MIRACLES AT UCR (and 18 months this week)

"It is hard to sum up an entire week of miracles in one email, but if there is one thing that I want everyone to know it is that I know that Jesus is the Christ, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true."

Elder Yang and Elder Willes in front of the #selfie wall we put together for our Chinese New Year Activity

on campus

Hello everyone! This past week has been another super busy and awesome week for Elder Yang and I. We have seen so many miracles this week! We were able to find 3 new investigators and have 3 investigators on date for baptism. Please continue to pray for our investigators and for us that we will be able to help them learn and progress through the Spirit. We have been walking and biking a ton over the past little while and things are definitely picking up here! Potentially very soon, we will start covering the YSA Ward and become the YSA Chinese Elders which would allow Elder Yang and I to cover all of the colleges in the Riverside Stake. We are super pumped about that! 

One of the definite highlights from this week was going to the temple on Tuesday. It was a straight up spiritual feast that day that ended with a great District meeting. Elder Yang and I spend every free minute Seeking With Faith and most of Wednesday and Thursday was spent doing just that. The cool blessing is, that we now have a ton of potential investigators and we hope to meet with them over the next week! 

After our English Class on Wednesday night, we had the opportunity to meet with Shelby, who has been coming to our English Class for the past couple of weeks. Super cool background on Shelby---there was one day a couple of weeks ago when Elder Yang and I were taking a quick 15 minute break from Seeking With Faith. We were in the Institute building on campus. Right as we were about to leave and walk out, we heard a knock at the door. A Chinese lady was standing outside the Institute door. We were super surprised! People looking for us, just doesn't happen too often. We opened the door and she explained that she was looking for our English Class and was she at the correct place. We told her yes it was! Not to mention she dropped by only hours before our English Class. It is truly amazing how the Lord prepares individuals and puts them in our path as missionaries. It is our job to listen and be ready. If we would have left or not have been there, we may have never gotten to know Shelby! Definitely a miracle! 

Friday afternoon we had another lesson with Liu Tianchi. He is doing so awesome! We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and he seemed to really enjoy the lesson and feel the Spirit! He accepted a baptismal date for March 25th, and so we are super excited about that! That night, we also had a YSA Chinese New Year Activity. We had a bunch of Chinese food and a fair amount of YSA students came. Jason Ti was one who came. He loved playing Chinese chess and teaching some of the YSA kids how to play! It was super awesome. Right after the activity, we had the opportunity to meet with Chen ZhenHang, who is one of our investigators. We taught him a little about the Restoration. It was a really spiritual lesson! He gave an amazing closing prayer and the Spirit was very strong. I love these people so much. I am learning so much from them.

Elder Yang and I in the car with the ASL/University Heights Ward Elders

Saturday afternoon we had a SUPER COOL lesson with two new investigators from this past week, Tiffany and Alicia. We first contacted them on campus. We taught them about the Restoration and it was an incredible lesson! Tiffany, who had never said a prayer in her life, offered the closing prayer. The Spirit was so strong. She was so happy after saying that prayer! Isn't it so cool to think of someone offering their very first prayer? It is powerful when someone understands that God listens to them when they speak to Him. Please pray for Tiffany and Alicia that we can continue to help them Come Unto Christ. The also met with John Yang, a recent convert who was baptized here a couple of months ago. We reviewed some lessons with him, including tithing, so that he can continue to progress. That was super cool as well! Saturday night, Elder Yang and I were doing some more Seeking With Faith and we contacted a man named Jose. We started talking with him and he said that he had some time to meet with us right then. Another miracle! We walked back to the Institute with him and taught him the Restoration. We picked Jose up as a new investigator for the YSA Elders in the other Zone, because he is not Chinese. It was a super cool experience. He really enjoyed the Book of Mormon which is always  awesome! 

Sunday was another great day. Jason Ti came to church again! He literally biked 30 minutes uphill to be at church. That is great faith. Please pray for him that he can continue to progress and receive an answer to his prayers!

The before and after haircut pics. Oh Great Clips!

This past week I hit 18 months. Crazy! I will continue to labor diligently until the end! I will give it my all and I am super excited for the time I still have left to serve the Lord! 

Sorry this email is super long haha. It is hard to sum up an entire week of Miracles in one email, but if there is one thing that I want everyone to know, it is that I know that Jesus is the Christ, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. The Book of Mormon is true. President Nelson is God's Prophet on the earth today. I love this Gospel with all of my heart. I love the Chinese people. I love my mission. I love you all. Have a great week!

