the service for the other missionaries and I was able to provide a service by conducting a baptismal interview for the Sister's investigator! Their friend was so ready and I was glad to play the smallest of parts in that baptismal process! I am constantly grateful for Heavenly Father and the inspiration he gives me. I was inspired with a solution to a problem I had been encountering with my missionary tracts and now it's all solved thanks to Him! His hand is always in our lives and He cares about all our little worries and concerns. All we have to do is reach out and ask for His help. He is ready and willing to give.

Wednesday was a fun day! The rain came down and the way big, deep puddles came up! There is supposedly a typhoon hitting us tomorrow so that'll be fun to see. As for the day, we did our normal studies and contacted people and tried to find new people to teach. We were very blessed when an English class student of mine set up a time to meet out of the blue after I told her Jesus Christ could help her with her studies (which is definitely true). So we are grateful to have added her into our teaching pool. Due to the upcoming storm and rain, not a lot of people came to English class but it was still fun because we taught the little kids the Hello Song from primary! I was able to play the right hand (or just the top note) of it and anyone who knows my piano skills knows what a miracle that was. We weren't able to talk to as many people but we had some great things happen in other aspects of the work!

Thursday was busy! We had 4 appointments set up for the afternoon. Only two ended up actually happening (2 of them were member visits and surprisingly those 2 were the ones that didn't work out), but as a result of our efforts, we were able to add 2 more people to our teaching pool! Heavenly Father is blessing us so much. I am so grateful! The weather was also very interesting. Before all that at 5:30 in the morning Elder Yang and I were awakened from our peaceful slumber by another 6.0 magnitude earthquake! It was whack because I was half asleep and I just said out loud "地震", which means earthquake and Elder Yang grunted in agreement and then we both went back to sleep. It definitely did shake though. Tomorrow a strong typhoon should hit us also so if this is what the Second Coming will be like I'm just glad I'm living life the right way.

Friday was a pretty underwhelming day. The big typhoon that was supposed to come didn't really make it and we just saw a bit of rain and a bit of wind. Just like any other day. So it wasn't bad at all and we had a good day doing studies and also our weekly planning session! 三峽 was a ghost town though so we weren't really able to contact a lot of people. We did talk to a man from Thailand and he told us about how he lives here for work and he has a wife and 2 kids back in Thailand. It made me think of Dad and how we have had to be separated sometimes for work reasons. I'm grateful that we can all be together now! We also saw a big blessing that came in the form of a mother setting up for next Monday to meet with us! She has 3 kids and her husband as well. I am excited to introduce them to the Gospel and help them!

Saturday felt like another small Tour de Taiwan stage. Lots of biking around. We went to a place we went about a week or so ago to try and visit a potential and they live on top of the biggest and steepest hill I have ever climbed. Give me a jersey or something because I fly up that thing. We found out he wasn't home so we just did some language study and then biked to the chapel for a farewell party for Elder Yang! Right when the party was about to start we got a call from our Ward Mission Leader and he had been involved in a motorcycle wreck so we went to make sure he was all good and then flew back to the chapel super fast. The party itself was chill but we left a few minutes later than we hoped so we had to sprint home to make it on time. My legs are really feeling it but the work of the Lord never ceases. Sleep will fix that problem.

Sunday was another good Sabbath. We had a nice church meeting and was able to be filled spiritually heading into this next week. After church, we had our ward council meeting. After all the meetings we biked home and it was pretty tough because we had a way big headwind. Of course, because a day can't be perfect, the part of my bike that shifts the gears (on the handlebars) broke and so my chain dropped into 8 and I couldn't get it into any other gear. So I had to grind all the rest of the way home and it was pretty grueling. I got it fixed and got a new system so it's all good now thankfully! We also had a lesson and did studies and planning for English class. Overall a very good day!

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski 

謝希伯長老

I ALMOST GOT SUED FOR FRAUD AND HARRASSMENT!!! (Season 9 Episode 4) - 8/5/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was a fun preparation day! We had a good lunch at Costco and headed over to a big tourist place with lots of shops and stuff in a different area of 台北. We had 10 missionaries with us and it was a great time hanging out and seeing some cool stuff! We had to head back and start the week off though which we just did studies and saw a different part of our area as well. We are working on finding right now and hopefully, we can see something good this week so the Zone Leaders won't mention multiple times how rough we are doing during our calls. However, I trust in the promise that dad gave me. If I do my part and am doing what I'm supposed to do then the Lord won't hang me out to dry and He won't forget about me. Things will get better no matter how it may seem in the moment.

