HAPPY EASTER from EASTVALE (round 2)

"Christ had a perfected, resurrected body. 

The tomb wasn't opened to let Him out, it was opened to let us see in." 

Wow. So awesome and cool, recognizing the importance of the Resurrection. 

Christ has the power to do all things, and could have easily left the tomb, without rolling back the stone,

 but instead He invites us all to come unto Him to "see in."

Elder Willes with his new companion Elder Crowther

Hello everyone and HAPPY EASTER FROM EASTVALE!! I hope you have all had the chance to watch the #PrinceofPeace video online. If you haven't, take a minute and watch. It will make your day a little better.This week has been pretty good. My companion, Elder Crowther and I, have really been working hard to help others to come unto Christ. What a cool message to share the week of Easter. This past week, we picked up 10 new investigators. It was awesome. I love teaching about the Savior. He can help anyone. 

I have served in Eastvale and I know there are prepared Chinese here. We just have to go find them. Elder Crowther and I have really worked hard this past week to find, find, and do more finding. 

On Wednesday morning we taught one of our investigators, Sister Du. Sister Du and her family recently moved from Diamond Bar. Her husband was baptized in Diamond Bar,and she has a strong desire to follow in the Savior's example and be baptized. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized. She accepted a date for May 14th!!! It was awesome to see her feel the Spirit and have the courage to act. I felt like the Spirit was really strong in that lesson. That night before English class, we also taught Lily Gui, and her two friends, Zou Jie Mei and Zhao Jie Mei. We taught them the first couple of points of the Restoration. It's a lot for them to take in. We also had English Class and after that, we then had a lesson with Michael. Elder Crowther was teaching another lesson, (in the same room), and I taught Michael with Sister Li. A good problem to have. More people to teach than there are missionaries. We taught Michael about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he accepted a baptismal date also for May 14th! May 14th might end of being the best day of my mission so far.

Thursday morning we taught another potential investigator, Zodiac. We taught him the first couple of points from the Restoration. It was alright. We invited him to pray and read from the Book of Mormon and testified of the truthfulness of this amazing book. He doesn't have the greatest desire but we are praying for him! This week while seeking for prepared people we found Sarah, in a park. We also taught her about the Restoration and  invited her to pray everyday. She agreed to try! 

Friday was awesome. I love doing service at the one and only Louis Roubidoux Nature Center. It was crazy being back there so quickly. I love that place. We spent most of the day on Saturday in Rancho Cucomonga. We had a lesson with a potential investigator, Sister Wang. We arrived at her house, and found another Chinese couple there. We started teaching all of them, and had a great start to the lesson. After a little while though, they become frustrated with lack of understanding. We kept trying and trying to teach it simply, but they just couldn't understand. It was such a bummer. That night, we knocked on Brother Pu's house, a less active in our ward. Yang Guang answered the door, an investigator who I taught when I served previously here in Eastvale with Elder Zeng and Elder Yang! We ended up sitting down with him and taught him the lesson on the Restoration. It was awesome! He is super great. 

Also, Sister Lin, from my last area, will most likely be baptized this coming Sunday. I will be able to go to that!!!! :) I am so excited. Please pray for her and all our investigators. 

Easter Sunday was special. Something awesome that was shared at church was about the stone, that was securing the sepulcher. "Christ had a perfected, resurrected body. The tomb wasn't opened to let Him out, it was opened to let us see in." Wow. So awesome and cool, recognizing the importance of the Resurrection. Christ has the power to do all things, and could've easily left the tomb, without rolling back the stone but instead He invites us all to Him to see. Super cool! Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes 

UNDERDOG

Elder Willes and Jay Yang

Hello everyone!!! This week has been amazing. Elder Nelson and I have been working so hard, and we have had so much success. We had 6 investigators at church on Sunday AND we have 6 investigators with a baptismal dates. There were many highlights from my week, but here are just a few.

On Tuesday morning we had our weekly DLC and DDM meetings. I gave a training on Teaching People, Not Lessons. I felt good about it and know that this is how the Savior wants us to teach. It was awesome. That afternoon, we had a lesson with Sharon, an investigator we found at UCR. We taught her about the Restoration, and she took it okay. Her desire isn't very strong, and she texted us a few days later and told us she wasn't interested. :( It was a bummer. That afternoon, we had a lesson with Lin Jie Mei. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation, and she really loved it. It was a great lesson! 

