Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Miracles!


Dear Family and Friends,

This week was fantastic, because Lucy our investigator was baptized.  She is amazing and is one of the best people I have ever taught.

It was also transfer week, but I AM STAYING!  YAYAYAYAYAY

I love this area and the people in it.  So grateful for that, but everything else was alright.

We ended up singing for Sunday twice, and it was just ok. :)  We have been blessed with so many amazing things, and we are so excited for the future.

This Christmas will definitely be a great christmas.

For thanksgiving, I was just able to show gratitude, but we didn't celebrate it.  I think we had subway that day. Haha

Anyways

LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN

p.s I have become super black...

P.P.S those are our missionary buddies in the same area.  :) THEY ARE SO HECTIC! (AWESOME)
 

 


 


 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Trunk or Treat!

Well, it is beginning to be November...  Time has been too fast!  However, we are super excited for what we have been doing here in the work.  A lot more people are listening to our message and definitely coming closer to Jesus Christ.  We are trying our best to work with all our might, and to continually learn and grow ourselves.

One of our mottoes is this: Study, believe, love, live and teach.  In the Preach My Gospel (our study manual) it says that is what we must do.  I totally agree.  For anything really we need to do that.  If we have a job or a hobby, we need to study about it, believe we can achieve it, love it, live what it is, and then help others learn it.  It is a never ending cycle of life.
Anyways, our ward had an activity celebrating Halloween.  It was called trunk or treat, where people would bring their cars to the church and decorate their 'boots' (trunks) and give lollies out (candy).
It was awesome.
Besides that, we are super excited for this month!!
Love you all so very much, and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

Elder Han

Monday, October 27, 2014

I am Chinese :)

Dear family and friends,

Apparently, I am chinese.  Haha, one of the members thought that I was Chinese, and just commented on how when I go back home, I will be able to do the work there as well.  I just nodded my head, and accepted the fact that one day I would be chinese.  :)  Especially here in my new area (I've only been here for 2 months now) and people speak to me in Chinese.  I kind of wish I studied it before, so I can understand what they are saying to me. 
Anyways, this week has been pretty good.  We were able to get a lot of things done, and succeed in many of our goals. 
It is amazing to see the change of missionaries and how fast we adjust to new things.  Especially new companions. 

Elder Reiner is super funny, and he loves music.  One could say that he is a professional whistler.  I am practicing, but nevertheless my whistling skills are not progressing.  Insomuch, I have given up the course of Whistling 101
Besides that, I am doing well. :)
LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

New transfer - Bitter sweet

Hey Friends and Family!
Bitter Sweet news.  My companion got transferred, :( but I got a new companion. :) And guess what (SHOUT OUT TO MY GERMAN SPEAKING MISSIONARIES) He is German! 
His name is Elder Reiner, and he is super German.  It reminds me of all the german friends I had back home. :) 

Anyways, the work here is progressing and we are seeing so much success.  It is seriously unbelievable.  We are able to see the changes, and things that can help our area grow.
Same old in the university work.  We are teaching a lot, and seeing many amazing successes.  We have some baptisms scheduled for next month, so I will keep you posted.
I decided that I would just send heaps of pictures, so here you go!

LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN

This is my companion Elder Reiner :)
Hab dich lieb! ♥
























Monday, October 13, 2014

Fizzy

Dear friends and family!

I am doing well this week.  We were able to watch general conference this week.  A little late, but it was fantastic!  One thing I loved was the opportunity that some of the general authorities had to speak in their own language!  I can't wait until a Korean will speak!

One of our investigators is italian, and he is so cool!  His name is actually Michael, so it's pretty weird hearing my name, because I haven't heard it in ages, but he is super awesome!  

I am so happy to be here, and especially to be in this particular area.

OH!  One of our members is KOREAN!  Anyways, they had us over, and we had all the korean food you could imagine.  It made me so happy!  :)

The reason why the title is named Fizzy, is because (FUN FACT) Fizzy = soda!

Cool, huh?

Life is still moving.  I love this gospel, and I am truly excited for this week!

LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN

Monday, October 6, 2014

Spring = Summer

Dear family and friends!

What a glorious time to be here in Sydney!  

My companion and I are spending a wonderful time here helping the work of salvation progress in our area.  It has been a little difficult, because everyone is away on holiday due to mid semester break, but we know we will find people anyways.

It has been getting hot, and although we are sweating more, my tan is getting better :).  Anyways, we were blessed to have meetings with our mission president this last week, and it was all about the Book of Mormon, and as well as receiving answers to our questions.  

I really felt like it was for me, and how I could continue to help others receive answers to their questions through prayer.  

My companion is really teaching me the ways of a true blue 'Aussie' Accent.  I am SO excited to share it with all of you, but I am also practicing the good ol' british accent as well, because we have more British members than Aussie in our ward. O.o

Besides that, I am doing well.  

LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN

1. Sydney Harbour Bridge (Could be an amazing background or something)
 
 

Monday, September 29, 2014

Getting warmer

Hey Family and Friends,

Life here in Australia is pretty good.  We are doing fantastic, and it is insane!  There is a crazy miracle I wanted to share this week.  So on Sunday, a man just came into church, and told us that he was from Milan, Italy, and he just came 2 weeks ago.  Apparently, he was taught there, and he moved here to work, and he promised the missionaries there that he would visit church.  The day before he spent 3 hours of his time to try to find the right place, so he could get there on time for sunday!  

But the miracle is, he wants to meet with us!  He is awesome and his name is Michael O.o  

Ha, it is a little awkward when members say hi to him, because I am thinking, "how did they know my name?"  Then I remember that it is Michael's name.
Life is very busy, but I know as I keep going that we will be able to see so many blessings and miracles.

Apparently though, in our zone, one of the missionaries is from ELKO, NEVADA!!!!  His name is Elder Jordan and he is actually speaking korean. But, that is where Elder Han^2 is serving at the moment.  Shout out to him. :)

Have you ever fast forwarded a scene just to get to another scene, well, I feel like that on my mission right now.  It is as if someone is hitting the fast forward button times 4 and it is not even funny.  Weeks are going by too fast!~

But, all is well in Australia, and my accent is getting better.  Indeed, the ironic thing is, that as it has been improving, I was moved to a ward where there are barely any Aussies.  It consists of Americans, New Zealanders, Filipinos, Samoans, and Chinese!  

Anyways, love you all so very much

Elder Han

Monday, September 22, 2014

Life in the Suburbs

Hello Family and Friends

So this week has been pretty hectic! Everything is going well, and it has been a lot of preparation to figure things out here.  We have been able to continue to work hard, and figure out how to work with one another.  It has been great!

To start off, there are so many chinese people it is crazy!!!  :)  I am evermore slowly learning how to speak mandarin, and it's going to be handy to use.  I love the work here, and it is so awesome to get to know these wonderful people in the ward as well as the uni.  

Besides that it's been the same really, trying our best to find more people to learn more about our message.

But today, I decided to just send pictures of the mission, because I know you would all love it.

LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN

1.  Went to a garden in the city last week
2. Some shadow art
3. Cookies a member made for us :)
 
 

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Hectic week (Sep 14th letter)

This week has been pretty hectic!  It is always different to transfer to a different area, because you have to be accustomed to the different things and culture.  However, it has definitely been fantastic being able to work here in this area.  Yesterday, we went to church, and there is a member that is KOREAN!  YAY!  She said that she would definitely make some korean food for us, and so that is pretty exciting.

The other thing that is super awesome is that the work here is fantastic. We are teaching a lot and it is pretty great.  I love the busyness feel of life here near the city.

Besides that, life is all good.  Something that is pretty interesting as well, is we have 8 missionaries in the ward! Four of them work with the ward, and we work with the University.  So it is pretty interesting, but we are hoping that it will work out well.  I love the members here!

Actually, there are really no Australians in our ward. Many members from America actually.  Pretty interesting, huh?

Anyways,

See yous later!

