ANOTHER GREAT WEEK IN EASTVALE

"The Gospel is perfect."

Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in Eastvale. We continue to see a lot of blessings and Heavenly Father continues to help us each and every day! Elder Nelson and spend every extra minute finding and seeking for people to teach. This past week Elder Nelson and I found 2 new investigators and also 6 of our investigators came to church, Boom! Another Miracle! I LOVE MY MISSION! This week has been amazing. Here is how it all went down.

On Monday night we had a big windstorm in Eastvale but the wind wasn't going stop us. We were out trying to find more prepared people to teach. We went by to visit a referral that we had received and no one was home. Across the street was a less-active member's house, Ryan Chen. Ryan was baptized about 2 years ago and has been extremely less-active since then. Elder Nelson and I both felt really prompted that we needed to go by and knock on his door. We went and he let us in! We talked with Ryan for a little bit and shared a spiritual message with him and shared helpful scriptures found in the Book of Mormon. Ryan has a 15 year old son named Rui, who was baptized at the same time as his dad. Ryan talked about how he wants to be a good example to his son, so that he will serve a mission. We told him that he CAN be that example to his son, and he needs to keep the commandments to do that. It was a really spiritual experience and I was really grateful to have been there that night! More on him later! Also, Elder Nelson and I had pretty much the exact same thought when we knocked on the referral's door. We both thought, "We are not here for the referral." But when we both saw Ryan's house we both recognized that that was why we were there. Pretty cool how the Spirit works with you and your companion! 

We have lots of investigators progressing towards baptism. We are really hoping to have 4 baptisms in December and 4 in January. We met with Eva Wang, a Chinese woman that we contacted in her garage. We brought Li Di Xiong to the lesson and taught her about the Restoration. Eva is willing to read from the Book of Mormon which is awesome! We also had another lesson with Xun and Sara! We read through 3 Nephi 11 with them and invited them to be baptized. Sadly, they declined a baptismal date. A big obstacle for them is that they feel that they don't have a stable life here in the U.S.. Xun doesn't have a job and so we are praying for them that they can recognize the importance of baptism! They are the greatest people and are coming to Utah for a few days, with members, over the holidays. Please pray for them.

Wednesday we had our MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) which was super awesome. President Hammon and Sister Hammon, and the AP's, all gave great trainings and we are excited to implement what we learned to become better servants in the Lord's Hands!

Thursday we went on exchanges with the Eastvale Elders. Elder Hale and I went  out together and we worked in their area. We biked and walked a lot which was awesome! We were able to find 6 potential investigators for Elder Hale and his companion and we saw a lot of success that day, which was awesome as well!! Saturday morning we had another "Weekly Blitz." Elder Fairbanks and I went out together, and we were able to get a couple of referrals for the Eastvale Elders. It was awesome! The rest of the day we spent a lot of time out and about, doing some good old Seeking With Faith. The Lord has really been blessing us every single day!

Elder Hale and Elder Willes

Friday night we had another awesome English Class. We are trying to focus on growing our English Class, and helping more people attend so that they can feel the Spirit!

Sunday was another amazing day! We were able to have 6 investigators that attended church. Xun and Sara, Angela, Li Feng, Crystal, and also Vivian Wang! Before church, we met again with Crystal! We had the opportunity to teach her the Law of Chastity and also the Word of Wisdom. We moved her baptismal date to February 4th, because she feels like she needs more time to learn. It was a great lesson and the Spirit was definitely there! After church, we also got to meet with Vivian Wang, one of Tina Qu's friends that she brought to church! Vivian actually lives in Canada, but is progressing really fast! Overall, an amazing Sunday!

This past week has been amazing and we are so excited to continue to help all people to #LighttheWorld during this Christmas season and to truly Come Unto Christ. The Gospel is perfect. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes

这个星期过得非常好

"This past week has been incredible! 

We currently have 4 investigators on date for baptism.

We have 4 investigators that came to church.

We found 4 new investigators this week! 

It was so awesome and we really have seen the Lord's hand."

大家好!!!! This past week has been another awesome week for Elder Nelson and I. We truly have seen many miracles and the Lord continues to bless us each and every day. We currently have a lot of investigators progressing towards baptism, and also 4 of our investigators currently have a baptismal date! We also had 4 of our investigators that came to church this past week, which was another miracle! 

Here is how my week went!

Monday night we had our first lesson with a new investigator from this last week, Burt Zhang! We met Burt while out doing some seeking with faith, and he allowed us to share a message with him! We shared the Restoration, and it was a pretty good lesson. Burt has some concerns about resurrection vs. reincarnation and so we are hoping that we can meet again to help him!

This week we went on exchanges with the AP's. Elder Gulbranson and I were together, and we had a great day! We went down to San Jacinto for their DLC and DDM Meetings. We also we were able to find an investigator for their area! We taught a man named John Marquart, and we taught him on his front porch. We taught the second half of the Restoration to him and I really felt the Spirit as I invited him to repent and change in his life. John accepted a baptismal date for January 7th and it was super cool experience! I love feeling the Spirit so strongly and so quickly on my mission. 

Elder Gulbranson and Elder Willes

Wednesday night we had another awesome English Class, and after class we had the opportunity to meet with Xun and Sara again! We taught them the Law of Tithing along with Li Di Xiong and Li Jie Mei. It was an awesome lesson, and they agreed to obey the Law of Tithing! This is a HUGE stretch of faith and money for them. I loved seeing their willingness to cling to faith instead of their doubts. We are going to invite them to be baptized this week so please please pray for them! 

