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