GOD CAN DO GREAT THINGS WITH WEAK THINGS

"God can do great things with weak things. He has great things in store for you.
There is no way this work would be possible without Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
I may be weak, but through Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I can be made strong."

Always practicing using my chopsticks whenever possible (look at them in my pocket)

Hello everyone!! This week has been so awesome. I really have seen the Lord's hand in my mission. He gives me strength everyday and blesses us with miracles everyday. Over the past week, we were able to put Brother Ning and Brother Xu on dates for baptism!! Brother Ning committed to December 31st and Brother Xu is set to be baptized on January 13th. :) It is the best news ever when people you love and care about are ready to move forward and make covenants with the Lord through baptism. I know this will bring them great joy and peace. We are so excited to help them and the rest of our investigators continue to progress towards baptism! 

This week was full of finding, teaching and serving. Last Monday after p-day ended we had a lesson with Ning Di Xiong. We taught him about the Restoration and eternal families. Pretty cool stuff to teach about. We had Brother Jiang with us as a member present and were able to put Ning Di Xiong on his baptismal date. We were so happy and excited!! It was a really good lesson, the spirit was strong and I felt so good helping someone progress.

I am learning the real power of service. Service with no strings attached. It is good for the giver and good for those who are helped. I love being out helping others. This week we were able to go and help at a local care center. This was super awesome. Many of the residents were disabled and I loved going. We colored with them, cut out arts and crafts, talked with them, and even sang Christmas Carols for them. It was so cool. I loved it. We also went to Brother Teng's house in the late afternoon so that I could meet him. Super cool guy, and a great member! That night we also tried to visit some potential investigators, but weren't able to get in and teach a lesson.

On Wednesday we had ZDM, a big zone meeting. I learned a lot from the trainings on prayer, the doctrine of Christ and using scriptures in our lessons. We also had English Class and 8 people showed up which was pretty good! Sister Zhang needed some boxes moved and we also were able to do that for her.

We visited Margaretia, our referral that lives in Yucaipa. Her situation is getting worse, and so is her belief in God. It was a super sad lesson. She doesn't really want to believe in God anymore. We told her that if she needed anything, to give us a call. We will continue to try and help her when she is ready! The only good news from that visit is that on the way home from Yucaipa, there is a CAFE RIO right off the freeway!! Yucaipa is in the Redlands mission. There is one Cafe Rio in Redlands. And Cafe Rio was right on our way home!!! Sooooo good, I really have missed that place! Steak salad all the way :) That night Elder Yang and I had to go to a Stake MCM missionary meeting, while Elder Zeng went with Brother Miao to teach another lesson with Brother Ning. 

Friday we had the opportunity to do more service in the morning at the Nature Center! We cleaned branches off the ground and did some trail clearing/cleaning which was fun :) In the afternoon, we had a lesson with a referral from one of the senior couples, Elder Cook. The referral's name is William! Funny thing actually, William crashed his car into one of the mission cars, and so Elder Cook used it as a missionary opportunity and got a referral for us!! So awesome. We talked a little with him about the Restoration and invited him to come to church. He didn't end up showing up though :( Cool experience! Always be a missionary and share your beliefs with others.

Saturday morning Elder Zeng went and took the ACT. The night before, I was able to give him a blessing which was super cool. I am so grateful for the Priesthood. Elder Yang and I went contacting for a while and did our studies while Elder Zeng was taking the ACT. We picked up Elder Zeng again and drove straight to a lunch with Sophia and her family. Sophia has been coming to English class and invited us over for lunch! She made so much food for us. Holy cow. People are kind and good! We also shared a little Christmas message with them, with the help of Sister Phillips (a ward member) and invited them to come to church. They said that they will this week. That night, we had a Zone Christmas Party at our stake President's house, President Jergensen. We ate, went caroling, and then President Mullen shared a message at the end. 