Thursday we had a few meetings but spent most of our day was spent out and about doing some good old Seeking With Faith. We met a lot of really really cool Chinese people! Friday was another great day spent doing a lot of Seeking. We really have been trying to find more Chinese people to teach and the Lord has really blessed us for our efforts.

Saturday morning we had another Weekly Blitz for the Jurupa Elders in our Zone. Elder Steiner (one of the River Heights Elders) and I went out together, and we had an amazing Blitz! We talked to a lot of cool people and we were able to get 4 referrals for the Jurupa Elders which was awesome! That day, we also went on exchanges with the Jurupa Elders. Elder Roper came to our area to be with me, and Elder Nelson went to their area. We had another great day! That night, we had the opportunity to attend our Ward Christmas party. It was awesome, and a lot of the Chinese members came! That evening after the Christmas party, Elder Roper and I drove out to Riverside, to stop by and see Vincent Wang. We talked to him, and he allowed us to share another message with him! We also were able to teach his wife, Linda Wu, and that was super cool! We taught them the Restoration, and they had a lot of questions. We were able to resolve some of their concerns, and that was pretty great!!!! 

Elder Roper and Elder Willes

Sunday was amazing! We had 4 investigators that came to church this past week. Li Feng, Xun and Sara, and also Angela all came to Church this past Sunday!!!! It was so awesome, feeling the Spirit at church too. That night, we had the opportunity to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk, which was incredible! If you haven't watched it, you totally should. 

That night, we had the opportunity to teach Wang Jie Mei and Yang Di Xiong. Elder Nelson and I street contacted them this past week, and they just moved to Eastvale from Arcadia. They are super awesome! We taught them the Restoration, and the Spirit was so strong! 

They said that they felt a different  kind of happiness and peace when we came by and taught them. Wow. It was so amazing to see someone recognize the Spirit, and it was so cool! They accepted a baptismal date for January 14th, and so please pray for them as well! Truly a Miracle. 

This past week has been another amazing week. I love the Lord, and I love His work. Always remember during the Christmas season the perfect life and example of Jesus Christ. I know He is my Savior, and I know that He is my Redeemer. Love you all have a great week!!!!

Elder Willes

TURKEY BOWL STATS - 2 REC, 1 TD

Thanksgiving Dinner (MOM NOTE: Bless this family for sharing their holiday and feeding these missionaries.
This is the 2nd year in a row that Elder Willes has been to this member's home for Thanksgiving.)

Hello everyone! If you pay attention to the title of this email, there are my good old Turkey Bowl stats from this past years' Turkey Bowl. It was super fun, and I caught a TD too! This past week has been incredible, and we really have seen a lot of miracles. Elder Nelson and I this past week have found 3 new investigators, and we had 2 investigators that attended church this past Sunday which was awesome! Here is how my week went!

Tuesday was super cool! That morning, we had our weekly DLC and DDM meetings and received some great training. That evening, we were invited over to Shannon Yang's (a recent convert) house, to have dinner with her and some investigators! Shannon is on fire, and invited Aileen Xu, her husband, and Linda over too, and we all ate dinner together! It was super awesome, and it is super cool to see a recent convert being so missionary-minded!

Elder Willes with Linda, Shannon, Aileen and Elder Nelson. Shannon invited these missionaries
and investigators over for dinner. Shannon is a new convert. (Aileen's husband took the picture.)

Wednesday morning we had an awesome lesson with April Huang, a new investigator that we contacted at Harada Park. April is so prepared! We taught her about the Restoration, and it was an awesome lesson! April told us she used to try and attend a Christian church in China, and she has been looking for someone to help her learn more about the Savior and also to accept His teachings. So when we found April at the park she felt like she was being helped. April Huang accepted a baptismal date for December 31st and we are super excited for her! 

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Our Zone, the La-Sierra Zone, and the Corona Zone held a turkey bowl Thanksgiving morning. It was pretty fun! That day we also spent time doing our Weekly Planning Session and discussed how we can help our investigators progress and also help the work moved forward in our area. That afternoon, we went to Sister Budica's house to have an awesome Thanksgiving Dinner! If any of you remember, I went there last year for Thanksgiving too! Sister Budica is super awesome, and they made us some really good food! That night, we had a Zone Activity which was super fun too!

Friday we spent a lot of time finding and doing some good old seeking with faith. We have talking to some really cool Chinese people recently and the Lord has really blessed us through our continued efforts in finding and diligence! Finding people to teach is full of far more rejections than anything else but when you find someone who is really trying to find the Lord, I feel so grateful that we keep looking and looking.

Saturday morning we had a Weekly Blitz for a companionship in our Zone. Elder Hale and I went out together. We were able to get one referral for the other missionaries, and I talked to a lady from Taiwan too! That afternoon, we also had another lesson with Crystal at the church! We brought Su Jie Mei along to the lesson, and it was another great lesson! We taught Crystal the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Spirit was really strong! 

This week we did a "Church Tour," which we have been advertising through our English Class. We had 6 people come too! We had 3 people from our "English Class," and also Aileen Xu and Linda came too! After the Tour, Aileen told us that that aren't sure if they are going to continue to attend our church. Aileen said that they want to attend a full Chinese Church here, to have the experience. It was really sad. Please pray for them! Later that afternoon, we went to Riverside to visit a referral for a Chinese couple that we had received from some other missionaries. We met Vincent Wang, who is a super cool guy! Vincent is an Atheist, and has a lot of questions about Christianity. He asked us some pretty tough questions, and we truly felt the Lord's hand as we answered all of his questions. We are going to go back this week, and hopefully meet his wife too! We are super excited about that!

