AND 2 BECOMES 3 (MONDAY, JULY 20, 2018)

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, and all deserve a chance to learn and accept the Restored Gospel. The Lord will never turn His back on any of His children. His plan is one of 

repentance and growth and change and peace and it is available to each and every one of us."

Elder Crowther, Elder Willes, and Elder Elder Maxwell

Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. This past week we added another great Elder to the companionship! Elder Maxwell, from Bountiful, UT joined us, and the 3 of us are working super hard! This past week we have found many people to teach - as in 10 new people, and also have made a lot of progress with helping our other people that we are teaching to become converted and be baptized. 

It is super crazy to see all the pictures of my friends being home. They are the best guys and man I love them. It is super weird to think they are home! I bet they are all doing great. They all are great examples to me.

Monday night we had a killer start to the week! We had a set appointment with a lady named Wendy, who we contacted at the park last week. We went to teach her, and she brought her daughter Shirley! We started teaching them, and all of the sudden, some of Wendy's friends walked by, Ryan and YoYo. We invited them to join in and listen to the lesson, and we had the opportunity to teach all 4 of them! We taught them all and they all said that they will read from the Book of Mormon. It was truly a miracle. It helped me to recognize the importance of inviting ALL present to join in on the lesson. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, and all deserve a chance to learn and accept the Restored Gospel. It was an incredible experience! The Lord will never turn His back on any of His children. His plan is one of repentance and growth and change and peace and it is available to each and every one of us.

Tuesday morning we hit the streets for some Seeking With Faith. We also were invited to attend our Zone's DLC. We talked about the goals for the Zone and how we are going to continue to improve as missionaries. This transfer, our Zone, has 10 companionships and over 20 missionaries! It is a very large Zone. We then had our District Council, and it was a great meeting. I learned a lot and District Council is an incredible time to receive direct inspiration and revelation on how to best help the people that we are teaching. We were also able to do a lot of finding during the day and evening, which was awesome! It is always such a blast talking to people and helping them feel the Spirit. 

MLC (*borrowed from President Hammon's Blog)

Elder Willes at MLC (in the front/center)

Wednesday morning we had another great English Class! English Class is a great tool for us. The rest of the day was filled with more Seeking With Faith. That evening, we had another lesson with Wendy. She had a couple of questions, but we were able to resolve all of those, and also invite her to be baptized. She said that she needs more time to prepare, and so we will continue to work with her. We also had another lesson with Wen ShiTao. He is doing great. He currently is on date for baptism on August 5th, and we are trying to help him to achieve that goal! We will most likely be teaching his wife as well this week, which we are so excited about.

Our recent convert Sara Guo is always a highlight! When we arrived for our appointment with Sara, Xun (her husband) was there - back from work! We had the opportunity to teach them both, and we had a great lesson with them. Xun has changed a lot recently. His new job has taught him a lot, and he says that he still prays. We talked a lot about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and also the Law of Tithing. We again invited him to be baptized but Xun said he can't right now because of some obstacles that he is trying to overcome. We then taught according to his needs, and helped him with his concerns and questions. It was a great lesson! Xun is such a great man and Sara is a very bright light in her home. Do you remember Dennis and Yancy? This past week we had the opportunity to help them move into their new house. We moved a bunch of furniture for them, and it was great to serve and help them out! They said that they will be coming to church too. We also met with the Teng Family. They are a great family and we discussed how we can help grow the Chinese group here! 

Friday morning after service at the Palm Terrace Care Center, we had the opportunity to meet with Matt and Joanna again! They are doing amazing!!!!! Matt has been reading the Book of Mormon to Joanna, and they have been growing in the Gospel as a family. What a blessing that is to see! We invited Joanna to read from the Book of Mormon everyday in order to grow her faith in Jesus Christ, and she said that she would try. I felt a specific prompting to show her the Bible video of the Savior's Crucifixion, and when He was mocked and whipped. The Savior went through EVERYTHING for us. After showing her the video, I asked a question along the lines of, "If the Savior can go through all of this for you, don't you think that we can give up some time each day to read from the Book of Mormon, pray, attend church, be baptized, and worship Him?" The Spirit was very strong. We then invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!!!!!!!! She chose her baptismal date, for August 12th. She will be baptized on that day. We are so excited for her! That night we had an amazing English class too, after which we did some more Seeking With Faith, which was awesome!

Saturday morning we had a great recent convert lesson with Anna Yu. She is doing great! We reviewed the Plan of Salvation with her and talked about the importance of Family History. It was a great lesson! That night after some more Seeking With Faith, Brother Xiong and I went to teach a new couple from this past week, Kenny and Penny, while Elder Maxwell and Elder Crowther taught Li Jie Mei and her husband with the Jiang Family. We found Penny through Seeking With Faith at a park, and we taught her and her husband Kenny on Saturday. We taught them the Plan of Salvation, and it was a pretty good lesson. They said that they will most likely be coming to church this upcoming Sunday, and so we are excited for that. 

The Xiong Family is AMAZING!

Sunday was another great day! This past Sunday we had Chinese Sacrament Meeting, and that is always a favorite for me! This past Sunday, we had 2 people, being taught, who attended church! Joanna and Xun both came to church! Right after our meetings, we had such a special experience.... Matt received the Aaronic Priesthood!!!!!!! One of our members, Tony Qu performed the ordination, and it was amazing. Matt has only been baptized for 2 months now, and he will baptize his wife next month!!!!!! What a Miracle! You just can't make this stuff up.  

Sunday afternoon, we stopped by to see some families. We had the opportunity to teach Zhang Xian Sheng outside his house. We talked to him about the Restoration, and it was amazing! Zhang Xian Sheng recently found Christianity and wants to further his faith in the Savior. It was super cool. He agreed to read from the Book of Mormon. Later that night while out Seeking With Faith, I contacted Hong Bao at the park. He is from GuangZhou, and we had a lesson together. He also agreed to read from the Book of Mormon, and we will be meeting with him on Tuesday. Another miracle!

This week has been amazing. We are working super hard, and seeing miracles daily. What a privilege it is to be a part of the Lord's Work. 

Invitation for the week!!!!! Study your Patriarchal Blessing, writing down thoughts and impressions that come to your mind as you do so. After that, circle the words or phrases in your blessing that describe you, or underline phrases that describe actions you should take, after which, ask yourself, "What does my blessing teach me about the person God wants me to become?" I will do it too. 

Love you all. Have another great week!

Elder Willes