Tuesday was a big day! We woke up and got out the door super early to bike 13 kilometers to our Zone Conference in 桃園! It was a great ride with some good climbs, descents, and lots of flat roads too. The scenery was pretty cool too and it definitely made up for no morning exercise. The meeting itself was very good. We talked a lot about goal setting and vision. We have a lot to focus on in the mission, but it's nice to have a single vision to work on and strive for. We got some good training as always and it was funny when in front of 3 different zones, my Zone Leader asked me about something from our Zone Council a few weeks back (the one we were late to) and I just fired back that I was so late I had no idea. That got a lot of laughs from everyone else lol. I love Zone Conference. It's a fun time to see good friends and be fed by the spirit.

Wednesday was an awesome day!! Elder Yang and I hit our 20 gospel conversations again! I am so proud of the work we did. We did every finding technique we have. We knocked some doors, called formers, and had English class, and street contacted, and bike contacted at stoplights. It was amazing. We worked hard and saw some awesome stuff! We did have English class and it was awesome! Elder Yang and I are the new little kid's class teachers and I honestly felt like I was in Daddy Day Care. I had no idea what I was doing but we still taught a fun lesson and the kids liked it! We had some 三峽 people come and we even had a new person come from our area! It was great to see our own people there and that was just another one of the many tender mercies and miracles we saw. It was one of those days you just stand on the end of the dock and yell "HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!" Incredible.

Thursday was another packed day of awesomeness! Elder Yang and I were blessed to hit our goal of 20 conversations once again! We also had a lesson and a member visit as well. Truly a full day of work. We also biked lots and went knocking on some doors (though knocking in this area means standing at the bottom of an apartment complex and buzzing every door to see who picks up). It was great though! We met some awesome people and got some contact information. The lesson we had was with a sweet potential and he brought his two sons also! We shared the Plan of Salvation with them and they seemed to really like it. I have great hope and faith that I will see this family be baptized. Overall it was a busy and totally amazing day! This area is improving slowly but surely.

Friday was a more administrative type of day. We had our weekly planning session and stuff like that. This week we set a goal for every step within Preach my Gospel and it was a great time. I definitely feel motivated and ready to hit these goals next week! We also had 2 member visits but neither of them worked out. So we just contacted people and we weren't able to hit our 20 conversations but every day can't be perfect. We are definitely talking to more people though and that's what matters. We were able to have a quick sit down with an investigator and challenged him to read the Book of Mormon and come to church, both of which he agreed too. So that's a great thing!

Saturday was another awesome day in the Three Gorges. We got the hat trick of days with 20 gospel conversations! We are so proud of the work we've done this week and we were blessed with a set up from a street contact! So so blessed. We also had a visit with a less active and aside from that it was all finding! I used to try and get out of finding time, but now I really enjoy it. For that, I am glad because that's one thing a missionary really needs. The faith and motivation to find. So I am glad to have found that recently and also help my companion see miracles and share experiences together.

Sunday was a truly up and down day. We had a great church meeting and afterward we had our weekly correlation meeting. We were blessed to be able to teach a new friend today! She was awesome and she said some great things and I felt the Spirit so strong as we taught her about Jesus Christ and how He can help her. It made me forget all the less than desirable things and remember why I am here. And lastly, we ended off the night going to the recent convert fireside where I saw another 淡水 member who remembered me! She also said I am much different now than I was 10 months ago. She said I'm a lot more mature. That was pretty cool.  Even though I've physically matured some we all know I haven't mentally matured past the 8th grade ;)

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski 

謝希伯長老

MY FIRST GRAFFITI!! (Season 9 Episode 3) - 7/29/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was such a fun preparation day! We had a good morning, did some shopping and whatnot and then we went out to IKEA! I had been looking forward to this for a solid week or so and it did not disappoint! There were about 9 elders and friends just walking around IKEA and hanging out and it was such a fun time. I definitely spent some money on food. Anything that reminds me of America is something I am down for. It was such a fun time I laughed so much and it was so happy! We had a chill night and just walked around town, talked to people, and did studies. At night I tried a simple fix on my bike (or so it seemed) and before you knew it it was 12:30 in the morning and your boy probably did more damage than good. Looks like I got a trip to the bike shop tomorrow. I wanna become my own bike mechanic, so I wanna learn all this and trial and error is a part of that process.