Sunday was another awesome day! We had two investigators come to Church this past week. Li Feng and also Crystal came to church this past week! Right after church, we had another lesson with Li Feng! We invited Li Di Xiong to help us with the lesson, and we taught him the Restoration, which was an awesome lesson! Please pray for Li Feng, that he can understand the truthfulness of the Gospel. That night, we had a lesson with Bill Qin, another new investigator that we found this past week. We invited Tony and Tina to come with us to that lesson, and it was pretty good! We taught him the Restoration as well, and it was pretty good! Please pray for him, and also all of our investigators. I love the Lord and I love His work!!!!!

Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes

上周我们在教会有七个慕道友

Thankful and Grateful

Hello everyone! This past week has been another awesome week here in Eastvale, and the Lord continues to bless us every single day with Miracles! This past week, we were able to find 1 new investigator, and we also had 7 investigators that attended Church this past week! 

On Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to interview the University Chinese Elders' candidate for baptism! His name is Yang Di Xiong. It was super cool to have that opportunity. He should have had another interview this past week with President Hammon and I hope that he is able to be baptized! Soon after a weekly miracle came our way when we received a phone call from Jenny Jackson. We first taught Jenny all the way back in June and since then we haven't been able to teach her. We continued to call her and text her, and after multiple attempts, we were about to give up, and then she called us and said that she wanted to meet! We went over, and had a conversation with her, and answered a lot of her concerns about the church. Over the past couple of months, Jenny has had a couple of anti-influences and friends who have ditched her because she was attending church and learning about the Gospel, so please pray for Jenny that we can continue to help her learn of the truth! 

This week we also went to Corona, CA and had lunch with Du Di Xiong and Du Jie Mei! They are awesome, and they gave us some super good Chinese food. That night, we met with Mary Kong at the Harada Park again. We taught about the importance of the Book of Mormon, and invited her to church! It was a busy day because right after that, we had another lesson with Xun and Sara. We met with them at the Li's house, and taught them the about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. We are pretty sure that we will teach them about Tithing this next week which has been a real concern for them, so please pray for them! 

Friday afternoon we got to meet with Shannon! We reviewed the Restoration of the Gospel with her, and she is such an incredible member of the Church already. She has a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is doing awesome! 

Saturday afternoon we had a lesson with Crystal again! We met at the Serendipity Building (our chapel), and we taught her the Plan of Salvation. We invited Shannon (recent convert) to the lesson, and she came and helped us! It was an incredible lesson, and Shannon talked about the importance of baptism, which was super cool! The Spirit was really strong, and Crystal accepted a baptismal invitation for December 24th! Wouldn't that be the best Christmas ever? We are super excited for her.

Sunday was another awesome day! We had 7 investigators that came to church. 7 at church baby which was truly another miracle. Xun and Sara, Angela, Mary Kong, Li Feng (who we recently taught a couple of weeks ago), and Aileen and Linda all came! It was incredible, and we are going to try and meet with all of them again this next upcoming week. 

I have been pretty sick this week, but the work must go on. Our English classes were both great. We also had a Correlation Meeting with Hua Di Xiong and discussed the work in our area! And as usual, any spare time we spent out and about doing some more good old Seeking With Faith, which is awesome!

This week I am so grateful for this time of Thanksgiving, and the happiness that gratitude and thankfulness can bring into peoples lives. I am so grateful for my family and your amazing example to me. You have helped me so much to become the missionary that I am today. I am so grateful for your unconditional love and support that you show to family and also those around you. You truly are an examples of Christlike love, and that is such a great example to me. I am so grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I have to be here, and to be serving the Lord at this time. The mission is truly the greatest and happiest time of my life. I am so grateful for the extended time that I have left, and I am so excited to give it all that I have to serve the Lord! I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and for the Savior, Jesus Christ. They have given me so much. I love that I am out trying to teach others about them. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve my Chinese brothers and sisters, who I love so much. They are amazing! My Chinese has been improving, and I can say most things that I want to now. I can write and read a little bit too now! It is pretty awesome, and I am going to work my hardest to improve my Chinese. 

I am so excited and grateful for this opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father at this time. The Mission is the best! Love you all have a great week! Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey for me.

Elder Willes 

DIANA WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!

Words cannot begin to express how much I love the Lord's work. 

This is the best experience of my whole life. THE MISSION IS THE BEST!!!!! 

Hello everyone! This past week has been an incredible one in the good old California, Riverside Mission. Elder Nelson and I have seen a lot of miracles this past week, including Diana Sun's baptism this past Sunday. That was a special day. It is a day I will never forget. Elder Nelson and I have had another incredible week here in Eastvale! We are working so hard and the Lord is really blessing and helping us.

Elder Crowther, Elder Nelson, Diana, & Elder Willes

We were able to teach Xun and Sara again this week! They are a great family. We read through Alma 32 with them and we all really felt the spirit. Xun and Sara came to church again this past week and are slowly progressing. Please pray for them!

Elder Willes and Elder Nelson with Xun and Sara and their baby

Wednesday morning we had another lesson with Diana and that afternoon, Diana had her interview and was found worthy for baptism! This week we also had some good old service time at the Jensen Alvarado Ranch. After doing service, we whipped out some homemade tortillas and also apple turnover things that were super good! Any spare time this week we spent out and about Seeking With Faith. We also attended a Stake MCM Meeting, where we discussed the missionary work in the Jurupa Stake. Our Zone has improved a lot over the last transfer. I love that we are all digging in and working hard. That is awesome!