I also went on exchanges with the Spanish Elders. I went out with Elder Sanchez, and we had a pretty good day. We spent most of the day seeking and seeking. We also went and tried to visit a bunch of potential investigators. It was a fun day! Also I had exchanges on Friday with Elder Heward, who is one of the Office Elders. We spent the day moving apartments, seeking and some home visits. We've been doing a lot of those lately to help others increase their faith.

On Thursday we had a awesome lesson with Brother Xia. We also taught him about the Plan of Salvation, and he really loved it. Saturday we had another lesson with Charlie. He is awesome. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. The Plan is important. It answers lots of questions if someone is searching. I feel so blessed to have this knowledge. Brother Zhang dropped us this week. That is always very hard. His parents were very frustrated with him for meeting with us. 

Brother Xia and Elder Willes

Sunday was sweet!!!!!! We had 6 investigators at church. Vivian, Hank and Tina, Jay Yang, Lin Jie Mei, and Brother Xia all came! It was amazing. During fast and testimony meeting, I got up and bore my Testimony in Chinese, which was awesome. I wanted these investigators to hear it from me again. I wanted them to know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will bring joy, peace, happiness and redemption for each one of them through our Savior and a loving Heavenly Father. After church, I had to tell all of them that I was being transferred, and it was pretty hard. Hard on me and hard on them. I love all of them so much. I hope and pray they will continue to progress towards baptism. The Lord has other work for me back in Eastvale. Eastvale has become "quiet" again. We gotta do it again baby! I am pumped. I love being the underdog. I am going to work my absolute hardest, and we are going to find success. Please pray so that we can find people to teach, who are ready and willing to receive the Gospel. Love you all have a great week!!

Elder Willes

BETTER THAN CHRISTMAS!

"RIVERSIDE GETTING THAT SHOUT OUT FROM ELDER GROW - WHAT IT IS!!! 

and

Sunday was AMAZING! We had 4 investigators meet us at the church building 

to watch the Sunday Morning Session in Chinese! The Spirit was really strong when President Monson 
taught about the importance of the Book of Mormon."

My good friend and former Zone Leader, Elder Hagler, from Herriman, UT

Hello everyone!!! This week has been super amazing. We currently have 5 investigators on date for baptism and 4 of them came to watch General Conference with us on Sunday! Yep you heard right! It was amazing. Heavenly Father continues to bless us, everyday. I am so humbled and grateful that I get to serve Him. 

Tuesday was pretty awesome. We drove down to Lake Elsinore for our Multi-Zones. That whole day we received training and President Mullen really stressed the importance of having a laser-like-focus for the work. I love that! One of the most amazing things he said was about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. He mentioned that the Savior suffered for all mankind, but not including Heavenly Father. So when Heavenly Father's children fail to return to their Heavenly Home, the pain that He feels surpasses the pain that Jesus Christ went through with the Atonement. It really helped put into perspective the importance of doing His work, and helping ALL of His children return home.

After English Class on Wednesday night, we had another lesson with Hank (his new English name) and Tina. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was super cool. We tried again to invite them to be baptized, but they still aren't ready to set a date. We will continue to work with them. 

Thursday morning we picked up another investigator, Ben Zhang. We met him on our way back to our apartment this past week. Sadly, he already told us he is not interested in our message anymore. He had a big concern with accepting additional scripture and only regards the Holy Bible as the word of God. We also taught Lin Jie Mei. We had to review the Restoration with her and also changed her baptismal date to April 23rd. It was a great lesson! These are often extremely new and foreign concepts and principles for the Chinese.

Friday we picked up two new investigators. BOOM! Charlie and Vivian. Charlie actually approached us on campus at UCR asking for directions. We got his contact information, taught him the Restoration, and put him on date for baptism for April 23rd! We also taught Vivian before English Class. We found her through English Class, and taught her the Restoration as well. She is also on date for baptism on April 23rd! That night after our English Class, we taught Hank and Tina again! We taught them about the Word of Wisdom, and they agreed to live it! They are awesome. I love them! Please pray for them.

