28 August 2016

There have been some sweet posts come up from very thoughtful people on Facebook.  I finally decided that maybe I can just add them to this blog.  We'll see if it works.  I'm so grateful for the extra details that others have shared with me about Elder Hanks experiences!

August 28, 2016  Sister Lamb~To you families of these wonderful Elders, you should be proud.
The Branch President was not there today, so the Elders were trying to prepare for Sacrament meeting. It became apparent that no-one had brought the bread for the sacrament. Elder Hanks said a silent prayer and then looked out the window and noticed a Muslim man feeding bread to the birds. He approached the man and asked if he had an extra slice. The man asked why and he explained that he needed it for a religious purpose. The man said "Oh, sure, take it all." The Lord truly does provide sometimes in ways that we do not expect.
Elder Hanks and Elder Oldham spoke in Sacrament meeting today in the Masai Branch and their talks were great (We had to have them interpreted by the other Elder). You could feel the spirit when they spoke and as they shared personal experiences it was especially strong.
In the JB Branch Elder Rogers and Elder Tennant spoke. They weren't given much notice, but they spoke with confidence, conviction and faith. They had three people at church today who they are teaching the lessons to. I am continually impressed by the spirit and enthusiasm of these young Elders.
August 23~ Sister Lamb ~Today was our first District Meeting on our mission. We were able to meet the Masai Elders, Elder Hanks, the District Leader, and Elder Oldham. These Elders were so organized and thoughtful in their planning and preparation. They sang well and followed their plan for the meeting. They are committed to their purpose and are doing their best to train new Elders and not so new Elders as well.
I love their smiles. 
I prepared lunch for them and after eating they jumped right in and cleaned up all of the dishes. I was impressed. Dragon Fruit was enjoyed by all, which is certainly a new experience for us.

July 29, 2016  Late post- 16/7/2016 Elder Hanks 1st Year Mission Mark. falls on the same day on my lil brother birthday..

July 24, 2016  Our last photos at Kota Sentosa chapel. Today in history, on 24 July 2016. Thank you so much to President Hedges Bubun for being a faithful leader at Kota Sentosa. Continue to keep our Faith in Jesus Christ.

We will be at Kuching District Center by next week on 31 July 2016. I ♡ Kota Sentosa Branch...

From Belinda~missionary work in anyway despite weather. i was coming back from work,and the same time Elder Hanks and Elder Meacham is going to have appointment at my house on 6,so we decide to walk together. It was going to rain,the clouds turning dark and thunder came out. when we were walk together,there were a lady trying to cross the road to went home,Elder Hanks greeted her,and introduce themself and talk abit about church. Later after they finish,they even give a card for the free English class to a car that stop at the traffic where whey were talking to the lady. im impressed for their awsomeness! they are so a great idol,mentor and friends too!
proud of them.  July 13, 2016
#LDSOfMalaysia
#TheChurchOfJesusChristOfLatterDaySaints
#missionarywork

 — at Kota Sentosa (7 Miles), Kuching, Sarawak.




July 5, 2016  hey,im in! this day was so burning hot! we were back from finding less active members house. its been awhile i get to join this elders again..

May 31, 2016 24/5/2016 Pre-Gawai(Harvest Festival) party..

May 27, 2016 Thank you Elder Matthew Hanks for this amazing planner. I'm so grateful for your efforts in helping me to prepared for my mission. I'm so glad to have you here served with us in Kuching District. 

May 8, 2016 sunday school-mothers day(sentosa branch)

Belinda~great sunday! probably best of the best sabbath day. visited by singapore mission president,President Simmons. and get my 1st mission interview done. glad to meet him. — withMaureen Rinet and Darrale Bulk Dol.  April 27, 2016

23 August 2016

Hey everyone,

Sorry once again for the lack of weekly emails. The time right around transfers are always a bit stressful. My new area is different but I love it. A whole load of hills that make my legs burn like crazy but it's all worth it! So i serve in the more Eastern area. There are a lot of great members here but just like all other areas, there are concerns and hard parts. One of the parts that brought great joy to me this week was when we met with a family of some people we have been teaching. They are so great.  They are really sweet and are eager to learn. Any type of reading assignment we give them or material, they take it and just absorb what they can learn. Anyway. We have been having a bit of a rough week. Lots of appointments cancelling and we are just not able to find the people that this area needs at this time. But it was such a booster to meet with them. We were able to challenge them to baptism and they accepted. We are so excited for that. 

We have been taking a lot of time trying to find this week. Not much more of an update. There is stuff on my mission I have come to learn and understand that I know I wouldn't have learned and appreciated if I didn't do it. My suggestion for everyone, either go on a mission, or do whatever you can to try to understand the Gospel. That is the greatest knowledge you can ever have. It's the knowledge that will be most beneficial after this life so take it in. 

Love,

Elder Hanks

31 July 2016

Well, after 6 good months here, I'm now getting transferred over to West Malaysia. I'll be white washing there.. that just means that both me and my companion are brand new to the area so we have to start from the beginning more or less like that. Good ol' Elder M. (I was only with him 1 (fast) transfer:()ANYWAY. That is gonna be an adventure. I have lived here for so long and gotten to know the folks here so well. It is weird that I'm just leaving now.

This week was great but a hard week to meet with people. A large chunk of our meetings that we set up were cancelled upon arrival. (As in we show up and they weren't home or like unto that) So that made it a bit harder. We got to meet with a lot of members which is always a great opportunity.  One really cool thing that happened this week was with a woman that we met. She was a referral from the Sister Missionaries here. We set up a time to meet and we met and sat at a old table on the side of a building. We began talking a bit and found out that she worked at the hospital and 10 years ago, while she was working, some missionaries came in. One of the missionaries was sick and the other one gave her The Book of Mormon. While she was telling us about this story, she just said that they gave her a bible so I thought, you know, THE Bible. But no, she said she has been reading that book for a long time and that she wanted to understand it more. Then she pulled it out and sure enough it was The Book of Mormon. In English! Sure enough she was trying to learn English from the book! She was really cool and we told her about the background of the book and about the Restoration of the Gospel! So cool. She seemed so excited to have a bit more of an idea of what it was and we are gonna meet again on Tuesday! 

That's pretty much it for this week. My mind is still a bit phased from the anxiety of transfers. I love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Hanks