tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64761344102649432902024-03-12T19:53:06.571-07:00Elder Nathan Willes Riverside, California MissionMarianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-75061547504763011842018-09-05T20:22:00.000-07:002018-09-05T21:57:21.025-07:00THIS IS IT<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President and Sister Hammon with the out-going California, Riverside missionaries</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Wow! Where to begin? What an incredible last week I've had here on my mission. On Wednesday, Sophia and her daughter Isabel, entered the waters of baptism. What a special day. This week has been full of miracles and there is nothing that brings me greater joy than missionary work. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes, Elder Crowther, & Elder Maxwell at the baptism of Isabel and Sophia</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Tomorrow will be the last day I will serve as a full-time missionary and so I want to quickly share my testimony with all of you.</span></span><br />
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I know that God lives. I know that He loves each and every one of us. He truly is in the details of our everyday lives and has a perfect and magnificent plan for me and you. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of all, and that He lives today. Over the course of my mission, I have continuously felt of their love. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have truly have carried me through trials and struggles, and through this I have had my faith strengthened immensely. My mission has changed my life forever. I look back on this time with pure joy, knowing that I served with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I testify that I have been changed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and have also been a personal witness to seeing the Infinite Atonement work in the lives of others. There is truly nothing in this world that brings more happiness than sharing and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know with all of my heart that It is true, and I have no doubt of that. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I love my Savior and I don't want anything to come in the way of my relationship with Him. I know that as we are willing to give our hearts and will to Him, He will help us to become the disciples that we need to become. I am excited to apply all of the things that I have learned on my mission into the next phase of my life. My mission has truly been sacred and happy. I love the Lord and I love His Work! See you all soon! Hurrah for Israel!</div>
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Elder Willes </div>
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<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-71632376861091572652018-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:002018-08-22T20:37:01.888-07:00SPRINTING TO and THROUGH the FINISH LINE (Wednesday, August 22, 2018)<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes and his previous companion, Elder Zeng who is visiting</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another week full of Miracles, Miracles, and more Miracles. We are working super hard, being obedient, and the Lord is continuing to bless us. G</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">uess what??? Sophia, and her daughter Isabel, are getting baptized tonight!!!!!!! We are so excited for them. Our first lesson with them was Friday, August 10th, and they are so prepared for truth. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Today is our p-day because we have the opportunity to attend the Redlands Temple today! I am so so excited for that. Next Monday I will most likely email again, so this won't be the last time you will hear from me. Also, Shannon's son, Kerry (Elder Xiao) returned home from his mission last week, and we got to see him! It was so great seeing him again, with his mom now being an active member of the Church. What a blessing it was to have been a part of Shannon's teaching process, and helping them become one step closer to becoming an eternal family! Shannon and her son will most likely be going through the temple together at the end of next month. I am so excited for them and love them so much! It has been an </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">incredible blessing and privilege to labor in this part of the vineyard right now! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Joanna was confirmed on Sunday! I had the opportunity to perform her confirmation, and it was so awesome! It was a really spiritual experience for me. Also, Sophia and Isabel will be getting baptized tonight! We had a crazy miracle week with them, and have taught all of the lessons, they have both been found worthy, and will both be getting baptized later tonight. Words cannot begin to describe how excited we are for them! They are heading back to China at the end of this week, and so they will also be getting confirmed at their baptismal service.</span><br />
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We ran into Brother Miao while we were out Seeking With Faith this week. He told us that there was one of their family members from China who was visiting and he invited us over. We taught Crayon Li. It was a great lesson, and the Spirit was very strong. </div>
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Tuesday evening we had another lesson with Sophia and Isabel. We were able to set some very clear expectations on things that they needed to do in order to join the Lord's Church. It has been such a blessing and a strength to my testimony watching how willing Sophia and Isabel are to keep the Commandments of God. They have so much faith and are willing to use their faith and act.</div>
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Wednesday morning while Seeking With Faith we had the opportunity to teach Mr. Sun. We found him at the park and he understood the need for a Restoration of Christ's Church and also why we also needed the priesthood. He accepted a baptismal date for September 16th, and it was a huge miracle! Please pray for him as he continues to progress in the Gospel. </div>
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Wen could really use your prayers. He is preparing for his potential baptism this Sunday. We met with him Friday afternoon after service at the Palm Terrace Care Center. We taught him about the importance of Prophets, and also followed up on his personal prayer and Book of Mormon reading. We are so excited for him. </div>
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I went out Saturday morning for a Weekly Blitz for our Zone with Elder Loveridge. Saturday evening we also taught another lesson to a new investigator, Hong Ming. We originally contacted him at the park. He accepted our invitation to read from the Book of Mormon and pray. We have spent a lot of time Seeking With Faith and the Lord has really been blessing us for that. </div>
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Sunday we had 5 people come to church! Sophia and Isabel, Xun, Linda, and Wen ShiTao all came. </div>
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Well everyone, my emailing time is just about over today, but I love each and every one of you! I am so excited to have another miracle-filled week and to witness the baptisms of Sophia and Isabel tonight!!! I am sprinting to and through the finish line! Love you all have another great week!</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Elder Willes</span><br />
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Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-66488093933401189072018-08-22T19:27:00.004-07:002018-08-22T19:27:47.635-07:00ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY MISSION (Monday, August 13, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>"I have felt so much peace about Grandma passing away. Although it is hard, I have felt the Savior's love </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>so strong. This past week I had a little index card where I wrote, "This week is for Grandma Marchant" </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>and I put it in my shirt pocket everyday. Grandma was clearly looking out for me and we finished the week </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>with finding 6 new people to teach, a lot of people progressing quickly towards baptism, </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>and also a baptism! What an amazing week."</i></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another amazing week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. So many miracles including the baptism of Joanna Ma yesterday! What an incredible experience that was. Seriously it was one of the best days of my mission. I love Matt and Joanna and their family so much! </span><br />
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On Tuesday we helped a lady who has been coming to English Class for a really long time, Grace Chen. After, we were able to teach her a lesson about prayer! We shared 2 Nephi 32 with her and it was a great lesson. She agreed to pray everyday. We also taught Wen, and he is doing great. Wen is still on date for baptism on August 26th. Please pray for him that he can reach that goal!</div>
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<span class="verse-number verse" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 Nephi 32:9 </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">But behold, I say unto you that ye must </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">pray</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">pray</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> unto the Father in </span><span class="page-break" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">the </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">name</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> of Christ, that he will </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">consecrate</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">welfare</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> of thy soul.</span></div>
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After another great English Class on Wednesday morning we had another lesson with Joanna. It was such an amazing lesson. Joanna is so prepared to accept the Gospel! Matt and Joanna told us that they wanted to buy a house in Utah so that their son Mark can grow up to be like us and serve a mission. That was so powerful and I felt the Spirit so strong. They are the best! In the afternoon we also had another lesson with Sara Guo. She is doing great, and loves her new calling in the Nursery! She is still reading from the Book of Mormon and praying everyday!</div>
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Thursday morning while doing service for a non-member in her yard, we had an Elder that had an allergic reaction from getting tree sap in his eye, so we took him to the ER. He is doing much better now and we are grateful for that! We also had a great lesson with two other new investigators from this past week, Mr. Li and his son Owen. Mr. Li and his son Owen are the family members of a former investigator that we taught, Bruce Li. Bruce is still in China, but we were able to teach them. They are a great family and we are excited to continue to work with them! Matt and Joanna took us out to lunch this week and we got her baptism all organized. </div>
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Saturday was awesome. Although Elder Crowther was sick this past weekend, we still had a great day! We taught another new person from this past week, Linda Du. Linda called us, out of the blue, two weeks ago and said that she was looking for a church. She found our phone number through us placing a pass-along card on her door. We brought Sister Zhang to the lesson, and taught Linda all about the Restoration! We invited her to be baptized, and she said that she doesn't feel ready, but we are excited to continue to help her Come Unto Christ! We also visited a referral out in Fontana, where we taught two high school exchange students from China, Teresa and Violet. We invited them to be baptized, and they said yes! They accepted a baptismal goal for September 9th, and we are super excited for them! Another incredible miracle!</div>
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Sunday was so amazing! We had 7 non-members come to church, 4 of them being people that we are currently teaching. Joanna, Linda, Sophia and Isabel all came to church! Our Gospel Principles class was packed. It was amazing! Right after Church we had the opportunity of having Joanna's baptism! It was so amazing. Matt baptized her. I love them so much! Joanna bore an incredible testimony, and the Spirit was so strong. It was one of the most spiritual experiences on my mission. I was so happy! Sunday afternoon, we also had another amazing lesson with Sophia and Isabel. They accepted a baptismal invitation for August 22nd! We are praying for them, that they can achieve this goal. They are headed back to China on August 24th, and so we are going to do our best to help them to Come Unto Christ. </div>
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I love the Gospel with all my heart. What a blessing and a privilege it is to be a part of the Lord's Work. My mission has changed my life forever, and I am so grateful and excited for the remaining time that I have left to work hard, be obedient, and sprint to the finish line in order to bring my Chinese brothers and sisters into the Gospel fold. :) Love you all. Have another great week! </div>
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-32495466645273392352018-08-22T18:58:00.000-07:002018-08-22T18:58:24.266-07:00PUT IT IN YOUR PHONE (Monday, August 6, 2018)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;"><b><i>"Miracles are everywhere! What a blessing and a privilege I have to represent the Savior, Jesus Christ. I love Him and I know that He loves me. I love the Lord and I love His Work! My mission has been the most sacred and happiest experience of my life. True joy and happiness comes through obedience and sharing the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have a testimony and I know these things are true. God and Jesus Christ live."</i></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. <i>Miracles were everywhere to be found this past week and I am excited to tell you about them! </i></span><br />
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We have been Seeking With Faith a lot, and we have seen many miracles and blessings that come from this effort! We spent time every day this week out looking for those who the Lord has prepared. Good news - our car didn't break down this week and we were all happy to make it to District Council. District Council is always a time of revelation and a time I always feel the Spirit. </div>
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We have taught some really amazing people this week. I love teaching and testifying. We had another lesson with Wen ShiTao. He is doing great! We followed up with him on how he is doing with personal prayer and reading from the Book of Mormon. Wen ShiTao loved the passage which we gave him to read, Alma 32, on faith. We focused a lot with him on faith and repentance. It was a great lesson. We had another lesson with him the following night. After teaching our lesson and teaching Wen ShiTao about baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we invited him to be baptized. He accepted a date for August 26th!!!! He even put it into his phone so that he wouldn't forget. He is so cool! </div>
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Wednesday afternoon while out seeking, we ran into one of our former people that we were teaching, Amanda Xie. She let us into her home, and we got to talk with her for a very brief time before we had our dinner appointment. She said that we could come back another time, and share a message with her and her family! She has 2 kids, and so they are a potential family of 4!!! Thursday evening we finally were able to have another lesson with Xu Jie Mei! Shannon Yang came with us again, and we had a great lesson. We explained how the Book of Mormon helps us to learn of Christ and how Christ's sacrifice brings us hope and peace. We invited her to be baptized but she doesn't feel quite ready yet. We will continue to work with her and help her to Come Unto Christ! </div>
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Our English Class is going so well. We normally have about 15 people consistently attending. This is truly a miracle! We also did some service this week at the Palm Terrace Care Center. We had another lesson with Matt and Joanna. My trainer, Elder Zeng is back visiting the mission, and so he came to the lesson with us. It was great to see him! We taught Matt and Joanna about the importance of reading from the scriptures as a family and also having personal scripture study. Joanna is hoping to be baptized this next Sunday, August 12th. She seems excited for that. Please pray for her that she can be baptized this upcoming Sunday! That will be the coolest thing ever to see my friend Matt, a very recent convert, baptize his wife. Friday evening, we had another great English Class. After English Class, Elder Zeng and I went to a Correlation Meeting with the leaders in the Chinese Group, while Elder Crowther and Elder Maxwell taught two new people from this past week, Sophia and her daughter Isabel! </div>
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Saturday morning we had the mission Transfer Breakfast! I had the opportunity to bear my testimony, as it was my last Transfer Breakfast. That was a super great and spiritual experience for me. We stopped by to see a referral, and also the Hu Family, neither of which we were able to teach, but that is okay! We did have a great Home Visit with Shannon Yang. Shannon's son, Elder Xiao, comes home from his mission in the next couple of weeks. I am excited to see and meet him again. Shannon is such an incredible member of The Church and has such a strong testimony! We also visited Dennis and Yancy! They are busy, but they are doing good. We followed up with them on their prayer and Book of Mormon reading, and invited them to keep those commitments. It was a good lesson. </div>
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Sunday was a very spiritual and amazing day. This past week, we had 4 of the people that we are teaching come to Church! Joanna, Wen, Sophia and Isabel all came to Church! It was amazing and our Gospel Principles class was super full! In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to do another Home Visit with the Su Family. We read through Matthew 14 with them and related that to sharing the Restored Gospel with friends and family. It was great! Sunday evening after dinner, we then did some more Seeking With Faith, after which we taught Sophia and Isabel! Sophia and Isabel were a referral from our recent convert Amy. They are only here for a couple of weeks, but they are very prepared! We are going to invite them to be baptized this upcoming week, and we are super excited about that! Please pray for them.</div>
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Miracles are everywhere! What a blessing and a privilege I have to represent the Savior, Jesus Christ. I love Him and I know that He loves me. I love the Lord and I love His Work! My mission has been the most sacred and happiest experience of my life. True joy and happiness comes through obedience and sharing the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have a testimony and I know these things are true. God and Jesus Christ live. Love you all have a great week!</div>
