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

聖誕節快樂!! (Season 13 Episode 1) - 12/25/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was an interesting preparation day. It started off rather early and we took a train to 台北 for mandatory choir practice in preparation for the big Christmas Concert this weekend! It took a lot of time but was fun. I saw some good friends and had a chance to say goodbye to the Sister from my MTC generation who goes home this week. Pretty wild how that time goes by, but sure enough it does. I got to see old members of my District and it brought me joy to see them. We definitely grew a bond during our time together. When practice concluded we grabbed lunch with our current District members and then got back to our area with enough time to buy the necessary items for the week and then get to the chapel for our lesson! That was mostly the night because we did some contacting afterwards. Pretty busy, but good day I would say.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. We had a quick paced morning getting a study and lunch in with the District before having a lesson and District Council! Once District Council was over we had our second study and some English group prep and survey creating. That was pretty much the happenings of the day since we spent most of the night either practicing piano or out on the street. Not too bad. I was sad to say goodbye to the members of our District moving tomorrow. Change is inevitable so I just gotta roll with it.

Another day. Wednesday was cool because it was Transfer Day. Even though my companion didn't change the other two companionships in our District did get new missionaries so we got to meet them and they both seem way cool so it should make for a fun transfer. We also went to a further out town in our area and did our work for the day before coming back to the city for our District dinner and English group! It was a good day and pretty lowkey. We are just doing the things we need to and it's a simple life to live. Find, teach, convert, repeat.

Thursday was pretty cool. We didn't have much on the plan but we did have a lesson which went pretty well! He is slowly but surely progressing so that is good. Other than that we had some meals and did some studies and made a survey and then took a train and talked to lots of people! It was more of a grind day but it was fun. Just a normal part of the life. Our train getting home was 69 minutes delayed though so that was actually a little stinky, but we made it home eventually.

Friday was pretty quick. We had our studies as well as our weekly planning session. When that finished up we left the house and headed to the chapel to call some people because we had a dinner with our Bishop and some Filipino members shortly after. It was such a good dinner and we had a good time with the members also. The rest of the night we were with the other Elders and practiced a musical number and then did some daily contacting. Pretty sweet day and now begins the weekend of fun activities.

Saturday was a super cool day. We had a quick morning with studies and whatnot before having an awesome lesson with a new investigator! He is such a cool guy and is YSA so when we had our Christmas activity tonight with the Stake he actually came and our YSA did such a great job of befriending him. So that was our night too. A big Stake Christmas event and it was actually so awesome. We dressed up like people from Jesus' time because the theme was "A Night in Bethlehem". There was a cool performance and it was just such a Spirit-filled night and afterwards we practiced some Christmas songs as a District we will be performing soon. So it was a Spirit-filled day and a great preparation for the big weekend.

Sunday was a crazy day for sure. We had a cool combined church meeting with all three of the wards in 竹北 and had a nice Sacrament Meeting and lots of Christmas things thrown in the mix! Afterwards there was some mingling around and then we went to the train station with our District and took our train to 台北 for our Christmas Concert! The Christmas Concert was so great. The music was great and I played the ukulele with a bunch of other missionaries for a song and it was so much fun. Felt like a rock concert or something because the whole crowd was moving and way into it! I loved it! The Spirit was abundant there and I was able to see old friends from my previous areas and make some great memories. I also received some cool personal revelation during the concert about some things that I have been pondering lately and so it was cool that even though the two weren't directly related I still received an answer! Once the concert finished up we went back to an apartment in 台北 to stay the night with some other missionaries.

Monday was pretty fun. We had Zone Conference in 台北! It was three Zones combined so that was pretty fun to see lots of faces. We had some good talks and it had a nice Christmas undertone. Lunch was also super good and overall it was a great event! We took care of some to-do list items in the office and then made our way back to the area with the other missionaries. Then we had District dinner and a night of contacting and trying to find new people. Throw in some Ministering to our friends and that was the whole day.

Another fun day leading up to Christmas! Today was pretty cool. We had 3 lessons today and it was super sweet because they were awesome, effective lessons that really helped them in their progression. One of them set a baptismal goal and another is very close to setting one. Aside from that we just had finding time and caroling with the District! The caroling was kind of last minute but we had a violin and faith and we spread the Christmas cheer for all to hear! It's wild how on the mission the holidays feel so normal. I'm still wearing short sleeve shirts and still doing the same stuff. I am so grateful for the ultimate gift, Jesus Christ!

