Helping others come closer to God.

This week flew by! I can't believe it is already Monday.  I had such a good week. It was packed with good things.

This week something happened that was cool.  During a lesson we were teaching to a boy that was baptized 2 weeks ago I asked him, “What made you change your mind and want to be baptized like your brother and sisters?"  He was shy but told me that he had a dream and he saw himself being baptized.  He told me that is why he wanted to get interviewed in case he wanted to get baptized in the future.  And when he realized he knew all the answers he told us he was ready.  The Lord prepared him and I am so thankful.

This week also we started teaching a girl with divorced parents.  She goes back and forth between her mom and dad’s house and she always goes to church every other week and goes to young women every week.  She just missed her opportunity to get baptized.  So we showed up and her dad told her he wanted her to at least listen to one lesson from us and decide if that was something she wanted.  Of course she did.  She told us she wanted to be baptized. 

Transfers were last week.  I am still in my area! :) I love the members here.  We have been working with them here and helping them to share the gospel with their friends.  We ask to come and share a message with the families.  Like a family home evening, and when we go over we have a fun lesson and ask who they know we can share it with.  I love it!  It gets them to be excited about sharing the gospel.

Other than that this week has been good just helping people come closer to God.  I love it.

Love,
Elder Willis

Quick letter

This week flew by!  It was so fun. This week we started teaching this lady. Her name is Alex.  She has had a rough life. She was LDS and then had a divorce and left the church and converted to Judaism.  She was driving past the Temple one day and saw the Star of David on one of the buildings.  It sparked her interest so she stopped and went and looked.  The sister missionaries talked to her there and invited her to learn more.  We got a referral on our phone.  She is interesting and hopefully will come to church with us this week! :)

That's all that really happened this week exciting.  Little things happened but nothing too eventful. 

Sorry I dont have time to write a long letter today.  It will be better next week.

Elder Willis

Week of February 6th

This week has been good. I had a testimony builder the other day when we went to a lesson, and he wasn't home.  As we were walking back to the car, a lady came out and asked if we could give her mom a blessing because her jaw hurt really badly.  Her mom didn't speak English but I gave her a blessing.  As we left she came after us into the parking lot and said "Elders! No pain! No pain!"  It made me so happy to know we were there at the right time to see her.

We are teaching an autistic kid named Dawson.  I think I teach discussions to all the autistic kids around here that want them because I had worked with them before my mission.  He is so amazing though! He always gets what we talk about and his answers are great.  He wants to be baptized so he can pass the sacrament.  We challenged him to baptism at the end of the month. 

We are also teaching this lady, her name is Hazel.  She is in her 90's.  I challenged her to baptism also in the month of March.  She said she would think about it.  I hope she is baptized then! :)

This coming week should be a good one.  I love you guys.

And miss you.

Love,

Elder Willis

Last weeks post

Sorry- I should have posted this last Monday. - Becki

This week was great!! We found 4 new investigators!!! :) and had 5 people baptized!!! I love seeing them be able to do that.

So last weekend that baptism we had for Anthony, there was his friend at it named Orie.  He has a sister who got baptized like a year ago and now goes sometimes with Anthony.  We were going through our list of kids who didn't have a chance to be baptized this week and saw a kid named Matthew.  So we talked with his dad and he told us we could come back the next day and teach him if we wanted.  We were trying to think who was around his age who we could bring that could help fellowship him and be his friend at church.  Anthony! We asked him to go and he said sure.  On the way there we asked him about his friend at the baptism and when he was inviting him over so we could teach him more, Anthony told us soon.  So we got to the house and Anthony said "That's Orie's house".  At first we didn’t believe him.  But it was and he just went by his middle name.  I know the Lord lined everything up for us and he knew that Anthony needed to be there to support his friend.  It was so cool and he wants to get baptized too!

Last night also we got a call, and a girl told us her boyfriend of 2 years wanted to learn more now, and that we could come teach him this week!  I am excited to meet him and help him come closer to his father in heaven. 

How is home? How was the Super Bowl?  No one wanted to have a lesson last night because of it, they all used it as an excuse to either not have us over or not be home.  Lame I know.

Well I hope all is swell at home this week.

Love,

Elder Willis

Week of 1/23-29/2012

This week has been a good week. We have been teaching a lot and had a a couple of baptisms.  We found a few new people too.  We have been focusing on those we are currently teaching and how we can help them progress and find their needs.  It has worked out well.
This month our mission baptized 175! It’s so great!  For the month of February we are projecting 42 baptisms in our zone alone.  There are 8 other zones.  I love sharing the gospel.  This week I have learned though that numbers are really nothing.  The baptismal number is only important when you think of how many people you are helping to come unto Christ.  Plus baptism isn't all, I want to help people get to the Temple to be able to be sealed to their families forever, and the only way they can do that is through baptism.

Although the rest of this week wasn't too eventful, we had a great week.  We have everything set up for the 2 more baptisms this week, and we, as a companionship are baptizing 5 this month and going to try to get 3 more!  We can do it too, I know we can. 

Yesterday we got to one of our lessons and she had the flu so she cancelled.  I was thinking of what we could do.  I had a prompting to go to a specific ward, and I didn’t know why.  We currently don’t have any investigators there, but I felt like we needed to go there though and watch this presentation about member missionary work.  When we got there we found out why.  A man came up to me, "Elders! I have a girl here who wants to be baptized.  Come lets go talk to her."  It turns out his daughter has been bringing her friend to church with her the past few weeks and teaching her about the gospel.  She now wants to learn from us and to be baptized.  This week we are meeting with her and she will be baptized in Feb. I know it!  I was so happy that I followed that prompting to go there and have the opportunity to meet her.

Love,
Elder Willis

More pictures of Brian on his mission

I pulled some pictures from his mission website. 

Arriving at his mission

New missionsaries

November Zone Conference

 2011Christmas Conference

Utah Salt Lake City South Mission (Very top left)

This week: In the life of a missionary

This week was a good week, we had some good lessons.  We have been working with this guy to help him quit smoking.  He wants to work towards the temple, so we are helping him quit smoking and then to get married and then baptized.  Hopefully we can get them married and baptized all in the same week.  He has tried everything to quit in the past so we were thinking what could help him?  We offered a blessing and then I also told him I would get him a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD so when he was in a bind he could pop that in and listen to it to help him through the hard times.

We also found a few people this week that we are going to start teaching.  This boy lives with his grandparents and has been going to church forever.   He bore his testimony last month and the members we heard from said it was amazing and almost made them cry.  We stopped by his home and he said "Yeah I would love to learn.  Can my dad come too?" Score! This week we will start teaching him hopefully! :) I love when things just work out because you’re doing the things the Lord would have you do.

We have 3 kids getting baptized this Saturday and hopefully 1 more.  It will be great! We also have 4 more on date for February already so we will be having a good month, I know it.

If you don't expect a miracle then one won’t happen, you have to have faith to know it will and work hard to get it.  I know this is true and I know in our own lives we have to rely on the Lord for everything, he has given us everything in our lives why wouldn't he provide for us when we asked him to help us in our time of need?

I know that sharing the gospel with others it will help our testimony grow and also to help share what blesses our lives with others.  As we look to those around us to help them, share with them about it and it will bless their lives. 

I love you guys.

Love,
Elder Willis