Transfers, Manuel, Questions...

The Sunset from my balcony.
Thanks Nellie! (ward member)
Ha ha, She gave me this magnetic necklace/bracelet thing. I just thought of Kenzie because I think Kenzie has like five of these. Ha ha

Christmas Morning!
I'm holding a present that I got from a ward member named Nellie. She doesn't even know me. How sweet is she!?! P.S. That's my comp. Sorella Chevalier


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Well this morning...and many mornings quite frankly I woke up in a web of lies! False...just a web of strings from my comforter. Really, I need to take a picture of it because it's pretty hilarious. I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes because my left arm is twisted up in the shredded string from my comforter coming apart. Somehow even at 3 in the morning situations like that just make me laugh. Ah...I love my life.OH! So transfers just happened on Monday! There's really no super cool news or anything. I'm not going anywhere and neither is my companion. Only two people from our district are leaving. It's good that I get to keep my companion for at least another transfer. I don't know the area enough yet to show another companion around. And I still need to get better relationships with our investigators before Sorella Chevalier leaves. Okay, I hope you're ready for this story because it's pretty sock rockin' if I do say so myself: So we've been trying to get a hold of this lady for a long time. She's a referral that the sister that I replaced got like...the day that I got here. We finally set an appointment with this woman (and she's cancelled on us like 2 times before) but it was really far away. Last time we went all the way out there she called us right before and cancelled and it was kinda frustrating. :) So we were nervous about how serious she was and about having to go all the way out there to see her. But of course we decided to go, and we met with her and she's fantastic! Her name's Luisa and we're hopefully going to keep meeting with her. I think she really liked what we were teaching her and really enjoyed it. HERE'S the catch: So when we walked into the pasticceria (it's just like a tiny restaurant where we could sit and talk) I made eye contact with this guy sitting at a table in there and we just smiled and nodded. Well, we sat at the table right next to him and I'd glance over at him every now and then while we were teaching and I noticed that he was listening and nodding when my companion was talking about prophets and apostasy. Crazy right?! So I just kept watching him and he was listening to the whole lesson and seemed really into it. Well, Luisa had to leave so I pulled out a pamphlet about the Restoration to give to her and I just set it on the table while my companion was still talking. Well this guy...was like straining to read what I'd pulled out of my bag. He looked at me and I just gestured to it and asked him if he wanted it. He said 'yes'!...well "si". And I gave it to him and he started reading it while we finished talking with Luisa. Well we said good-bye to Luisa because she had to go and I just walked over to this guy to start talking to him. He'd already read like half of the pamphlet! READ---not skimmed. We left the little pasticceria and walked with him for a little bit and were talking to him. Holy smokes the spirit was so strong while we were in the pasticceria and while we were talking to him it was so crazy. But his name's Manuel and he's from Cuba. He's in Milano right now because he's a photographer but we called him and invited him to family night tonight. The sad thing is that he's not in our area so we can't teach him, we'll have to give him to the Rome 2 missionaries-- but we got his number and he seems really interested. I'm so excited to see what happens. It was way cool!

**Here are some questions from this last week: Are people nicer to you now that all think that we got it right with this new Pres? I don't really know all the happenings with what's happening back in the states but President Obama has been in the papers here quite a bit. I see people reading about him on the Metro a lot. Generally the vibe that I get is they think he's going to help change America or something. I just can't have an opinion as missionary. But yes, they seem to be optimistic about him as far as I can tell.

**How is the Italian? Well that is truly the question of the year! :) No it's going good I think. I obviously still have oodles to learn but I feel like it's coming and I know that French has hooked me up a lot with this language. I'm far from fluent but I'm learning a lot and love attempting to speak it.

**What would the world be like without MJ? Fantastic question. Musically speaking, it would be a tragedy indeed!

**Do you ever see Elder Holloway?Up until now...negative. But word has it that he is, in fact, here somewhere. Elder Oaks is coming to talk to us in February and hopefully the whole mission will get together to listen to him. I think there are like 3 people from American Fork in this mission. Kinda weird cause I've never thought of American Fork as a big town or anything but..yup, it's sweet.

**Do you ride a bike or just walk and use puplic transportation? No bikes. We mostly just walk and use the buses.

Well love you guys tons! Muah! Sorella Mallory Hansen

2 baptismal dates!!, talk in church, "heal the world"‏

Me, Sorella Swenson & Anziano Herrick at Christmas Zone Confrence.

I looke like a goonie baby in this pic but whatevs :)

This is our Rome 1 Christmas Card. We gave one to all the members.

Sorella Chevalier, Me, Anziano Bradford, Anziano Herrick, Anziano Lombardo, Anziano Brock

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Well well well if it isn't my fam and friends we all know and love,So this week was super-di-duper! First off, I have to share a moment that went down in my life that was hilarious to me. So we do service for 3 hours a week. Sometimes the missionaries go work at this catholic place where they give people food, but since I've been here my companion and I have just gone and cleaned the street across from the church. Man it's a doozy. There's just so much stuff stuck to the street and sidewalk and all kinds of goods like that. Well I was just sweeping around some cars and not even thinking I noticed that I was singing a familiar tune. ha ha I have no idea where it came from but I realized I was singing "Heal the World" by Michael Jackson. ha ha I just busted up laughing. Can you imagine? This pensive sister missionary, spreading good cheer, sweeping the streets of italy singing that song? ha ha I was dying.Well we had an incredible activity in church on Saturday on the Plan of Salvation. It was amazing! There were investigators there and a couple of people from our english class it was a success indeed! Then on sunday...guess who had to give a talk in sacrament meeting. ha ha Yup, yours truly. It was on missionary work. I don't know why, but everytime I'm given a speaking assignment it seems so ambiguous to me. Like really, I know I'm a missionary but finding what specifically to talk about was silly to me. It took me forever to write the silly 5 minute talk. YET, it got done. I think it went pretty well all things considered. I just shared a scripture (you know, those books that we believe in or something...) and talked about how missionary work helps bring other people joy, and it brings us joy to do it. Anywho, it wasn't ground breaking but a good time still the same.SO I don't think I've talked about Monia and Alain before. Uh...just to start off...they're INCREDIBLE! They're actually italian. :) And she's amazing. So we met her like a week and a half ago. Her husband passed away in a car accident about 3 years ago and her mom just kicked her out ...don't know why. But she owns the apartment of this family in our ward--the Barrigas. So I guess she asked if she could live with them for a little and they said yes. So she's been living with this family and they just pray over every meal and do scripture study, family prayer--everything!...and Monia and her 12-year old son Alain have been participating in all of this. So we've taught her the first lesson, she came to church on sunday, and this week when we taught her the second lesson she told us that she knows this church is true, the book of mormon's true and that she wants to be a member!! Not joking! And she said Alain is always asking if they can pray (like if they aren't eating with the Barriga family) and he just wants to pray all the time. She said she was taking one of Alain's friends home from school or something and Alain told him that he didn't do something because he's mormon. :) How amazing are these guys?! So Alain wants to get baptized and his mom! They set a date for February 14. Her and Alain will get baptized the same day. I'm so excited for them. I just adore both of them and love every time we get to see them. Sorella Chevalier and I are going over on Friday to teach her about our non-smoking program. She's amazing. She was saying that she never wants to smoke when she's with us. Ah! Love it!!Well I am running out of time!! I sent some pictures home in the mail last week and I'll send some more this week. I hope that my postcards and letters are getting there. I love you all and hope you're all healthy, happy, and loving every minute of your beautiful lives!

