NOT EVEN BIRDS CAN STOP US (January 8, 2018)

Elder Zeng, Elder Nelson, Elder Willes and Elder Merriman
(Elders Zeng and Merriman are previous Mandarin speaking missionaries from the CA, Riverside Mission.
They stopped by for a visit. Elder Zeng is from Mainland China and is headed towards BYU-I
and was Elder Willes' trainer. *Both pics "borrowed" from Elder Nelson.)

Hello everyone! This past week has been another amazing week here in Eastvale. Elder Nelson and I have seen a lot of miracles over the past week and the Lord continues to bless us each and every day. Here is how my week went! 

This week we had the opportunity to meet with Terry Li, who was one of our new investigators from this past week. We met with Terry at the park and taught him the Restoration. He had a lot of questions and currently attends another church but was willing to read from the Book of Mormon which was awesome! He is a super cool guy. We also taught another new investigator from this past week, Alex Sun. Alex is super cool, and he just texted us out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago about our English Class. He finally came on Wednesday and we got to teach him right after class! It was a pretty good lesson. It is pretty cool when investigator's hearts are willing to hear and listen to the Spirit.

On Thursday we had our "MLC" (Missionary Leadership Council) meeting. It was super awesome! We received awesome trainings from President and Sister Hammon, and also the APs. A couple of takeaways for me were an emphasis on teaching from The Book of Mormon, trusting in the Lord to work through our fears, and having a change of heart and truly turning our hearts over to the Savior. I definitely learned a lot. That night, we went over to YuTong Li's house and we had another lesson with him! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and it was a great lesson! He accepted an invitation to be Baptized on February 11th! We are really excited for him and we look forward to continue to help him progress towards that baptismal date. 

The MLC (pic "borrowed" from President and Sister Hammon's blog)

Friday we spent a good amount of time out and about doing some more good old seeking with faith. The Lord really has been blessing us through our diligence in always being out looking for those who might be ready. And recently, we have had a lot of people to teach which is always one of the best blessings for a missionary! Friday night we also had another great English Class. After class we met again with Xun and Sara! We read through Mormon chapter 9 with them. Xun expressed to us that he does not believe that The Book of Mormon is true and he is not really willing to read. Xun and Sara are some of the best people I know so it is always hard when you feel people's hearts that you love, hardening instead of softening. Please pray for him that he can come to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God! 

This week we also had our weekly district meetings and service at the Rancho Jurupa Park. We cleaned up a bunch of trash around a small lake. On Saturday morning we had another "Weekly Blitz." Elder Casper and I went out together and we were able to get 3 referrals for the other missionaries in their area. Awesome! That afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Crystal Cui again! She expressed to us that she is thinking about trying out other faiths, so please pray for her that she may come to know by the Spirit that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's true and restored Church! That night, we also met with another new investigator from this past week, Andy Wang. Andy was basically a referral from Annie Zhang. Andy really wants to be baptized, but is only here for a short amount of time. He leaves to go back to China very soon and won't be able to attend church and have all the lessons before leaving. It is also hard when as a missionary you have to tell someone whose heart is so open that he cannot be baptized because we don't have the time to teach him and for him to attend church before returning to China. Andy is coming back to America in April so we hope that we will be able to continue to work with him when he returns. 

Elders Nelson, Phister and Willes with matching ties

Sunday was such an awesome day! We had 5 investigators that attended church! Li Feng, Crystal Cui, Xun and Sara, and Angela Zhang all came to church! It was so awesome and a really spiritual day overall. 

FUNNY STORY!!!!! Not even the birds can't stop us! This past week while we were out seeking at a park, Elder Nelson and I contacted some super cool Chinese guys; they were brothers - Austin and Jin. In the middle of the contact, Elder Nelson and I felt something hit us! Turns out, a bird decided to poop all over Elder Nelson and I! Some of it landed on Elder Nelson's arm and I got coated. All over my shirt, my back and down my leg. Hahahaha it was definitely something to laugh about, freaked us all out a bit, but we finished the contact strong and got their contact information to hopefully meet with them later!!!!!

Words cannot begin to describe how much I love missionary work. It truly is the greatest and most important work on the earth today. Go share a little of your testimony with others and I will too. I am so excited to continue to work hard, and to bring souls unto Christ. Love you all have a great week!

P.S. For you mom -  My knee is doing much better. I am not wearing a brace right now and haven't really felt the need for it recently. Hardly any pain now. It definitely is improving and that is a good sign! Everything is going to be perfectly alright :) I am here to stay!!!!! 

加油!

Elder Willes