May 7, 2017

Short one this week! 

Had a nice investment of zone conference this week. We were unfortunately out of our area for a cumulative of about 4 days but a lot of things were learned at our zone conference in Singapore. Singapore is so beautiful. It was amazing because Elder Hapairai and I were able to get up a little early to go for a run in the morning and it was so refreshing and beautiful. wow. 

Besides that,there have been some great things happening in Sandakan. i love this area. 

We met some amazing people this week with a great humility and desire to learn about the restored Gospel. One thing I love to ask people is "have you heard about God's Prophet that lives today?" and just seeing light come into their eyes. I love that.

Make sure you are reading the Book of Mormon everyday. I can't tell you how important that has been for me. A scripture that made this even more vivid for me is 2 Nephi 26:11 which says "...And when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy destruction, and this grieveth my soul." It's clear that if the Spirit is not with us, we are left unto ourselves and whatever other power which is out there. So, if reading the Book of Mormon is a way to gain the Spirit with us everyday, we best be doing whatever we can to make that a part of our daily schedule. 

The Gospel works.
I love you all,

Elder Hanks

30 April 2017
Hello,

this week was awesome. We had some good opportunities to fast in the past few weeks and it has brought some great miracles. We have been blessed with many opportunities to serve and it has been great to build trust with the members and also to experience the spirit of service together.

We are officially starting up our english class this week. We are really excited for that. It will be great to help people learn English as well as, if they want, have an opportunity to learn the Restored Gospel.

Momma requested I throw in some points on how our schedule goes here, so here is a typical day. 7- wake up (6:30 sometimes to get a longer run in), as soon as we can we head out, go for a jog, and then go to the gym of our apartment and work out for about 45 minutes. After that, go back, prepare for the day. 9 o'clock planning for the day, 9:30, personal study for and hour, then we sometimes go out at that point. We fit in a companion study or a language study later in the day, usually at night because the buses stop around 7 and it's pretty dangerous walking around, especially for a white, Christian, American. Good thing we get that time to work out in case something does happen.

I love the branch here. I would say we are making some investments in a sense. Obviously if people don't like us, they won't care about what we say, So we have been doing some service opportunities this week and have had some great experiences and now this week we are looking at teaching some new people. I honestly feel my whole life since I was little has been preparation for this area. I am really praying that I can be guided by the Spirit to help me know what to do so I can do this they way I'm supposed to.

I love everything. I can't believe how much that last over 20 months have felt like 2 weeks. 

Anyway. I love you all. Read The Book of Mormon.
Hugh B. Brown has a good talk called the profile of a prophet. One of my favorite talks. 

   https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/hugh-b-brown_profile-prophet/

Go listen to that. 

Also. Something I was learning about this week. I was reading in 2 Nephi 15 in the Book of Mormon. in my attempt to understand the chapters concerning Isaiah's writings, I did what the chapter heading directs, being "compare with Isaiah 5." While doing so, I learned so much. Definitely understood Isaiah more than I ever have. One of the verses that stuck out to me I want to share here. It's the end of verse 25 which says "...For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Simple message, I won't go into it though.
The Gospel is truly God's plan to perfect us like unto Himself. 

Love,
Elder Hanks

24 April 2017

71 days until Matt comes home.....

Last week went by in two seconds.

Elder H. is a boss. I love working with him. We have worked with a lot of the youth recently and have a missionary preparation class coming up in the next week that we are WAY excited for.

The youth here are so awesome. They love the Gospel. They love learning. Super humble. This will be a bit shorter this week! Something that was really fascinating this week was realizing the simplicity but the incredible infrastructure in the Book of Mormon. There is no way that book is "man-made". I love the Book of Mormon. It has helped me understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ on a great level. It has enabled me to better my life and improve myself. It is truly a gift from a Father in Heaven who sees our potential as His offspring. The Gospel works. 

Love you all,

Elder Hanks

16 April 2017

Wow.

