June 19 2017
I am not joking, it was like yesterday that I got here to England and now I have sooooooo much time left!  But this week was like record heat temperatures here so I have been wearing a short sleeve
shirt the whole time! It has been great! We have had fun this week and treated ourselves a bit.

Our Romanian family was supposed to come to church this week but then they cancelled in the early morning so that was very sad. But we will get them there next week. But we are seeing them on Tuesday so hopefully we are able to help them come to church and set a day for baptism with them.

With K........we had something cool happen. So K........ had this issue with praying but we couldn't figure out why, but on our last lesson we shared the Plan of Salvation with him and then at the end of the lesson he asked if we could pray with him for something he had that night so that was a big miracle!

We also found a new Chinese guy named H....... But he has got a lot on with uni and he is traveling so it's going to be such a challenge to work with him but we are optimistic about it. Other than that we are working hard to find new people and we are doing our best! Elder Tsai is awesome he is so humble and so willing to try so I am very happy to be serving with him.But that's all for me!Love you allElder hanks 韓長老

I'm still singing!

June 12 2017

Another week has gone by, and I still feel like I just got here to Leeds. But there has been a lot of fun things that have happened over the past few days. So first off I don't know if I told you guys this or not? But guess who got to drive President Turvey's car?? That's right me I did! Haha that was so fun, how many missionaries can say that their mission President gave them the keys to his car so they could go somewhere! Haha that was sooo good! So that was fun but I was super safe! 

MC Noodle King - enjoying best noodles ever! 

This week we continued teaching the Romanian family, which was really good but we are trying to find out how to get them to come to stuff without any mode of transit. So we are looking for ways there,  but also we are going to get in contact with Romanian missionaries so they can teach them in their native language! So that should be really cool. 

Also had Zone Conference this week that was way good. I love hearing president Turvey talk to us! It was all about going through our own Gesthemane. So powerful! 

K......., is a cool English investigator we have. He has a strong faith in god, and likes to read the Book of Mormon but seems to have an issue with praying so that is something that we are trying to work on, but we took him to the mission home fireside on Sunday which was really good. Elder Iakopo asked me to sing there so, I sang with 4 elders an a Capella I need thee every hour it was really awesome and K......... seemed to enjoy it as well. 

We also found a Chinese girl named Y....... We taught her the restoration but like all the other students she is going to travel around Europe for a while so we will see what happened with her. 

Leeds University

But funny experience for ya- 

 So we were out one one street contacting and we stopped this uni student from Germany named Z......... We were having a nice chat about our beliefs when this guy who obviously loved to break the word of wisdom, approached us, and said "do you believe that what you do is morally correct in the sight of god?" Ummm yes clearly. Then he goes, "well, I deal with possessions and I'm always warned when evil is around me, and here I am with you now." With giving me the creepiest glare ever. Then he walked away! Hahaha only in Leeds right! But that was fun! Poor elder Tsai didn't understand a word of what he was saying because of the lack of teeth and his alcoholic slurred wording. 

But good week for us, still finding a lot trying to get some people to baptism! 

cool shopping center

Love you all! 

Elder Hanks韓長老

                                                 we are obediently excelling at language study!

faith singing throw back to Billingham

Big city of Leeds, training & oh, yea - the Piano Guys

June 4 2017

Well just to start off this little email here with, LEEDS IS MASSIVE!! Feels like I'm in NYC or something. So it's been fun trying to find our ways around Leeds-  haha lots of phone calls to the sisters for directions! But it has been really fun and we have had a good time already. Leeds has the biggest YSA program in the mission so there are loads of YSA here in the ward and I already feel like I'm one of them (but as a missionary not a YSA) cause ya know can't do that yet. But already got a few jokes played on me so hopefully we can work with some of them. But cool things that happened this week.

So first obviously is elder Tsai. He is a great kid, so humble and willing to try which is so helpful. However has a hard time with English but we make sure we are doing language study every day because sometimes there is a language barrier but to be honest I think I need it more than he does. Haha! oooohhh my Chinese is so bad! But he is a great cook, which is just what I need for my last transfers, is to get fat!:)

But one cool thing that happened this was we found a Romanian family who said they wanted to be taught and then they fed us food which was really good. But they all want to be baptized and come to church but there are a few things we need to check before that happens. But such an awesome family and they have 6 kids!

Another really cool miracle happened on Saturday. Was we had found 3 people and set up lessons with all of them but they all flogged us! Haha yay!😄 so we went back to fining and the first Chinese guy we saw we talked to. Turns out I met this guy 2 years ago in York during the floods!!!! It was really awkward this is our dialogue
" i know you"
- haha no you don't.
"Yeah I have talked to you before."
- I don't think so we just got here.
"No in York, when it flooded we cleaned up a park."
Sure enough it was true and so we went and had a lesson with him and it was really cool! He is a PHD student so very busy but he was so nice!

Another cool thing was I got to meet the Piano guys! Yaaaasssss. So John Schmidt's son is in my mission so they did a special stop by on their world tour to do a fireside in Leeds and it was absolutely amazing! Soooo good and they are so funny! It was such a cool night and very spiritual as well. Also being close to President is also a bonus-  haha we have already had some good laughs together! But it's been a good week here in Leeds. Looking forward to another good one next week!

Love you all!
Elder Hanks 韓長老

Pics
1. Our Romanian family

2. Elder Tsai's cooking skills

3. Leeds is our turf! 

4. Our new home, or right in front of our home!  

5. Saying bye the night before all my buds went home to utah! My tie
almost matched!

6. Picking up my second boy!

7. Spending a day with E. Iakopo because his comp was in a meeting.

8. The old Billingham crew! Miss these guys a ton!

Ligit week of Service, and TRANSFERSSSSS!!