Elder Han

LOVE YOU HEAPS

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Ward Activity - Minute to win it

So this week, was amazing!  We had the opportunity to help participate in a ward activity that consisted of Minute to Win it challenges.  It was fun, but the most important part was that a lot of people that we invited came!

Then, during church, some people that we normally don't see there, came!  

I absolutely loved this week, and I am constantly trying to improve and be a better person.  

Besides that, it is pretty much getting there.  

Speaking of numbers, last time during a district meeting I had the opportunity to give a training ( kind of like a discussion based lecture).  I asked all the missionaries this one question.

~If you had $86,400 that came to your bank account every morning, and when the day finished the money would go back to zero, what would you do?

Many responses were:  Give it to the needy, feed my family, help my relatives, invest in something, buy a house and pay off the mortgage, buy a car, etc.

So ask yourselves that question, and then the way I tied it in is this.  That money is precious, we shouldn't waste it.  

There are 86,400 seconds in a day.  Do we use every single second making good use of our time?

Anyways, that is just a thought about what we need to be doing.  

Love you heaps,

Elder Han

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Happy Days

Dear Friends and Family,

I am so glad for Elder Christopher Han to be on a mission now.  It is pretty insane that we are both serving the Lord at the same time.

I am grateful for the wonderful opportunity I have every week to email. 

This week has been quite eventful, we are really trying hard to accomplish our goals for this month, and in doing so, our efforts has been showing.  We have this one investigator who came to church, and she is amazing.  Her testimony is amazing!

On a funny note, we now have a SPANISH investigator from MEXICO.  It reminded me of E. Han and how he is in mexico right now studying spanish.

We were able to go to a lot of places this week, and accomplish so much ground work.  On the mission it is a blessing to not have time to go finding.  (contacting on the streets and tracting)  We have had a lot of appointments now, that we have little time to actually find new people to teach.  

Here are some pictures of our life in Australia.

I am grateful for everyone and I am so happy!!!!  :)



Monday, August 4, 2014

Islander Feeds

Hello Family and Friends,

This week has been hectic! :) In a good way.  
I am super happy to tell you a wonderful story that happened to us!

We had a lot of meetings, and our whole zone: 20 missionaries+ were invited to lunch at a member's house.  These members were tongan, and the culture is to have a massive feed.  For islanders, it is customary to feed the missionaries until they explode, because they feel (I agree as well) that they receive more blessings the more missionaries eat.  ( I totally agree with that ) So we went up there, and the first thing you smell is pork.  Heaps of it.  I mean 3 whole pigs!  This type of food is called hungi.  Not the 3 pigs, but they have like an oven in their backyard where they cook food under the ground.  It is sooooo good!  Anyways, one saying that tongans say to us missionaries is this:  Kai Ke Mate (Eat 'til you die).  Because it is essential that we feel fat afterwards.  I love the islander culture, and it might explain the growth of my belly over the past year.  :)  

I am so excited to be on a mission.  A lot of things are happening!  Our mission has really exemplified themselves, and we are really climbing.  We are showing that a lot of things can happen if you have the faith and desire to accomplish it.

I love you so much

Elder Han

P.S. Here are the pigs that we ate.  I had maybe about 1/5 of the pig and more food.

Shout out to James on his 16th Birthday, as well as Chris leaving for his mission on wednesday!  :)



Monday, July 28, 2014

Transfers!

Bonjour!
Dear family and friends,

My companion Elder Honema'u who is tongan was transferred!!!!  Elder Honema'u WENT TO THE CITY!!!  He is my favourite companion and it is very special that he went to the city, because he is the FIRST tongan to go! 

My next companion is.... ELDER PUNU FROM TAHITI
Tahiti is a very amazing, and they speak Tahitian and French.  So this transfer, I will be learning French.  Attached is his picture.  He is funny.

I am so excited for this transfer.  It is a time for me to work my hardest and continue to do the things that we need to do.  I am so excited and I know that it will be hard, but we need to keep enduring.

Something I've learned this week is this.  Success comes from effort, and effort comes from desire.  We need desire so we can do the things that we need to do.

LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN


Monday, July 21, 2014

Christmas in July

Dear family and friends,

Something that some Australian's do is Christmas in July.  Because it is so cold, they celebrate it in a very small way.  However, our ward had a wonderful gathering.  We had a wonderful celebration of the usual snowflakes, Milo (Australian's hot chocolate), and food.  It was such an amazing sight to see, and there were so many people there!  

I love it, and it really reminded me of Christmas and the things we did in America.  

I hope everyone's week has been well.  It is very interesting how everything is happening too fast!  We are coming around the end of the month soon, Boy time flies!  

Please be safe this week,and continue to do the things that you need to do.

I want you all to know that I love you.  You are all examples toward me, and have helped me be who I am today.  

Here is a picture of my zone.  We have many powerful missionaries here, and I am so grateful that I could serve with all of them.

LOVE YOU HEAPS,

ELDER HAN


Monday, July 14, 2014

Consecration

Dear Friends and Families,

I went back to square one.  I realized that one thing that we need to constantly remember is to progress and not be complacent.  That is something I've learned this week. Especially considering about all the rules we have as missionaries.  However, I don't see them as limiting, but rather beneficial.  The mission is only ever the time that we will be blessed for waking up at 6:30.  That amazes me, and I have witnessed it especially this week.

As a District, we started having conference calls every morning at 6:10, and really committed ourselves to do everything in our power to accomplish what we need to do.  From that, we saw so many miracles!  Our district last week had 0 investigators with baptismal dates, but this week we were able to have 5 investigators who accepted baptismal dates.  I know that Heavenly Father will bless each and everyone of us if we do the small and simple things that may seem like it isn't corresponding with our lives.

I have a firm testimony that Jesus Christ is our Saviour, Redeemer of this world.  That Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us and knows and cares for us.  I also know that as we follow Jesus Christ and learn more about what we can do, that we will be blessed.  Our relationships with our families, friends, and especially our Heavenly Father will increase and we will be able to have that peace and comfort that will help us with our every day life.

For those that are reading this that are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I invite you to learn more about what we teach.  I promise that you will feel the need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in your lives, and that you will see the improvement of your lives as well.  Please accept my invitation, because I know how much it can help you.  

I love you all so much, and I love being a Representative of Jesus Christ.  

Elder Han

Monday, July 7, 2014

AIM High

Hello Friends and family,

There is something that I've learned especially this week is to Aim High and be committed to do whatever you want to do. 

It is amazing to see the miracles that happen when you actually believe that you can go higher than what you do.  It is so beneficial for this saying, only because we can improve so much more than if we aim to our abilities to our current time.

I just want to share with you that being on a mission is such a blessing, and that when we try our best no matter where we are (even not on a mission) we can achieve the miraculous.  

I know this is a short email, but I hope all of you are doing well.

I love you so much!

Elder Han

And remember  AIM HIGH!

Monday, June 30, 2014

Charity

Dear family and friends,

How amazing it is to be able to email you weekly about the life of a missionary in Australia!  I am extremely blessed to be on this mission and to share my thoughts to you today about this week.

Let me first say that this week was extremely interesting and rewarding.  It may have been the most physically demanding week on my mission.  We biked and hiked and helped many people with their lawns and what not.  

We saw many miracles this week, especially I saw this week a desire in a person to be better than who he was before.  It is always amazing to see that change, and that knowledge has helped me recognize that I need to continue to be better myself.

I love this Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is something that I hold dear to my heart and the knowledge of it, helps me overcome anything that I might have. 

I wanted to talk about Charity this week, because it is something that I have been studying the past year.  What it means to be charitable and why it is so important in our lives.  For me, it is something that I strive for.  When we look at Jesus's life when he was on this earth, he did everything for others.  He had pure love for them.  

We can't judge others, but we need to love everyone and serve them.  It is so very important to know that we are all children of God and He loves us so very much.  

We are all brothers and sisters.  

I love you all and I hope you have another fantastic week!!!