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

相得一彰 (Season 12 Episode 5) - 12/16/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was a good day. We had frisbee in the morning, but switched it up by running to the game and back! On paper, it was a great idea but when I got back I had a really bad pain in my hip and that pain carried on throughout the day. So that was a big bummer but we didn't do too much. Just eating barbecue and writing emails. That night we biked out to a members house for dinner and then she just started chatting our ear off and before you know it we had to fight our way out and fly home in time to make curfew. It was good and we made it home in time. That was the day.

Tuesday was super fun. We had a good morning chilling at a Starbucks doing Language Study and then grabbed lunch before heading to the chapel for District Council. After our District Council, Elder Seamons practiced his piano for a bit then we went to dinner with our District and talked to people along the way. After dinner, we headed to the chapel again for a lesson and then played basketball with an investigator of ours and some members! So quite a busy day but way fun and productive. Nothing very special to write about but I'm happy so that's what matters.

Wednesday was special. It was a pretty normal day but the part that made it special was that I was able to see my trainer again! He and his dad are here for 2 weeks and he was able to come to my area and we had lunch together and talked about old times and shared some fun stories. It was so great to see him again and I can now relate to Alma 17:2 a lot more. He is strong and a great example. Aside from that great experience we had a fun District dinner and English group as well. Elder Seamons and I had a nice talk also. I just feel weighed down with some stuff and Elder Seamons helped me figure things out and get recentered going forward. I just discovered some deep down feelings I needed to share and thankfully my companion is someone I trust to share these things.

Thursday was a fun day. We had a cool lesson in the morning then did a quick language study and started an exchange! So I am with Elder Xia. He is in training and we had a killer day talking to people and also teaching a lesson! We hit our 20 conversations goal and got a few phone numbers of people who might be interested. We also biked a lot and that means I have biked 1000 miles in the last 6 months so I would reckon I have gone over 2000 this year. Fun fact I guess. So it was a pretty good day and nothing crazy happening!

Friday was a spooky Friday the 13th. Just kidding it was a pretty normal day. We finished up our exchange and than Elder Seamons and I got back to work. We just found around town and did studies and then had a lesson with a less active member! We read 2 Nephi 31 and talked about it with him and he said wants to come to church so that was cool. Then we found around at night and had some dinner in between.  Elder Seamons practiced the piano some and we saw one of our investigators playing basketball so we played with him for a little bit. Pretty relaxed day, but we got a lot done!

Saturday was a pretty normal day. We had our studies in the morning and then we also got our weekly planning session done since we didn't get to do it yesterday. That was cut short by a lesson that ended up texting up kinda last minute and rescheduling. So we finished up planning at the chapel and then had dinner with the Elders in our District. We then proceeded with the usually nightly activities of calling people and finding and all that usual stuff.

Sunday was cool. Had the normal church meetings and then had our weekly Coordination Meeting afterwards. Then we talked with some YSA members for a little bit then got home and did our personal study. After that, it was just studies and finding and eating meals. I was very irritable for some reason today. I'm not sure why, but I tried to keep my cool and it pretty much worked. I can't pinpoint a reason so I'll move on from it.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

歲月如梭 (Season 12 Episode 4) - 12/9/19

Greetings and Salutations!

Monday was awesome! Preparation day was super great. We had our traditional frisbee game and I feel like I played a great game, dropped a few easy passes, but caught some hard ones so it all balances out. I had better defense and passing too so all this frisbee is working out for me. We got ready for the day and then did service for a member whose moving to the Philippines soon. He asked us for an hour and a half but it took around 3 hours. We got everything was done that was needed so that is what was most important. We finished up preparation day with emailing, buying stuff and then dinner. In the night time, we had a lesson with an investigator which went well and then had a lesson with a potential who brought a friend with them so they both got a chapel tour and both loved it! They set up a time for tomorrow to learn more and they seem very interested in the message. It was so great and we ended up finding 3 new investigators in one day. Elder Seamons and I are happy and grateful for these miracles that have been happening lately. We are really hustling and our new motto is a Steve Prefontaine quote. "The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die." We are working hard and seeing the fruits of it!