May 29 2017

Are those farmers you ask?

our finished product!

when you see the sun for 4 days and do yard work service, you get farmer tan lines like this! 

photo shot (or photo bomb)  with a members plush dog....

 Hello there everyone! I'm going to use a computer this week because its easier to type on one than an ipad. But this week was soo awesome because it was literally sunny all week long, like no joke, not a cloud in the sky for like 4 days and so the sun was out and it was amazing!!!!!! soo good, so we took advantage of it and we sent out a text to all the ward and also all the less actives and investigators that we are working with to try and do some sort of service for them. And in the end we spent the whole week doing service, well okay not the whole week but we spent tons of time doing lawns for people. We joked about putting a sticker on our car that said, "Mormon lawn care" but we didn't. But i will show you some pictures of the aftermath of our week of service. hahaha wearing suits was a pain this week! 

So lots of gardening, and then also we were able to meet a members girlfriend. Her name is T......... and we went over there and taught her about the church and we ended up scheduling her for baptism for late june so that was really awesome! Members are the key to baptisms just so you all know -  if you have friends,  let the missionaries teach them because they going to get baptized! So that was a big miracle for us. 

As well we swapped flats with the sisters because they were having some issues with their next door neighbors, so they sent the "lads" in and we just went over the first day and cut their garden and now they love us - so hey, mending hearts all over the place! So we had to clean our flat, like really clean it because sisters were going in and so yeah that was that! 

But I guess a very important piece of info in this email is what is going to be happening to me the rest of my mission. We had transfers and looks like my mission is now set in stone! ahhhhhh! 

I will be transferred to the capital of the mission. I am going to LEEDS!!!!!! Where I will be training again!! haha that should be really fun! His name is Elder Cai, (tsai) and he is from taiwan! thats companion number 2 from taiwan, so that will be fun to go back to chinese work and be so closer to my mission President. So this is the last area for me! Unless something goes wrong but lets pray that it doesn't. But I am going to miss this area. I am going to miss being with Elder Iakopo he is like the best kid ever! It has been so fun to serve around him but I guess we will have to wait and see what these next 2 transfers hold in store for me. 

But I hope you all have a great week, and enjoy the warmer weather that's coming your way! love you guys!! 

Elder Hanks 

--

Elder Hunter Hanks

Leeds England, Mandarin Chinese

Can you believe it, I'm singing!

May 22 2017

Well just like that we got to the end of another transfer and it's going just way to fast. Luckily I get 18 of them so that makes me a bit luckier than other elders. 
But this week was really good we had two baptisms in the Zone which both went really well, and elder Iakopo and I sang at both of them. I know can you believe it I'm singing at things I have never sung at things before - now I have done it like 6 times.  We also sang a special musical number at church on Sunday for our ward conference. How bout that people?!

Our version of "homemade" ice cream 

But this week we had interviews as well this week which were good. It always fun to be able to see President Turvey. Also I got to hear president Turvey sing and play the piano which was very unique to hear from your mission President but it was so great! He is a good singer and it's no wonder why he loves elder Iakopo so much, because they are both so musically talented.

Let's see we also got a member to take us on a really fun hike it's called Roseberry Toppings. It was a great time and we got some homemade ice cream after wards it was awesome! So it was a really great week for us. We also found 2 new investigators, one is 12 and a really cool kid. And one is a family from Zimbabwe. They are so awesome!

           












But that's all folks! Hope you all have a great week!         
        

Trying to find the sun.... I got close! 

                                                                                                                                                                           

Love Elder Hanks!

Pictures- because we Skyped for Mother's day

                   

Morning exercising 

Sis Browns birthday lunch - all you can eat chinese buffet!

Our baptism this month! 

fastest month of May in my life!

May 8 2017

Elder Iakopo and I decided that this was the fastest week of our missions. It just went by just so fast. But that's because we were so busy doing the lords work which is a good thing to be busy with. This week was full of meetings, exchanges, and meeting people so that was really awesome

On Tuesday we had Zone Conference and it was the greatest thing ever. President talked about the spirit and it was so amazing one thing that I really enjoyed that he said was "a disobedient missionary cannot claim that he has faith because he does not act upon it" so powerful so that gives you a slight glimpse of what Zone Conference was about and the spirit was so strong there.

On Wednesday we were on exchanges with some lads in Middlesbrough and it was great, we even saw some Chinese people in their area and that was fun to speak to them for a bit.

Our investigator T.... is doing really well. She will be getting baptised on Friday which should be really awesome, we taught her the law of chastity, word of wisdom, tithing, and sabbath day holy all in one lesson and she had no issues with any of it, sooo prepared.

M.L.C. On Friday was very exciting. As a council we decided that as a mission we would no longer watch movies. Haha it's going to be a huge shock to lots of missionaries but we discussed about being more consecrated missionaries and felt that was a major stumbling block for the mission.

Then on Sunday we had a cool thing happen. We had tea with the Turvey's on Sunday and that was so good, sister Turvey knows how to cook that's for sure. But after tea with them we helped set up the mission home fireside and then I conducted the fireside and it was such a powerful meeting. It was on the priesthood and the spirit was so strong. How blessed we are in the church to have the authority of god, to perform miracles and ordinances in the gospel. We are so blessed!

I'm just loving this mission life! I can't believe how fast the time is going here!
Love you all so much! Have a great week and I will speak to you fam on Sunday! Happy Mother's Day to all y'all out there!:)
We went to the beach!