This week at one of our English classes, (Friday night) we had a lot of new Chinese people come, We had about 12 people there which is a great turnout for us! On Saturday morning, we had our Transfer Breakfast at President Jergensen's home. That was pretty cool! We also had the opportunity to teach Sharon Yang, someone that we met while Seeking With Faith last week. We taught her in her garage with the garage door open (because her husband wasn't home) and it was an awesome lesson! I am always reminded that the Spirit can reach us any place at any time if we just have a willing heart. Sharon Yang accepted a baptismal date for December 17th! It was an awesome lesson. We also had our Chinese Ward Group Activity for Thanksgiving and had a food contest! Jing, one of our investigators, brought some NiuRouMian, and won 2nd place for the Best Dish! It was super good and we had a lot of investigators come! 

Some of our investigators at the Chinese Ward Group Activity

Elder Willes & Liang Di Xiong

Elder Willes and Deng

Another highlight from the week was the visit from Elder and Sister Keetch. He spoke to us yesterday, which is why I'm a day late in emailing. It was such an amazing experience and I really felt the Spirit. He also taught us how important our callings as missionaries are and how much the Lord trusts his missionaries when we really give our best to Him. 

Elder Willes, Elder and Sister Keetch & Elder Nelson

Sunday was so awesome. We had 6 investigators at church! That was incredible. It is so cool when investigators come to church. Right after church, we had the opportunity to have Diana Sun's baptism! It was a special day. Liang Di Xiong spoke on the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Li Di Xiong spoke on the importance of baptism. I had the opportunity to baptize Diana which was super amazing! Diana bore a powerful testimony that day! President & Sister Hammon attended her baptism, So did our investigators Aileen Xu and her sister Linda!! We met them at the park this past week! Aileen and Linda came to English Class, church on Sunday, and Diana's baptism! It was so cool, and we are looking forward to teaching them more about Jesus Christ. That night, we went with Hua Di Xiong and taught a referral, Crystal. Crystal just moved here from San Diego and is super awesome! Please pray for her, and all of our investigators. 

Words cannot begin to express how much I love the Lord's work. This is the best experience of my whole life, and THE MISSION IS THE BEST!!!!! I love you all and hope you have the best week ever!

Elder Willes

我很喜欢我的传教

We continue to see miracles and blessings everyday. I am loving the work here!  

Hello everyone! This past week has been another great week here in Eastvale. Transfers came around this past Saturday, and Elder Nelson and I are both staying in Eastvale! We are really excited to continue to help our Chinese brothers and sisters Come Unto Christ. This past week, we were able to find 3 new investigators and also we had 3 investigators that came to Stake Conference this past Sunday! It was awesome. Here is how our week went! 

Elder Ly and Elder Willes catching up at MLC. Elder Ly is now a Zone Leader in Lake Elsinore

Monday Night we got to visit with the Li Family again and they are so awesome! They are doing well and are going to Utah sometime over Christmas vacation! They are strong members of the Church, and Li Di Xiong loves helping us out in our missionary work!

Tuesday morning we had our Weekly DLC and DDM Meetings. We received great training and learned a lot about becoming better missionaries. That night, we had our Zone's Halloween Activity. We had the opportunity to watch (with President Hammon's permission) The Other Side of Heaven, which was a pretty good movie! Our Zone did a Blackout which was pretty cool!

The Halloween Blackout

Wednesday morning we had the opportunity to have another lesson with Diana. She is doing awesome and progressing and learning more about the commandments. It was a great lesson. Diana has such an incredible understanding and willingness to keep all of God's commandments! She is an example to me of someone who willingly acts upon her faith. We also met with Annie Zhang, the recent convert who moved into the Eastvale Ward from Diamond Bar. She is awesome! 

On Thursday we had our MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference) with all of the Zone Leaders, STL's, the AP's, and President and Sister Hammon. I was asked to play the piano for the meeting and everything went pretty well! Later that evening President Hammon called me, and asked me to be in charge of playing some hymns when Elder Keetch (a member of the Seventy) comes to visit our mission next week! That evening, we also had our first Chinese Correlation Meeting with our new Ward Mission Leader, Hua Di Xiong, and also with our recently called Ward Missionaries!!!!! Hua Di Xiong served his mission in Leeds, England, and is from Shanghai, China. He is super awesome, and it is so great to see all of the Chinese members receiving and accepting callings and progressing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Friday night we had another awesome English Class. After our class we had another lesson with Xun and Sara! Hua Di Xiong was with us and as we taught them we were able to find out one of their concerns. It turns out they Xun and Sara feel that they won't be able to pay their tithing. Please pray for them. I know that if they can commit to obey God's commandments, He will bless them. They are a great family.

Saturday was another pretty awesome day. That morning, we had another Weekly Blitz. Elder Fairbanks and I went out together. Elder Fairbanks was my Zone Leader in the Mt. Roubidoux Zone a while ago. It was fun to be working side by side with him again. We were able to get 2 referrals for the other missionaries in their area. The rest of the day we were really struggling. No one wanted to talk to us and nothing seemed to be happening in our area. All missionaries have these days and they can be long and hard. We kept trying to have a good and positive attitude but we were having a hard time. While we were Seeking With Faith, and trying to be patient in our trials and afflictions, the Lord blessed us. We met an awesome Chinese guy named Leao Li, or Li Feng. He is from Beijing, and a really nice guy! We taught him specifically about  having faith in Jesus Christ and also about prayer. It was awesome and truly a miracle!