Tuesday was chill. We had the first District Council of the transfer and it was lit! We had a great talk about visions and goal setting and I'm so excited for this district to fly high and become better missionaries this transfer! We, of course, had a big rain coming home but thanks to my new cycling cap I bought recently the rain had nothing on me! I got some laughs from other missionaries but I stand by my cap and the powers it holds. As for my bike, after spending 200 kuai (6 bucks US) I replaced my shifting cable and we are back to normal! I ought to find a book or something about bikes and read that first. We had a nice McDonald's dinner with a friend of ours from another city and then did our studies at the end of the night. A super awesome highlight of the day was buying Dr. Pepper at a store! The nectar of the God's has been found. I'm not quite sure how giving up caffeine will go this transfer.

Wednesday was awesome!! Elder Yang and I enjoyed a day of finding. We were able to invite 20 people to develop faith in Christ! That is the President's goal for us, having 20 invites a day and I can proudly say now that I have done it, this is the first time I have ever hit 20!! It was awesome. Despite 20+ rejections I felt so happy! We did have English Class today as well and I was really proud of my spiritual share. We were talking about cooking and for the spiritual share I had all my students download Gospel Library and we read some scriptures together and talked about the recipe to finding out the Book of Mormon is true. I invited them all to start reading and since they all have it on their phones now they hopefully will!

Thursday was a special day. We started the only exchange we will go on this transfer! We grabbed lunch with the Zone Leaders and the Sisters in the area and then we switched and I left with Elder Fei'eiki to go to his area. We had a good day talking with people and studies. We also had a lesson where the investigator dropped us. The man reminded me of people in 鳳林. A great man but just confused and isn't able to recognize the truth. We also had a scripture reading class that the missionaries put on. We read and talked about some chapters in first Nephi and it was fun! It was a busy day and very warm also. The heat is getting pretty crazy. I'm baking like a toasted cheeser!!!!

Friday was a good day. We woke up and did our planning and personal study and then went and worked out. I had a great run on the track nearby. I did a 5k like normal and I was just trying to make it through since it was super hot and I forgot water (not my best move). I looked at my watch after the first mile and was blown away because I felt like I was taking it easy, and that first mile was 6:35. My second mile was 6:45 and the third and change was about 7 something. The last bit was hard because the heat started getting to me. I'm very proud though, my fitness has improved so much and I've been blessed immensely. As for missionary work today we switched back companions and then did studies, weekly planning, and then contacting and it took up the whole day. Days like these go by very quick. 

Saturday was a good day! Quite an interesting weather day too. We woke up to clear and sunny skies and by the time we left the apartment after lunch the clouds were looking very ominous. We still pressed forward and after about 10 minutes of riding, I pulled off and told Elder Yang I had a feeling to go back home. At about this time we started hearing some thunder and as we were biking back home it started raining very heavy and the lightning and thunder were right on us. The thunder was so loud I felt it shake my whole body. It was actually a little frightening but thankfully we got home quickly and were able to do our study inside and out of the elements. I'm grateful for the spirit and the direction it gives. I sometimes wonder what would happen if I hadn't heeded a specific prompting and now I know that I actually don't want to know what would happen. I'm just grateful for the guidance we receive on a daily basis to keep us out of bad situations.

Sunday was pretty chill. We had 2 investigators come to church and also had 2 lessons as well! Very grateful for those blessings and hopefully this week we can see more. Other than that, the day was pretty much filled with studies and getting other things done. It's crazy but I never thought a mission would have so many days where it's just studies and other things. I had always thought it was out street contacting and knocking all day every day but it's definitely different. I also painted parts of my bike yellow. With the Tour de France going on right now it's only fitting to do it yellow. I may never wear the yellow jersey but I can have a sweet yellow bike!

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski 

謝希伯長老

taking a trip down memory lane (Season 9 Episode 2) - 7/22/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was really fun. We had a good morning preparing for this week by getting a haircut, buying groceries and taking care of a return at Carrefour (way easier than returning something in America, Taiwan for the win). Our big plans for the day we had a zone activity playing kickball! It was super fun and we had the whole zone there except for one companionship. The game was loads of fun. I kicked a little league home run and our team did super great! Afterwards, we played frisbee for a little bit, but everyone was super tired at that point so we called it a day. It was a lot of fun being together as a zone and learning more about everyone. For our night plans, we had a member dinner and did English planning. So nothing super crazy but still a good time to get stuff done.