Sunday was super awesome. Ning Di Xiong, YoYo and Perry all came to church! Also, the Li family brought their friends to church and we have a lesson with them tonight :) That night, we went to visit Monica and her friend PeiPei. They both have come to English class a couple of times and we are praying we can help them come unto Christ! We also had a lesson with Xu Di Xiong. We talked about the Restoration and invited him to pray, and set a baptismal date for January 13th!!! I am so excited. Please pray for all of these people!! 

Something I loved this week was from Stake MCM, someone said, "God can do great things with weak things. He has great things in store for you." There is no way this work would be possible without Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I may be weak, but through Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I can be made strong. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes and Sunny

Elder Willes 

6 INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH!

"We are making progress here and it is so fun to be a small part of it. I am so grateful for this week. 

I have learned so much about my Savior and how He is in the little details of my mission and our lives."

YoYo and Perry brought us a treat to English Class

Hello everyone! This week has been seriously so awesome. To start off, we had 6 investigators at church!!!! I seriously was so stoked and so happy. I have really seen Heavenly Father's hand in my mission and how He continues to bless me and bless all His children. I feel grateful.

Tuesday was pretty solid. We had our regular DLC and DDM meetings. Also Tuesday night we visited a less active member, Xiao Deng. Xiao Deng's wife isn't a member, and they have a 5 year old son. We shared the Christmas message "Light the World" with them and they really liked it. It is super hard to meet with them because they are really busy. We will continue to try though! 

This week we were schedule for a dinner appointment with the Yu family (who are members). Their parents live with them and are not members of the church. When we got there the Yu's weren't home so we ate dinner with their parents and shared a message! Later that night at English class only Brother Yang and Sophia came. So there were 5 teachers for the 2 of them. They were happy about that haha. After class we shared a message with them. We invited them to read from the Book of Mormon and they agreed!! Sophia is a very strong Buddhist but she is starting to be more open with her beliefs. We hope and pray they both can progress! 

On Thursday we had a service opportunity in the morning at a Nature Center. We helped clean trash out of a river and on the banks of a creek. It was fun! It felt good to be out and working hard doing something good for the community. We also received a referral this last week from the Redlands mission. Her name is Margaretia. We visited her on Thursday. She lives in Yucaipa. Before we went to meet her, we had lunch with the Elders from the Redlands Mission who have been teaching her for the last couple of weeks. One of them is from China. Margaretia's situation is a little rough. We met with her, and testified and promised her that Heavenly Father will help her get through this tough time. We will go back to meet her again on Thursday. We continue to look and search for people to help. We met with a former investigator, Daphne. She is married to an American. We invited her to read the Restoration pamphlet and pray. We also went and had a short lesson with Xu Di Xiong. We are praying for them! 

Friday we had another couple of hours of service in the morning at the same Nature Center. Then we drove to Brother Pu's warehouse, to help him move a big shipment of packages into his warehouse. 1000 boxes!!!! It was so hard but so worth it to help out a man I really care about. Brother Pu is not active right now. 

We continue to teach YoYo and Perry. This week we taught them about prayer, the Holy Ghost, and Baptism. We extended the baptismal invitation again and they still have the same concerns. Slowly I see their faith becoming a little stronger each day. I know that one day they will be baptized. 

Saturday we had our weekly "Blitz." I was with Elder Ly again and it was so awesome! We contacted 15 people, and a lot of Chinese people which was good! We met a cool family from Taiwan and another way awesome guy from China that knows a member. Funny story about this blitz. We met a lady from China and started talking with her. Whenever I would ask her a question, she would SING her response. She didn't have any interest but it was funny. That night we also had the Ward Christmas Party! There were tons of Chinese people there. We had a great turnout, which we were super happy about. 

Sunday was so awesome. We had 6 investigators come to church!! Brother Ning, YoYo and Perry, Benson and Mona, and Sister Li. Please pray for all of these names so they can continue to progress! We also got to watch the First Presidency Devotional. President Eyring's story about the Christmas play was awesome. I love that guy. 

We are making progress here and it is so fun to be a small part of it. I am so grateful for this week. I have learned so much about my Savior and how He is in the little details of my mission and our lives. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes

MIRACLES EVERYWHERE

"On Thanksgiving day Elder Zeng, Elder Yang and I also went and delivered "Thank-You" cards 

to pretty much every ward member to show everyone we are thankful for them!!"

Hello everyone . I hope you are all doing well! This week we have seen many miracles and the work seems to really be progressing. By the way I caught a touchdown in the Turkey Bowl!!!!! I am like Odell Beckham Jr out here.

Last p-day we had a crossfit workout (every other transfer, half of the mission gets together) with President Mullen. That is super fun. President Mullen is a beast!!! He did the workout without breaking a sweat. Such an awesome guy. 

Elder Yang and Elder Ly at DDM with Elder Willes

We had our weekly DLC and DDM meetings. Elder Zeng gave another training about prayer which was awesome. That afternoon, we met a guy named Yu Tao, who has come to English class. We talked for a while, and shared the "Light the World" Christmas initiative with him and he really liked it. We haven't been able to contact him since, but we are hoping he comes to English class so we can schedule another appointment!! That night, we had a FHE at the Miao's house. We invited the Li family, and Yoyo, Perry, and their son Robin! It was awesome! We shared a message about the Restoration, then played games relating to the Gospel. It was so good to have Yoyo and Perry there!

Wednesday was pretty awesome. We went to Harada Park and found about 10 Chinese people playing TaiJi (I think that is how it is spelled haha). We talked with them for a while and it was good to find a lot of Chinese people so we can get to know them, and see if they have interest in the Gospel or in English Class. In the afternoon, I had an every-transfer interview with President Mullen. He is an awesome guy, and has such a strong spirit and testimony. 

Thursday was THANKSGIVING!!! In the morning, we had a Turkey Bowl, and I caught a TD!!! That was super fun. On Thanksgiving day Elder Zeng, Elder Yang and I also went and delivered "Thank-You" cards to pretty much every ward member to show everyone we are thankful for them!! We also had our "Weekly Planning Session" too. For Thanksgiving, we had 2 dinners. The first dinner was with Sister Budica, her family, and the River Heights Elders. Sister Budica made the BEST food for us!!! So good. Then straight from there, we drove to a Chinese Thanksgiving potluck at the Jiangs! I was already so full but then I had to eat more Chinese food. That night, we went to the Stake Center and had another activity with missionaries. Elder Hall (one of the senior couple missionaries) and I played some HORSE! He can ball and has a sweet skyhook! That was fun.

This week at English class we had 5 new people show up which was awesome!!! I love English class. It is a good tool for us. We also went on Friday and visited a former investigator, Daphne. She said that we could call her this week to come by, so we are hoping we can teach her! 

Saturday we had our weekly "Blitz." This week, I went out with Elder Zeng and Elder Jackson. We talked to about 10 people, and none really had any interest :( We also had dinner with the Su Family. We shared the Christmas message with them and that was awesome. The Chinese members here are great and help us. I love them so much! 

Sunday was awesome!!! Church was so great. Yoyo, Perry, and Robin all came to church!! They loved it. During Elders Quorum, Perry gave a great comment about the Plan of Salvation, and Heavenly Father's love. So cool!! I love seeing him progress. Sunday night, the zone leaders had a baptism. If you bring an investigator to the baptism, then as missionaries you can attend. We brought Yoyo, Perry, and Robin! So awesome. They loved it. After the baptism, we invited them to be baptized on December 31st. They said that they still want to learn more, so we invited them to pray about if that is the right time for them. Please pray for them! Also Sunday night we were visiting Ding Di Xiong, (a less active) and found Brother Ning there!!! He said he wants to come back to church and said he will come this Sunday. Miracles everywhere!!! The Lord really watches over his missionaries and those seeking truth. 

I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. Love you all have a great week!  

Elder Willes