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-14475078460356444032018-08-08T15:41:00.000-07:002018-08-08T15:41:21.579-07:00MISSIONARIES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE VEIL (Monday, August 6, 2018)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandma & Grandpa Marchant and Elder Willes taken right before his mission<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;">"<i style="font-weight: bold;">It has been a sad time since hearing of Grandma's passing, but I have 100% faith and confidence in God's Plan for our family. I have received a priesthood blessing this morning, and that brought me so much peace. I know that the Plan of Salvation is real, and that it is true. <br />What an incredible reunion it will to be with each other again."</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! To be honest, it has been a rough couple of days since hearing about Grandma. I loved her so much and looked up to her and her amazing example. Grandma has taught me so much over my life, and she truly is a Spiritual Giant. One of the things that I have learned from Grandma is the importance of always being kind to others. Grandma always had a smile on her face, and truly would treat everyone just as the Savior would. Grandma emulated the Savior's example, and she always had a Christlike light. Since hearing about Grandma's passing, I have had the opportunity to think a lot about how grateful I am for her, and how much I love her. I first received a call from President Hammon while driving to dinner on Saturday evening. After receiving the call and hearing the news, I broke down in the car. My companions have been wonderful to me and have helped me immensely. Despite the sadness over the past couple of days, I know and testify that Grandma is in a better place now, a place where she can be free from the physical limitations in this life. When the Savior entered the Spirit world after His death on the cross, He was determined to share the Gospel with the spirits there. I imagine Grandma is doing that same thing. I know that she has such a strong testimony of the Gospel and so many people are in need of that at this very moment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The Plan of Happiness is God's PERFECT Plan for all of His children. I know and testify that as we turn to Him during our times of suffering and trials, He will succor us, love us, care for us, and help us to be happy. I rejoice knowing that Grandma is being a missionary just like me right now, beyond the veil. What a blessing that is! I love Grandma Marchant!</span><br />
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-67669972368844295822018-08-01T17:28:00.001-07:002018-08-01T17:28:56.879-07:00BROKEN DOWN (MONDAY, JULY 27, 2018)<br />
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">“Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">18 And ye cannot bear all things now; </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and the riches of eternity are yours.</span></i></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: transparent;"><i>19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; </i></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: transparent;"><i>and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.”</i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">-Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-19</span>
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<b><i>"I shared this scripture with my Grandpa. I know that God will continue to lift all of us in our trials and challenges. This scripture has brought a lot of comfort to me. </i></b></div>
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<b><i>We are not alone. I know God lives and loves us. He is truly our Heavenly Father </i></b></div>
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<b><i>and I know He loves each and every one of us."</i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. Elder Crowther, Maxwell, and I are working really hard, and we have seen a lot of miracles over the past week. We are super excited to continue to work hard and find our prepared family of 4 this next week! Keep those prayers coming our way.</span><br />
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Well our car broke down this week. We were sitting idle at a stoplight, and everything just shut off. Not to mention that this was on the busiest road in Eastvale. A guy pulled over and helped us out, which we were very grateful for. We finally got the car into neutral and pushed to the side of the road, The Office Elders came and brought us a car, and then we followed our car while it got towed to the dealership. It was an interesting and funny experience.<br />
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After the car situation we went straight out to teach. Tuesday morning while out Seeking With Faith, we found a nice Chinese man, and we went back and taught him in his garage. Sadly, he didn't have time to meet again, but we were able to teach him about prayer and communicating with a loving Heavenly Father. It was a seed planted which is always great! We also taught Hong Bao again Tuesday afternoon. Sadly he went back to China this past week, but we hope that he can continue to learn and accept the Gospel in China! </div>
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Wednesday morning we had another great English Class. We were able to do a lot of Seeking With Faith during the day and also that evening. We talked to so many people! We also had our interviews with President Hammon. It was my last interview with him as a full-time missionary. It was a great interview. President Hammon is such an amazing Mission President and I know that he has been called of God to lead our mission!<br />
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Thursday and Friday were days filled with miracles! Earlier in the week, we tracted into an older Chinese man, Mr. Zhou. We set up an appointment with him and we were able to teach him and his wife Mrs. Liu. They are super cool! As we taught them, I felt the Spirit so strongly. We explained who God is, that He loves each of His children, and also about the role of prophets. More on them later! Right after that, we had the opportunity to teach Matt and Joanna again! They are doing amazing. I love them both so much. Matt and Joanna are reading the Book of Mormon everyday and strengthening their faith everyday. Joanna currently has a baptismal date set for August 12th, and we are so excited for her baptism! We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and it was a great lesson. Joanna shared several spiritual experiences with us and basically summarized the whole first couple of chapters of 1 Nephi, which was amazing! They also took us to lunch after which was super nice of them. We topped off the night with more Seeking With Faith. Always awesome!<br />
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Friday morning before our service project we met with Mr. Zhou again. Mrs. Liu was busy and she couldn't meet, but we taught Mr. Zhou specifically about baptism. We showed him the video of the Savior being baptized and the Spirit was very strong. We then invited him to be baptized and he accepted!!! He accepted a date for August 19th and we believe that he definitely can reach that goal. Originally when we invited him, he said that he was afraid that because of his age, his body wouldn't be able to handle it. We then shared 1 Nephi 3:7 about going and doing what the Lord has commanded us each to do, Mr. Zhou said that he would be willing to be baptized. It is so cool to see the amazing change of heart the Lord can help each of us make when we are ready and willing. Later Friday afternoon we had another recent convert lesson with Sara, where we taught the Law of the Fast, the Ten Commandments, and other important and essential Commandments. It was a great lesson. Sara also received a calling in the Nursery this past week, and she is super excited about that! I thought it was pretty cool that Sara was so excited about serving in the nursery. That is her first calling ever and all she wants to do is serve God. I think there is a lesson for all of us there in her example. That night we had a great English Class and then finished off another amazing day with a little more Seeking With Faith.<br />
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Saturday morning we had a lesson with another new person from this past week, Bill Gan. We first contacted Bill a couple of weeks ago. During the lesson, he asked a lot of great questions, and the Spirit was teaching him. It was a cool experience. We hope to teach the rest of his family soon! So please keep Bill and his family in your prayers. That day we did some more Seeking With Faith and talked to a lot of Chinese people which was super great too!</div>
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Sunday was another great day! This past week, Linda and Si Hai Jun came to church. Although we are not teaching Si Hai Jun right now because he isn't super interested, we were so happy to see him attend church. Linda came with her son and had a great time! In the afternoon and evening we did some more Seeking With Faith, after which we then did a Home Visit with the Li Family in Rancho Cucamonga. They are great member missionaries, and have helped us a lot!<br />
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I love my mission with all of my heart. I love the Chinese people I am fortunate to serve and teach. I know and testify that true happiness comes through obedience and through sharing the Gospel. I have never been so happy in my life as I have been on my mission. What an incredible blessing to be a part of this sacred and most important work. I love the Lord and I love His Work! Love you all hope you have another great week!</div>
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<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-55515346876318167532018-08-01T12:08:00.001-07:002018-08-01T12:08:19.535-07:00AND 2 BECOMES 3 (MONDAY, JULY 20, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i>"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, and all deserve a chance to learn and accept the Restored Gospel. The Lord will never turn His back on any of His children. His plan is one of </i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i>repentance and growth and change and peace and it is available to each and every one of us."</i></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Crowther, Elder Willes, and Elder Elder Maxwell</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. This past week we added another great Elder to the companionship! Elder Maxwell, from Bountiful, UT joined us, and the 3 of us are working super hard! This past week we have found many people to teach - as in 10 new people, and also have made a lot of progress with helping our other people that we are teaching to become converted and be baptized. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">It is super crazy to see all the pictures of my friends being home. They are the best guys and man I love them. It is super weird to think they are home! I bet they are all doing great. They all are great examples to me.</span><br />
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Monday night we had a killer start to the week! We had a set appointment with a lady named Wendy, who we contacted at the park last week. We went to teach her, and she brought her daughter Shirley! We started teaching them, and all of the sudden, some of Wendy's friends walked by, Ryan and YoYo. We invited them to join in and listen to the lesson, and we had the opportunity to teach all 4 of them! We taught them all and they all said that they will read from the Book of Mormon. It was truly a miracle. It helped me to recognize the importance of inviting ALL present to join in on the lesson. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, and all deserve a chance to learn and accept the Restored Gospel. It was an incredible experience! The Lord will never turn His back on any of His children. His plan is one of repentance and growth and change and peace and it is available to each and every one of us.</div>
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Tuesday morning we hit the streets for some Seeking With Faith. We also were invited to attend our Zone's DLC. We talked about the goals for the Zone and how we are going to continue to improve as missionaries. This transfer, our Zone, has 10 companionships and over 20 missionaries! It is a very large Zone. We then had our District Council, and it was a great meeting. I learned a lot and District Council is an incredible time to receive direct inspiration and revelation on how to best help the people that we are teaching. We were also able to do a lot of finding during the day and evening, which was awesome! It is always such a blast talking to people and helping them feel the Spirit. </div>
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Wednesday morning we had another great English Class! English Class is a great tool for us. The rest of the day was filled with more Seeking With Faith. That evening, we had another lesson with Wendy. She had a couple of questions, but we were able to resolve all of those, and also invite her to be baptized. She said that she needs more time to prepare, and so we will continue to work with her. We also had another lesson with Wen ShiTao. He is doing great. He currently is on date for baptism on August 5th, and we are trying to help him to achieve that goal! We will most likely be teaching his wife as well this week, which we are so excited about.<br /></div>
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Our recent convert Sara Guo is always a highlight! When we arrived for our appointment with Sara, Xun (her husband) was there - back from work! We had the opportunity to teach them both, and we had a great lesson with them. Xun has changed a lot recently. His new job has taught him a lot, and he says that he still prays. We talked a lot about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and also the Law of Tithing. We again invited him to be baptized but Xun said he can't right now because of some obstacles that he is trying to overcome. We then taught according to his needs, and helped him with his concerns and questions. It was a great lesson! Xun is such a great man and Sara is a very bright light in her home. Do you remember Dennis and Yancy? This past week we had the opportunity to help them move into their new house. We moved a bunch of furniture for them, and it was great to serve and help them out! They said that they will be coming to church too. We also met with the Teng Family. They are a great family and we discussed how we can help grow the Chinese group here! </div>
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Friday morning after service at the Palm Terrace Care Center, we had the opportunity to meet with Matt and Joanna again! They are doing amazing!!!!! Matt has been reading the Book of Mormon to Joanna, and they have been growing in the Gospel as a family. What a blessing that is to see! We invited Joanna to read from the Book of Mormon everyday in order to grow her faith in Jesus Christ, and she said that she would try. I felt a specific prompting to show her the Bible video of the Savior's Crucifixion, and when He was mocked and whipped. The Savior went through EVERYTHING for us. After showing her the video, I asked a question along the lines of, "If the Savior can go through all of this for you, don't you think that we can give up some time each day to read from the Book of Mormon, pray, attend church, be baptized, and worship Him?" The Spirit was very strong. We then invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!!!!!!!! She chose her baptismal date, for August 12th. She will be baptized on that day. We are so excited for her! That night we had an amazing English class too, after which we did some more Seeking With Faith, which was awesome!</div>
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Saturday morning we had a great recent convert lesson with Anna Yu. She is doing great! We reviewed the Plan of Salvation with her and talked about the importance of Family History. It was a great lesson! That night after some more Seeking With Faith, Brother Xiong and I went to teach a new couple from this past week, Kenny and Penny, while Elder Maxwell and Elder Crowther taught Li Jie Mei and her husband with the Jiang Family. We found Penny through Seeking With Faith at a park, and we taught her and her husband Kenny on Saturday. We taught them the Plan of Salvation, and it was a pretty good lesson. They said that they will most likely be coming to church this upcoming Sunday, and so we are excited for that. </div>
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Sunday was another great day! This past Sunday we had Chinese Sacrament Meeting, and that is always a favorite for me! This past Sunday, we had 2 people, being taught, who attended church! Joanna and Xun both came to church! Right after our meetings, we had such a special experience.... Matt received the Aaronic Priesthood!!!!!!! One of our members, Tony Qu performed the ordination, and it was amazing. Matt has only been baptized for 2 months now, and he will baptize his wife next month!!!!!! What a Miracle! You just can't make this stuff up. </div>
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Sunday afternoon, we stopped by to see some families. We had the opportunity to teach Zhang Xian Sheng outside his house. We talked to him about the Restoration, and it was amazing! Zhang Xian Sheng recently found Christianity and wants to further his faith in the Savior. It was super cool. He agreed to read from the Book of Mormon. Later that night while out Seeking With Faith, I contacted Hong Bao at the park. He is from GuangZhou, and we had a lesson together. He also agreed to read from the Book of Mormon, and we will be meeting with him on Tuesday. Another miracle!</div>
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This week has been amazing. We are working super hard, and seeing miracles daily. What a privilege it is to be a part of the Lord's Work.<b> </b></div>
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<b>Invitation for the week!!!!! Study your Patriarchal Blessing, writing down thoughts and impressions that come to your mind as you do so. After that, circle the words or phrases in your blessing that describe you, or underline phrases that describe actions you should take, after which, ask yourself, "What does my blessing teach me about the person God wants me to become?" I will do it too.</b> </div>
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Love you all. Have another great week!</div>
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Elder Willes </div>
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<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-15907492565511147512018-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:002018-07-14T21:16:28.803-07:00A WARM WEEK IN THE CRM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;"><b><i>The 4th of July was our p-day this week and we spent that day in the best way possible, teaching more people! </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another great week here in the good old California Riverside Mission. The Lord continues to bless us </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">with many miracles </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">each and everyday. We have also been able to find quite a few new people to teach this past week. We had 3 people who attended Sacrament Meeting this past week, that being Dennis and Yancy, and also Jacky came too! I am excited to tell you all about our week. Here is how it all went! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">First, it is really hot here. It hit 118 here in Riverside. It is always hot this time of year but the crazy heat has come earlier and warmer than usual. </span><br />