Tuesday was a good day. Had some lessons fall through but we were able to meet up with our Ward Mission Leader and scout out some potential English class locations. I am still hoping we can move it to the Chapel but since nothing is set in stone we want to cover all of our bases. We also did a lot of biking. Half exploring, half trying to find a place to do studies that weren't the usual places we always go to. It's fun biking in the city and I feel like a little cell in the organism of the city and it's a cool feeling. My street knowledge is getting better and I am to the point I can look at the map once and get there without looking again. God has blessed me with great directional sense and location memory. Maybe I could be a bike messenger someday.

Wednesday we saw the beginnings of a potential typhoon! I really hope we see one this week like the forecast is saying because I really wanna experience one! We will have to see. Our day was pretty fixed and we were able to have a lesson with an investigator who said they would be willing to come to church so that is good! English class was okay. We started late because we had to talk about moving places. I still have faith Heavenly Father will allow us to move to the Chapel. I trust that even though the distance is far we will see miracles as we go about the work. We will have to see what God's will is but I trust Him with all my heart.

Thursday was a day filled with God's hand. I started off in the morning my prayer asking Heavenly Father to allow me to be an instrument and a tool in his hands. As we left the apartment we biked to 土城 and I was able to have lunch with a friend from high school! At the time he had moved to our school from Taiwan and now he has come back to visit and we grabbed some curry. He asked me a lot of questions about missionary work and what I do. I was able to share with him a lot of what we do and I invited him to read the Book of Mormon! After lunch we continued our bike ride and I soon discovered my back tire was a little crooked and as a result, my brake pad was rubbing on my wheel and I spent a solid 10 minutes trying to figure it out. I eventually did thanks to some divinely given inspiration and we were once again on our way. We were running late at this point and I got a call from the sisters in my district and they had run into a flat tire problem. Since we hadn't gotten to the meeting yet and already running late I decided to go help them. We got there and as I got to work both my tire irons broke! I was so disappointed but the problem was still solved and I resolved to get better tools (I am now armed with metal tire irons and so that shouldn't be an issue again). We arrived at the meeting over an hour late and I have no regrets. I'm grateful Heavenly Father allowed me to be a help to my district members today and even though it wasn't to the full extent I had hoped I know the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants is true, the Lord requires a heart and a willing mind. I was willing to help and the Lord looks kindly on that! I hope for more chances to serve like this in the future.

Friday was an awesome day! We were able to participate in a Mini MTC event for a whole bunch of youth to come learn about missionary work! We were able to participate by taking companionships of youth and going back to our areas and showing them missionary life on the streets! It was very fun taking my 3 young men around and doing stuff with them. One of the youth was from 淡水! He didn't remember me though, which isn't super surprising but I was also able to see youth from 鳳林!!! I was beyond thrilled to see them and it brought back so many awesome memories. I also saw some of my favorite 花蓮 members and I basically relived my whole mission today. I am so grateful for my mission and all the amazing people I have been able to meet in my journey so far. I am also grateful for Heavenly Father blessing me to hit every single mode of public transportation on time, it may seem like a small thing but it's those small things that mean the most.

Saturday was pretty interesting. Had a pretty set in stone stay with doing studies and then making up our weekly planning from yesterday. That took us right up to our Ward Family Home Evening and then we just contacted people to end of the day. Pretty mellow but we did finally decide to move our English class to the Chapel. When we told the bishop he just said we could find a better place in 三峽 later and just switch back. I'm grateful we are provided with this chance to be at the Chapel and I am confident we will see many blessings come as a result of having class at a dedicated Chapel of the Lord.

Sunday was a super good Sabbath day. We went to the chapel early for a lesson before church and when we got there we heard from our investigator that he wasn't gonna be coming for church. Kind of a bummer but we were able to plan the rest of the day and also reset his time for later in the afternoon. Church was the usual stuff and afterwards, we had our weekly coordination meeting and also ate some lunch and then planned English class with a member. When we got home we were blessed immensely because about 10 minutes after we got home it started raining very hard, the hardest I have seen in Taiwan. We were able to be inside doing personal study as opposed to being outside biking in the rain! Our day was pretty busy after that with a lesson, studies, and mealtime and ending off the day with contacting. I am grateful for Heavenly Father's ever present influence in my daily life.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski 

謝希伯長老

be cool, don't be a fool (Season 9 Episode 1) - 7/15/19

Greetings and Salutations!