Another good day to write home about. Tuesday was fun and we started it off with a 5 mile run! Elder Seamons is keen to run and so we had a good time, pushed the pace a bit and had a strong run. Then for our day, we had District Council and a couple lessons so we were pretty packed for the day! Having days like that is nice so we are always trying to have days like that. Our lessons went well and one was with an investigator who seems pretty golden right now. I don't wanna jinx anything but I have great faith for his progression. We also had dinner with a member and the sisters were there too so that was a fun time. Being a missionary is fun. I truly enjoy my calling.

Wednesday was so awesome! We played frisbee in the morning and repped my self tie-dyed shirt so that was cool. Then Elder Seamons and I got ready and out the door an hour early because of our scheduling with interviews today. In that one hour, we lit up and got 10 gospel conversations! It felt so great and we had awesome interviews with President Peterson also. We talked about a lot of things. We did touch on how everything we do is an indicator. So that made me think of all the things I do and what that indicates about me. As always, President is a wise man and always gets me thinking. After that, it was just studies and preparing for English class. We did get our 20 conversations in too and had a great English group! It was a great day and it flew by, but still good nonetheless.

Thursday was so crazy. It was raining all day and the wind was brutal and it made for a pretty hard day weather-wise. So sorry Frank Sinatra, weather-wise it's not a lovely day. We had a lesson still and our friend turned into a new investigator so that was a great blessing. We then took a train to another town in our area and spent a good chunk of time there. We tried street finding and boy it was hard. The weather was harsh and the people were very few. We still managed to talk to a few people. We headed back to our area and had dinner with a few YSAs and then headed to the chapel to call people and let Elder Seamons practice the piano. A good day, even though the weather tried to change that.

Friday was pretty sweet. And special as it marked my 18th month of being a missionary! I guess I've completed a sister missionaries mission now. Aside from that fun fact the day was pretty normal. More rain and more wind and colder. We had our studies and also weekly planning as well so once all that was through it was time to go on exchanges! This time I was with my District Leader, Elder Fong. We grabbed some dinner and then basically went finding home for the night. We had a service project planned but it didn't end up working out. So finding it was!

Saturday was super fun. I woke up early and got lots of study time in and then Elder Fong and I got out of the house. We didn't have any appointments or anything so we just had studies and lunch before we exchanged back and all the time in between talking to people. Before we exchanged back to normal he and I had gotten 26 gospel conversations together! A new personal best for me and we got a set up along with some people's contact information as well. So that was pretty successful. Then Elder Seamons and I had a special dinner to commemorate my 18-month mark yesterday and then called people and practiced piano. The rain finally stopped today so now it's just cold and windy, which is better than adding the rain in there. All in all can't complain though, everything is awesome!

Sunday was a long day. We had our regular church meetings and our person we had committed to church didn't end up coming but we were able to get him to come to the afternoon so we actually ended up attending 2 different wards. We also had a person text us out of the blue and ask what time we were meeting, even though we didn't have a time set, so we got him to come to church too! That was sweet, but it made me super tired and it was nice to get home and do studies. After all that we had a dinner appointment that actually had our whole district there. It was a great dinner and they had a great share already prepared so we talked about joy. We went around and shared what made us the most happy and it was cool hearing so many people's different perspectives. Most mentioned family and I definitely did. Some of my most happy moments have been being with Mom, Dad and Noah. I can't wait to be home with them in 6 months.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

魔高一丈，道高一尺 (Season 12 Episode 3) - 12/2/19

Greetings and Salutations!

Another fun day to write about! Monday was pretty sweet. Another relaxed P-day which included a morning game of frisbee, some family calling, going to Carrefour for some grocery shopping! Once all that stuff got done I also had my hair(s) cut and then we went to the chapel and sent off some emails and got that done. Then ended the preparation day off with a district dinner. During working hours we found for a bit and then had our weekly coordination meeting and that was the day! Super good day, surrounded by good people doing good things. Can't ask for much better than that.