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Monday afternoon we had an awesome lesson with one of our new investigators, Wen ShiTao. I first contacted him late one evening in an Eastvale neighborhood. He is a super nice guy. We had the opportunity to teach him and it was an amazing lesson! He accepted a baptismal date for August 5th. He is going to be pretty busy over the next couple of weeks, but we fully believe that he can hit that baptismal goal. We also had the opportunity to teach a new family from this past week, TianFu and his wife Jiang Jie Mei. We first contacted them a couple of weeks ago inside their garage and they are super cool. They have 2 twin boys and they are a great family. They were baptized members of another Christian church, in China, about a year ago. We taught them at a park in Eastvale. We brought the Li family along with us, and it was a pretty good lesson! They both accepted invitations to pray and read from the Book of Mormon. Please pray for them, that they can continue to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ through the Book of Mormon! Man, I would love to see a family receive these huge blessings the Gospel brings to each of us.</div>
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I love our DLC and Zone Accountability and District Council meetings. We set some great goals, as a Zone, to become better missionaries and fulfill our missionary purpose. Our Zone has been working so hard. I love being a missionary and I love helping people that I love become closer to the Savior. This week we also taught our recent-convert Sara Guo. She is doing great and continues to read from the Book of Mormon and prays daily. We also had another lesson with Jacky! He explained why he hadn't been coming to church and meeting with us. We helped to resolve his concerns. We promised Jacky that if he tries his hardest over the next week, to come to know God and Jesus Christ, he can know that our message is true. We are working with him. Please pray for him as well!</div>
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The 4th of July was our p-day and we spent that day in the best way possible, teaching more people! After deep cleaning our apartment, we had another lesson with Dennis and Yancy. They are doing great recently! We brought Brother Xiong and Anna along to the lesson, and they helped out a lot. We followed up on how they are doing with their prayers and Book of Mormon reading. It was a great lesson and they both came to church this past week! The Li family invited us over, and said that Sister Li had some non-member friends who they wanted us to meet. So, we also had a lesson with Kay and LuLu. As part of our lesson, we watched the Restoration video in Chinese. Super cool! We are hoping to continue to meet with Kay and LuLu and we are so grateful for the missionary efforts of the Li Family. They are the best and help us so much in this amazing work!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Crowther and Elder Willes on p-day</td></tr>
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We taught Lou Di Xiong another lesson over WeChat. He is doing great! He is reading from the Book of Mormon each day and coming to know that it is true! We shared Moroni 7 with him, and invited him to be baptized. He said that he doesn't feel ready yet, but we know that as he continues to read from the Book of Mormon, he will come to know that everything we share and teach is true. The Book of Mormon is so powerful, and I know that it changes lives! We also taught Ang Weng. He originally is from Tibet, and is a super nice guy. He is a Buddhist, and we had the opportunity to teach him at a park. It was a great lesson! We originally contacted him while he was walking around in a neighborhood near Eastvale. </div>
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Friday was our MLC meeting. I learned a lot, always do. It was a great day. That night we had our English Class, but we had to end that early, because Elder Crowther got sick. </div>
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Saturday morning we spent at the doctor. That afternoon, we had another lesson with Will and Cindy, two of our new investigators from this past week. They agreed to read from the Book of Mormon which is so great because if you can just help someone read from those powerful words, the Spirit can teach and testify of truth. The day ended with a lesson with Russell. Elder Crowther first contacted him at a park last week and he is also a baptized Christian. He wants to further his faith in Jesus Christ. It was a good lesson and we hope that we can continue to meet with these people, and to help them to truly Come Unto Christ. </div>
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Sunday was another great day! We had 3 investigators who came to church, Dennis and Yancy, and Jacky. A miracle. We met with Xu Jie Mei and she has been praying almost daily! We shared Alma 7:11-14 with her and invited her to be baptized. She said that she doesn't feel ready yet. We will continue to help her to gain a testimony!</div>
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Alma 7:11-14</div>
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<span class="verse-number verse" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">11 </span>And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.</div>
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<span class="verse-number verse" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">12 </span>And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.</div>
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<span class="verse-number verse" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">13 </span>Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.</div>
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<span class="verse-number verse" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">14 </span>Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.</div>
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This past week has been amazing. The Lord continues to bless us. I know that obedience brings miracles. The more obedient you are, the happier that you will be. If we are obedient in ALL things, Heavenly Father will continue to bless us and help us. I have a testimony of that. Love you all have a great week!</div>
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-36415498959254725032018-07-02T20:59:00.000-07:002018-07-02T20:59:17.690-07:00PUTTING GOD FIRST<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<a href="https://bookofmormonstudynotes.blog/2016/09/03/sufficient-is-the-day-3-nephi-1331-34/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3 Nephi 13:31-34</a></h2>
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<span class="by-author" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute !important; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="sep" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by</span> <span class="author vcard" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="url fn n" href="https://bookofmormonstudynotes.blog/author/paulerikanderson/" rel="author" style="border: 0px; color: #777777; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="View all posts by Paul Anderson">Paul Anderson</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?<br />32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.<br />33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.<br />34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! <i>This past week has been another incredible and busy week here in the good old California Riverside Mission. I am so sorry if my emails seem repetitive, but every week the Lord continues to bless us with miracles and so I love sharing about those!</i> Here is how my week went. </span><br />
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Monday night and much of Tuesday we had the opportunity to do some good old Seeking With Faith. We were blessed during that time to talk to many awesome people and to help them feel the Spirit. We have had to shift through our teaching pool this week which is always hard, but I know the Lord is with us in this work. Tuesday morning we had our DLC, and we discussed the needs of the companionships in our Zone. Our Zone is doing amazing and working so hard. As a Zone, 2 weeks ago, we found 30 new investigators! Miracles are everywhere! What a blessing it is to be working with such hard working missionaries. </div>
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Wednesday morning before our English Class we had the opportunity to meet with Cathy Xu again. It has been a while since we last met with her, but we had a great, short and powerful lesson! Shannon Yang came and helped us out with the lesson, and it was amazing! We helped Cathy resolve her concern about coming to church, and we shared with her<br />
3 Nephi 13:31-34 which talks about putting God first in our lives so we can more fully receive His blessings and help. Cathy came to church this past week, which has been very difficult for her! After another great English Class, we had the opportunity to meet with Dennis and Yancy again. We taught them the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy. We shared Moroni 6 with them, and we also were able to follow up to see if they have been praying and reading from the Book of Mormon recently. It was another great lesson! Wednesday night during Seeking With Faith we met a super nice couple Mrs. Fang and Mr. Han. They recently came to the United States, and we first contacted them at a park. After talking to them for a little while, we asked if we could share a message with them to strengthen the family. They agreed and so we had the opportunity to teach them right there in the park. They are going to be busy for the next couple of weeks so please pray for them that they can pray, read from the Book of Mormon, attend church, and continue to meet with us. They are a great family! It was a great lesson.</div>
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Thursday we were on exchanges. Elder Carter came to be with me in our area, and we had another great day. We went to Menifee to teach the Du family. We taught them about the importance of the Book of Mormon and also the importance of coming to know that the Book of Mormon is true. They asked a lot of questions, specifically about why we need the Book of Mormon and also about agency. We taught very clearly, and they understood the importance of using their agency to gain their own testimonies. It was a very spiritual lesson! They committed to reading the Book of Mormon everyday, and also to pray about it's truthfulness. Please pray for them that they can have their prayers answered! </div>
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We had our Multi-Zones Conference this week. During the conference, Elder Crowther and I gave a training on the importance of setting goals and following up. It went well! We also received training from President and Sister Hammon, President Hansen, and also the Assistants and other Zone Leaders. It was a great day! This week we also met with the leaders in our Chinese group. It was very productive, and we had the opportunity to discuss the needs of the group.</div>
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The Hu family is progressing and I love teaching them! We are still working with them and we talked with Brother Hu about the importance of the Book of Mormon. We showed him how he could listen to the Book of Mormon, and he said that he would listen to it on the way to work. Lou Di Xiong has been reading from the Book of Mormon and is doing pretty well. Please pray for him specifically that he can come to church this next Sunday!<br />
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Sunday evening I had the wonderful opportunity to go down to Hemet and attend DeeDee McCrary's Baptism!!!!!!! For those of you that don't know, Elder Sorensen and I found DeeDee and taught her while I was serving in San Jacinto. Over the past 9 months, DeeDee has continued to grow and continued to overcome many trials. 9 months later, she was baptized a member of God's Church. It was so incredible! There were like 8 different missionaries in attendance who were also a part of her teaching process. What a miracle! DeeDee will be an incredible member of the Church!<br />
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Sunday was another good day! This past week, Cathy came to church and had a great experience. Also during Sacrament Meeting, Bishop Loudon confirmed Anna Yu a member of the Church and she received The Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was so spiritual and such an incredible experience. </div>
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Sorry everyone this email is super long but again this week was full of miracles! I love the Gospel and I love my mission. It truly is the happiest and most spiritual time of my life. I want to give my all to the very end. Love you all have a great week!</div>
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-12798747088254495572018-07-01T22:28:00.002-07:002018-07-01T22:28:29.840-07:00A BAPTISM AND A BBQ (MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>"I would invite everyone to think about the question that 司海军 asked me, "Why do you believe in God?" </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello again everyone! This past week has been another amazing week here in the good old California Riverside Mission! The highlight definitely was Anna Yu's baptism!!!! What a special day that was. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">We contacted a lady named Linda 王 this week。It is interesting because we have contacted Linda multiple times before, but this time was different. We started testifying of the Book of Mormon to her. This time the Spirit hit her and she asked if we could share a message with her. Wow did this experience really strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon.</span></span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">We continue to teach Jacky. Please pray for him. This week we shared with Jacky the importance of putting God first in our lives. It was a great lesson, and the Spirit was really strong. </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Wednesday before our English Class we had an opportunity to meet with 司海军 who is one of our English Class students. About a week ago, he asked me during the middle of English Class, "Why do you believe in God?" What a powerful question. So cool. We had the opportunity to teach him, his wife, and also another lady from English Class who sat in on the lesson, Yang Jin! They all committed to read from the Book of Mormon daily. We also taught Dennis and his wife Yancy. We first contacted them a couple of weeks ago at Harada Park, and we were able to set up a time to meet with them. They are a great family and accepted invitations to read the Book of Mormon and pray, which we were very excited about! We also had the opportunity to have another lesson with Anna Yu. We topped off our night with a visit to Brother Li, who got called as the Chinese Ward Mission Leader this past Sunday!</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Thursday morning Anna Yu had her interview and was found worthy to be baptized!!!! We also fasted as a Zone on Thursday about our baptismal goal for the month. Our Zone saw a lot of success that day, which was a miracle! </span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Friday morning we traveled down to Menifee to have another lesson with the Du Family! We talked with them a lot about the Book of Mormon and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon. They still are very active in their current church, but are open to still having us over. They are a really nice family! Before English Class that evening, we had another lesson with Tim 张。We had 苗弟兄 come with us and we had a great lesson about the Atonement. Tim has been struggling recently and has had some trials. Please pray for him that he may find peace through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After English Class, we had another lesson with a couple of new investigators from this past week, Nicole and Carson. We are looking forward to meeting with them again this upcoming week. </span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Saturday morning we had our Chinese BBQ activity. We had a lot of investigators and also friends from English Class that came. So awesome. The family that we are working with, the Hu 家庭, who has not been active, came as well! They got great fellowship! We also taught Anna today, her last lesson before baptism. She is ready and will be a great member of the Church. </span><div>
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<br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Sunday was a special day! We were able to meet with Mrs. Wei and her two friends, who went back to China today. We first tracted into their house and were able to teach them some at a follow-up appointment. I am hoping they will be able to learn more from other missionaries. We had an incredible home visit with Shannon Yang [a recent convert]. She is a true disciple of the Savior Jesus Christ. It has been so cool to watch her grow from her baptism in September until now. I love the Gospel and how we each can change through living it. The highlight of the day was that </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Anna Yu was baptized Sunday evening!!!! It was such a spiritual experience. Anna radiates the Light of Christ and will be an incredible addition to our Chinese Group here. She bore a powerful testimony at her baptism. I am so lucky to know these amazing people. I love them so much. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Crowther, Brother Yu, Anna Yu, Elder Willes and Elder Nelson</td></tr>
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<br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Miracles are everywhere! I would invite everyone to think about the question that 司海军 asked me, "Why do you believe in God?" I know that God lives. I know that we are all His children. I know that He knows my name, and that He loves me. I love you all have a great week!</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Elder Willes </span><img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" /></div>
Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-29998005901176488312018-07-01T21:53:00.000-07:002018-07-01T21:53:47.521-07:00ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE GOSPEL (MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018)<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California Riverside Mission. Elder Crowther and I have continued to see many Miracles over the past week and our Zone continues to see miracles as well which is amazing! Here is how the past week went down.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Monday night we were able to do some great Seeking With Faith as well as visiting a referral in Lake Elsinore. We talked to a lot of people while out and that was a lot of fun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Tuesday morning we had our DLC and also our District Meetings. We also brought our Zone together and shared with them what we learned at MLC. That afternoon after our studies, we had another lesson with Anna Yu. Anna is doing great! She currently is on date for baptism this upcoming Sunday (June 24th) and will for sure be baptized on that day. What a Miracle! We followed up with her and her husband on their prayer and Book of Mormon reading was going. We focused again on God's Commandments, specifically the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. It was a great lesson! We also had another lesson with Jacky! Jacky is doing ok recently. I can tell the adversary is working on him. He is currently on date for baptism this upcoming Sunday the 24th as well. We taught him how to apply the teachings of the Book of Mormon in his own life. I think that is something we are all striving to do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Wednesday morning we had our English Class, which was pretty great! After our English Class, we had our interviews with President Hammon. Before English Class we talked with President Hammon about our Zone, and then after English Class we went back to the church for our personal interviews. President Hammon is great! The rest of the day and evening was spent with seeking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Thursday morning we had the opportunity to have a teaching appointment with two of our new investigators from this past week, Shelly and her daughter Rebellia. We first contacted them on Wednesday night, and we were able to teach them the Restoration! We invited them to be baptized and they explained to us that they were not ready, but they said that they will read the Book of Mormon and pray as well. In the late morning, we drove down to Menifee to have another lesson with the Du Family! We taught Fang Du and his wife. They had a lot of questions about the Restoration and we talked and testified that God really did restore His church here on earth. We also shared our testimonies about the Book of Mormon. They fed us lunch which was super nice and a real treat. We had another lesson with Anna. She is doing amazing. It is so cool to see the change that has come into her life over the past couple of weeks!!! That evening, we had another lesson with Jacky. We brought 苗弟兄 with us, and we taught Jacky the Law of Chastity and also the Word of Wisdom. It was a pretty great lesson!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">We taught another recent covert lesson to Sara. She is doing great. We </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">had another lesson with Tim 张。He is doing great! Tim has been reading a little bit from the Book of Mormon. We had a weekly blitz for our Zone. Elder Beddes and I went out together and we go a bunch of referrals and an investigator for the Spanish missionaries. We went on exchanges with the APs. Elder Briggs and I were together and had an amazing day. W</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Saturday we had exchanges with the AP's. In the morning, we had another Weekly Blitz for our Zone. Elder Beddes and I went out together, and we got a bunch of referrals and also picked up an investigator for the Spanish Missionaries. Elder Briggs and I were together, and we had an amazing day! W</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">e were able to pick up 3 new investigators in their area. We taught a father and a son both named Edward, and they were super cool.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12.8px;">That night while we were out Seeking With Faith we taught a lady, Maria, in her garage. That was another miracle! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Sunday was another great day. This past week, we had 2 people come to Church! Anna Yu and also Lou弟. Elder Crowther and I met an older Chinese lady sitting outside her house, 赵红。We talked with her as we sat outside her house and taught her the Restoration! We will be meeting with her this upcoming weekend. We also got to visit with Liang 弟兄 and also 李家庭。李姐妹invited a friend over named Kay and we met with them. The Li Family is super awesome and they help us so much in our missionary work. We should be able to teach Kay in the next several weeks. Overall, a pretty great day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">This past week has been another truly incredible week! I am so Eternally Grateful for the Gospel in my life. Jesus Christ is my Savior, and my older brother. I know that through Him, ALL is possible. Love you all have a great week!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12.8px;">Elder Willes </span><img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-30477136688441828552018-07-01T19:43:00.000-07:002018-07-01T21:37:36.103-07:00HOW CAN I KNOW THAT GOD EXISTS? (MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>He was so excited and happy for her. That was special, and I was so grateful to be a part of that."</i></b> </span></div>
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Hello again everyone! This past week has been another amazing week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. Our Zone had an amazing week! Together as a Zone, we were able to find 25 new investigators this week. Elder Crowther and I are so proud of our Zone and all of the hard work that they continue to put forth in their respective areas! Elder Crowther and I this past week witnessed many MIRACLES and I am so excited to tell you all about them!</span><br />
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First off, Elder Yang is heading home to China this week. I am really going to miss him. I have learned a lot from him and he has made so many sacrifices to be here serving a mission. </div>
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On Monday night we drove down to Menifee to visit a referral that we received over the weekend. They were home, but more on them later! We also had our DLC Meetings, Zone Accountability and Zone Introductions, and also District Meeting. I received a lot of personal revelation during the District Meeting. Isn't that just a huge blessing that the Lord will speak to us and answer our questions? The APs also called us Tuesday and asked if Elder Yang could come be with us for the afternoon before he went to the airport to finish his mission! So the 3 of us went and taught Macky and Stella! Macky and Stella are doing amazing! They both have been reading from the Book of Mormon. Macky has read through 1 Nephi 8 and Stella has also read a couple of chapters as well. They are such a miracle! We filled the rest of our time Seeking With Faith and contacted a bunch of people. Then we drove to Riverside to drop Elder Yang off. It was sad to see him go. Elder Yang was a great missionary! </div>
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Wednesday morning before English Class we had the opportunity to have another lesson with Joanna. She is doing great! Joanna is currently on date for Baptism for June 17th, but we are most likely going to have to change that goal. We followed up with her Book of Mormon reading and also prayer. We also talked a lot about the role of the Holy Ghost in each of our lives. I have a testimony that I shared with her that reading the scriptures, praying, and attending Church are ways to help us gain faith and feel the Holy Ghost. It was a great lesson! </div>
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We taught a new investigator family from this past week, the Lou Family. Lou Di Xiong is a movie director, and they are a super cool family we found through English Class. The Lou family has already been to Church (2 weeks ago) and we are excited to continue to work with them. Mrs. Lou said a great prayer at the end of the lesson! We also had another lesson with Jacky. He is doing great as well! The Spirit has been so strong in our lessons with Jacky. Jacky is currently on date for baptism this upcoming Sunday, June 17th. Please pray for him that he can make that date!</div>
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Thursday evening we had another lesson with Anna Yu, Brother Xiong's wife. We talked a lot about the blessings that come through keeping God's Commandments, specifically through prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, and also attending Church. Anna has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday, and she is doing amazing! We shared Mosiah 3:19 and also Mosiah 18 with them, and invited Anna to be baptized! She accepted!!!!!!!!! We put her on date for June 24th! We are confident that she will be able to make that. The Spirit was so strong. It was an incredible lesson! One of the happiest moments of my mission was seeing the joy on Brother Xiong's face as his wife accepted the challenge to be baptized. He was so excited and happy for her. That was special, and I was so grateful to be a part of that. </div>
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We visited the Zhang Family again, and delivered the Bible that they ordered. We talked with Brother Zhang for a while, specifically about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible helps us to understand Christ's Gospel. We also talked about the difference between the Light of Christ and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. That was super cool. He loved that! We invited them to Church, and it was a great lesson! At the end, we all listened to the first chapter in the Book of Mormon in Chinese. That was amazing. There is always a special Spirit that comes with reading from the Book of Mormon. That afternoon, right before our English Class, we had the opportunity to teach another new investigator from this past week, Tim Zhang. Tim is from Taiwan, and we first contacted him outside our English Class. We shared with him the first couple of points of the Restoration, and also talked with him about prayer and the Book of Mormon. It was a good lesson! Tim was able to say the closing prayer, and we will be meeting with him again this next week! </div>
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Saturday morning we had our Transfer Breakfast at President Jergensen's House. After that, we had a lesson with a less-active family, the Hu Family. The Hu's were baptized in Idaho Falls about 10 years ago, and have not been coming to church for years. They have a huge family! They have 8 kids, and Sister Hu is about to have their 9th kid! We shared with them the importance of reading from the Book of Mormon. It was a great start on the road of getting their family back to Church. We also gave them a children's copy of the Book of Mormon so their kids can read too. </div>
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Back to Menifee - Saturday afternoon, we drove down to Menifee again to visit the same referral that we visited on Monday. We then met a super nice Chinese man, Fang Du. Fang Du and his family are Christians, and actually first met LDS missionaries while in Houston, Texas. We are going back to teach him and his wife on Thursday, and we are praying for their progression in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the afternoon, we also did a home visit with Tony and Tina. They are doing great! In the evening, we then had the opportunity to teach a guy named Alan and his 11 year old daughter named Suri. Alan came up to us late one night this past week after English Class in the parking lot, and said that his wife Sherry attended our English Class. He then explained that he was interested in the Church, and also in learning English. We taught him and his daughter in the Chapel at the church building and it was so spiritual! During the lesson, Suri asked a question, "How can I know that God exists?" I felt a prompting that we needed to sing, "I am a Child of God" to them in Chinese. We sang, and the Spirit was so strong! We taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel, and it was an amazing lesson!</div>
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Sunday was awesome as well! This past week, I had the opportunity to speak in the Eastvale Ward Sacrament Meeting. We had 3 investigators that came to Church! Anna, and Mr Duan and Linda Duan, all came to Church! In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to do another Home Visit with the Liang Family. That was great! In the evening, we got to meet with Jacky again! We talked about the Sabbath Day, and the need for repentance if we do not keep the Commandments of God. Jacky said an amazing closing prayer with real intent, and we are praying that he can be baptized in the next couple of weeks!</div>
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Updates:</div>
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-The Yang Family in Chino Hills, are doing pretty well. They have not had the opportunity to pray and read, but we are working with them. We invited them to be baptized and shared Alma chapter 7 and encourage them to repent and choose to be baptized. They said that they need some more time to prepare, and so we are excited to continue to work with them and help them to Come Unto Christ!</div>
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Alma 7:27</div>
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And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and hers, and all that you possess...according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever."</div>
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-English class is booming. We had lots of people attend this week. We teach Wednesday mornings and Friday evenings.</div>
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-Thursday morning and afternoon we had our MLC meeting. We received lots of great trainings from President and Sister Hammon, the APs and President Norman. Each focused on how we can become better leaders in our mission. </div>
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This past week has been amazing. I love the Work so much! I have never been as happy in my life as I have been on my mission. This truly is God's Work, and what a blessing it is to be a part of it. Love you all have a great week!</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Elder Willes</span>
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<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-21440459736392248372018-07-01T18:55:00.000-07:002018-07-01T18:55:15.988-07:00MIRACLES ARE EVERYWHERE WAITING TO BE FOUND (MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>"I love this Work. I am so happy out here! </i></b></span><b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Go share something you love with others. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The missionaries need you and so does the Lord. Miracles are everywhere waiting to be found.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">"</span></i></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Simpson, a good buddy serving in my area, (in the middle) is getting transferred. I'm gonna miss him.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello again everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. Actually, it has been AMAZING! This past week the Lord has blessed us immensely. We had 8 investigators that came to church and we also found 9 new investigators! I am so excited to report on this past week! Transfers came and went and Elder Crowther and I are staying together in Eastvale. This upcoming transfer will be my 6th transfer as a Zone Leader. </span><br />
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We had a good start to our week with Monday night being filled with good old "Seeking With Faith." I have come to love looking for people who are searching. It is so cool when the Spirit touches them and you see in them a change as you share your testimony. I am learning so much on my mission. We had our District Meetings this week. This is such a great environment to feel the Spirit. We found and taught an investigator, Arena! We taught her and her mom about the Restoration, and it was a great lesson. They are going back to China very soon, but we hope that we can continue to meet with them in the future. We also had the opportunity to drive out to Chino Hills, CA and teach the Yang Family! The Yang family has been coming to Church for the past two weeks now. They are friends with Tony and Tina in the Eastvale Ward. They are from Tianjin, and have only been living in the United States for a very short period of time. They also have a 9 year old son, Ray. They are such a great family. We gave them a copy of the Children's Book of Mormon Stories Book. Please pray for them. They are an amazing family! </div>
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Wednesday morning we had another great English Class. English Class was PACKED! We had about 20 people show up, and that was super fun! That evening, we had the opportunity to teach Anna Yu, who is Brother Xiong's new wife. She is doing awesome, and she is feeling ready to be baptized. We taught them the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and praying as a family. It was such a great lesson. We also taught Jacky again and focused a lot on repentance and the power and peace that can be found through the Savior's Atonement when we repent. It was an amazing lesson. The best lesson that we have had with Jacky yet! Please continue to pray for him. He is doing so great! </div>
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Thursday was another amazing day. We taught Sara Guo another recent convert lesson. Sara is doing so well and came to Church again this past week! In the evening, Elder Crowther and I had the opportunity to do a couple of Baptismal Interviews for a family that the English Elders were teaching. This family got baptized this past Sunday, which was super cool! Nothing is better. Friday morning we went a worked and visited with residents at a care center called the Palm Terrace Care Center. Man, service makes you happy and is actually a lot of fun. </div>
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We taught another new family, Macky and Stella. On Thursday while driving right outside our apartment, we passed a house with a garage door open. We kept driving, and I felt an overwhelming prompting that we needed to turn around. I told Elder Crowther, and so we immediately turned around. We drove up to the house with the open garage, and there was nobody outside. We got out of the car, and went up to knock the door. We met Macky, and talked to him on the front porch for like 10 minutes. He expressed a lot of interest in the Church and also in English Class. We then set up an appointment for the following day (Friday). We taught him and his wife Stella and it was an amazing lesson. They accepted a baptismal date for July 8th, and it was amazing! They also came to Church this past week. Truly a Miracle!!!!! We also taught Mr. Duan, Linda Duan, and also his wife named Carol. They also came to Church this past week! </div>
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Sunday was an amazing day! This past week we had 8 investigators that came to Church. The Yang Family, Mr. Duan and Linda, Anna, and also Macky and Stella all came to Church this past week!!!!! It was such an incredible day. After Church, we had the opportunity to attend the Andreas Family's Baptism. Elder Crowther and I were able to share a bit at their baptism and that was super cool to be a part of. We also visited the Meaders Family. Sister Meaders is the Primary President in the Eastvale Ward and Brother Meaders is a Seminary Teacher. They both have great testimonies and we talked about the importance of doing Missionary Work! They are awesome! Go share something you love with others. The missionaries need you and so does the Lord. Miracles are everywhere waiting to be found.</div>
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This past week has been another great week. The Lord continues to bless us each and everyday. I love this Work. I am so happy out here! Love you all have a great week!</div>