LOVE YOU HEAPS

ELDER HAN

Monday, June 16, 2014

추워졌어요!!! (It is becoming too cold!)

My dear friends and family

This week has gone too fast!  It was the last week of the transfer, and now we are in a new transfer! I am still staying in the cold mountainous area, but I am so excited for it.  As of late, Elder Honema'u and I have been eating hot oatmeal for brekky (breakfast) every day, because it is too cold to have normal cereal.  In our flat, we literally see our breath when we breathe...  But you know it is alright, because we have heaters.  

I seriously love everything about the mountains, from the trails and from the wonderful views of life. Attached are some pictures of the places where we've been so far.

There is an Aboriginal story that I want to share that has to do with a picture that I will send.

It is called: The Three Sisters and the Lyrebird.

There once was a village who was in battle with another village.  The reason behind it, was that the one village wanted the three daughters of the chief from the other village.  In trying to defend his daughters, he had a magical 'wand' of sorts made out of bone and could do anything with that wand.  He turned his daughters into stone, so that the people wouldn't be able to take them away.  However, as they were fighting the chief lost the bone.  His village won however, but they couldn't find the bone to turn his daughters back into human.  As the chief was getting old, he turned himself into a lyre bird so that he may continue to find the bone to turn his daughters back into people.  

That is the brief summary, but legend says that below near the three sisters that there is a lyre bird still trying to find the bone.

How amazing is Australian culture.

I am so grateful to be here, and working to help people come closer to Jesus Christ.

There are so many miracles in the mission life that strengthen my testimony of this wonderful Gospel.

I love you all so much,

ELDER HAN 

first picture:  Govetts Leap
second picture:  Wentworth Falls, the mini falls
third picture: The Three Sisters





Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Soup Sunday!

Dear friends and family,

This week has been amazing!  We were able to accomplish a lot of things, and talk to many people. 
This week I wanted to try something different.

Usually we send in these answers to our mission president, but I will also send it here.
1. What was my core experience with God this week?

My core experience with God this week is the amazing power of prayer.  Our teaching pool is kind of diminishing, but as we really focused and tried to keep on going.  We felt impressed to call our former investigators (those investigators that dropped or did not keep commitments)  and we did.  We scheduled appointments with them this next week, and I am really excited to talk to them and pray that they will be ready to accept our commitments now.

2. My best practice for the week in “Teaching as Jesus Taught”. 

To show the love for everyone and not just a few people.  That has helped me not to judge, but to really share my love for everyone.  I have seen what a big difference it is.  Rather than just talking to people, but to show them how much I care for them.

3. Please share how you overcame a time you were tempted to be discouraged.

There are times when I get discouraged.  However, the way I overcome them is that I really pray.  Pray for that help and guidance.  As I do, I can tell you that I have been helped many times.  I am able to have more strength and continue to move on.


Those are the emails that we usually send to our mission president, but I also wanted to share with you what we did this week.  After church, we were able to have an activity called 'Soup Sunday.'  It is a big get together where we are able to talk and have soup with one another.

It was very delicious.

LOVE YOU HEAPS

Elder Han

P.S. We went hiking last week and it was beautiful.  Next week I will share the pictures.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Sense of Direction



Dear family and friends
 
Lately, I have been really seeking out to Heavenly Father what I need to do.  It has been really interesting to look back, and the things that I have learned only knowing that I still have so much to do and learn as well. 
 
It has been interesting, because as I look back it doesn't feel like it has already been a year...  So, I have a new sense of direction.  Here is my quote for the next year.  Make THIS day the BEST day.  I do not want to miss any opportunities to help bring others to this gospel.  I want to consecrate my time here and to do everything to help fulfil my purpose!
 
I just want to share with you a miracle I had with our investigator.  He is so ready to be baptized.  We had a lesson with him yesterday, and we could just feel his determination and testimony of this gospel. 

I just want to testify to all of you that FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER.  That is one of the main reasons that he is getting baptized, because he knows that he can be with his wife again one day. 

Sorry this is a short message, but I am just so excited and I love you all s very much!
 