Pretty fun preparation day Monday. We met up with some other elders and went to the zoo! It was way hot and we were sweating buckets but it was all worth it when I saw a panda. Yes my favorite animal ever, I saw it in the flesh... behind some glass too. It was awesome! We saw some other cool animals too and as we kept on walking through we found more and more missionaries! There were so many at the zoo we had no idea. It was loads of fun and made for a good day. We got back to work and had dinner with a less active and then contacted some English class referrals we received recently.


Tuesday was a tiring day! We had lots of biking. Reminded me of the good old 鳳林 days of course. We biked to District Council and had a great talk about desire and achieving what we want this new transfer starting this week. It was good and with the other companionship switching to sisters it was the last time all my cowboys will be on the ranch together. Sad to see them leave but such will happen with the passage of time. We enjoyed a nice lesson tonight with a man expressing great interest in the church and he set a baptismal goal for August. I am very confident he will hit his goal. That was the heaviest hitting part of the day, the rest of the day was just studies and meals. Elder Yang and I had great time bonding sharing MTC memories! We both agreed it would be fun to go back now.


Wednesday was a good day! The morning we spent inside because Elder Yang took his Book A test, and he passed!! I was able to give him all of my flashcards and it was quite a weight off for me. I'm so proud of my companion and the work he puts into his English. We also had a lesson at a place for mentally disabled people and the man we met with was actually pretty sound and he seems to have enough interest so we will come back and continue teaching him! I will be interested to see where that leads us. We also had English Class and it was good. Talked about history and then our spiritual share was about family history and I invited a member to come and share. He knocked it out of the park and I definitely felt the spirit testify of family history to me. It is such a great thing!


Thursday was a good day. We had 2 different member visits and we originally had an investigator set up but that didn't quite work out so we had to reschedule him. The two members were cool. One was a young man getting ready to go on a mission and we had lunch with him and invited him to start practicing sharing the gospel with his friends so it'll be cool to hear his experiences. The other member visit was interesting. She's less active, but has strong faith. She just doesn't feel like she can come to church. Meeting with her is interesting because she asks us these deeper level gospel questions and tries to get answers to those but yet she doesn't even address her simpler problem of not going to church! I think it's pretty interesting how she prioritizes it. We are working on getting her back to church. We also started a new transfer and even though things didn't change for Elder Yang and me, we got 2 new district members and they seem really fun and we will have a party this transfer for sure.


Friday was pretty great. Elder Yang and I had a nice day and we decided to walk around. It wasn't too hot and we got to talk a lot more than we do when we bike everywhere. We also had our weekly planning session and Elder Yang and I had a constructive discussion about our goals for this transfer and how we want to work this transfer to be more unified. I felt very lifted up walking away and my companion is seriously so awesome. We set some great goals and we are going to have a great transfer together. Sadly, we ended the day getting stood up by the same person that stood us up last week. Pretty big bummer but the world still spins and we are doing what we can. Can't ask for more.


Saturday was a pretty good day. We had a good morning doing some studies and whatnot and then we got stood up by a member which was pretty surprising since we also got stood up by our investigator it made for a great day of fulfilling prophecy. We tried to find some formers and turns out the address didn't exist. We are slowly cleaning up the Area Book and getting it all nice and clean for future missionaries. I had an interesting thought though. In language study, I started translating a talk for Elder Yang and during this process (still in progress) I thought about Joseph Smith and the translation of the Book of Mormon. Considering my Chinese knowledge is fairly decent and I'm still taking such a long time to do it. I absolutely know Joseph Smith had the power of God with him to translate the Book of Mormon! Considering he wasn't learned in any ancient languages and his English skills were poor as well only the hand of God could have done that! It's truly miraculous!


Sunday was insane. We had a normal morning biking to church, but right when we got the church my back tire exploded and I got a double rip in both the outer tire and inner tube. During church we had an investigator come and that was great! And after church, we got to meet the new sisters in our district and they are super cool. Lots of good ideas coming from them and they proposed an idea for English Class that is causing quite the stir. It got me way overwhelmed but I'm not even English Unit Leader so I just delegated the responsibility of it to her and that helped me feel a lot more relaxed. We had a lesson and the rest of the time was spent fixing my bike. I went out and bought a new tire and inner tube and then we took a bus to the chapel and I made dad proud by completely swapping the tire out and fixing my bike without help from a bike store. Then I rode home on what felt like a new bike and that was basically the end of the day. Crazy day and lots of emotions all around but we are back stable again and things are good!


Elder Heber Chase Ciminski
謝希伯長老