2017 IS GOING TO BE AN AWESOME YEAR!

"As I watch our investigators and my companions look towards God, even when they act alone, 

it is so cool to see. Makes me feel so grateful. My companions, both from mainland China, have taught me a lot about being thankful. They are so far away from home and don't have the blessing of faith that carries 

through most of my family for generations. Yet, they are super happy and grateful 

for whatever blessings they do have. Elder Zeng and Elder Yang are both so awesome."

HAPPY 2017! Wow that is crazy! This is going to be an awesome year :) I am super excited.

The best part of the week is that Brother Xu continues to progress and act in faith. We are really excited for him! He basically has quit smoking and is on his way towards baptism :) He is currently on date for January 14th!!! Please continue to pray for him. 

We started teaching Sister Liu this week. She lives at Brother Ding's house. Brother Ding has, I think, 5 families living with him right now. It is awesome for us, plenty of people to teach. :) A great blessing. Sister Liu is eager to learn. We taught her about the plan of salvation and it was a great lesson! We invited her to be baptized and she accepted a date for February 11th!!!! Isn't it so wonderful to see the strength the Lord can give to each one of us to do really hard things when we choose faith and obedience?

As I watch our investigators and my companions look towards God, even when they act alone, it is so cool to see. Makes me feel so grateful. My companions, both from mainland China, have taught me a lot about being thankful. They are so far away from home and don't have the blessing of faith that carries through most of my family for generations. Yet, they are super happy and grateful for whatever blessings they do have. Elder Zeng and Elder Yang are both so awesome.

We continue teaching English class and I love it. There aren't a ton of people coming right now because it is winter, but it is still super fun and a good contact for us and the Chinese community here!!!

Our English class is REPPIN' the Y

Thursday afternoon we had our weekly planning session and that night we had another lesson with Brother Xu. We talked a lot about prayer and the scriptures, and read with him a chapter from 1 Nephi. He was confused about Lehi's vision so we helped him with that. He is so awesome! 

We invited the Chen Family to meet with us and Brother Miao. We taught them about temples and eternal families. This knowledge is a huge gift the Lord has given us and you can imagine that they really loved learning about this. This past week, we invited Brother Chen to be baptized on February 5th. He isn't quite ready to make that commitment. He says he wants to, but wants to learn more first. Please pray for this family! 

Saturday morning we had our weekly blitz and I went out with Elder Parson. He is a Spanish speaking Elder from Brigham City, UT. He is awesome. We talked to a lot of cool people! Since Saturday Night was New Year's Eve, we drove to the church and had a zone activity there. It was pretty fun! We played basketball and chair soccer. 

New Year's Eve Zone Activity

Sunday was awesome, as usual. :) We had 4 investigators at church this past week! Brother Xu and the Chen Family (Brother Chen, Sister Chen, and their daughter). We were super happy. After church we went to visit a referral, Sister Xu. She has a Christian background which is very uncommon with the Chinese people. We picked her up as an investigator and are praying she will continue to have a desire to learn about Christ!! Also, yesterday we had the opportunity to attend a baptism for some other missionaries in our zone. I love baptisms. Elder Yang and I gave opening and closing prayers and Elder Zeng dunked him!!!!! His name is Rafiel. Super cool guy. The spirit was really strong! Last night, we went around visiting less-actives and wishing people a Happy New Year. We also visited one of our new investigators, Sister Liu. She is super awesome and has a strong desire to learn and grow. Please pray for her and all of our investigators so that they can come to know their Savior. 

This week has been awesome. It is amazing how on your mission, you really come to see the Lord's hand in your life and in the work everyday. I am really coming to know my Savior and will continue to grow closer to Him everyday. I am so grateful to be a missionary. It is the best work out there. 

Alma 31:34-35 is super cool. 

"O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee."

As important as this work is to me, it is even more important to the Lord because we were all His before. I am just helping to bring them AGAIN to Christ. We are trying super hard to find the elect and help them come to know this wonderful Gospel is true AGAIN. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes