"One of the happiest moments of my mission was seeing the joy on Brother Xiong's face
as his wife accepted the challenge to be baptized.
He was so excited and happy for her. That was special, and I was so grateful to be a part of that."
First off, Elder Yang is heading home to China this week. I am really going to miss him. I have learned a lot from him and he has made so many sacrifices to be here serving a mission.
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| Elder Willes and Elder Yang |
On Monday night we drove down to Menifee to visit a referral that we received over the weekend. They were home, but more on them later! We also had our DLC Meetings, Zone Accountability and Zone Introductions, and also District Meeting. I received a lot of personal revelation during the District Meeting. Isn't that just a huge blessing that the Lord will speak to us and answer our questions? The APs also called us Tuesday and asked if Elder Yang could come be with us for the afternoon before he went to the airport to finish his mission! So the 3 of us went and taught Macky and Stella! Macky and Stella are doing amazing! They both have been reading from the Book of Mormon. Macky has read through 1 Nephi 8 and Stella has also read a couple of chapters as well. They are such a miracle! We filled the rest of our time Seeking With Faith and contacted a bunch of people. Then we drove to Riverside to drop Elder Yang off. It was sad to see him go. Elder Yang was a great missionary!
Wednesday morning before English Class we had the opportunity to have another lesson with Joanna. She is doing great! Joanna is currently on date for Baptism for June 17th, but we are most likely going to have to change that goal. We followed up with her Book of Mormon reading and also prayer. We also talked a lot about the role of the Holy Ghost in each of our lives. I have a testimony that I shared with her that reading the scriptures, praying, and attending Church are ways to help us gain faith and feel the Holy Ghost. It was a great lesson!
We taught a new investigator family from this past week, the Lou Family. Lou Di Xiong is a movie director, and they are a super cool family we found through English Class. The Lou family has already been to Church (2 weeks ago) and we are excited to continue to work with them. Mrs. Lou said a great prayer at the end of the lesson! We also had another lesson with Jacky. He is doing great as well! The Spirit has been so strong in our lessons with Jacky. Jacky is currently on date for baptism this upcoming Sunday, June 17th. Please pray for him that he can make that date!
Thursday evening we had another lesson with Anna Yu, Brother Xiong's wife. We talked a lot about the blessings that come through keeping God's Commandments, specifically through prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, and also attending Church. Anna has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday, and she is doing amazing! We shared Mosiah 3:19 and also Mosiah 18 with them, and invited Anna to be baptized! She accepted!!!!!!!!! We put her on date for June 24th! We are confident that she will be able to make that. The Spirit was so strong. It was an incredible lesson! One of the happiest moments of my mission was seeing the joy on Brother Xiong's face as his wife accepted the challenge to be baptized. He was so excited and happy for her. That was special, and I was so grateful to be a part of that.
We visited the Zhang Family again, and delivered the Bible that they ordered. We talked with Brother Zhang for a while, specifically about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible helps us to understand Christ's Gospel. We also talked about the difference between the Light of Christ and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. That was super cool. He loved that! We invited them to Church, and it was a great lesson! At the end, we all listened to the first chapter in the Book of Mormon in Chinese. That was amazing. There is always a special Spirit that comes with reading from the Book of Mormon. That afternoon, right before our English Class, we had the opportunity to teach another new investigator from this past week, Tim Zhang. Tim is from Taiwan, and we first contacted him outside our English Class. We shared with him the first couple of points of the Restoration, and also talked with him about prayer and the Book of Mormon. It was a good lesson! Tim was able to say the closing prayer, and we will be meeting with him again this next week!
Saturday morning we had our Transfer Breakfast at President Jergensen's House. After that, we had a lesson with a less-active family, the Hu Family. The Hu's were baptized in Idaho Falls about 10 years ago, and have not been coming to church for years. They have a huge family! They have 8 kids, and Sister Hu is about to have their 9th kid! We shared with them the importance of reading from the Book of Mormon. It was a great start on the road of getting their family back to Church. We also gave them a children's copy of the Book of Mormon so their kids can read too.
Back to Menifee - Saturday afternoon, we drove down to Menifee again to visit the same referral that we visited on Monday. We then met a super nice Chinese man, Fang Du. Fang Du and his family are Christians, and actually first met LDS missionaries while in Houston, Texas. We are going back to teach him and his wife on Thursday, and we are praying for their progression in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the afternoon, we also did a home visit with Tony and Tina. They are doing great! In the evening, we then had the opportunity to teach a guy named Alan and his 11 year old daughter named Suri. Alan came up to us late one night this past week after English Class in the parking lot, and said that his wife Sherry attended our English Class. He then explained that he was interested in the Church, and also in learning English. We taught him and his daughter in the Chapel at the church building and it was so spiritual! During the lesson, Suri asked a question, "How can I know that God exists?" I felt a prompting that we needed to sing, "I am a Child of God" to them in Chinese. We sang, and the Spirit was so strong! We taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel, and it was an amazing lesson!
Sunday was awesome as well! This past week, I had the opportunity to speak in the Eastvale Ward Sacrament Meeting. We had 3 investigators that came to Church! Anna, and Mr Duan and Linda Duan, all came to Church! In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to do another Home Visit with the Liang Family. That was great! In the evening, we got to meet with Jacky again! We talked about the Sabbath Day, and the need for repentance if we do not keep the Commandments of God. Jacky said an amazing closing prayer with real intent, and we are praying that he can be baptized in the next couple of weeks!
Updates:
-The Yang Family in Chino Hills, are doing pretty well. They have not had the opportunity to pray and read, but we are working with them. We invited them to be baptized and shared Alma chapter 7 and encourage them to repent and choose to be baptized. They said that they need some more time to prepare, and so we are excited to continue to work with them and help them to Come Unto Christ!
Alma 7:27
And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and hers, and all that you possess...according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever."
-English class is booming. We had lots of people attend this week. We teach Wednesday mornings and Friday evenings.
-Thursday morning and afternoon we had our MLC meeting. We received lots of great trainings from President and Sister Hammon, the APs and President Norman. Each focused on how we can become better leaders in our mission.
This past week has been amazing. I love the Work so much! I have never been as happy in my life as I have been on my mission. This truly is God's Work, and what a blessing it is to be a part of it. Love you all have a great week!
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