This past week has been great. My new companion is Elder H. and he is a stud. He's from Payson Utah and has been on his mission for about 6 months. I flew through Kota Kinabalu and got to S. a little later that night. Met a really nice Suluk man on the flight. 

We got going right off. I got to know the area pretty well these last few days. We got to meet some of the members. There are some of the choicest of God's children here in S. I love them already. I have never felt like I have put my soul into anything more than I have these last few days specifically. We have found some amazing new people as well. Miracles honestly. In a neighborhood near our house we found some people who are humble to hear the message of the restored Gospel. One of the most amazing things I love to see is when try my best to share the message of the restoration  and they take time to believe it. You see this certain light in their eyes. It's a type of hope and it makes my heart leap every time I see it. Oh man. Seriously I love this calling. 

One thing that I learned from this week spurred from some of my studies in the Book of Mormon and the New Testament. What is our potential? As we hear so many times for the writings of prophets anciently and modernly, we are the children of God. So think of it. A puppy doesn't grow up to be a salmon. A chick doesn't grow up to be a Lion. As Children of God, our potential is to become like Him. Nothing less. The way we do so (because taking on Godlike qualities is no easy task) is humbly submitting to the Gospel. Just accept what the prophets tell us. The world calls it "blindly following" and make is sound so evil. (Laman and Lemuel called it  "foolish imaginations") Well do you know what it actually is? Faith. That is the essence of Faith. Come unto Christ as little Children, submissive, meek, humble, ect. Not as skeptical teenagers who are full of doubt. 

Anyway, Elder H. and I are the only missionaries in S. We are taking it on. Praying like crazy. Seeing miracles. Please pray for our area. Pray that we will find those who are in need of the Gospel.
Love you all,

Love,

Elder Hanks 

9 April 2017

WELLL.

I'm out of M. It's been 7.5 months and I have put my soul into this area. I love it so much. Now I am off to S. It's a part of Sabah which is the furthest state East in Sarawak. S. is called an outpost area which means, it will just be me and my companion there killing it. I am so pumped. This will probably be my last area. Shoot I am so pumped. But so sad. But so pumped. AHHHHH. Well. Pray for me. Anyway.

This week was great. Almost got my finger chopped off while cutting onions, went on exchanges with Elder F and Elder A. Those are some great missionaries. I loved working with them.

Ummmmmmmmm I can't focus because I'm so pumped. 

Wow. Best Birthday gift ever, watching General Conference. That was so awesome. Wow. If you missed any of that, go check it out. 

With that, I am now 20. That's nuts. Doesn't feel like it.

I love being a missionary. 

That's all I can manage to get out at this point. 

LOVE YOU ALL
Love,

Elder Hanks

2 April 2017

Hey everyone,

This week was great. We did exchanges in B, Elder VG and I split and went out with two of the Elders in the  area which was my first area ever! That was amazing to see that place again. I love those people. They were really surprised to see me, curious as to what were the circumstances that allowed me to come back. It was a great day of work. I went with Elder H. He is one of the greatest missionaries I have ever worked with. He is one of my friends from this mission as well. 

Along with that, a big part about this week is we dropped quite a few of our investigators. The Gospel works if you act and if you don't act, you won't have any testimony. That's why we need to be active in the Gospel. Keep the faith. The world will throw everything at you to convince you to be lazy feel that "spiritual things" are not in anyway beneficial and that we shouldn't try. I've been listening to some talks by Bruce R. McConkie recently which have enlightened me in many ways. Go find some of his talks, especially "Obedience, consecration, and sacrifice". He's way bold and I love it. It makes me sad that we decided to stop working with some of our investigators but I am really excited because it gives you room to find those who are humble, willing, and desire.

This past week I have taken some time to think about how to help the church progress here. One thing is by helping the people have more opportunities to develop Christlike attributes. So this next week we will be trying to put together a little program for a few people we are working with to help them gain study habits and develop themselves. I am really excited for it. 

One thing I have studied recently is the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. Lots of things stick out to me but one thing that aided a ton in my study is the fact that most of the books following the 4 Gospels is simply, the pleadings of the Apostles to the different branches of the church to not become apostate and to have their eye on the Christ and not adapt it and dilute it to the ways of the world. Eventually, the Apostles were killed as they were gradually rejected. Disputations and disagreements on the interpretation of doctrine lead to hundreds and eventually thousands of types of Churches. We see that this happens frequently throughout history as God's prophets are rejected and man chooses to follow their own teachings mingled with scripture. A Restoration of Christ's teachings after thousands of years of confusion was needed. That's where Joseph Smith comes in. I have prayed and read the evidence of the prophetic call from Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith and have felt the Holy Ghost testify that he is indeed a prophet of God. A servant of Christ to restore His Church and Teachings, the results of which bring pure happiness and peace. Thank goodness God loves us. Thank goodness He doesn't want us confused and arguing. Pure Truth is a rare substance and has been brought back.  Anyway, I haven't watched it yet, but this week for me and this past weekend for you (for the most part) was an even called General Conference. That is scripture given to us in the latter day as preparation for the second coming of the Messiah. If you haven't watched it and listened to the messages given, watch it. Listen, and learn with an open heart. It's truth. Anyway. You're probably wondering why I said the storm before the storm.
WELL, this past week had quite a few things happen. 2 exchanges and a lot of teaching. Next week, 3 exchanges, MLC (Mission Leadership Council), General Conference, and then Transfers the week after. 

I'm gonna have some grey hairs by the end of this week but it will all work out. 

OH. A story. On the way back from B, we were on the bus and halfway back, it stops at BN to fill up gas and to let passengers get food. So. We arrived, after that, I looked in my bag for my wallet to discover it wasn't there. I felt I had left it at a burger stand in B. I spent the next hour on the bus being mad at myself (I was just sitting on a bus, what else to do) and stressing out about it and pouting and it benefitted me nothing. Once that was a realization for me, I realized that acting like that was not happy and good therefore not of God. So I took a second to pray and repent. Immediately felt happier and more at ease. I accepted that it happened and decided to be calm and accepting of the situation. Well, a bit later, we arrived in M. I felt a distinct feeling to look in between the seat and the side of the bus before I left. It was a feeling I now know was from the Holy Ghost. I decided to go out of my way to look and sure enough found my wallet there. I know that if I didn't take the time to repent in that time, I would have no good spirit in me which would've withheld spiritual promptings. In effect, I wouldn't have found my wallet. It really works. 

Anyway, that's it for me.
love,

Elder Hanks

With birthday buddy, Gabriel!

27 March 2017

Hey all,

This week was great. Tuesday and Wednesday, we had some of the young men follow us all day for a missionary day. It was an activity set up because this week is their holiday. It was a great two days with them. I learned a lot from them. 

I was given the opportunity to give a talk in church yesterday. That was a great experience. It's been a long time since I was given time beforehand to prepare for a talk. Giving talks is a blessing.

I have included the Old Testament in some of my studies recently and one of the biggest things that stood out was the stress of obedience. With that, I know that as it is said so many times throughout any scripture, obedience to God's commandments as given through His prophets qualifies us for His blessings "And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:21) That is the best. A pattern seen ever since the beginning of time is the pride of man causing them to rely on their own knowledge. God wants us to become believing as little children but if we become like skeptical teenagers, of course we can't receive anything. If we are humble and submissive to God, we know and believe that He will command us through His prophets. Every time a new prophet is called, the world opposes and a branch breaks off forming a new belief and religion. Only because man is too prideful to accept that God doesn't change His was of leading us. Same thing happened when Christ came, same thing happened when His church was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. 

Anyway. I love Jesus Christ. His teachings are true. He speaks through His prophets. Actually next week we will hear. General Conference is next week. That is Christ leading His Church. Direct advice given to us to handle our every day life. That is the greatest miracle of modern day.

Love you all, 

Love,

Elder Hanks 

March 20, 2017

Zone Conference March 20, 2017