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Elder Willes </div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-53539858332450804402018-06-03T23:53:00.002-07:002018-06-04T00:02:20.438-07:00THE. BEST. WEEK. (Monday, May, 28, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>"Matt told us that he is going back to China in a few days to get some money and bring it back here to support his family. [He and his wife had been scheduled for baptism on June 17.] Matt asked us during the lesson if he could be baptized and confirmed this upcoming Sunday right before he left (the 27th). </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>Matt met all of the requirements for baptism, we just had to teach him the rest of the lessons! "</i></b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Crowther, Matt Ma, and Elder Willes</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">THE BEST WEEK</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hey everyone! This past week has been another absolutely incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. We were able to witness many, many miracles. Two of those miracles were the baptisms of YiHang Yuan and also Matt Ma! I am super excited to tell you all about my week.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">This week was busy and awesome. It was filled teaching and finding, English classes, service, successes and disappointments, and lots of miracles. We taught </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">a man named Clark. We first contacted him in the park, and he said that he was interested in the message. We finally set up a time to meet with him, and taught him about the Restoration. Clark doesn't have any religious background, and said that he is not ready to accept the true message of the Restoration yet. It was sad, but I know that God will continue to prepare him for future missionaries.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">We also had Multi-Zones this week! It was awesome. We received a lot of great trainings and it was super cool. Elder Crowther and I gave a training on the purpose of our Missionary Standards, and why we have them. The Spirit was so strong, and we thought it went really well! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">The Lord continues to bless us through English Class. We have been having lots of people come recently, and so that has been a lot of fun! It has been a great tool in finding more investigators. We also had a home visit with Brother Xiong! Brother Xiong recently married Anna Yu, who we are going to resume teaching this week. Anna is really interested, and we believe that she can be baptized coming up here soon! Wednesday evening we spent a lot of time out and about doing some good old Seeking With Faith and witnessed a Huge Miracle. We received a referral from a Chinese person who wanted a Bible. We went by the address listed, and guess who it was? The Zhang family, who we paused about 2 weeks ago. They let us in, and were super nice to us. We talked with them about the importance of prayer, and also priesthood blessings because we felt that may be helpful to them to consider as their baby daughter hasn't been feeling well recently. We hope and pray that we can continue to teach them! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Thursday was super busy. Elder Crowther got sick, so I went out and worked with Elder Carter. We had a great day! In the morning, we had a WeChat lesson with Amy. We read through 3 Nephi 13 with her, and talked about Jesus Christ's teachings to the Nephites in the Americas. Those chapters are so powerful. It was a great lesson! We also we able to do a Home Visit with 杨弟兄,a recent covert of just a couple of months. He is great, and we shared the Stake Mission Plan with him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Thursday afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Matt and Joanna! This is the lesson where everything started to happen super fast. Matt told us that he is going back to China (today) to get some money and bring it back here to support his family. He asked us during the lesson if he could be baptized and confirmed this upcoming Sunday (3 days away) right before he left for China (the 27th). Matt met all of the requirements for baptism, we just had to teach him the rest of the lessons! We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Law of Chastity, the Word of Wisdom, and the Law of Tithing. It was a great lesson. They agreed to keep all commandments, and really grasped the importance of them as well. It was amazing! That night Elder Carter and I drove out to Corona to teach Jacky again! We followed up his prayer and Book of Mormon reading, and taught him the Restoration all the way through again. Please continue to pray for Jacky! He currently is on date for baptism on June 17th. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Friday we cleaned Limonite again, a major street in Eastvale. In the afternoon, we also met with Matt and Joanna! We taught them the rest of the commandments and it was another great lesson. They are such a prepared family. We are so grateful for them! That night, after English Class, Matt had his interview for Baptism. It went great. He needed another interview with President Hammon but more on that in a second. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Saturday we did another WeChat lesson with Amy! She is doing awesome! We got her confirmation ready to go for the following day. Matt and Joanna also took us out for lunch at a Asian Buffet, and they also brought a non-member family member. It was super cool! We drove to the Mission Home to be there for Matt's interview with President Hammon. It was my first time ever being in the Mission Home. It was so nice! Matt was found worthy and ready for baptism, and that was amazing! Right after that, we went straight to have another lesson with William Cui. We set some very specific goals with him, reading from the Book of Mormon, prayer, and also quitting smoking. Please pray for him! We also spent a good amount of time doing some Seeking With Faith, and that was pretty great as well!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and Joanna (and their family member) treat Elder Willes and Elder Crowther to Asian Buffet</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Sunday was amazing! This past week, we had 8 people come to church! 5 of them are current investigators, and the other 3 we haven't been able to teach yet, but we will this week. Matt and Joanna, Jacky, Anna, and also Xun all came to Church!!!! It was incredible. We also had Chinese Sacrament Meeting, and the Spirit was really strong during that. That afternoon, 苗弟兄 took me to YiHang Yuan's Baptism! It was an incredible service. I had the opportunity to baptize him. YiHang has changed so much, and I know that the change is because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. A lot of YSA students came to support him, and that was so great to see! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Right after YiHang's baptism, we had Matt Ma's Baptism! What an amazing baptism. The Spirit was so strong. President and Sister Hammon came. I also had the opportunity to baptize Matt, and that was something I will never, ever forget. Matt left for China today, but will be back in 2 months. Elder Crowther confirmed Matt and President Hammon stood in the circle with us. That was super awesome. Matt bore a powerful testimony at his baptism. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I testify that it is because of God that we have had the amazing opportunity to be in the teaching process with Matt and Joanna and YiHang. Matt is going to be an incredible member and we are excited to continue to work with Joanna! After the baptism, we were able to meet with them, and teach them the last lesson. It was so spiritual. They told us that they want their son Mark to serve a mission. That was amazing and nothing would make me happier. They are so cool!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Well, everyone, this past week has been amazing. I testify that miracles have not ceased, and the God continues to work miracles each and everyday. There are people all around us who are ready and waiting to hear this message. I love God's work, and I am so happy and grateful to be a full time representative of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Love you all have a great week!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Elder Willes </span><img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" /></div>
Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-75156827851303723352018-06-03T23:05:00.000-07:002018-06-03T23:54:11.534-07:00IT CHANGES LIVES (Monday, May 21, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect, and I know that It changes lives."</i></b> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes and Elder Simpson on p-day</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. Elder Crowther and I have continued to see Miracles each and everyday, and I am excited to report on another great week here in Eastvale. Here is how it all went down! </span><br />
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On Monday night we had another lesson with our investigator, Leo. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and then his son was super tired and started having a meltdown. We were not able to finish the lesson. Leo went back to China this past week, but he said that he is interested in learning about the Church in China, so we are going to help him out with that! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes and Elder Crowther with their English Class</td></tr>
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Our English Class has been incredible lately. Before class this week on Wednesday morning, we met with one of our new investigators from this past week, Jun. Jun was found through our English class. After teaching him he accepted invitations to pray and read from the Book of Mormon. We were super excited about that! We have been having like 16 people come to English Class! It is a great finding tool in our area. </div>
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That same day we were also able to have a lesson with another new investigator from this past week, Eric Hao. Eric is here with his wife, and we first contacted him while he was carrying his groceries home. We taught him at the park and shared the Restoration with him. It was a pretty good lesson! He also accepted both an invitation to pray and read from the Book of Mormon. Please pray for both of these individuals. That night, we also had another great lesson with Jacky! Jacky is doing great. We really feel that this is his time to progress towards Baptism and join the Church. We taught him some points from the Plan of Salvation, and had a pretty spiritual lesson with him. </div>
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This week we also taught 2 other new investigators, Jack and Chloe. Jack, originally was a referral from the other missionaries, and so we went by and got to teach him and his wife, Chloe as well! Chloe has a Christian background, but Jack doesn't really have any religious background. We had a really spiritual lesson with them! They both really have a strong desire to strengthen their faith in Christ, and that was something that was really cool to see! </div>
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We met with Matt and Joanna again! They are doing so well! Matt and Joanna are some of the most prepared individuals that I have taught throughout my entire mission. They are so incredible, and accept and apply everything that we teach! A week ago, the Li family took them to the San Diego Temple and also the Mormon Battalion Visitor Center and they loved that! More on them later! </div>
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Thursday night we also got to go over and teach Amy Hanstad again! Amy's Confirmation will be this upcoming Sunday! We are excited for her! Tuesday morning we had our DLC and District Meetings. It was a great opportunity to look towards the coming week, and to come up with ways on how we can improve the Missionary work in the Jurupa Zone. That day we were able to do a lot of good old Seeking With Faith, and we found some potential investigators for the week.</div>
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Friday afternoon we also had the opportunity to meet with Sara Guo again, and to review the Restoration with her. The Spirit was very strong, and Sara has a strong Testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It has been such a blessing to be able to see her utilize the Atonement and become a true follower of Jesus Christ. That night, we had another incredible English Class! We had a lot of people there. </div>
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Saturday was busy busy! In the morning, we had another Weekly Blitz. Elder Loveridge and I went out together. He is one of the ZL's in the La Sierra Zone. That was fun. After that, in the afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Matt and Joanna again! We taught Matt about the Plan of Salvation, and Matt loved it! They are so cool. Matt and Joanna are currently on date for June 17th. Please pray for them that they can progress and be baptized on that date! That afternoon, we also had the opportunity to teach William Cui again. We taught him the Word of Wisdom, because we are trying to help him to quit smoking. He also played this instrument for us that is used in the Beijing Opera. That was cool. After that, we then got to teach Jen's less active husband Lorenzo. We answered a lot of his questions and concerns about the Gospel, and the Spirit was very strong. It was a great experience!<br />
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Sunday was another great day! We had 4 investigators that came to Church this past week! Matt, Chloe, William, and also Jacky all came to Church! After church, Elder Crowther and I had a meeting with the Stake Presidency called Stake MCM, to talk about the missionary work in our Zones. That was fun! In the afternoon and evening, we were able to do a couple of Home Visits, specifically with Spencer Holloway, and also the Li Family. All of them are doing great and are all excited to be more involved with our Missionary Work! </div>
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This past week has been incredible. I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity that I have to be here and to represent my Savior, Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect, and I know that It changes lives. What a blessing that is! Love you all have a great week!</div>
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-39617599043821920552018-05-15T07:42:00.000-07:002018-05-15T07:42:06.035-07:00HOW DOES THE HOLY GHOST SPEAK TO YOU? (MONDAY, MAY 15th, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i>I have a challenge for each of you. I would like to invite all of you to figure out, or start to find out, </i></b></div>
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<b><u><i style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">HOW does the Holy Ghost </i><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i>speak t</i></span></span><i style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">o YOU</i></u><i style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">? Then email me back! </i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i>There are many different ways that the Holy Ghost speaks to us. God knows us perfectly, and He uses a perfect way for each and every one of us to communicate with Him. Just as the Prophet, President Nelson, said, </i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i>"We will not be able to survive spiritually without the ability to recognize Personal Revelation." </i></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i>That is a challenge I give to all, and I will do that too! </i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">This past week has been another pretty incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. Elder </span></span>Crowther<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> and I have been working really hard, and we have seen a lot of success over the past week. We are crazy busy and that is a huge blessing. This past week, Joanna, Matt, and Amy all came to Church! </span></span><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
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Tuesday morning we had our DLC, and we discussed how we are going to improve the missionary work in our Zone. As a Zone we found 16 investigators 2 weeks ago and so we were super happy about that! I also had my interview with President Hammon. We discussed missionary work, and the ecclesiastical questions that I need for my BYU acceptance. President Hammon is so awesome and he has helped me so much in becoming a better missionary. That afternoon, we had the opportunity to teach the Zhang Family again! We talked about a lot of different Gospel Principles with them, and discussed the Word of Wisdom as well. Mr. Zhang is struggling to give up smoking, tea, and coffee. We actually had to pause the Zhang family later in the week as they were not progressing, after trying everything and anything we could think of to help with these addictions. It was really sad actually. Pause is a hopeful word though, because pause is not quitting. Rather it is just giving someone a quiet minute to think and reflect and hopefully feel compelled to change through the love of God.</div>
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We had about 10 people come to our English Class on Wednesday morning. That was a super great turnout! We also had a big turnout on Friday. Our English class in Eastvale is filled with members from China and investigators. These people are very dedicated to improving their English. It is very important to them. That evening, we went over to Brother Hanstad's house with President Hammon, so that Amy could have her interview for baptism! Seeing someone I care about make baptismal covenants with God is really just the best thing ever. </div>
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This past week I went on exchanges with Elder Jackson, one of the District Leaders in our Zone. I definitely learned a lot from him. We were not able to teach anyone on Thursday in their area, but we did a lot of Seeking With Faith, which was fun. We set up 9 future appointments for them in their area. That was pretty cool.</div>
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On Friday we had another exchange. Elder Simpson, the other District Leader in our Zone, came to be with me in the Chinese area. That morning we worked at a member's home and did some yard work in their backyard. Service has a way of clearing your mind and heart and helping you to feel love. Love for others and love of God. We also had another lesson with Amy over WeChat. Elder Simpson and I taught her the rest of Lesson 5, and it was a great lesson. Amy told us the story of her husband becoming active in the Church again, and also sharing his testimony with her. It was super cool, and the Spirit was very strong during that moment. </div>
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Saturday was busy busy busy. In the morning, we had a big service project called "Making Riverside Clean & Beautiful." We went and with our Zone, cleaned a big street in Riverside. That was fun and hot. After wards, we had a lesson with one of our investigators named Margaret. Margaret lives in Corona, and her daughter is a less-active member of the Church. We taught her the importance of prayer and why we need to pray. We read through 2 Nephi 32:8-9 with her. I love scriptures about prayer! </div>
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<span class="verse-number verse" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 Nephi 32: 9 </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">But behold, I say unto you that ye must </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">pray</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">pray</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> unto the Father in </span><span class="page-break" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">the </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">name</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> of Christ, that he will </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">consecrate</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;">welfare</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314); caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", Pahoran, Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18px;"> of thy soul.</span></div>
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Saturday evening, we went to dinner with Jacky! We went to a Korean BBQ with him in Riverside. He is a young college age man so we are trying to love him and be his friend, hoping to help him. The Korean BBQ was all you can eat meat, so that was great :) We then drove straight back to Corona to visit a referral named Pan. We knocked on the door, talked to him for a little bit, and he invited us to share a message with him! He is a very devout Christian, and we got to share a little bit about the Restoration with him, specifically about the Book of Mormon. He liked it a lot,and said that he would be willing to read. Please pray for him!</div>
