. . . . . . . . . . Elder Hunter Hanks kickin' it in Leeds England . . . . . . . . .: Do I stay or do I go....?

Jan 18 2015

Well this past week as we all know well, maybe some of you know is transfer week, and this is a very strange time as a missionary. So lets get into the week and see how it went shall we.

This week was a pretty good week for us finding people to talk to. In England most of the work that you do on your mission is finding people to teach, we never get referrals or anything like that, so we have to go find our own investigators which is really good I love that we have to work for our people because they make them so much more meaningful to us missionaries. So me and Elder Von Cannon we were finally able to head back to the University this week. And it was the greatest thing ever!!!! I love talking to the University students they are all so nice, and because they are at the university they are way more open to learning new things so its super awesome to talk to them, and they always have interesting comments about what missionaries do and the fact that we are from America. We had a lot of conversations is seems like that had to deal with Donald Trump, we don’t watch the news, but it sounds like some pretty crazy things are happening over there! So i hope that all of you are doing alright and that the country is still stable!! But it feels good to finally start being able to use my Chinese again to talk to people, it has been a while since i have had to use it and so i am excited to start using it again. I love talking to the Chinese people they are so polite and just the nicest people ever! So hopefully we can start teaching some more Chinese people.

So I guess I should mention what’s happening with the transfers in all. Everyone in my district and all the members of the ward said that I would probably be leaving the area of York and go somewhere else, the only person who thought that I would stay was my Companion Elder Von Cannon. So I was in a toss up because I didn’t know how often president Pilkington moved people around so it was exciting to see what would happen. Well it turns out they were all wrong! I AM STAYING IN YORK!!!! I love York it’s the greatest place ever and I couldn't be happier to be here! So that was super exciting to hear! 6 more weeks in this beautiful city!

So my flat the place where I live, has four elders living in it. And we have all become very close and they are all by best buds. We'll we were talking about our families and all and things we did back at home, and it came to the point where we were talking about things we did on Sundays with our families and such, and it got on the topic of food and how the best food was always on Sundays, you had big Sunday dinners!! So I decided to implement that into our flat. Now as missionaries we don’t get big fancy dinners on Sundays, normally its cereal or some sort of pasta thingy, or whatever it is we can make like a sandwich or something, however I decided to change that around. So these past two weeks I have become the cook of the flat! My mom had sent me some stuff from home to cook with and so I thought I would share with everyone. So during the week I bought a little bit more stuff than usual for this Sunday night dinner! And now it’s a tradition. This last week I made Taco's and it was awesome, we don’t have Mexican food over here, so it made it even better!! But now we have this tradition of having Sunday night dinner all four of us together making something big and its awesome!! I love it and so we will see what happens next week and all! But one good thing that comes out of this, is now I really have to learn how to cook things and take care of myself, so don’t worry mom I can make some stuff now!!

Now I want to share with you guys an experience that I had two weeks ago, and it really had an impact on me and my mission. We had just gone through a really rough day this past Saturday, all of our appointments fell through and the finding that we did was terrible, no one was interested in our message and I was having one of the hardest times ever on my mission. It came to Sunday and the bishop got up to speak and as he was talking I was somewhat paying attention, trying to get over the fact that we had a terrible week and I was trying to get myself to be motivated. I finally decided to listen to the bishop and something amazing happened. Right when I looked up at him he quoted the song how firm a foundation,

"Fear not, I am with thee; oh be not dismayed.

For I am they God and will still give thee aid.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

the rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow,

For I will be with thee, they troubles to bless,

And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,

And Sanctify to thee the deepest distress."

At that point I couldn't stop myself from being overwhelmed with the spirit, and the tears just started to flow and I knew that He was there watching over me! I know for a surety that God is there and that he loves us. That he knows our concerns and our need and wants to help us with everything. I know that he hears our prayers and that he really does care for us. He has a plan for each and every single one of us. I have no doubt about that. I know this church is be true, and I know that God is at the Helm of this Church. That Joseph Smith did in fact see God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ that he did restore this gospel to the earth today. That Jesus Christ did in fact die for each of us, and through that Atonement, all things are possible. I love this Church and love being a missionary, I love you all and I know that This Church is True!

Love Elder Hanks