新年快乐

"I love my mission. I am so grateful for the privilege that I have to help bring 

souls unto Him. I love the Lord and I love His work."

Hello everyone! Happy New Year and Merry Christmas. Thank you to the many of you who I heard from this Christmas season and especially for your love and prayers. This past week has been another awesome week here in the CRM. We truly have seen a lot of miracles, and the Lord continues to bless us each and every day. This past week, we had 4 investigators that attended church and we were also able to find 2 new investigators which was awesome! 

This week Elder Nelson and I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the APs. I went with Elder Dew again and we had a great day together. We taught a family of 5!!!!! It was super cool and so awesome to teach a big old family. They will be passed to the Spanish missionaries. I'd love to see them progress and bring the blessings of the Gospel to their family. It was a great day!

Elder Zeng, my trainer, from Mainland China, surprised us and showed up to our English Class this week. He finished his mission and went home last Spring so it was super good to see him. He has always been a great example to me of one who has given up so much for his testimony. He is on his way to BYU-I.

*Mom note - We were also lucky enough to meet Elder Zeng on Christmas Eve. He was kind and generous
in what he told us about Nathan. It was awesome to meet him and Elder Merriman (both Elders from the CA-Riverside Mission speaking Mandarin.)

Thursday morning we went to try and meet a potential investigator named Albert. Albert opened the door, and said that he had some time, so we could meet with him then! We taught him the first couple of points in the Restoration on his front porch, and it was a good lesson! He gave the prayer at the end of the lesson which was awesome! I love hearing people speak to God through prayer. 

Friday afternoon we went by Shen Di Xiong, another new investigator from this past week. Shen Di Xiong and his family just moved to Eastvale from Hacienda Heights, and they are super cool! He has two daughters, and they are a really cool family. When we went by, we only met with Shen Di Xiong, and taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was a great lesson! We hope to pick up the rest of the family as new investigators this upcoming week. Please pray for them! 

Saturday morning we had another "Weekly Blitz." Elder Hale and I went out again, and we were able to find 1 referral for the missionaries in their area. It was super awesome! That afternoon, we had another lesson with Crystal Cui! Crystal is doing so awesome! We taught her the Ten Commandments, Obeying the Law, Sabbath Day, and some important Commandments. In the closing prayer, Crystal prayed that everyone would have an opportunity to read from the Book of Mormon. It was really powerful, and the Spirit was really strong. She is still on date for baptism for February 4th. Please continue to pray for her as well!

Sunday was awesome as always. Before Church on Sunday, we had the opportunity to meet with Li Feng again! We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and it was a great lesson. We invited him to be baptized, and he declined. His wife doesn't really support him, which is sad. Also, he owns his own business and is worried about having to keep the Word of Wisdom. Please pray for him, that he can overcome these concerns and have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Sunday, we had 4 investigators come to Church, which was super awesome! Li Feng, Crystal, and Xun and Sara all came to Church! It was a special experience, and we are working with a lot of really cool investigators!

Look who came to see us Christmas Day?!?! Hank and Tina (recent converts). I love them so much.

Things are going awesome here. I love my mission. I am so grateful for the privilege that I have to help bring souls unto Him. I love the Lord and I love His work. Love you all have a great week!

*Mom note - We were able to spend the day with Xun and Sara and baby Grace (pictured above) during the Christmas holidays. They came to Utah with friends for a vacation and are current investigators of Elder Willes and Elder Nelson. They came with the beautiful Lin family. We have new life-long friends! All are from Mainland China.

Elder Willes