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