Saturday and Sunday were better than Christmas!!! General Conference !:))) I really loved Elder Bragg's talk about the "Light of Christ." I loved how he said that "seeking the light, is in our eternal DNA." Everyone is seeking for light, we just need to help them find the "Light of Christ" again in their lives. I also loved Elder Sabin's talk about being "ALL IN." I loved the analogy he used with the "Spiritual Sleeping Bags," and also how he said, "In order to be all in, we need to stand up inside." That is so amazing. That night, I also got to sit right next to President Mullen and watch the Priesthood Session! I loved Elder Bednar's message of becoming worthy, and to love staying worthy. Also the Covenant Pathway; Priesthood, Temple, Mission. So cool. 

Sunday was AMAZING! We had 4 investigators meet us at the church building to watch the Sunday Morning Session in Chinese! Hank and Tina, Charlie, and Vivian all came. They all really seemed to enjoy it. The Spirit was really strong when President Monson taught about the importance of the Book of Mormon. I loved that. The Sunday afternoon session was awesome too. I loved Elder Costa's message. We are for sure going to share that talk with our investigators. I loved when he said, "Meeting the Missionaries, going to Church, Reading the Book of Mormon, and Repentance." These are the things our investigators need to be doing to come unto the Savior. Also, RIVERSIDE GETTING THAT SHOUT OUT FROM ELDER GROW - WHAT IT IS!!! Haha gotta love that. :) That night, we also had a lesson with Rene Zhao. Rene was a former investigator, who we found through our Area Book. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and put him on date for baptism for May 7th! We've got to get him to Church though and help him with a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon. We will continue to help him though! 

This week has been amazing. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to Represent the Savior, and help others. Love you all have a great week! 

Elder Willes

READ THE BOOK and TUNE IN

We were teaching Brother Xia and were sharing the First Vision. After I got done sharing that, we sat in silence for a little bit, to let the Spirit work with him. All of the sudden in a quiet, sincere voice, he just says, "Wow."

Hello everyone. This week has been amazing! I have really seen the Lord's hand in our work here in this area. I know that if we continue to work hard, the Lord will continue to bless us. 

At our weekly "DLC" and "DDM" meetings I shared a training on receiving revelation through the Book of Mormon. I know there are answers for each of us in the Book if we will read and study and seek. The Book of Mormon is an essential part in an Investigator's conversion. We each must seek the direction and promise found in the introduction of the Book of Mormon (and in Moroni). "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost (see Moroni 10:3-5). Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelatory and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah."

I love bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. On Tuesday afternoon, we had a GREAT lesson with Sister Lin. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  At the end of the lesson, she gave one of the most sincere prayers that I have ever heard. In her prayer, she expressed that she was going through tons of stress with school and coming to America. Sister Lin has to obtain at least a 3.0 GPA or else she has to leave. She expressed great gratitude to the Lord for the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She was emotional and the Spirit was so strong. 

Wednesday was pretty awesome! I went on exchanges with Elder Gossett, one of the Office Elders. We stayed and worked in our area. That night, we had another lesson with Jay Yang. We taught him about the Atonement. He has a lot of questions/concerns, but we are helping him. :) That night, we had 6 PEOPLE AT ENGLISH CLASS!! We were super pumped. After English Class, we were able to teach Brother Zhao (because Tina wasn't able to come) about the Plan of Salvation. He loved it! It was a great lesson.

Elder Gossett and Elder Willes on exchanges

English Class

Elder Nelson and I were on bikes on Thursday. We did a couple of home visits hoping to figure out what members in the ward can help our investigators. That night, we also had our Ward Correlation Meeting to discuss the work in our areas.

I also went on exchanges with Elder Fairbanks this week. He is one of our Zone Leaders. It was a fun day! We taught two lessons to their investigators. That night, we came back to our area, to teach Brother Zhao and Tina. We reviewed the Plan of Salvation. It was amazing. They are so awesome.

Sunday was AMAZING. We had 4 investigators come to Church!!! Brother Zhao, Tina, Jay Yang, and Sister Lin ALL came.  :) We were so excited! Brother Zhao and Tina went out and bought church clothes this past week. Brother Zhao showed up in a brand new suit, and a white shirt and tie. It was amazing! Jay Yang came about half-way through Sacrament Meeting, and he really enjoyed church! He came in hot and sweaty and said that he had walked 1 hour to get to church! Wow. So amazing! Sister Lin came for the last hour and we got her to Relief Society. She loved it! Sunday afternoon was amazing too. We picked up 2 new investigators, Brother Xia, and Rene Zhao. We taught them both the Restoration. We were teaching Brother Xia and were sharing the First Vision. After I got done teaching it, we sat in silence for a little bit, to let the Spirit work with him. All of the sudden in a quiet, sincere voice, he just says, "Wow." It was amazing! The Spirit was so strong. We have been so blessed this week!!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for the amazing chance that I have to serve the Chinese people, who I love so much. The mission is already such a sacred and worthwhile experience for me, and something I will cherish forever. I'm looking so forward to Conference. Tune in! Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes

THE BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Hello everyone! :) This week has been another great week here in the California Riverside Mission. Thank you all so much for all the Birthday Wishes! It was a special day for sure. Here is how my week went! 