Sunday we attended Stake Conference and it was awesome! Diana, Xun, and Sara all came! President Hammon came right up to all of our investigators after the meeting to introduce himself. President Hammon is awesome and was so good to our investigators! Sunday afternoon we had the opportunity to teach Jewel Ge and her son Vincent Liu. We taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel. They currently attend another Christian church, but please pray for them that they can read from the Book of Mormon! Are your reading daily from the Book of Mormon? It will bless your life too. Love you all and have a great week!

One more from our blackout

Elder Willes

#StayTuned

Loving our Halloween packages

Hello everyone! I love Eastvale, I love the Chinese people, and I love this work. This past week has been another pretty awesome one. Elder Nelson and I were able to find 4 new investigators and we also had 4 investigators that attended church this past week! Heavenly Father continues to bless us everyday and I am so happy out here! 

Monday night we had another lesson with Angela, Annie's 9 year old daughter. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and it was another great lesson! She is currently on date for baptism for November 11th! Please pray for her. Also, that night, we had the opportunity to visit Ding Di Xiong! Ding Di Xiong has gone less active recently, and so we went by and were pretty bold with him and invited to keep God's commandments and to attend church. He is such a great guy and it is such a big jump but brings so much joy and peace. (More on Ding Di Xiong and cow tail, later!)

Tuesday morning we had our weekly "DLC" and "DDM" meetings. We received more awesome training and I learned a lot! That afternoon was spent doing our studies and doing a lot of Seeking With Faith, trying to find more prepared Chinese people to teach! That night, we also got to go with Brother Godinez (a member in the Eastvale Ward) to one of his neighbor's homes so that we could introduce ourselves to a Chinese family! Turns out, the house was the house of a former investigator, and so they let us in and we got to talk a little bit about the Book of Mormon with them. They said that we could come back in November so we are praying for that! Their names are Johnny Li and Yan Ni! 

Wednesday was awesome too! While we were out Seeking With Faith at Harada Park, we ran into Duan Di Xiong, a cool Chinese guy that we first talked to a while ago. We contacted him again, and he let us share a message with him! We shared a bit from the Restoration, and it was awesome! Duan Di Xiong is an Uber driver and closed out of the Uber APP so that he could meet with us! For those who know the Chinese, they are generally busy and industrious and getting them to slow down enough to hear the message and feel the spirit is difficult, so it meant a lot that he would quit working to hear about the Restoration. 

Imma play all these hymns #StayTuned

Thursday morning we had service again at the Jensen Alvarado Ranch. After that, Elder Nelson and I went to Ding Di Xiong's house because he invited us to eat lunch with him! We had some good Chinese food, including some cow tail, which was pretty good! That day, we did a lot of Seeking With Faith as well.

Friday afternoon we found a former investigator named Miao Di Xiong, and went to his house and taught him a lesson! He is a really nice guy. Pray for him and that he can understand the importance of the Gospel! That night, we had another great English Class. After our English Class, Elder Nelson taught Deng and Jing while I taught Xun and Sara. I finished teaching them the Plan of Salvation, and Li Di Xiong sat in on the lesson as well. It was a powerful lesson and he shared with them a little bit from his conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ which really brought the Spirit to the lesson! Share your faith with others. It changes everything.

Saturday morning we had another Weekly Blitz. Elder Dunn, Elder Porrazzo, and I went out together, and we were able to get 4 referrals for the Eastvale Elders. That night, we were doing some more Seeking With Faith in a local neighborhood, and ran into a Chinese man named Leo Liang! He invited us to go sit at a table right outside of his garage, and we also talked with Eric Yuan, who is a high school student living there with his family. We asked if we could teach them more about Jesus Christ, and they said that we could! So here we are with 2 interested souls and we realized that we didn't have any pamphlets or copies of the Book of Mormon with us. A missionary fail. So we made a full sprint to our car, all the way across the neighborhood, to grab some teaching materials. It was a another great lesson and a memorable experience for sure! 

Sunday was awesome again! We had 4 investigators that attended church! Deng and Jing, Diana, and Angela all came to church! Keep praying for them. It was awesome, and another great day, worshiping God the Father and Jesus Christ with everyone!

Elder Nelson, Diana and Elder Willes at church

This has been another awesome week, and we are super excited to continue to help our Chinese Brothers and Sisters Come Unto Christ. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes

猪大肠和猪耳朵

"I love the Lord and I love His work!"

Some tasty pig ear and intestine from our dinner appointment this week

Hello everyone! This week has been another pretty awesome week here in the California, Riverside Mission. Elder Nelson and I were able to find 3 new investigators and also 4 of our investigators were able to attend church! Heavenly Father continues to bless us with Miracles everyday. I am loving the work here!

Elder Nelson and Elder Willes

We spent most of the day on Tuesday out and about doing some good old fashioned Seeking With Faith and trying to find more prepared Chinese people to teach. We also were able to do a home visit with a Chinese family in the Eastvale Ward. I love these people I get to serve. It was an awesome visit!! We also had a home visit this week with another great family, the Li family. And a visit and help from Miao Di Xiong. He helps us so much with the work in Eastvale.

We were able to teach Lucas this week. Lucas was someone that we ran into at Xun and Sara's baby celebration last week. Lucas was born and raised in China but studied in Germany. We taught Lucas about the Restoration and it was a great lesson! He accepted a baptismal date for November 26th, and we are really excited for him! He is a super cool guy. Directly after that lesson, we then went and had another lesson with Mary Kong. Mary has some questions and issues with Priesthood authority and so we are going to do our best to help her learn and feel of the Spirit to resolve that concern. 

English class is a great tool for us. We teach those on Wednesday and Friday evenings. We also were able to do some service again at the Jensen Alvarado Ranch. We also had exchanges with the Jurupa English Elders. I went with Elder Roper and Elder Lowry in their area. We had a good day together. 

This week we also had our multi-zones meeting, with our zone, and 2 others in the CRM. Elder Nelson and I gave a training to everyone on the Importance of Daily Planning, and it went pretty well! I love being a missionary.

Sunday was super super awesome! We had 4 investigators that attended church this past week. Xun and Sara, Diana, and Angela all came to church!!!!! It was so awesome. After church, we had the opportunity to meet with Diana! We taught her more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was an incredible lesson! She gave an amazing closing prayer. That night, we drove to the Archibald's home in Norco, CA, to meet with a Chinese couple that they are friends with! Their names are Joe and Tine, and they are from Shanghai, China. They are super awesome! We taught them the beginnings of the Restoration, and it was a really great lesson! 

This past week has been super awesome! The Lord continues to bless us, and I love it out here. I love the Lord and I love His work! Love you all have a great week!!!!!

Elder Willes

JUST LIKE MICHAEL JORDON PLAYING IN THE "FLU" GAME

I love being able to wake up each and every morning with the mindset of,

"I am going to change someone's life today." Such a blessing!!

Hello everyone!! This week has been another pretty awesome week here in Eastvale. Elder Nelson and I were able to find 4 new investigators and we also had 3 investigators that came to church this past week! Heavenly Father continues to bless us, and we are super excited for the great things that are happening in Eastvale!!! Here is how my week went down. 

Monday was super awesome!! We taught Sue Ren in the park! We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was a pretty good lesson! On Monday I had a migraine for the first time in my life! My head was throbbing with pain for the entire lesson with Sue Ren, but I felt like Michael Jordan playing against the Jazz in the "Flu Game" and we got through the lesson. Hurt so bad. Haha definitely a memorable experience!!

After our regular weekly DLC and DDM meetings we spent most of the rest of the day on Tuesday Seeking With Faith, trying to find more prepared Chinese people!! That night, we also had the opportunity to do a home visit with the Liang Jia Ting! They are so awesome, and we shared with them a message about the importance of repentance. 

This week we went on exchanges with the Eastvale English Elders. Elder Porrazzo and I worked in our area. We had a great day. That morning as Elder Porrazzo and I were out Seeking With Faith, we started contacting this Chinese man named Johnny Zhang. I felt such a strong prompting to share with him the importance of the Book of Mormon. As we continued talking, we asked Johnny if he had some time so that we could share a spiritual message with him. This is when someone tells you no or you schedule a time to see them. Next thing you know, Johnny invited us into his home. He has a strong desire to learn about Jesus Christ! It was an awesome experience as we shared with him the Restoration.

I was able to go to Lake Elsinore to visit with Evangel Sun again!! She is doing awesome! What an amazing convert. We tried to help her find a ancestor's name to take to the temple. Sadly, we had some difficulties with logging in to her account, and so we weren't able to help her with that. She is doing great though and is active in attending the Lake Elsinore Ward every week!! That afternoon, we got to meet with Miao Di Xiong again!!! He is a champ. After being in Asia for 40 days, he is finally back!! Miao Di Xiong helps us with the missionary work so much here!! He was greatly missed. We also attended the Stake MCM meeting where the Zone Leaders report on the missionary work in the Stake. It was a great meeting!!

Friday was another awesome day!! That night, we had another great English Class. After our class we had another lesson with Xun and Sara, and also taught Deng and Jing, who all came to our English Class. Please pray for all of them!!

Keeping with Chinese tradition, when someone has a baby that has been born for 100 days, they all get together and have a potluck or a gathering type thing. Since Xun and Sara (our investigators) recently had a baby, they invited us to attend their celebration! It was a super awesome Saturday night. They fed us a lot of Chinese food and it was a great opportunity to be with them and meet more Chinese people who need the Gospel! I started playing the piano and a Chinese guy, who wasn't a member, came over and sang Nearer My God To Thee, while I was playing. I will remember that night for a long time.

We had 3 of our investigators at church this past week; Xun, Sara, and also Angela!! It was super awesome and I was so grateful to be there and be a part of helping them find the Savior. 

I am so grateful for my mission. It is definitely the most rewarding experience of my life. I have developed such a love for the people here, and am so grateful for all of the blessings that a loving Heavenly Father has given me. I love being able to feel the Spirit so easily and I love being able to wake up each and every morning with the mindset of, "I am going to change someone's life today." Such a blessing!! Love you all have a great week!!

Elder Willes 

这个星期我们有很多的奇迹

"It has been another great week here in Eastvale! I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity to be here and to serve my Chinese brothers and sisters. I love them so much and I love this work!"

Elder Willes and Elder Nelson (thank you to Elder Nelson's mom for the pic)

Hello everyone!! This past week has been pretty awesome and Elder Nelson and I have seen a lot of miracles!! This week we have been able to find 3 new investigators and we also had 4 investigators that came to church on Sunday! The Lord has blessed us immensely and the work is really starting to pick up here. Elder Nelson and I are excited to continue to work hard and to help as many Chinese people as we can to truly Come Unto Christ.  

Thank you all for your letters and prayers. Thank you for sharing all of the things that I can pray for to help you at home. For my mom-My health is doing super awesome and I feel great! I am sleeping pretty well too! Much better than before which is good. 