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Sunday was super busy, but an incredible day! We had 3 investigators that came to church! Matt and Joanna, and also Amy, all came to church this past week. I had the opportunity to do Sara Guo's Confirmation in Sacrament Meeting! Sara was baptized last week. I haven't had the opportunity to do a confirmation that since Brother Ning. That was an amazing experience. Sara is so awesome and will be a great member of the Church! </div>
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After Church, Elder Simpson and I had the opportunity to teach a Chinese man, Leo Zhou. We first contacted Leo and his wife late one night on exchanges this past week. We taught him about the Restoration at the park. Late at late, at a park teaching about the Restoration. Isn't that cool? It was an incredible experience! We are meeting with him and his wife tonight as well. After our lesson with him on Sunday we then hurried back to the church building for Amy's Baptism! It was such a spiritual experience. Amy has changed a lot, and I know that this change comes only through the Savior, Jesus Christ. I felt the Spirit very strong as I heard her bear her testimony of The Gospel of Jesus Christ at her baptism. It was incredible, and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to teach Amy and be apart of her learning process! We finished off our marathon Sunday by visiting some former investigators, a family, that we are hoping to meet with soon. Please pray for them as well! </div>
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<b><i>This past week has been another incredible week. I have a challenge for each of you. Over the next couple of weeks, I would like to invite all of you to figure out HOW the Holy Ghost speaks to YOU. There are many different ways that the Holy Ghost speaks to us. God knows us perfectly, and He uses a perfect way for each and every one of us to communicate with Him. Just as the Prophet President Nelson said, "We will not be able to survive spiritually without the ability to recognize Personal Revelation." That is a challenge I give to all, and I will do that too! </i></b></div>
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I am so grateful for the sacred opportunity to help others to come to know our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love the Lord and I love His Work! Love you all have a great week! </div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">I will have a list next week of some scriptures I love about receiving personal revelation and how the Spirit speaks to me! What will you share?</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes was so tired, but happy and extremely FOCUSED! <br />He wanted to spend our 40 minutes of Skype talking about missionary work. <br />We love him and miss him, but wouldn't have Elder Willes any other place. We are team Riverside!</td></tr>
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Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-26239775163804527582018-05-10T06:14:00.000-07:002018-05-10T06:40:03.155-07:00THE GOSPEL IS PERFECT AND BRINGS COUNTLESS BLESSINGS (Monday, May 7, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">"He felt the presence of God helping him to resolve his work concerns. Ever since that time, Matt has been searching for someone to help him learn about God so he could thank Him for all of the blessings he received. Matt said that this was one of the biggest reasons for him coming to America. He wants to find God. Isn't that the coolest thing ever? Many of the Chinese migrating here are so prepared!</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"> "</span>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old CRM. I continue to learn and grow each and everyday. I am trying to become the missionary that Heavenly Father wants me to become. This past week was full of miracles, and I am so excited to tell you about all of them! </span><br />
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Last Tuesday we went on exchanges with the AP's. It was super fun. Guess who I was with? Elder Sorensen, my former companion who I served with while speaking English, in Hemet. He is now an AP. We had a fun day together, talking about the experiences we had while serving in the Diamond Valley Ward. During the day, we did a lot of Seeking With Faith, and also we were able to teach one of the AP's investigators right outside his apartment. We reviewed the Restoration with him and it was a pretty powerful lesson! He currently is on date for baptism and expressed a strong desire to be baptized! It was a fun day, and we worked hard! </div>
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Wednesday was super cool too. In the morning, we had another great English Class. We also had the opportunity to meet with the Zhang family again. We discussed the Word of Wisdom. Brother Zhang has quite a few Word of Wisdom concerns. We are going to help him though, and I know that with God's help, ALL is possible. Please pray for him and his family! That same afternoon during our Seeking With Faith, we contacted Rayman Zhao at the park while he was sitting at a table. We started talking to him, and ultimately, he invited us to sit down and talk some more! He then expressed to us how he has been a Buddhist his whole life (30+ Years), and that before he had no intention of changing.About a year ago, Rayman's mom sadly passed away. After that happened, Rayman thought about a lot of things, including Christianity. The Lord truly had softened his heart, and he was very humble and willing to listen to our message. We shared a little bit about the Plan of Salvation with him, and the Spirit was strong! We had to cut the lesson short because he had to leave, but said that he was interested, and that we could meet again! Please pray for him! That night, we had the opportunity to do a Home Visit with the Yu Family. They are awesome! We talked about the Jurupa Stake's Mission Plan, and invited them to do Missionary Work. It was great!</div>
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Thursday was MLC (Missionary Leadership Council). That was fun. MLC has changed a lot since I was first there. We received some great training from President and Sister Hammon, and the AP's as well. I definitely learned a lot. It is always important that we always try to apply what we learn. We also had another lesson with Amy Hanstad. We had planned to teach her a specific lesson, but we were prompted that we needed to teach something different, and followed the Spirit. It was a good lesson, and we are hoping that Amy can be baptized this upcoming Sunday! She missed last Sunday so please pray for her that we can help to have your questions and concerns answered through the Spirit.</div>
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Friday was super cool. We met with Sara again. [mom note: Sara was just baptized last week. Sara, Xun and their baby Grace came and spent a day with us in December. They are a beautiful family who we now consider life-long friends.] Sara is preparing for her Confirmation this upcoming Sunday. She is excited for that! Sara has such strong faith, and knows the importance of sharing the Gospel with her husband, Xun.<br />
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At our evening English class on Friday we had a couple who came - Matt and Joanna. We first met them through WeChat. Next thing you know they have come to English Class and want to learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are super cool! More on them in a minute. That night after English Class, we had the opportunity to do a Home Visit with Brother Miao. Brother Miao is just so awesome and is such a great member missionary. He helps us so much. </div>
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Saturday afternoon we met with Matt and Joanna at the Li's house! We taught them the Restoration, and it was a special lesson. During the lesson, Matt shared an incredible experience with us. While he was working in China he had a lot of crazy things happen. And yet he felt the presence of God helping him to resolve his work concerns. Ever since that time, Matt has been searching for someone to help him learn about God so he could thank Him for all of the blessings he received. Matt said that this was one of the biggest reasons for him coming to America. He wants to find God. Isn't that the coolest thing ever? Many of the Chinese migrating here are so prepared! It was incredible, and such a spiritual lesson. Both Matt and Joanna are currently on date for baptism on June 17th. Please pray for them that they can hit that goal! As a side note: We gave Matt (as his English name) to him Friday at English class. :)</div>
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Sunday was full of miracles as well. This past week, we had 4 investigators that came to Church! Matt, William Cui, Amy, and guess who??? Do you remember Jacky from a while ago? He showed up to church this past week!!!!! It was so good to see him. After church we drove out to have a lesson with Jacky. He told us that he got a new job in San Bernardino, and is still making Sushi! He also said that he has more time to meet now. We answered a lot of his questions, specifically about the Plan of Salvation, and showed him The Hope of God's Light video. It was powerful. What a Miracle! Please pray for Jacky! He is such a great dude and we are super pumped that wants to continue learning. That night, we had the opportunity to teach another new investigator from this past week, Jenny Dong. We went over with Brother Teng, and taught her. Jenny is a former investigator, and we answered a lot of her questions. I love when our investigators have questions because that means their hearts and minds are wrestling and trying to find truth. Jenny agreed that she is going to pray and read from the Book of Mormon. It was a great lesson! We are meeting with her again this upcoming Sunday. Please pray for her as well!</div>
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<b><i>This past week has been INCREDIBLE. What an amazing privilege I have to be here, and to represent </i></b></div>
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<b><i>my Savior, Jesus Christ. There are literal miracles to be found everywhere each and everyday. </i></b></div>
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<b><i>Something I heard earlier on in my mission that continues to stick with me is, "If we fail to recognize the little miracles that come into our lives each and everyday, then we lack faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ." </i></b></div>
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<b><i>It is because of Him, that I have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help people learn of Him, </i></b></div>
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<b><i>and accept the Savior's Gospel, which truly is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>The Gospel is perfect, and brings countless blessings. Love you all have a great week!</i></b></div>
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Elder Willes</div>
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P.S. <span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">I'll see you fam on Sunday! I cannot believe another Skype call is here haha. That is crazy. Love you guys!</span><br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0px;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-62877100210747914182018-05-09T22:24:00.001-07:002018-05-10T06:17:19.218-07:00TEACHING AND A BAPTISM (Monday, April 30, 2018)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;"><b><i>"Why were you not baptized at 8 years old?" Sara replied by saying, "Maybe it is because I was lost."</i></b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes, baby Grace, Sara, Elder Crowther and Elder Nelson<br />
Look at cute Grace looking up at Elder Willes</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Hello again Everyone! This week has been an incredible week here in the Eastvale Ward. The Lord has really blessed us this past week, and it has been amazing to be a part of so many Miracles. The week was so full of highlights, I don't even know where to start but h</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">ere is how my week went down!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Monday night we had the opportunity to go and do a home visit with the Su Family. They are so awesome! We discussed the importance of prayer, and also praying for missionary opportunities. That was great! I hope you are all being good missionaries at home and sharing and praying for opportunities to share this amazing gift that we have. If you are not, now is a good time to start. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Tuesday morning we had our District Meeting and also our Zone Introductions. We have some great missionaries in our Zone and it will be awesome to work with them over the next transfer. Elder Crowther and I will serve as the Zone Leaders here in Eastvale. After our District Meeting and some studies, we then had the opportunity to drive down to Lake Elsinore, CA, to visit Evangel and Blair! It was so good to see them. They are doing great. It is crazy to think that they were baptized almost a year ago! We met Aaron Li ate the park while we were out seeking with faith. He was playing basketball and we shared a short message about the Restoration with him. That was super cool and definitely a miracle. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evangel, Blair, Elder Willes and Elder Crowther</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Well, it's never great when an investigator falls asleep during the lesson. We went over to see William this week. He is a really funny Chinese guy. Elder Nelson and Elder Crowther have been working with him for the last little bit, so we went by and tried to share a chapter in the Book of Mormon with him. But he fell asleep during the lesson. A funny experience for sure haha. We also taught Lorenzo and Jen Ceballos. Lorenzo is a less-active member and his wife, Jen, is Chinese, and is a nonmember. We taught them almost a year ago and then taught them again this past week! We read through Alma 7 with them, and focused on the importance of the Savior's Atonement. It was a great lesson! We also had Sister Zhang with us. Please pray for them that Lorenzo can be strengthen his testimony and get back to church and that Jen can come to know of the truth! We also taught Amy. She is Chinese and is married to an American less-active member as well. Amy is preparing for baptism next Sunday (May 6th). We went into that lesson thinking we were teaching one thing but instead followed the Spirit and talked about forgiving ourselves and others. It was a very spiritual lesson! Please pray for Amy! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Thursday afternoon we had an awesome lesson with another new investigator from this past week, Cathy Xu. Elder Johnson and I actually first contacted her at RCC, but she lived in Eastvale. Cathy is trying to finish her degree and is going to school. We had the opportunity to teach her at the Harada Park! We taught her practically the whole Restoration, and it was a pretty great lesson. We then hit the streets and did some more Seeking With Faith. We contacted a Chinese guy, Mr. Zhang, outside of his house. He was super nice, and said he wanted to meet with us. We asked him if we could share a message right then and there with him, and he said no because he is renting a room, and it wouldn't be convenient. Instead, we asked if he could follow us in his car, and we could drive to a park to have a lesson! He agreed, and so we got in our cars, and drove to a nearby park, and taught him the Restoration! He loved everything, but had a small hangup on saying the closing prayer. Finally he did pray and it was definitely a cool experience to be a part of. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">On Friday morning we cleaned up the main road in Eastvale, Limonite. That afternoon, we had an amazing lesson with a couple that we are working with named Mr. Zhang and Mrs. Wang. They have 2 kids, a 6 year old daughter and a newborn baby. They are so nice, and very prepared to accept the Gospel. They are currently on a baptismal date for May 13th. Please pray that they can reach that goal and continue to keep the commitments they are making. They are so awesome and it is super cool to be working with a great family! We also taught Sara Guo on Friday. Xun (Sara's husband) got a job with a trucking company and so he is super busy. But, Sara is progressing very well! We arranged things for her baptism this Sunday, and also talked with her about the importance of baptism. She is doing great, has great fellowship with ward members, and will continue to be a strong member of the Church. It is super cool to see the change being wrought in her having had the opportunity to teach her over the last couple of months. I love this little family.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Saturday was another great day. We had the annual Transfer Breakfast at President Jergensen's home. That afternoon while out Seeking we had the opportunity to meet with 苗弟兄 and to make a baptismal program for Sunday. We also attended Stake trainings and the Saturday Evening Session of Stake Conference, which was amazing! A afternoon/evening full of Revelation. That was awesome! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Sunday was another incredible day! I'll always remember days like this. They are really special and don't come around that often. Watching someone make baptismal covenants is just amazing. Sunday was the Jurupa Stake Conference, and it was awesome! We had 4 investigators that came to church! Mr. Zhang and Mrs. Wang, Amy, and also William Zhang. It was super amazing. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Yes this was the highlight. We had the amazing opportunity to attend Sara Guo's baptism after Stake Conference!!!!! It has been awesome working with Sara these past couple of months, and she has really grown a lot. President and Sister Hammon also came to the baptism, and that was super cool! At the end of the service, Sara bore her testimony. She was so overcome by the Spirit and became emotional. Sara shared that Yoyo Li (an 8 yr. old young friend from the ward) asked Sara the morning of her baptism, "Why were you not baptized at 8 years old?" Sara replied by saying, "Maybe it is because I was lost." Sara proceeded to share her testimony, and the Spirit was so strong. It was incredible! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Sunday afternoon we also were able to visit a referral in Lake Elsinore, CA. We also had a guy named William Zhang, someone that we contacted this past week, send us a picture of him attending Stake Conference. We had no idea that he had shown up! We ultimately asked if we could meet, and talk about what he had learned. We drove directly to his house, and taught him the last half of the Restoration, including about the Book of Mormon. He told us that he had 4 distinct things that he loved about attending Stake Conference, one of them being how everyone was together with their families. Super cool! He is going back to China soon but I know that he will continue to progress!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Sorry this weekly update is super long but it has been another amazing week! I love my Mission. I love my Savior. This work is the most important work on the face of the earth. I know that, and I love it. I am so happy out here. Elder Crowther and I are working really hard and having a good time. I am still having pain in my hip, but I know it was a wise decision for me to be back in a car. It is allowing my leg to rest a little bit not being on a bike. I still need to get back in to see the physical therapist, but I know medical care is expensive and honestly all of this is just a hindrance to the work. I just don't want to sacrifice the time. There is so little of it left. Everything is going to be perfectly okay. I am confident in my body and the way that I am taking care of it right now. My body continues to keep going each and every day. I remember Will telling us towards the end of his mission how tired his body was. The Lord has really blessed me beyond belief with the energy and the physical capability to do missionary work. I owe it all to Him. I am so grateful. Please pray for all of our investigators. They need all of your prayers. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Love you all have a great week! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Elder Willes</span>Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-5198599345639613012018-05-08T22:33:00.000-07:002018-05-10T06:17:41.926-07:00HE CONSTANTLY PROVIDES A WAY (Monday, April 23, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i>"Never forget that specific questions get specific answers from God through prayer."</i></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Johnson and Elder Willes</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the California, Riverside Mission. The Lord continues to bless us each and everyday with many miracles and it is such a blessing to be a part of the most important work on the earth! </span><br />