Elder Han


Monday, May 19, 2014

Miracles of Fasting

Hello Friends and Family!

Lately, I've been focusing on how to recognize the Spirit, and what Heavenly Father wants me to do.  It has been very influential to me on what I need to continue to improve on.  So, I want to share a couple of miracles that we've had in this week

Miracle 1:  We were going to Lithgow, which is an hour drive from our flat, and it is still in our area!!!  Anyways, we were fasting that day and were trying to fast for new investigators as well as people that we could teach.  We got there, and we had an appointment with a member in our ward.  While we were outside visiting her, literally everyone she knew walked past us, and she introduced them to us!  It was just a miracle that we had people to talk to, and an opportunity for them to be acquainted with us.  WE FOUND A NEW INVESTIGATOR THAT DAY! :)

Miracle 2:  You probably were wondering.  Elder Han, have you seen a kangaroo yet?  The answer is that I have been waiting for a year in Sydney, and I FINALLY SAW NOT ONLY ONE, but like TWENTY!  We were able to go to dinner to one of our member's home, and we saw heaps just jumping around! (picture attached)

We were able to have a lot of conferences and I was really impressed of all the missionaries, and their willingness to serve the Lord.  It has also been really amazing to see new missionaries become who they need to be and the potential that they have.  Being in a leadership position really helps me recognize the love that Heavenly Father has for each and everyone of them and us.  

I'm always so excited to share this wonderful gospel, and my invitation to you is if there ever an opportunity to hear from us missionaries, please at least listen.  

I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week!!!

ELDER HAN

1. Kangaroos!!!
2. Sunset up at the mountains!!!
3. E. Honema'u trying to pull a weed :)




Monday, May 12, 2014

Happy Mother's Day

Hey everyone!

First, I want to say happy mother's day to everyone!!!!
Second, there were so many miracles this week!  It is so awesome!

First: We were on a train going to a meeting, and when we walked out we sat at a bus station for a little bit waiting for a ride.  We were just saying hi to everyone, but there was one person who walked towards us with some luggage, and she stopped what she was doing, put her things down, and said "I need some prayers with you."  She then started explaining her life and what she was going through, and said that when she saw us, she felt like she needed to pray with us.  We got talking, and before she left, she said, "I want to meet with you after my travels in a couple weeks."  What a miracle to know that we were in the right place the right time.

Second:  We were thinking of ways how we can get to know our less actives more, and so what we did is that we decided that we would bring food over to one of our less actives house, and just say, "Hey!  We came to have dinner with you!  Can we come in?"  That being said, we just walked in and started to dish out the food, and we had an amazing talk with him and found out the problems that he is facing at that time.  It is a good way to get to know people and have an opportunity to talk to them.

I am so grateful to be here in this mission, and the fact that I have almost been on my mission for a year is very crazy!  In fact, it feels like I've only been on my mission for about 1 month....

My companion is so funny, and his faith is inspiring.  He has total trust in God and is willing to do anything in order to help people learn more about the gospel.

I love you all, and here are a couple pictures of us!

ELDER HAN

1. Elder Honema'u and I just taking a funny picture together
2. Our chapel is very different from other chapels!!!  IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL





May 5th letter: Transfers!

Hello friends and family.

This week has been pretty hectic...  We had transfers, and I was transferred out of Kellyville.  I will miss all the great things there, but it has been awesome! 

My new area is called Leura, in the BLUE MOUNTAINS!!!!

It is pretty awesome there, the missionary work is progressing a lot, but there is one flaw...  IT IS FREEZING!  In fact, we saw a glimpse of snow for 1 minute!  It is getting to be 2 degrees celcius, and it isn't even winter yet....

If you do think of sending me things, I do need mittens and solid colored sweaters...

I love you all so much, and my companion's name is E. Honema'u from TONGA!!!!  It is awesome!


I am so excited for everything, and I don't really have time to tell you everything...

BAD NEWS: I left my bonsai tree in Kellyville.....  SO, i'll have to find a new one.

Here are a couple pictures of everything!

Love you heaps,