6 STRAIGHT DAYS OF EXCHANGES

The new Hualian Stake is in a city called Ji An. When people sing Come to Zion, Come to Zion, they sing 

"Lai Dao Ji An, Lai Dao Ji An." Come to Ji An, Come to Ji an. That is just so cool. A marvelous work IS going forth among the people of Taiwan and throughout the world.  Taiwan is the BEST. 

Elder Gang1 of the Seventy with the Elders serving in the office and President and Sister Day

Hello everyone and Happy Father's Day DAD and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! The best kind of dad and example to me is someone who is an honorable and worthy M.P. holder.  I've been so blessed with so many examples of that kind of dad in my life. 

This week was another crazy week but a good one as well! For p-day we actually had a few free hours and spent about 4 hours cleaning our apartment and now it is SPOTLESS. So so clean. Lovin' life. This week we went on 4 straight exchanges and I also have one today and tomorrow so that will mean 6 straight days of exchanges. They are awesome and great learning experiences for me.  

Probably one of the biggest miracles of the week happened when we were calling less active members to set them up to meet. I noticed on our list that one on our members had a birthday that day! So I called her and wished her a happy birthday and told her how important she was to God. She was really touched and we set up to meet with her the next day! We went back to her house the next day and met with Sun1 JM. She had like 5 dogs and 8 birds. Haha one of the birds pooped on Elder Shelton. (We had the other Elders from our area come and pei2 ke4 (accompany us)). In spite of the setbacks, the lesson was super great and Sun1 JM is a really prepared less active who is ready to come back! We are hoping she will be able to come to church this coming Sunday. 

I'm sorry I'm really tired writing this email. 

Not much sleep this week!

I did read a scripture I really liked this week in Helaman 5:12. I read it and I substituted build with "trust" and foundation with "life". When we trust God in our everyday life things just go smoother and we are happier. Simple as that. I have really learned a lot on my mission by trusting in God in all things. God loves us all so much. When we show our trust in him by praying, action, reading scriptures, service, etc then that allows Him to SHOW His love for us by blessing us! 

Our investigator Wang2 JM is progressing well. We shared the Law of Chastity with her to help her see the need for modest clothes and she is changing! Wearing more modest clothing. So that is really good! We were only in our area 2 days this week so I don't have a lot to report on there. 

The biggest miracle of the week was the Hualian Stake was organized!! So cool! Elder Anderson said, "You can count the seeds in an apple, but not the apples in a seed." Lots of missionary efforts over the past few years have just been planting and planting seeds for this moment. Super cool. To celebrate this new Stake there was a cultural event Saturday night and all the missionaries sang Called to Serve and Hark all Ye Nations. It was such a special moment. I am really happy for President Day. That was his goal when he got to Taiwan was to create a Stake on the East Coast of Taiwan. 3 years later and on Father's Day this happened. :)

Right outside the Elder's apartment in Hualian there is a big, beautiful baseball field. 

Oh man, I am so TIRED!  On a 11:00 p.m. train ride back to Taipei from Hualian.  I am a little tired  but still alive.

I can't really describe through email how deeply I feel about the importance of missionary work. It was just the coolest thing ever to see hundreds of faithful Taiwan members come and celebrate and sustain the new Stake President Brother Cai4. The new Hualian Stake is in a city called Ji An. When people sing Come to Zion, Come to Zion, they sing "Lai Dao Ji An, Lai Dao Ji An." Come to Ji An, Come to Ji an. That is just so cool. A marvelous work IS going forth among the people of Taiwan and throughout the world.  Taiwan is the BEST. 

All of our exchanges this week were filled with finding miracles and the Lord has blessed me way more than I could imagine. I can feel our mission is growing every day and every missionary is working harder and harder. This is the last week of serving with President Day. He goes home next Tuesday. It has been a great month or so serving as his assistant. 

I just want to bear my testimony that I know God loves all of us. Christ is there for all of us. We just need to seek and knock and He will bless our lives. It doesn't matter who we are or what we've done. He will help us! 

Love you all!!

Elder Willes

I was able to attend a baptism Elder Dexter had.  Love Elder Dexter.