Tuesday was a day. My day started around 2:15 AM when my companion was up and asked if I was awake. I was half asleep but said I was and asked what was up and all he said was that he wanted a blessing. He said he had been up for a bit throwing up and was just feeling pretty sick. I woke myself up quickly and I administered that blessing to him. It was a great experience and truly put meaning to the phrase at all times, all things, and all places. I got a little bit more sleep and then we were up at our alarms to get ready to go to 台北 for Zone Conference. To get there we took the High-Speed Rail train and it was amazing! So fast and so cool. Worth the money and everything for the experience. Our whole district was there so it was even better. Zone Conference was good too. Saw lots of old friends and my old zone too! I was in and out of the meeting because I was taking care of my companion for a bit. Then, Sister Peterson had him go to the office and lay down and get rest. Turns out that Elder Seamons was up about every hour throwing up and so he was running on pretty much no sleep. I did learn things from our meeting though and we talked a lot about the new handbook and how we are going to apply the principles found inside it. So that was exciting and got me inspired to be a better missionary. That's usually the byproduct of these meetings so now I gotta keep that feeling around and get stuff done! We finally made our way back and spent the rest of the day (only about an hour), at home letting Elder Seamons rest. My heart goes out to him. I know what he feels like and I know how unpleasant it is. We will get him better though.

Wednesday was a fun day! We had a normal day. Elder Seamons was feeling pretty much back to normal so we did the normal things. Had studies and stuff then we went to the chapel to get ready for a special Thanksgiving English group with our district. We grabbed some dinner then had our super cool Thanksgiving activity! It was a great activity. Once that finished we just biked out and met up with the Zone Leaders to start an exchange! Should be a good time.

Thursday was an Exchange Day and it was so good. We started off the day by getting stood up for a lesson but then we pressed forward and succeeded in meeting with someone else then had a great Costco lunch. After lunch, we had 2 member visits with a study in between them. Then came dinner, since it was Thanksgiving an American family in the other Elder's ward invited us over for dinner. It was my third Thanksgiving dinner this week but so very good. I was so grateful that they invited us over and that we could have that experience. It felt just like being at home and it was awesome. Then to end off the night we got stood up again and evaluated our exchange. Overall it was a good exchange, I learned a lot and Elder Dalton helped me see how far I've come since we met a year ago. He's a great guy and I learned a lot about myself from him and by being around him so that was nice. I'm grateful for everything I have and know it's all from our loving Father in Heaven.

Another great Friday! It started off with a great frisbee game. Then we had the normal events including our weekly planning session. We had a pretty sweet day finding too. We hit our 20 conversations goal and got a few contacts for people today. We are setting goals and doing more to center our work on the goals. We are getting more organized and figuring out the best and most efficient way of doing things. I'm still working on a lot of things in my personal improvement and feel like I have a long way go to. There are so many things I want to learn and do and times only getting shorter. The pressure is on so I gotta make a surge and hold that pace till the finish.

Saturday was pretty great! We had a few lessons and had some member visits also. We met with one of our investigators and it turns out he has already been baptized and is a less active member! It was a total shock to us and now we are working to bring him back. Totally wild but that meant that we had 2 member visits and we also hit 20 gospel conversations (for those of you counting at home that's an ideal day!) It was also a cool day because we got to attend a baptism for the Sisters in the district. Some good district time together never hurt anyone. It was an awesome day. We are finding more people interested and getting contact information for them. So things are going good!

December has arrived! Sunday was a great fasting day. Church was nice and I got a real good stretching experience. Due to the big numbers of foreign members in our ward we have translating machines for them. But today we didn't have enough for all the members (I can think of worse problems to have), but that meant that I got that feeling in my stomach that I needed to step up and try to help out. So I did and man, was it hard. It was good practice I guess but I felt pretty rotten after. I tried my best and the members thanked me for the effort but I wished I could've done better. I'd hate to be the reason for someone not getting the most out of church. We moved on and I'll keep on practicing for a potential next time. We met with some members and had dinner with a Filipino member and his family. Such good food and we had such a great talk about missionary work. We got some names for less active members we are going to try and work with! The best part was when I was introducing myself the father of the family said that he had watched my youtube videos before (#famous)! That was cool to hear and add on the 22 gospel conversations we had and it made for a cool day!

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

一夫當關，萬夫莫開(Season 12 Episode 2) - 11/25/19

Greetings and Salutations!

Monday was super good! We started off our preparation day by playing a nice game of frisbee and that was loads of fun. Afterwards we came back and got cleaned up then called home and got some little things out of the way before heading out to let my companion get his hair cut and go to the chapel to use the computers and stuff. We finished off our preparation day by going to a hot pot dinner with our district! They had lots of good food so it was definitely worth it. Once we got back to work we just talked to people and found for the night. We ran into this man who was from Iran and then lived in India, where he met a Taiwanese lady and got married then moved here and he's now a farmer! I can only imagine the life stories he has. He was super kind and maybe we will see him again. It's fun to meet people with cool stories like that!

