BROKEN DOWN (MONDAY, JULY 27, 2018)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

18 And ye cannot bear all things now; 

nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. 

The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, 

and the riches of eternity are yours.

19 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; 

and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.”

-Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-19 

"I shared this scripture with my Grandpa. I know that God will continue to lift all of us in our trials and challenges. This scripture has brought a lot of comfort to me. 

We are not alone. I know God lives and loves us. He is truly our Heavenly Father 

and I know He loves each and every one of us."

Elder Maxwell, Elder Crowther and Elder Willes - Broken Down

Hello everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the good old California, Riverside Mission. Elder Crowther, Maxwell, and I are working really hard, and we have seen a lot of miracles over the past week. We are super excited to continue to work hard and find our prepared family of 4 this next week! Keep those prayers coming our way.

Well our car broke down this week. We were sitting idle at a stoplight, and everything just shut off. Not to mention that this was on the busiest road in Eastvale. A guy pulled over and helped us out, which we were very grateful for. We finally got the car into neutral and pushed to the side of the road, The Office Elders came and brought us a car, and then we followed our car while it got towed to the dealership. It was an interesting and funny experience.

After the car situation we went straight out to teach. Tuesday morning while out Seeking With Faith, we found a nice Chinese man, and we went back and taught him in his garage. Sadly, he didn't have time to meet again, but we were able to teach him about prayer and communicating with a loving Heavenly Father. It was a seed planted which is always great! We also taught Hong Bao again Tuesday afternoon. Sadly he went back to China this past week, but we hope that he can continue to learn and accept the Gospel in China! 

Wednesday morning we had another great English Class. We were able to do a lot of Seeking With Faith during the day and also that evening. We talked to so many people! We also had our interviews with President Hammon. It was my last interview with him as a full-time missionary. It was a great interview. President Hammon is such an amazing Mission President and I know that he has been called of God to lead our mission!

Thursday and Friday were days filled with miracles! Earlier in the week, we tracted into an older Chinese man, Mr. Zhou. We set up an appointment with him and we were able to teach him and his wife Mrs. Liu. They are super cool! As we taught them, I felt the Spirit so strongly. We explained who God is, that He loves each of His children, and also about the role of prophets. More on them later! Right after that, we had the opportunity to teach Matt and Joanna again! They are doing amazing. I love them both so much. Matt and Joanna are reading the Book of Mormon everyday and strengthening their faith everyday. Joanna currently has a baptismal date set for August 12th, and we are so excited for her baptism! We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and it was a great lesson. Joanna shared several spiritual experiences with us and basically summarized the whole first couple of chapters of 1 Nephi, which was amazing! They also took us to lunch after which was super nice of them. We topped off the night with more Seeking With Faith. Always awesome!

Matt and Joanna treating the Elders to lunch

Friday morning before our service project we met with Mr. Zhou again. Mrs. Liu was busy and she couldn't meet, but we taught Mr. Zhou specifically about baptism. We showed him the video of the Savior being baptized and the Spirit was very strong. We then invited him to be baptized and he accepted!!! He accepted a date for August 19th and we believe that he definitely can reach that goal. Originally when we invited him, he said that he was afraid that because of his age, his body wouldn't be able to handle it. We then shared 1 Nephi 3:7 about going and doing what the Lord has commanded us each to do, Mr. Zhou said that he would be willing to be baptized. It is so cool to see the amazing change of heart the Lord can help each of us make when we are ready and willing. Later Friday afternoon we had another recent convert lesson with Sara, where we taught the Law of the Fast, the Ten Commandments, and other important and essential Commandments. It was a great lesson. Sara also received a calling in the Nursery this past week, and she is super excited about that! I thought it was pretty cool that Sara was so excited about serving in the nursery. That is her first calling ever and all she wants to do is serve God. I think there is a lesson for all of us there in her example. That night we had a great English Class and then finished off another amazing day with a little more Seeking With Faith.

Saturday morning we had a lesson with another new person from this past week, Bill Gan. We first contacted Bill a couple of weeks ago. During the lesson, he asked a lot of great questions, and the Spirit was teaching him. It was a cool experience. We hope to teach the rest of his family soon! So please keep Bill and his family in your prayers. That day we did some more Seeking With Faith and talked to a lot of Chinese people which was super great too!

Sunday was another great day! This past week, Linda and Si Hai Jun came to church. Although we are not teaching Si Hai Jun right now because he isn't super interested, we were so happy to see him attend church. Linda came with her son and had a great time! In the afternoon and evening we did some more Seeking With Faith, after which we then did a Home Visit with the Li Family in Rancho Cucamonga. They are great member missionaries, and have helped us a lot!

I love my mission with all of my heart. I love the Chinese people I am fortunate to serve and teach. I know and testify that true happiness comes through obedience and through sharing the Gospel. I have never been so happy in my life as I have been on my mission. What an incredible blessing to be a part of this sacred and most important work. I love the Lord and I love His Work! Love you all hope you have another great week!

Elder Willes