A WHITE AND WET CHRISTMAS IN CALI

"I had the opportunity of confirming Brother Ning, as a member of the Church! I was super nervous, 

especially to give this blessing in Chinese, but it was amazing!!!!! I couldn't really memorize the Chinese words so I prayed and studied so hard this week that the Lord would help me and He did. The spirit was so strong and I was so grateful for the blessing of teaching this amazing man."

A white and wet Christmas here in Cali

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas! This week has been absolutely incredible. Brother Ning was baptized on Christmas Eve. Truly a Christmas Miracle. It was a white and wet Christmas here in Cali. I love that guy so much. He is seriously the best and will be an amazing member of the church. We have found a branch for him in China and he will be a great strength there. I had the opportunity of confirming him in sacrament meeting on Christmas Day!!! It is truly one of the happiest Christmas Days I have ever had and one I will never forget! 

The Skype call with the family, ahh man, that was so awesome! Love you all so much. I have the best family. That is awesome about Will and Cynthia's sealing. I am super happy for them. I've had a great week here in California. Last Monday we had a FHE activity at the Miao's house. Jessie, their daughter, recently came home from her mission in Hawaii and she shared some of her experiences. Pretty cool. The Miao family is a great blessing to this area. I love that family.

Tuesday we had our regular DLC and DDM meetings in the morning. We also went on splits with former Elder Merriman and his little brother! They know William. Elder Yang and I went with Elder Merriman's little brother to have a lesson with Brother Xu. We taught him about the law of chastity. We are super excited for him!! 

On Thursday we had our Christmas devotional with the entire Northern-half of the mission. That was fun. We started off by reading scriptures, and then President Mullen spoke to us for a while. We also watched a slide show of our mission which was fun. We then went to the Mission Inn Christmas Lights. This was super fun! Not really like good old Temple Square, but still great. :) We also met a cool Chinese family at the lights, and invited them to English class! I am always looking for any opportunity to share the Gospel.

Friday we had another morning of service at the Nature Center. We cleaned garbage out of the river again, and tried to move this huge log that was blocking the river flow. Elder Zeng went with the Zone Leaders for the day, so Elder Yang and I taught our English class. We had a little Christmas party with our English class and Sophia brought a ton of food which was awesome! We shared with them the Christmas "Light The World" video and sang Christmas songs. They loved it! 

On Saturday Brother Ning was DUNKED!!!!!!!! We got to the church early, and set up the Relief Society room, had another short lesson with Brother Ning, and filled up the font. It is super hard to describe how happy I was. Actually hard for me to put into words. We had an opening song and prayer, and then a testimony from Brother Xiong. Then Brother Ning was baptized!!!!! After the baptism, Brother Jiang shared a message about the Holy Ghost, and Brother Ning bore his testimony!!! Such a happy day for me. I love that guy so much! I am so excited for you to meet him. I told him we would come and visit him in China after my mission. 

Sunday was incredible!!!! We got up early so we would have a few minutes to open presents. :) THANK YOU SO MUCH for the packages and letters and love and prayers. They are a huge boost to me and my companions were so grateful. Thank you for remembering Elder Zeng and Elder Yang. During sacrament meeting, I had the opportunity of confirming Brother Ning, as a member of the Church! I was super nervous, especially to give this blessing in Chinese, but it was amazing!!!!! I couldn't really memorize the Chinese words so I prayed and studied so hard this week that the Lord would help me and He did. The spirit was so strong and I was so grateful for the blessing of teaching this amazing man. In the afternoon, we ate lunch with the Li Family and visited another family in our ward. Then I got to Skype with the fam!!!!!! In the evening, we went caroling with other missionaries. Christmas was so so so awesome!! I am so happy. 

Notes from home and Christmas jammies. Thank you!

This week has been amazing!!!!!! I am so happy. This is such a blessing that I have to represent my Savior during this special time of year. Love you all have a great week! 

Elder Willes