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We finished up our lessons this week with Wang Guili. We also focused a lot of the importance of the temple and talked about family history with her as well. She is ready. </div>
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Thursday was busy. Early in the afternoon, we had another lesson with our investigator, Kim. Kim is an RCC student and is Korean. He has been living in the United States for a while now, and speaks great English. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and it was a great lesson! He offered the closing prayer and that was one spiritual prayer. Right after that, we had the opportunity to teach Will Xue again! We read through the 1st chapter in the Book of Mormon with him, and talked about the importance of reading from the scriptures. That night, we had another lesson with Fan Qingsong. He is doing so well! We showed him the Mormon Message, "The Hope of God's Light," and it seemed like he was getting emotional as he was watching the video. We invited him to pray that night so he can know that God exists. He agreed and he texted us late that night (after we had been asleep) and said that during his prayer, he felt a peace which was incredible! Another Miracle!!!! Never forget that specific questions get specific answers from God through prayer. He fell off his baptismal date this week (due to lack of time and teaching him the necessary doctrine for his interview) but I know that he will be baptized. </div>
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Friday afternoon we had the opportunity to meet with Ronan again! We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and it was incredible. Ronan is still struggling to come back to church, but we are working with him and set some really cool goals to help him read, pray, and attend church. We are really excited about that! That evening before our English Class, we had the opportunity to teach a lady named Cui. We taught her a couple of points from the Restoration, and she told us that one time while she was on a plane, a member gave her a Book of Mormon, which was pretty cool! </div>
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Saturday was another great day. We had the opportunity to attend the temple with Shannon Yang and do baptisms! Shannon has such great faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She understands the importance of the temple. Shannon was so happy and it was an incredible experience to be able to be there for that. She radiates the Light of Christ which is so cool. It was definitely an experience that I will never forget and I was so grateful to be there. It will be so cool for her to go through the temple with her son Elder Xiao, who is serving in Boston currently. What an incredible experience that will be for her! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Johnson, Shannon Yang and Elder Willes - Temple Baptisms</td></tr>
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Sunday was super awesome as well. This past week, we had 4 investigators that came to church! Wang Guili, Fan Qingsong, Lu Ping, and Kim came to church this past week! In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to attend Wang Guili's Baptism!!!!!! It was amazing and the Spirit was so strong. A fair amount of members came to support her. She was so happy after, and what a blessing it was to be a part of that. I know that God prepares specific individuals for us, and if we are willing to pray to find them, God will give us the direction needed to find those individuals. That night, we had an amazing lesson with Chen ZhenHang. We also showed him the "The Hope of God's Light," and we talked about Joseph Smith, and the importance of acting upon the answer that we receive from God. He understood that, and why it was important. He accepted a baptismal date for May 27th, and we are so excited for him! Please pray for him and all of the investigators, that they may come to know the truthfulness of the Gospel! Other highlights of the week include seeking with faith, English classes, and service at Feeding America.</div>
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Transfers came and went this past weekend, and I am back in Eastvale! I will be with Elder Crowther for the next transfer, and it is going to be awesome! My health is doing pretty well. As far as limitations go, my body hurts a lot but I am definitely still going out and working. I will not let it stop me from doing the Lord's work. I feel at peace with everything and I know that God is going to continue to help me fulfill what I have been called here to do. Everything is all good. Don't worry about me mom. Please pray for all of our investigators and that we can find the elect. That is what is most important! </div>
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This past week has been incredible and I am also so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who constantly provides a way for us to do His work. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect, and it is true. Love you all have a great week!</div>
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-75784660484956120582018-04-16T18:24:00.002-07:002018-04-22T18:52:41.361-07:00BEAST WEEK!!!!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>"I know that God lives and that He is mindful of each and every one one of us. I know that it is only in and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we may become clean and spotless, so that we, one day, </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>may live with God the Father and Jesus Christ again. A really amazing gift." </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hey everyone! This past week has been an absolute incredible week here in the UH Area. [Mom note: University Heights area] We truly have had many miracles and Heavenly Father continues to bless us each and everyday. My mission is the best! Here is how my week went down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Most of Monday evening and Tuesday we spent a lot of time out and about again, doing some good old Seeking With Faith. We also went to the doctor for Elder Johnson's visa stuff on Tuesday. He is a great missionary. Taiwan is getting an awesome missionary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Wednesday was great! On Wednesday we had another multi-zone conference. We received trainings from President and Sister Hammon, the APs, and also our Zone Leaders. I personally received a lot of revelation on how to improve as a missionary and that was great. That evening we did some more Seeking With Faith and also had a great English Class!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Thursday was also amazing! In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Liu and Lu Ping. We first met Liu at UCR a couple of weeks ago, and scheduled a time to meet. She brought Lu Ping along, and we had a great lesson with them! We taught them the Restoration, and it was a great lesson! They actually went to SLC a couple of months ago and saw Temple Square so that was super cool for them to make this connection. That afternoon and evening we did some more good old Seeking With Faith!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Friday was also super amazing! In the afternoon, we had another lesson with Wang Guili and we taught her about tithing, fasting, the Ten Commandments, and it was awesome! She is doing really well. Please continue to pray for her! Right after that lesson, we had another incredible experience. This past week during one of our nights Seeking With Faith on campus, we met a guy from Taiwan named Ronan. We first started talking to him and walked with him. As the conversation continued, he told us that he was actually a member of our Church! I was super surprised, and then he told us that his parents are divorced, his mom lives here in CA, and his dad lives in Lehi, Utah. He grew up in the Church, but when his parents divorced he lived with his mom and they stopped going to Church. When we met him, we testified of the blessings that come from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and scheduled a time to meet, to review the missionary lessons with him. We met with him on Friday, and it was incredible! We taught him the Restoration, and it was awesome! Ronan said the closing prayer, which was powerful. An absolutely incredible example, and something that I will never ever forget. It was the Atonement of the Savior in action. Please pray for Ronan! That night, we had another great English Class as well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Saturday morning we had some service time, which is always good. In the evening while Seeking With Faith, we met a Chinese couple named Sherry Xie and also Hugh Dong. When we contacted them, they allowed us to teach them on the spot on campus! We shared with them the Restoration, and it was great. Sherry is pretty interested but Hugh didn't seem too interested. Please pray for them as well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Sunday was also pretty amazing! In the morning before church, Elder Shurtleff and I taught another new investigator from this past week named Bo. Bo is from China and is a grad-student at UCR. We taught him about the Restoration and it was a great lesson. He accepted a baptismal invitation for May 20th! Please pray for him as well. During the lesson, Wang Guili also had her interview for baptism and she was found worthy!!!!!!! <i>Please EVERYONE pray for her Wang Guili this week. We aren't sure if her husband knows or is supportive of her getting baptized so we are going to address that this week.</i> In the evening we got to WeChat </span>YiHang<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"> Yuan </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">[Mom note: a social media platform that many Chinese people use] </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">and teach him again! We taught the Law of Tithing and it was great! He currently is on date for May 13th and also came to church again this past week! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">I know that God lives and that He is mindful of each and every one one of us. During this past week at multi-zones, we discussed the importance of the Atonement. I know that it is only in and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we may become clean and spotless, so that we, one day, may live with God the Father and Jesus Christ again. A really amazing gift. Love you all have a great week!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Elder Willes</span><br />
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-87324752650823990142018-04-16T17:57:00.000-07:002018-04-16T17:57:00.984-07:00THE COOLEST MIRACLES AND BLESSINGS AND ALSO TRIALS (Monday, April 9, 2018)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Hello again everyone! This past week has been another incredible week for Elder Johnson and I. The work is really going great here, and we are going to keep working hard and will continue to see miracles! Missionary work is so amazing. It is full of the coolest miracles and blessings and also full of trials. I know these trials help us learn and progress and become better. Please pray for our investigators that they can be strengthened and blessed. Several of them are at critical times of choosing. Qingsong could really use your prayers right now. We continue to try and help all of our investigators and I can see the blessings the Lord is giving to us and them. My body is holding up ok. I am amazed every day with how Heavenly Father has blessed me. He has helped me so much physically. It is a miracle. I love my mission with all of my heart and I am so happy here. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">I love being out and about and talking about the Gospel with people. That is a blessing to me. W</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">e had another lesson with Wang Guili this week. She is doing so GREAT! We also invited Shannon (RC from Eastvale) and she came and helped out in the lesson. Shannon has such a strong testimony of the Gospel, and it was so good to see her! Wang Guili has read through Mosiah 6 in her personal Book of Mormon reading! We read with her through Alma 32, and talked about the importance of Faith. A great lesson! She is still on date for April 22nd. Please pray that she can be baptized on that day. </span></div>
<br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Wednesday was exchange day! I was with Elder Pells in the ASL/ University Heights area and we had a great day together. We did a lot of Seeking With Faith, and we also were able to find a lot of potential investigators, which was great!</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Thursday afternoon while we were Seeking With Faith up on campus we met a guy named Tony Tsai, who is from Taiwan. When we contacted him he said that he had some time. So we walked back to the Institute with him and taught Tony the Restoration! It was a really cool experience. In the afternoon, we had an opportunity to teach another new investigator from this past week, Andrew Wang. We taught Andrew half of the Restoration lesson, and also had a YSA recent convert named Kurt, sit in on the lesson. That was really powerful as Kurt testified of the Atoning Power of Jesus Christ! A testimony, no matter how practiced or without complete knowledge, is so life-changing when shared. I was so grateful for Kurt that day who was willing and ready to share his feelings.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Friday afternoon we got to meet with Qingsong again! We brought along Brother Smith, an awesome member in the University Heights Ward. We read through Alma 32 with him, and it was great. Qingsong is still on date for April 29th, please pray for him! That night, we had another lesson with YiHang Yuan after English Class. We reviewed the Restoration with him, and put him back on date for baptism on May 13th. He promised in the closing prayer that he was going to pray and read everyday. Super powerful! </span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Saturday morning we had a Weekly Blitz where Elder Williams and I went out together. We were able to find a teach a new investigator named Malcolm for the other missionaries, and that was super cool! In the afternoon and evening, we spent a lot of time up around campus, doing some more Seeking With Faith. </span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Sunday was incredible! We had 3 investigators come to Church!!!!! Wang Guili, Fan Qingsong, and also Linda! We were super excited about that and they all had a good experience there. We had a Gospel Principles lesson on sacrifice, and that was super cool! That night while on campus Seeking With Faith we met a really cool UCR Student named Elisa. Elisa's parents are Christian, and grew up in Christianity, but is very skeptical and doesn't really believe in it. She has a lot of questions about God. We talked to her on the street for about an hour and basically taught the whole Plan of Salvation to her. It was a really cool experience. She said that she is interested in the learning more and is going to download the Gospel Library app! </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">This week has been awesome. I am so grateful for all of the blessings which a loving Heavenly Father </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">bestows upon us daily. Missionary work is the best! Love you all so much and have a great week!</span></span><div>
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Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-18026558395595266552018-04-16T17:19:00.002-07:002018-04-16T17:19:26.790-07:00CONFERENCE FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS! (Monday, April 2, 2018)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>When I was in the MTC, Elder Bednar came and spoke to us there. </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>He said something that really stuck out to me. </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>He said, "Conference got better because YOU got better."</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>"I know that God answers each of our prayers and I know that He loves each and every one of us. </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>He truly knows our name, and He hopes that we will come to Him. Never ever forget when you feel lonely, discouraged, depressed, or like you aren't good enough, try and imagine how God thinks of you. </i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><i>He has a love for us that we cannot comprehend in this life." Elder Willes</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone from beautiful Riverside! This past week has been another pretty awesome week here in the good old California Riverside Mission. Elder Johnson and I have worked really hard, and we have seen many miracles over the past week. The Lord is truly hastening His work here on earth and wants each of us to give a little more than what we are giving today. What an incredible opportunity this past weekend to have heard from our beloved Prophet, President Nelson, and all of the leaders of the Church. I love them and sustain them. They truly are representatives of the Savior, Jesus Christ. </span><br />
<br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Elder Johnson and I had a good start of our week and spent Monday evening out doing some Seeking With Faith! At our District Meeting this week we received an awesome training about improving and becoming better instruments in the Lord's hands. I have a strong desire to finish my mission with as much effort as I can give. This week was also interesting </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">because UCR was on Spring Break and so we spent a significant amount of time at RCC [Mom note: Riverside City College]. We spent much of the week walking and talking with any student there who would talk with us.</span></span><br /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Thursday afternoon we had the opportunity to meet with Qingsong again. He is doing great! He has read through 1 Nephi 4, and has been consistently attending church. He currently is on date for baptism on April 29th. Please pray for him. We had a great lesson with him and the Spirit was strong but when an investigator starts to progress that is when the adversary really heaps lots upon them. So keep him in your prayers. </span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Friday morning we had some service at the Valencia Care Center where we had an Easter Activity. I love going there and helping others to feel loved and valued. It was fun. In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with a new investigator from this past week, Riddle. Riddle is an RCC student, and he is pretty cool! He currently lives with an LDS family as well. We taught him the Restoration and he has a lot of questions. His mind has a hard time accepting the idea of God as he believes a lot in science. Please pray for him as well. That night, only Wang Guili came to English Class, but that still went well! Wednesday we had a bigger English Class which made us happy.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Saturday was the first day of General Conference! While serving my mission, Conference feels like Christmas. I love it so much! When I was in the MTC, Elder Bednar came and spoke to us there. He said something that really stuck out to me. He said, "Conference got better because YOU got better." I love that. If we truly want to learn from the modern-day Prophets and Apostles, we need to improve and repent daily in order to receive personal revelation. What an incredible experience to be able to witness two newly called Apostles, and the sustaining of a new Prophet. During the Saturday sessions, I really enjoyed Elder Taniela B. Wakolo's talk. "We need to thank the Savior everyday, everyday, everyday." Loved that! Of course, I also loved President Nelson's talk from Priesthood Session. As bearers of the Holy Priesthood, we need to Rise Up! The Lord cares about how we serve, and not where we serve. That was amazing! Qingsong came to Priesthood session with a member, Brother Smith, and he seemed like he had a great time. That guy is a straight up boss! Please pray for him.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Sunday morning conference we watched with Wang Guili and the ASL Missionaries in Chinese at the Church Building. She seemed to like it and had a good experience! I loved President Uchtdorf's talk. So cool. "Because of Jesus Christ, our sins can not only be erased, but they can be forgotten." The Atoning power of the Savior is real! In the afternoon, we spent a lot of time Seeking With Faith, and we witnessed a miracle! Right when we started our Seeking With Faith, I felt a prompting to return back to the Institute, and grab a Chinese Book of Mormon and a pamphlet. We had been praying to find another new investigator, and we needed to EXPECT to teach someone. While we were out seeking, we met a Chinese student named Zhang Hao, and we taught him right there on campus! We taught him the full Restoration, and it was incredible. What a miracle. I was so grateful for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. </span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">I know that God answers each of our prayers and I know that He loves each and every one of us. He truly knows our name, and He hopes that we will come to Him. Never ever forget when you feel lonely, discouraged, depressed, or like you aren't good enough, try and imagine how God thinks of you. He has a love for us that we cannot comprehend in this life, and I am so grateful I get to feel of that everyday. Love you all have a great week!</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><br style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Elder Willes</span><img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" /></div>
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Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-74591375613805845032018-04-16T15:51:00.001-07:002018-04-16T15:56:47.348-07:00MY HOMIE (Monday, March 26, 2018)<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone. Hope you are all doing well. Another week has passed here in the good old CRM and it has been a pretty great week! We have spent a significant time out doing some good old Seeking With Faith this week. That is fun, hard, discouraging and exciting but it has helped me to become a better missionary and a better person. I love what I have learned on my mission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Highlights of the week: We went on exchanges this week with the ASL Missionaries. Service with Feeding America. More service at the Valencia Care Center. Great English classes. On Friday night we had 4 people come to class!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">We taught some good lessons this week. We taught Kim, one of our new investigators from this past week. He is a YSA student attending RCC, and he is pretty cool! Elder Shurtleff and I taught him half of the Restoration, and he committed to pray and read from the Book of Mormon which was awesome! </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"> We had another lesson with my homie Fan Qingsong! He is so cool. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was a great lesson. He is doing so awesome! Please pray that he can read from the Book of Mormon. Friday </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">afternoon, we then had another lesson with Wang Guili! She is doing great. We taught her the Law of Chastity, the Word of Wisdom, and also the importance of Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. It was so awesome! She is still on date for Baptism for April 22nd. Please pray for her! After our English class on Friday, we had the opportunity to teach Ben Li, another new investigator from this past week. We taught him the first couple of points from the Restoration including prayer, and it was a great lesson!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Saturday afternoon we also got to meet with another new investigator from this past week Linda. We first contacted Linda and her husband on the street while we were riding our bikes. We set up a time, and met with her! We taught her all about the Restoration, which is a lot, and it was pretty great. She accepted invitations to both pray and read from the Book of Mormon, and also said that she wants to come to church on Sunday! That night, we had an amazing lesson with Chen ZhenHang. We showed him the Patterns of Light videos by Elder Bednar, which are incredible, and help us to be able to recognize the Spirit. The Spirit was so strong, and Chen ZhenHang told us that it all makes sense. Please pray that he can read from the Book of Mormon and come to know that it is true!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Our lesson with Chen ZenHang is something that has strengthened my testimony. I believe the Lord hears and answers our prayers and if we listen we can receive personal revelation to help us and guide us. I received a specific prompting to share those Elder Bednar videos with Chen ZenHang. The Spirit was so strong, and it helped me to recognize the importance of listening to the Spirit in order to help someone else. It was a great experience! Amazing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Sunday was another great day. We had two investigators that came to church!!! Wang Guili attended the University Heights Ward, and Fan Qingsong attended the YSA Ward. It was a great day and it was awesome to be at church with Fan Qingsong! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">This week has been another great week! I love Missionary Work. You truly can see Miracles every single day out here. I am so excited to continue to work hard, and to help those prepared souls truly Come Unto Christ. You guys keep working hard at home. Love you all have a great week!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">P.S. To answer dad's questions:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Elder Yang got transferred to the Tongan Branch in Moreno Valley. He was excited to go back English speaking and I am so happy for him. Elder Johnson will most likely get his visa this transfer and he will head out to Taiwan. He is going to TaiZhong. We get around mostly on our bikes. My legs are super strong but my upper body is just straight fat. It is sad. :)</span></span><br />
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Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-76763111001648668642018-04-16T14:45:00.002-07:002018-04-16T14:46:09.140-07:00MIRACLES (Monday, March 19, 2018)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We tried to send Elder Willes cupcakes in the mail for his birthday. Mostly they melted. :)<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been incredible. Thank you to so many who have remembered me in some way for my birthday. Messages from home sure pump me up. Thank you so much!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Elder Johnson is my new companion, and he is from Layton, UT. He is a great missionary! We have a lot in common and are having fun and working hard together. We have been able to find 4 new investigators, and 2 of them came to church this past week! The Lord continues to bless us everyday, and I am loving the work! Here is how our week went down.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The incoming missionaries and their trainers. (Pics borrowed from President Hammon's blog.)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Monday and Tuesday I spent with Elder Osberg, who is training this transfer as well. We spent a lot of time out and about, doing some good old Seeking With Faith. We also did a home visit with a really cool family in the Spanish Ward. Elder Yang has been transferred to an English speaking area before he heads home to China next month. He was really happy about that and I'm happy for him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">On Wednesday morning Elder Osberg and I went to the Mission Office for the trainer/trainee meeting. We had a meeting in the morning for all of the trainers, after which we got to meet all of the new incoming missionaries and have lunch with them. After lunch, we then were paired with our new companions, and then we had a testimony meeting! After that, our companions got to put their pictures up on the board in President Hammon's office, which was cool. Right after our meeting ended, about 20 minutes after, Elder Johnson and I taught a lesson! We taught a lady named JiYi. Elder Johnson got to invite her to baptism, and that was super cool! We also taught this week 2 new investigators. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">We taught Allen Lou, and his friend Dona. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Friday was amazing. In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Wang Guili! The next part you guys are not going to believe - but I am so excited to tell you!!!! When we followed up with Wang Guili about her Book of Mormon reading, she told us that she had read up to Jacob 3. <b>That is 147 pages in the Chinese Book of Mormon!!!!</b> When we asked her what kind of things she has learned from the Book of Mormon, she replied and told us that she reads it as if it were any other book, but when she faces a challenge/struggle, she REMEMBERS what she has read and applies it into her life. WOW!!! It was an incredible lesson, and she is doing awesome! She has accepted a baptismal date for April 22nd. Truly a Miracle! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Saturday morning we had another Weekly Blitz. Elder Pells and I went out together, and we found a lot of referrals for the missionaries in their area. That afternoon, we did some good old Seeking With Faith. In the evening, we had the opportunity to teach another new investigator from this past week, Fan QingSong! He is super cool, and likes to skateboard. We taught him about the Restoration, and he also accepted a baptismal date for April 29th! We are super excited for him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Sunday was another great day. Fan QingSong came with Hank to the University Heights Ward, and also YiHang Yuan came to the YSA ward! That evening after some Seeking With Faith, we then went and visited Hank again. He is doing awesome, and we are preparing to help him receive the Mel. Priesthood. Please pray for him and all of our current investigators! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Sorry this email is super long haha but there were just so many Miracles, I was so excited to tell all of you! Anyways, I love the Lord, and I love my mission. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect. The Book of Mormon is true. Love you all have a great week! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Elder Willes</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">[Mom note: The California Riverside Mission has become a smart phone mission. It was strange to see that Nathan <br />
had updated his Facebook page. Elder Willes hasn't shared much with us about his feelings about the smart phone. <br />
I'm sure it's a bit of an adjustment.]</td></tr>
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Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6476134410264943290.post-43292761315322360572018-04-16T14:01:00.002-07:002018-04-16T15:51:35.403-07:00TRAINING (Monday, March 12, 2018)<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">"I visibly saw a light coming from </span>YiHang<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;"> Yuan, and I know that he is in the process of changing his life around. It is such a neat thing to see. The power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real! I know that to be true."</span></i></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The look of a happy and busy missionary</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes and Elder Maughan with matching ties</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Hello everyone! This past week has been another pretty great week here in the CRM. Transfers came again this past week, and I was told that I am training! I am pretty excited about that. [Mom note: The CRM hasn't received a new Chinese speaking missionary since Elder Crowther, who came in November of 2016]. My new companion's name is Elder Johnson and he is from Utah. He is visa waiter and is waiting for a visa to Taiwan. I pick him up on Wednesday. President Hammon also told me the CRM is getting a missionary from Taiwan next transfer. [Mom note: Elder Yang, Nathan's current companion, goes home in April. Elder Yang has been transferred to an English speaking area.] </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">Elder Yang and I were able to find 1 new investigator this week and Wang GuiLi and YiHang Yuan both came to church! Definitely a highlight. They are both doing super well and we are praying for their progression in the Gospel! </span><br />
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Tuesday was a super awesome day! That afternoon we taught Wang GuiLi again! Some background on her... Wang GuiLi is from Harbin, China, which is super Northern China. She is so awesome. Her husband is going to school at UCR and we first contacted her walking on campus. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and it was an incredible lesson. We really focused on the Atonement and repentance, and the Spirit was so strong. On campus that day, we finished the lesson and invited Wang GuiLi to offer the closing prayer. During the prayer, she asked for forgiveness for not being kind to her husband that morning. It was one of the most spiritual prayers I have ever heard! While I've been on my mission, I have never seen anyone grasp a Gospel principle as quickly as Wang GuiLi did. That day she was completely ready to learn and hear about the Atonement and repentance. The Spirit really taught her, and it was such a blessing to be a part of that! Please pray for her, that she can continue to progress. We are very excited for her. </div>
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We have been walking a lot over the past week and we have met some really cool Chinese people! Any free time we have, we Seek with Faith. I am always surprised at the people who are ready and the conditions that we may find them in. Often those circumstances don't seem likely, but the Lord knows who is ready and then we just need to have enough faith with actions to contact them.<br />
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We had another lesson with Jason Ti. We showed him the General Conference talk by Elder Christofferson from the October, General Conference. Elder Christofferson spoke about our need to align our hearts and actions with the Lord's. "If we yearn to dwell in Christ and have Him dwell in us, then holiness is what we seek. ...The doctrine of Christ expresses what we must do to receive atoning grace. It is to believe and have faith in Christ, to repent and be baptized, and to receive the Holy Ghost, “and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” This is the gate, our access to the Savior’s atoning grace and to the strait and narrow path leading to His kingdom.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">“Wherefore, if ye shall press forward [on that path], feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."" </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Jason said to us that he knows that what we share is true, but that he is not willing to act upon his answer. Super sad! I love him so much. He has taken so many steps forward but has really slowed down. We had to pause him and told him that we will not be meeting anymore, which was sad and hard. I know that when we have the faith to pause people, Heavenly Father will put those who are prepared to accept the Gospel, in our path. It was super sad, but I know Jason will accept the Gospel one day. He is such a great guy.</span></span></div>
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Friday night we had another great lesson with YiHang Yuan! He is doing so well. We taught him the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom, and he accepted to live them! Random fact, Yihang Yuan is a straight baller at the piano. The guy seriously is a beast, and makes my piano playing skills look bad haha. He currently is on date for April 1st, and we are super excited for him! </div>
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We had another Weekly Blitz. Elder Egbert and I went out together in the pouring rain, which was fun! We tracted a bunch of houses, and that was pretty cool! That afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with John Yang, the recent convert who was baptized in this area a couple of months ago. We taught him the importance of the temple and family history. That was super awesome! We also attended the Saturday evening session of the Riverside Stake Conference. That was super cool too.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Willes and Elder Egbert</td></tr>
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Sunday was so so awesome! Both Wang GuiLi and YiHang Yuan came to Stake Conference! It was so awesome. After the meeting, President and Sister Hammon came up to talk to YiHang Yuan. I visibly saw a light coming from YiHang Yuan, and I know that he is in the process of changing his life around. It is such a neat thing to see. The power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real! I know that to be true. That afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Will Xue, who we street contacted this past week. We taught him the Restoration, which was pretty awesome. Please pray for him as well, that he may know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon! That night, we had the opportunity to visit Hank! Hank is doing awesome. Please pray for him. He is thinking about receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood and going to the temple! Pray for Hank!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Yang, Hank and Elder Willes</td></tr>
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This has been such an incredible week. I am super excited to train, and we are going to work hard! Love you all have a great week!</div>
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Elder Willes</div>
<img align="left" src="http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo310/shabbycreations2/post%20sig_2.png~original" style="border: 0;" />Marianne Willeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12987495796218622995noreply@blogger.com2