This past week, right before Elder Nelson and I were about to head home for the night (because it was 9 pm), I felt really prompted that we needed to stay and talk to a Chinese lady that was walking around the park. We started talking and walking with her and she was really nice! We ultimately navigated the conversation towards the Gospel and she agreed to let us to share a message with her! We are meeting with her tonight at 8 pm. Isn't that cool? Her name is Sue Ren and she is really awesome! Please pray for her and all of our investigators! 

Here is how my week went. It started off pretty awesome because we were able to visit with Tony and Tina, a Chinese couple living in the Eastvale Ward, who are going to the temple this Saturday (October 14th) and being sealed. They are really excited and it will be an awesome day for them. 

Elder Nelson and I are trying to improve the missionary work in our Zone. We had our Zone Accountability [meeting] and things are looking up for us!! At English Class we had the opportunity to meet with Mary Kong, a lady that we contacted in the park just over a week ago. We taught Mary about Jesus Christ and His earthly ministry and also we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. It was a great lesson! Please pray for Mary that she can read from the Book of Mormon! We only had one person that night show up for our English Class, so that was kind of a bummer. 

Thursday we had our Mission Leadership Conference, where all of the leaders in the mission gather together for one big meeting and we received various trainings from President and Sister Hammon, and also from the Assistants. I learned a lot and am excited to implement what I learned into our Daily Missionary Efforts!! That night, we had the opportunity to teach Jeff and his wife Sunny. We first tracted into Sunny's house in August, and haven't been able to meet until this Thursday. We taught them the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and invited them to read from the Book of Mormon. Please pray for them that they can read from the Book of Mormon and know it is the Word of God.

Friday morning we had some good service at the Jensen Alvarado Ranch. We cleaned out irrigation lines again and that was pretty cool!! That night, we had a pretty awesome English Class! After our class Elder Nelson met with Annie Zhang and her 10 year old daughter Angela. I got to teach Xun and Sara along with Li Di Xiong. It was a great lesson and Angela accepted a baptismal date for November 12th. We are really excited for that!! Please also pray for them.

This week Elder Nelson and I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the AP's, Elder Dew and Elder Anderson. I went with Elder Dew and we had a great day. We were able to pick up 3 new investigators for them in their area. I had a similar experience as what happened in the park earlier that week. Elder Dew and I were walking down this sketchy street and it was almost 9 pm. We walked by this one guy, and I felt prompted that we needed to go back and talk to him. We went back and contacted him. He rejected us and wasn't very nice about it either. But I know that Heavenly Father wanted me to do that. I know that that was inspired of God and that if our promptings propel us to do good, they are from Him. 

Sunday was pretty awesome too!! We were able to have 4 investigators come to church! Xun and Sara, Diana, and Angela all came to church! The Spirit was really strong and it was really awesome to be there and worship God the Father and His Only Begotten Son, the Savior, Jesus Christ. Also, we got to teach Elders Quorum on the spot, so that was pretty fun! We taught about faith. It went pretty well! The rest of the afternoon and night were spent doing some good old Seeking With Faith, trying to find more prepared Chinese people to teach. 

It has been another great week here in Eastvale! I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity to be here and to serve my Chinese brothers and sisters. I love them so much and I love this work! Love you all and hope you have the best week ever!!!!

Elder Willes

THE WEATHER IS FINALLY COOLING DOWN BUT NOT THE WORK

"General Conference is like Christmas. It is seriously the best couple of days. 

I learned so much and felt the Spirit so strongly."

Hello everyone!! This week has been another great week here in Eastvale. Elder Nelson and I have struggled a bit this past week with finding more people to teach, but we are going to continue to work our very hardest to help as many Chinese people as we can to truly come unto Christ! We currently have 5 investigators and are working our hardest to find more people to teach! We will find them! The weather is finally cooling down a bit (but not the missionary work) and it is so nice. It has been a super hot summer! My Chinese is still pretty decent. :) I am so grateful. I don't think I had much language loss through the last English transfer, but I may have forgotten just a few words. We have 6 companionships in the Jurupa Zone. It is a great zone and is pretty fun! Elder Crowther went to serve in the UCR area with Elder Yang. Elder Sorensen stayed in Hemet when I transferred to Eastvale. Hank and Tina [previous converts that have been in Northern California for the summer] moved back too so that is exciting!!!! 

Last Monday, which was also transfers, Shanon's son, Elder Xiao (who is serving in Boston, MA), called us!!! [Shannon was just baptized]. It was so cool having the opportunity to talk with him, and rejoice together because his mom was baptized. Shanon's story is such a miracle. It is a huge blessing that I have been able to get to know her!

We met Christine Xiong again this week! Keep praying for her. On Thursday we spent a full day doing some good old fashioned Seeking With Faith, trying to find more prepared Chinese people in our area!!

We still teach our English Class every Wednesday and Friday. It is really fun. On Friday after class we had the opportunity to meet with Xun and Sara, a couple that has been coming to English Class. We taught them the first couple of points from the Restoration. Christianity is a big leap for the Chinese culture but the Spirit was really strong during the lesson. We invited them to be baptized, but they declined, and want to continue to learn. Please pray for them! 

Saturday and Sunday were two awesome days of General Conference. General Conference is like Christmas! It is seriously the best. I learned so much and felt the Spirit so strongly. What a blessing it is to have the opportunity to hear from our modern-day prophets and apostles. 

I really loved President Uchtdorf's talk from Priesthood Session about Light. I loved how he said that darkness always vanishes in the presence of Light. We need to constantly CHOOSE THE LIGHT, and follow in the Light of Jesus Christ. 