Last Monday night we had another lesson with YiHang Yuan. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is pretty great to be teaching. On Tuesday we found three potential investigators at UCR which was cool. :) We also had ZDM, where we received trainings from our Zone Leaders. We had several service opportunities this week. We participated in a

Feeding America project and sorted through a bunch of food. It was super fun!! We also cleaned a street. I love service.

For p-day we went on a cool hike to Mt. Roubidoux

We continue to teach Jay Yang. We are teaching small bits of the Plan. Most of the principles found in the Gospel are foreign the the Chinese culture so it is slow but steady.  We also had another lesson with Zhao Di Xiong and Tina! They are so awesome. We finished the Restoration and invited them to come to Church. We taught QiHua on Thursday evening. We met her a couple of weeks ago at UCR. We taught her about the Restoration and put her on date for baptism for April 26th! More about her later though. :(

Friday afternoon we picked up another investigator, Zhang Di Xiong. We taught him the first couple of points from the Restoration. It was awesome. He is a student at UCR, and has been to an LDS Church in Irvine before! That night, we also had an awesome English Class and Sister Crockett, a member from our ward, helped us at class. It is so great when members are able to help with missionary work. 

Saturday was my 19th birthday!!! Crazy. In the morning, we had our Weekly Blitz. I went out with Elder Fairbanks, one of our Zone Leaders. It was fun! We were able to get one referral for the missionaries in that area, so that was awesome! The afternoon was spent doing studies and Seeking With Faith...a normal missionary day. Overall, a pretty great birthday and one I wouldn't want to spend anywhere else doing anything else. :) Thank you again to everyone that made it so awesome! 

Thank you for the birthday presents. I am never going to need to grocery shop again.

Sunday I received the best birthday present. :) Zhao Di Xiong and Tina came to Church!!!!!!! We were so excited. They really seemed to enjoy it. It is so amazing when people you care about and love progress and take hold of the blessings that are theirs. It was another awesome day. This week has been amazing. I have really felt the love of my Savior as I labor in His vineyard. I love this work, and I love my mission. It is amazing. Love you all have a great week! 

D&C 11: 12-13

• Doctrine and Covenants

And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good —yea, to do justly , to walk humbly , to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind , which shall fill your soul with joy ; 

AMAZING

Hello everyone! This week has been so amazing. We picked up 5 new investigators this past week and 2 are on date for BAPTISM!!! I really have seen the Lord's hand in our area and in our work as we labor in His vineyard.  I love it out here. My mission brings me such joy and peace as does the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A mission is indescribably hard, but so rewarding and so amazing.

We had 2 lessons last Tuesday with YiHang Yuan and Sister Lin. Last Friday, YiHang Yuan came to our English Class and expressed much interest in learning about the Gospel. We taught him on Tuesday about the Restoration. Every time we teach about the fullness we have here on earth, I feel the spirit. We invited YiHang Yuan to pray and read from the Book of Mormon. He agreed and also wants to be baptized on April 9th! We have another lesson with him tonight. That afternoon we also had a lesson with Sister Lin. We taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel as well. Sister Lin is so awesome! She is willing to pray and read everyday and accepted a baptismal date for April 9th. We have another lesson with her tomorrow!

Wednesday was so cool. Elder Luthy (one of our Zone Leaders) and I were on exchanges. That afternoon I was able to  interview one of their candidates for baptism. Her name is Hannah Burns. She is awesome and will be baptized this coming Sunday. It was so special for me to be able to interview her and the Spirit was really strong as she shared her conversion to the Gospel with me. That night we also had another lesson with Jay Yang. It was kind of a struggle. He was struggling to understand the principles but he has a strong desire to learn and grow. We also had English Class and Jay Yang, Brother Zhao and his wife, Tina all came! It was so awesome. After class we had a lesson with Brother Zhao and Tina. We invited them to pray everyday. Prayer is so cool and so foreign to so many of God's children here on earth. He has given us a way to literally communicate with Him and to receive help and guidance. We have a lesson with Brother Zhao and Tina on Wednesday! Keep praying for these people. This is a big leap with their small seeds of faith.