Tuesday was pretty sweet! We had the normal stuff and also had some good finding time too. The wind was crazy big and on the bike, it felt like I was biking sideways sometimes! Seriously so wild. The day went well. We also biked out to another town in our area and it was actually super fun. Elder Seamons and I saw some crazy things happen. We were talking to a guy on the street and this street vendor owner walked up to us and gave us free sweets! Before that, we went into a bakery for a little snack and we walked out with free bread and 10 NTD off my purchase. It was crazy and we also saw great success in contacting. We got 4 or 5 people's lines and will hopefully set them up for a later time! The miracles are flowing in right now and we are seeing so many fun little things happening. It's a great time!

Wednesday was remarkably busy. We had a very full day and it flew by so quickly. We started out with our studies and had a lunch appointment with a member then straight on to another member visit and then filming a movie with our district. When that was all over we grabbed a quick dinner, also with the district, then had a lesson before our English Group and after English Group also had another lesson! Having a packed day like this is pretty great. Our lessons were great too. One of them became a new investigator and the other will be soon I am sure. It's a busy time, but that's the best!

Thursday was a cool day! We had our first District Council of the transfer and it was pretty sweet not being in charge of it. I could just sit back and participate! We discussed goals for the transfer and with this transfer being short a week we really are going to have to work hard to hit our goals, but I know we can! When we finished that meeting we finished up studies and then biked to dinner and right as we were about to walk into the joint a member called us and said he would buy us a hot pot dinner! So we did that and it was great. Then before our lesson to end the day we had a crazy experience with some guys at a Family Mart. These guys were drunk and crazy and they started talking to us and we tried to get away but it was hard. When we finally got away one of them grabbed my arm and said a really creepy goodnight to me and boy I flew out of that store. So crazy! Elder Seamons has encountered them before and now we really gotta avoid them.

Another day on the books. Friday was pretty good. We had a lesson in the morning and then had studies and weekly planning! Nothing super exciting but Elder Seamons and I had a good chat during weekly planning about the work and stuff so that was fun! Then when all that was done we went out for the night and found for a bit, called some people and then found some more! Overall a pretty relaxed day.

Saturday was a good day! We got the good work done. We had some activities with the ward too and that was great! In the evening we had a Thanksgiving activity where the ward came together and just ate food together. It was fun! Before that, we went out to a further part of the area and dropped off notes we wrote at member's homes. We only had one address that didn't exist so that was a plus. Other than that, we were just doing studies and finding too. We have had to basically start fresh with our teaching pool because nobody seems to want to meet with us after I moved in. So we are always trying to find more new people.

Sunday was a killer day!! We had an awesome day that started with our church meetings. This ward is very diverse! We have a lot of Filipino members, 1 Korean member and 1 American (in addition to us). So it was super cool and it was very cool to hear the sacrament prayer spoken in English! I haven't heard it in English for a very long time. For our second hour, we watched the Face 2 Face with Elder Gong and others and it was so awesome. I wish I could go back and be a youth to be able to use this new program!! Such an inspired program. After church, we did our studies and then went out to work! Today was a historic day for me, the reason being that today we got 20 gospel conversations and visited 2 members! I have gotten 20 before but never got the 2 member visits also. That is the full vision of President Peterson. So to be able to actually achieve the full vision was stellar. It was a truly great day.

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老

into the windy city (Season 12 Episode 1) - 11/18/19

Greetings and salutations!

Monday was great. We had a great morning at the 金華 chapel practicing for our Christmas program. I will miss those practices! I am a performer after all ;) but after practice, we met up with the Sisters in our District and another companionship of Elders plus one of my Taiwanese friends and we all grabbed lunch together before heading to our chapel to do tie-dye! I had really been looking forward to this so I am happy we got to do it. We left it to settle and dry so we will get it tomorrow at District Council and bring it back. I hope it all turns out good. Once preparation day ended we had a lesson and then dinner with our Bishop. That was pretty much the night because we got talking with our Bishop a lot about future plans for this area and what we want to accomplish. There is a lot of potential for this area. I can't wait to see the future growth of it. I am so excited to go to 竹北. My new companion is a stud and seems like a lot of fun. And our District is awesome so it's going to be great for sure.