I also loved Elder Hallstrom's talk from the Sunday morning session about Miracles. Having faith that God can save us, but having faith in His plan if it is not His will. I love that! Being a child of God, receiving a body, the Gift of the Savior and His Atonement, and the possibility of Eternal Life is a Miracle!!! Love that. 

I LOVED Elder Andersen's talk to finish up General Conference in the Sunday afternoon session. What a powerful experience that he shared about President Nelson and the Chinese people, the words of Elder Hales, and the words from the Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. Read the Book of Mormon. It will make your life better. It has made my life better. 

Time and time again General Conference provides such a spiritual experience, and strengthens my testimony of modern-day Prophets and Apostles. Conference is the BEST!!!

Thank you for all of the updates, letters and prayers. They mean more than I can explain. 

It is super super awesome to think that Kenz is a missionary now!!! She will bless many many lives and will be an incredible missionary. Bummer about WX and BYU Football! Honestly, sports don't mean nearly as much to me anymore.

Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes

EASTVALE - ROUND III

Elder Willes, Elder Crowther, Shannon & Elder Nelson

Hello everyone!!!! This week has been another good one here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. This past weekend I found out that I was being transferred, and I am back in Eastvale now!!!! I seriously am so so excited. Elder Nelson and I will be the Zone Leaders, serving in the Jurupa Zone. We are so so excited, and it is going to be a lot of fun. 

This past week, Shanon and Liam were both baptized! It has been a really good week and we have seen many miracles. 

Yesterday, (Sunday) I had the opportunity to attend Shanon's baptism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such a special day and something that I will never ever forget. Shanon has experienced such a change of heart, and I know that is because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is so amazing and will be such an incredible member of the Church of Jesus Christ. It was an awesome day, and a day that I will never ever forget!!!! I wasn't able to go to Liam's baptism because the times were conflicting but Elder Sorensen said that is was super cool.

Sorry this email is short, but I know that the Gospel is true, and the it changes lives. I am so excited to continue to work hard, and to help my Chinese brothers and sisters Come Unto Christ. Love you all have a great week!!

Mom note:

The beautiful story of Shannon...

So before any of the missionaries met Shannon, she was on her way to China to see her husband and the flight got re-routed to another airport. While at the airport she met a gentleman who offered to give her a ride to the changed airport, since he was in the same situation! This man told Shannon he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shanon was shocked by this as she had a son who had recently converted to the church in college and had left on a mission to Boston! This man (who the missionaries still don't know who it is) told Shannon that there is a Chinese group in Eastvale and they would love to have her if she would like to learn more. When Shanon got back from China she went to a Sacrament meeting and there she met Elder Willes and Elder Crowther and they began to teach her the following week.

Shanon had a hard time believing and thought the scriptures were just stories. Shanon would come to church every single week but would not commit to baptism. Elder Willes was transferred and Elder Nelson and Elder Crowther continued to teach her and basically started over.

Shanon told Elder Crowther and Elder Nelson that she was leaving to go back to China for 3 weeks but that she would be baptized when she got back. "Then the spirit sucker punches me and Elder Crowther and we were prompted to tell her, "If she wasn't baptized before she left, she never would be!" She said "Thanks. I appreciate the concern and I will pray about it." Then Elder Crowther said the same exact things. This time I noticed it clicked a little more. She thought for awhile and said she would pray about it. So we finished the lesson and left a little discouraged. We came back the next week and followed up on her prayer, this time she asks what the process is? I get all giddy and explain the process. She then said, I  quote, "I can't be baptized this week but I can next week!" Me and Elder Crowther were in awh!!!!" [Borrowed from Elder Nelson's Blog]

Elder Willes

MIRACLES EVERY SINGLE DAY

Elder Willes and Elder Ly 

Hello everyone!!! I have seen miracles this past week. I see miracles every day. GUESS WHAT?????? This past week, the Jurupa Chinese Elders gave us a call and informed us that Shanon will be getting baptized!!!!!! She has fasted and prayed about it and knows that it is the right thing for her to be baptized. Shannon's baptism will be held this coming Sunday and I hope that I get to attend. How cool is that?? That should be super super amazing. Also, we are hoping that Liam's baptism will happen this Sunday as well. He had his baptismal interview. Please please pray for these individuals that I love so much. 

This past week we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the San Jacinto English Elders. Elder Watson and I worked in their area for the day and we had a super awesome day! We picked up three new investigators, and even put one of them on date for baptism! It was a big blessing and a pretty fun day! I love when the Spirit works on people's hearts and compels them to make choices that will help them become closer to Christ.

Also, this past week we ran into a Chinese guy in our area!!!! Elder Sorensen and I were biking around our area and we passed a guy walking on the sidewalk and tried to contact him in English. He looked Chinese and when he didn't respond to us I just starting speaking Chinese to him. All of the sudden, he quickly turned around, and I started to talk to him. We talked for like 15 minutes on the sidewalk, and his name is Lu Di Xiong. :) It was definitely a blessing and a miracle for me! I love the Chinese people and miss them so so much! 

On Saturday, we had another lesson with DeeDee, and also the father of her kids, Ronnie. Ronnie is pretty interested in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and wants to turn his life around and be a better dad. Sadly, Ronnie or DeeDee didn't come to church this past Sunday, but we are going to do our best to try and help them out. Please pray for them too.

We had Stake Conference this past weekend. I learned a lot and want to apply what I learned into my daily missionary efforts. We continue to see miracles every single day and we are excited to continue to work hard, and to help those prepared souls to truly, Come Unto Christ. Thank you for your constant support, love and prayers. Love you all have a great week!!!

Elder Willes

Pics "borrowed" from President Hammon's blog