Thursday was a great day up on UCR Campus. While we were walking back finishing up our Seeking with Faith time, we met a guy, Andy Zhang. We walked him into the Institute building on campus and showed him around. We also shared a lesson with him. He is now one of our investigators! Super awesome. We scheduled to meet with him yesterday but we weren't able to get a hold of him. We will keep trying. It was a super cool experience.

Friday night we had a GREAT lesson with Jay Yang before English class. We finished teaching him about the Restoration and used visual examples to help him understand. Elder Beal and I taught Jay Yang because we had another exchange that day. Jay Yang and Tina both came to English class on Friday and it was super fun. 

We had our "Weekly Blitz." Elder Match, Elder Olsen (both ASL Elders) and I all went out. We talked to a lot of people, and were able to find a referral for the Office Elders. 

This week has been amazing. I know that Heavenly Father has blessed us everyday with miracles and will continue to bless us. Never forget that the hardest times can be the greatest times for our growth. I love this work. Love you all have a great week! 

Elder Willes

ARE YOU PRAYING EVERYDAY?

*MOM NOTE: It’s Elder Willes’ birthday this month (actually this coming Saturday, March 18th). It’s a great month to write him a letter if you have a minute. I know he would LOVE it and so would his mama. Thank you for loving and supporting Nate.

"We invited him to pray everyday an he agreed! Prayer is a powerful gift the Lord has given us. 

Are you praying everyday? If not, maybe you can take the same challenge..."

"BORROWED" from Elder Nelson's Blog

Hello everyone! :) This week has been another good week here in Downtown Riverside. We have seen quite a bit of success this week and are so excited to continue to work hard and to help people Come Unto Christ. Here is an update of my week!!

Last Monday, we said goodbye to Elder Zeng. :( It was sad to see him go. He was an awesome missionary!!!

Tuesday we had a lesson with Brother Han!! It was an awesome lesson but he actually texted us last night saying he doesn't want to hear our message anymore. It was sad. We taught him about the Restoration and will continue to pray for him that he will accept the Gospel one day! That afternoon I also had  a trainer meeting which was for all of the new trainers this transfer. It was awesome. I am really excited to train this transfer. :) It will be super fun!!! 

My district is awesome! I love all of them. There are 8 of us total. The zone leaders, the office elders, the mission Spanish elders, and Elder Nelson and I, the Chinese elders. On Wednesday I had a DLC meeting in the morning with the zone leaders and the district leaders. I then gave my first DDM training! I trained on recognizing and relying on the Holy Ghost. It went awesome and the Spirit was strong. After the morning meetings Elder Nelson and I went walking and finding at UCR. We met Jay Yang and also Lin Jie Mei. (More on these two in a little bit.) No one showed up for English Class in the evening which was a bummer. 

Elder Nelson and I are determined to teach. We talk to EVERYONE. Thursday, on campus, was pretty good and was filled with a lot of Seeking With Faith. We have met a lot of people recently and it has been awesome!

On Friday morning I had the district leader meeting with all of the district leaders in the mission. That was special and I learned a lot. I got to see Elder Ly (from the Jurupa Zone). I love that dude! That night we also had three people at English Class! Boom! Jay Yang came, Brother Yuan, and also Tina. Brother Yuan is really interested in hearing about the Gospel, which is amazing. That night we also had a lesson with Jay! We invited him to pray everyday and he agreed! Prayer is a powerful gift the Lord has given us. Are you praying everyday? If not, maybe you can take the same challenge that Jay did. He is awesome. Please pray for him!!

Saturday morning we had our weekly blitz. I went out with Elder Heward, one of the office elders in my District. We talked to a lot of people, and were able to get one referral!! We also spent a super short period of the afternoon Seeking With Faith up at campus but we couldn't stay because there was a concert going on.

I know the Lord is aware of the Chinese people here in Riverside and He is helping to prepare someone now. We've just got to find them. On Sunday we went through our area book and called just about everyone in there. I am excited to continue to work hard and help Heavenly Father's prepared children Come Unto Christ so that they can find everlasting peace and joy. Love you all have a great week! 

Elder Willes