Elder Willes

A GREAT WEEK AT UCR (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)

Hey everyone! My p-day is today (Tuesday) because we got to go to the temple. Sorry again, this email is going to be pretty short but this past week has been another awesome week here in the UCR area. Elder Yang and I were able to find 2 new investigators this week, and Jason Ti came to church! Today we had the opportunity to go to the temple, which was so so awesome! I will send you all some pictures. 

Our view after leaving the Redlands Temple

#caferioafterthetemple #tendermercies 

I love my mission and things are going great. We have been walking and biking a lot recently, and the Lord has really blessed us for that. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes 

BACK AT UCR - what is uppp

"Seeking With Faith" - You've got to find them before you can teach them!

Hello everyone! This past week has been another great week. Sorry for no email last p-day. I moved back to UCR on Monday and then we immediately went to work to find some people to teach here. Elder Yang and I are ready to kick off another transfer together. We have really been working hard and the Lord definitely has blessed us over the past week. I have seen lots of small miracles. This past week, we were able to find 3 new investigators and we even had an investigator come to church! We were super excited about that. Here is how my week went!

Monday evening we hit the ground running. I dropped off my stuff and Elder Yang and I headed out and spent that evening out and about doing some good old Seeking With Faith. We have been talking to a lot of people and have seen a lot of miracles from being willing look for those who might be seeking and ready! Tuesday we had Zone and District Meetings and the rest of the afternoon (you guessed it) we spent on campus doing some more Seeking With Faith. You gotta find them before you can teach them.

Wednesday was super awesome! That morning we worked with Feeding America, and got to sort through a bunch of food. I have really learned to love giving service and love the blessings it brings into all of our lives! That afternoon, we were able to have a lesson with 2 new investigators we found this past week, John and Lan Huang! We first met Lan on Monday night on campus, and also her friend Cindy. We set up a time to meet, and Lan brought her boyfriend John to the lesson! We taught them about the Restoration and it was a pretty great lesson! Wednesday night we also had a pretty great English Class and 2 people came. That is one of our goals in the coming weeks to build up that program again on campus.

Elder Steiner from my old Jurupa Zone. He is a stud missionary.

Elder Roper and I. He is also a friend from my old Jurupa Zone and is a super great missionary too!

Thursday afternoon we spent a bunch of time again out and about doing some good old Seeking With Faith. That afternoon on campus, we contacted a man named Ge ShaoKui. He invited us to come by his home later that evening and to teach him! When we went to see Ge ShaoKui at his home, we began teaching him about the Restoration. It was a great lesson until we got to the Book of Mormon. That was a real stretch for Ge ShaoKui and he then objected  to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. He told us that he wasn't interested in learning anymore. It was really sad. I expressed to him that we are here to find and help people that are prepared and that perhaps he was simply not ready at that time. It was sad, but I know with all of my heart that the Book of Mormon is true!

Friday we spent a lot of time doing some Seeking With Faith as well. That night after our English Class, we had the opportunity to meet with YiHang Yuan, who was a former investigator from when I was last in this area. We taught him about the Restoration again and he accepted an invitation to be baptized on March 11th! We are super excited for him. Please pray for him! It was a very spiritual lesson and I feel grateful to have been able to teach him again..

Saturday night was super super cool. That night, we had the opportunity to visit the one and only HANK!!!!! Ahh man I love that guy! He is doing so well! Hank is currently preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and to enter into the temple as well. He currently is serving as a Ward Missionary in the University Heights Ward and it is the coolest thing to see his growth. He is an incredible member of the church! Tina, Hank's wife, now lives in the Bay Area because of work, but it sounds like she is doing awesome too!

Elder Willes and Hank

Sweet potato and rice soup :)

Sunday was another great day! YiHang Yuan came to church!!!!! He only came for the first hour, but we were really happy to see him there. During second hour of church, we attended the Temple Prep class with Hank, which was super awesome! That afternoon, we spent some more time Seeking With Faith and also hanging up a bunch of fliers on campus for our English Class. 

We are really excited to continue the work of the Lord here in the UCR Chinese area. I love my mission. I love the Lord. I know that because of Him, each and every one of us has the opportunity to repent and to become clean. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes