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

BACK TO UCR

Hey everyone! Sorry this email is going to be super short. I am now in UCR again with Elder Yang! We have no time haha. I am excited for another transfer here and we are going to work our hardest! Love you all!

Elder Willes

HOW DOES THE SAVIOR SEE MY FAITH? (January 22, 2018)

"I am so beyond thankful for all of the amazing blessings that Heavenly Father 

has given to us in our area. Without Him and a loving Savior, this work would be impossible." 

Hey everyone! This past week has been another incredible week here in the CRM. We continue to see many blessings each and every day and it is the best thing to be out here and doing the Lord's work. There have been many exciting things that have happened this past week and I am excited to give you all a little update. Here is how my week went! 

A shout-out to Mamoo. Her book is in my church building.

P-day Catan! A super fun game.

Brother Li took us to CAFE RIO this past week. #奇迹

This past Tuesday we had our multi-zone conference. The meeting was awesome and we got to hear from President and Sister Hammon which is always a boost. We also had the opportunity to watch the special announcement with President Nelson as the new Prophet. What a special meeting. I love and sustain President Nelson. I know that he truly is a Prophet of God! At the multi-zone, Elder Nelson and I gave a training on Having Great Faith. During our training, we asked the missionaries, "How does the Savior see your faith?" It was really awesome and we had a spiritual day. 

On Wednesday morning we had a service project at the Ranch Jurupa Park. We cleaned trash and leaves out of the little pond that they have there. It was super fun! For the rest of the day, I was on exchanges in the Jurupa Elder's area. I was with Elder Roper and man we had a killer day! We picked up 3 new investigators for their area, and we put one of them on date for baptism! It was an incredible day and was another one of those days where you eat dinner at like 8:30-9 pm. Now that is a sign of a great day :)

Thursday morning we had the opportunity to travel to Lake Elsinore and to see Evangel one of our recent converts! We met with her at McDonalds, which meant that I had to eat McDonalds for the first time on my mission! I thought I was going to make it the whole time without! She told me I looked fatter and that Elder Nelson looked skinnier. We shared some scriptures with her. She is doing awesome. She attended the Eastvale Ward this past Sunday with Blair and Kerry which was great. We also saw Ryan Chen and continued to review the missionary lessons with him. We really have developed a great relationship with him and he is slowly remembering! During the lesson, Ryan's wife Selina who is not a member and has not expressed interest, actually came and joined in on the lesson! 

Elder Willes, Elder Nelson and Evangel

Elder Nelson and I taught Lucy and Lucia at Harada Park. They are some of our new investigators. Elder Nelson met them on exchanges. Lucia accepted a baptismal date for February 11th. She is returning to China on the 15th. We are super excited for her! It was a great lesson and the Spirit was very strong. 

We had another Weekly Blitz and I went out with Elder Lowry. We were able to find a referral for the missionaries in that area! I also went on exchanges later that day with Elder Hale. We worked together in my area and had a great lesson in the afternoon with William Hu and his wife Fu Jie Mei! We taught them at Orchard Park. It was a great lesson. It was a very busy day as we then traveled to Corona to meet with Pius and Arthur again! We read with them from Alma 32 and it was super awesome. Man I loved that chapter. 

3 investigators at church this past week. Xun and Sara and Lucia! We were super happy for them. We also met with President Jergensen and President and Sister Hammon to discuss the missionary work in the Jurupa Zone. We have made some really good strides in our zone.

This past week has been incredible. Sorry this email is so long haha but I am so beyond thankful for all of the amazing blessings that Heavenly Father has given to us in our area. Without Him and a loving Savior this work would be impossible. Continue to make Jesus Christ the center of your lives, and constantly ask yourself, "How does the Savior see my Faith?" Love you all have a great week!

Also, Happy Birthday to Beef51 this upcoming week! Thankful to have the best Dad and an amazing example in my life. Thank you for all that you do for me Dad! Love you!

pig's tongue anyone?

Elder Willes 

MUD BLIZZARD (January 15, 2018)

Hello everyone! This past week has been another week FULL of Miracles, including a miracle from today where the orthopedic specialist I saw said that everything looks good with my knee! I am so happy!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Elder Willes, President and Sister Hammon and the Jurupa Zone

This past week, Elder Nelson and I have worked really hard. We were able to find 4 new investigators, which was super awesome and we are super happy about that! We have been extremely busy! The Lord continues to bless us each and every day. It is the greatest blessing to be a part of the Lord's work. We did get to watch President Monson's funeral. A little sad for sure, but yes, a very very spiritual meeting. President Monson was an incredible person, prophet, and leader. He was my prophet. He signed my mission call. I love him and will miss him! 

On Monday night we had the opportunity to teach a new investigator from this past week, Winnie Cui. We found Winnie in the middle of Harada Park and taught her at the library. We invited Su Jie Mei to attend the lesson. It was super awesome! Winnie currently attends another church but really liked the Book of Mormon and the uniqueness of the message of the Restoration. Please pray for her!

Tuesday night we went over and had another lesson with Brian Chen! Brian and his family just recently got back from Taiwan. It was another great lesson and the Spirit was strong as we taught him! 

We also had another awesome visit with Ryan Chen! Ryan called us this past week and said that he needed some help translating some documents. Ryan is starting to trust us and we are slowly developing a great relationship with him. Ryan has been very less-active for roughly the past 2 years. It has been so awesome to see and be a part of him coming back to church. We also taught Wesley, another new investigator, at Harada Park. It was freezing outside (probably 60 degrees haha)!

Saturday morning we had a big service project in Corona. We scooped mud for like 4 hours out of people's backyards! About a week ago, we had a big rainstorm come through which caused some serious mudslides. It looked like a blizzard, but a mud blizzard! Crazy! We also had the opportunity to have a first lesson with Jack and Kelly, more new investigators from this past week. We originally had received a referral for them and we finally got to go over and teach them on Saturday! Jack is a USC graduate and Kelly graduated from UCR. They are really nice and speak English very well. Please pray for them that they can attend church!

Sunday was another awesome day although we were not able to have any investigators attend church this past week. Missionary work is the absolute best. What a blessing it is to be a part of the greatest and most important work on the earth today. Love you all have a great week!

Elder Willes

NOT EVEN BIRDS CAN STOP US (January 8, 2018)

Elder Zeng, Elder Nelson, Elder Willes and Elder Merriman
(Elders Zeng and Merriman are previous Mandarin speaking missionaries from the CA, Riverside Mission.
They stopped by for a visit. Elder Zeng is from Mainland China and is headed towards BYU-I
and was Elder Willes' trainer. *Both pics "borrowed" from Elder Nelson.)

Hello everyone! This past week has been another amazing week here in Eastvale. Elder Nelson and I have seen a lot of miracles over the past week and the Lord continues to bless us each and every day. Here is how my week went! 

This week we had the opportunity to meet with Terry Li, who was one of our new investigators from this past week. We met with Terry at the park and taught him the Restoration. He had a lot of questions and currently attends another church but was willing to read from the Book of Mormon which was awesome! He is a super cool guy. We also taught another new investigator from this past week, Alex Sun. Alex is super cool, and he just texted us out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago about our English Class. He finally came on Wednesday and we got to teach him right after class! It was a pretty good lesson. It is pretty cool when investigator's hearts are willing to hear and listen to the Spirit.

On Thursday we had our "MLC" (Missionary Leadership Council) meeting. It was super awesome! We received awesome trainings from President and Sister Hammon, and also the APs. A couple of takeaways for me were an emphasis on teaching from The Book of Mormon, trusting in the Lord to work through our fears, and having a change of heart and truly turning our hearts over to the Savior. I definitely learned a lot. That night, we went over to YuTong Li's house and we had another lesson with him! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and it was a great lesson! He accepted an invitation to be Baptized on February 11th! We are really excited for him and we look forward to continue to help him progress towards that baptismal date. 

The MLC (pic "borrowed" from President and Sister Hammon's blog)

Friday we spent a good amount of time out and about doing some more good old seeking with faith. The Lord really has been blessing us through our diligence in always being out looking for those who might be ready. And recently, we have had a lot of people to teach which is always one of the best blessings for a missionary! Friday night we also had another great English Class. After class we met again with Xun and Sara! We read through Mormon chapter 9 with them. Xun expressed to us that he does not believe that The Book of Mormon is true and he is not really willing to read. Xun and Sara are some of the best people I know so it is always hard when you feel people's hearts that you love, hardening instead of softening. Please pray for him that he can come to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God! 

This week we also had our weekly district meetings and service at the Rancho Jurupa Park. We cleaned up a bunch of trash around a small lake. On Saturday morning we had another "Weekly Blitz." Elder Casper and I went out together and we were able to get 3 referrals for the other missionaries in their area. Awesome! That afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet with Crystal Cui again! She expressed to us that she is thinking about trying out other faiths, so please pray for her that she may come to know by the Spirit that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's true and restored Church! That night, we also met with another new investigator from this past week, Andy Wang. Andy was basically a referral from Annie Zhang. Andy really wants to be baptized, but is only here for a short amount of time. He leaves to go back to China very soon and won't be able to attend church and have all the lessons before leaving. It is also hard when as a missionary you have to tell someone whose heart is so open that he cannot be baptized because we don't have the time to teach him and for him to attend church before returning to China. Andy is coming back to America in April so we hope that we will be able to continue to work with him when he returns. 

Elders Nelson, Phister and Willes with matching ties

Sunday was such an awesome day! We had 5 investigators that attended church! Li Feng, Crystal Cui, Xun and Sara, and Angela Zhang all came to church! It was so awesome and a really spiritual day overall. 

FUNNY STORY!!!!! Not even the birds can't stop us! This past week while we were out seeking at a park, Elder Nelson and I contacted some super cool Chinese guys; they were brothers - Austin and Jin. In the middle of the contact, Elder Nelson and I felt something hit us! Turns out, a bird decided to poop all over Elder Nelson and I! Some of it landed on Elder Nelson's arm and I got coated. All over my shirt, my back and down my leg. Hahahaha it was definitely something to laugh about, freaked us all out a bit, but we finished the contact strong and got their contact information to hopefully meet with them later!!!!!

Words cannot begin to describe how much I love missionary work. It truly is the greatest and most important work on the earth today. Go share a little of your testimony with others and I will too. I am so excited to continue to work hard, and to bring souls unto Christ. Love you all have a great week!

P.S. For you mom -  My knee is doing much better. I am not wearing a brace right now and haven't really felt the need for it recently. Hardly any pain now. It definitely is improving and that is a good sign! Everything is going to be perfectly alright :) I am here to stay!!!!! 

加油!

Elder Willes