Tuesday was a great day. Had the normal schedule including our last District Council of the transfer! I'm really gonna miss the Sisters and our District. It was a great time being here but all good things must come to an end at some point. It was also a special day because one of the sisters asked me for a priesthood blessing last night and I was able to give it. It was a great spiritual experience for me. I spent a lot of time pondering and thinking about what she needed and then I let the Spirit take the lead and I feel like I did the best I could. I hope all is well going forward. I was also able to check on my tie-dye projects and they turned out awesome!! I can't wait to wear them soon. Especially the socks. They turned out way good. A member fed us a barbecue dinner and that was basically the day! Pretty busy and fun too.

Wednesday was a pretty good day. I spent the whole day getting ready to leave and get all my stuff packed. I accumulated too many things in this area so I had to declutter a bit and make it all fit and it all worked out! Aside from that I also went to the dermatologist because Sister Peterson told me I should go get my legs checked out so I did and they said I have Eczema. I got some medicine and cream for that and hopefully, that works and it goes away. That was a fun time I guess and the best thing from the day was our English group!! My students are so cool they brought me some gifts! One brought me big oreo brownie and 4 others all got me a cool ceramic mug with an awesome design on it! I'm so glad for my students and the progress they have made and what they will continue to do! I will miss them a lot. It was a sentimental day. Lots of memories and things in this area. It's bittersweet to leave. I'm excited about my new adventure.

Thursday was such a tiring day, transfer days always are. Started out by getting all my luggage out of the house and downstairs so a member could help take me to the train station! I had a little bit of a wait before I took my train to my new area, but when I got on the train 2 people helped me with my bags, which was a big answer to a prayer I had said only 30 seconds prior. What a turnaround answer. The train ride was smooth and when I got to 新竹 a lady helped me with my bags getting off too. Taiwanese people are so nice! I felt so blessed and lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people. When I arrived I met up with my new companion, Elder Seamons, and he is a total legend! I love him a lot and he's such a fun Elder. We made our way back to our area and got my stuff dropped off and a little unpacked before we headed out for a lesson and then a District Dinner. This area is so great we are always doing things as a District, which I really enjoy. At night we were just out finding and whatnot. We talk to a lot of people here! A great change from how we did things in 三峽. Longer entry but it was a big day, I'm excited to serve here and can't wait for the new adventures!

Friday was great. A pretty normal day. We had a great morning exercise playing frisbee with a bunch of missionaries! It felt good to get out and run again. I definitely have missed doing that. Today we just had our studies and our weekly planning with finding to fill the gaps. I'm still finding my groove in this new place, but I really do enjoy it here! It's not as big as 台北 but it's not as remote as 鳳林. It's a perfect balance and has everything I need. Elder Seamons is a great guy also. We will get along great. We still talk to a lot of people and even though we don't see much fruit right now the harvest is coming soon. There are always prepared people ready.

Saturday was a good day. We had a good day doing some studies and talking with people on the streets. We did see a cool experience when we started talking to a guy sitting on a public bench and then when we asked if he had time to meet with us he said he had time right then so we taught him lesson 1 on the street! Super cool and he didn't really have an interest in learning more but it was a cool experience for us to have. We also had Stake Conference tonight! It was just the adult session but it was pretty sweet. President and Sister Peterson were there and so that was cool too. We have been walking around these past few days because my exchange bike broke really bad. So we have to wait until my bike gets here and then the real work can get started. This area is awesome and I'm loving it more every day!

Sunday was super good! It was Stake Conference round 2 and it was the general session so all the other missionaries were there too so it was nice to see other missionaries around and also hear some good messages! After church, we met with an investigator that came and the lesson wasn't the best in my opinion. It just seemed a little scattered and he asked some complicated questions too. It was all good and after all that we did some studies and then made our way back to the chapel to get stood up by a guy. Then we had some miracles! We had an hour to walk home and we promised God we would talk with every man we saw and in return we asked for at least 6 gospel conversations and 2 setups. Then we went to work and ended up getting 8 conversations and 2 setups! Such a great experience and Elder Seamons even went all preacher mode and talked to 17 kids at once about English group! So legendary. Then I was able to pick up my bike and we biked around a bit. Super good day in a super good area!

Elder Heber Chase Ciminski

謝希伯長老