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