Take care. All my italian love! Sorella Hansen

Break through, 12 apostles, Old woman and van mishap

Buongiorno!!So...it's raining men here in Italy. Well...scratch that...it's just raining--lots! But in it's own way I find it pretty. I don't know why I find walking around with an umbrella enjoyable but I do. Let's just leave it at that. :)Also: Happy DAY! I received my Christmas package this week. It was a joy. Truly, I don't think I could have enjoyed that moment more even if Kris Kringle delivered it personally. So thanks a million bazillion!SO...I don't really know what people care to hear about. I hope these e-mails aren't a complete bore. So hopefully you enjoy my random stories and tid bits about Italia and mission life. So on Saturday the Elders had a baptism. It's a guy named Freeman from Nigeria he's about our age. I have been trying to get him to warm up to me...or anyone. ha ha The first time I met him in church --not joking--the answer to ever question I asked was a one word answer. It was brutality! I was dying! The elders that teach him just told me to not worry about it, that that's just how he is. Well, I felt differently. I was DETERMINED to get in with him somehow...appropriately of course. (I hope that just goes without saying). So I don't know how it happened but we had like an actually conversation at his baptism. Not joking, it was ground breaking! And then on Sunday I was nervous that he might have forgotten that we're cool...and he did not. Get this, and I quote, "Hello my friend". That was my greeting. Sound silly? That's because you don't know Freeman. He's awesome and I'm excited that he's warming up a little bit because we've got to help him get some friends in this ward and stuff.OH! And my companion and I had to give the first lesson while Freeman was getting changed after the baptism. I was really nervous but it actually went really well. I was excited about it. Although, here was the mistake of the day: So I was teaching about the Savior and his Ministry and I accidentally said that he called 2 apostles. ha ha Oops. There was a murmur among the 'audience' who said "dodici" (12) and I just laughed and corrected myself. So...FYI...there are, in fact, 12 apostles.My companion and I go visit a recent convert named Rosita and have been re-teaching her the lessons. She's great. She's from Ecuador and works as a ...I don't know the word in English...but pretty much she takes care of this sweet old woman named Nadia---all day everyday. Nadia is like 90 or something and has a really bad memory but she's fantastic. The last time we went over Rosita and Sorella Chevalier were making hot chocolate and I was chilling with Nadia. We were looking through her photo albums and I would try to talk to her about what was happening in the pictures and stuff. Nadia used to be a way good singer and traveled all over the place singing and stuff and I got her to sing for me a little bit. She took me into the room with the piano and she was singing. It was so cute. Rosita came running in the room and said that she hasn't been able to get Nadia to touch the piano or anything for months! It was way cool. We love going over and teaching and it's way cool that Nadia gets so excited when we come too. It's awesome.So I met some new investigators this week. They're named Carmela and Giada. (Mother and daughter) Apparently they've been receiving the lessons for a while now but they both smoke and they haven't been really keeping commitments. So Giada's probably 19 or something. And we went over last week and she had her cousins there. They were like 18 and 20 and they were both smoking and just like staring. It was ridiculous. Every now and then I'd just glance over at them during a lesson and I just understood on a new level how sweet the word of wisdom is. They just can't feel anything when they're doing stuff like that. ANYWAY, on a happy note, we went over like two days ago and I'm really excited to keep working with them. We talked about pre-earth life, and like our purpose on earth, the atonement...and it was really really cool. There were times when it got really contentious---like they're very stereotypical Italian to me sometimes. ha ha I don't know how to explain it but they just kinda start yelling at each other sometimes. So uh...we're working on how to get that under control. But it was really cool because I started talking to them about the atonement and was telling them a story about how I know that the atonement is a very individual thing and they both just stopped and were staring at me. It's truly like I was telling them how to find a hidden treasure. They just went quiet, and were listening and it was really cool. Carmela told us that she knows that the church is true and that the book of Mormon is true. Uh...whoa!! She said that, and I didn't even know what to do with myself...that's a big deal! So Sorella Chevalier asked if we could set a baptismal date and she said that she has to quit smoking first. (well obviously!) But she didn't want to set a date yet. I'm so excited to keep working with them. I really think we can help them and if we're preparing and planning lessons specific to them, that we can keep their interest and help them understand how important this is.In other news...I witness a rickety old lady get hit by a van the other day. That was like a scene out of a movie. I felt like I saw it happen in slow motion---probably because it did, in fact, happen in slow motion. The van was backing up at like 2 mph and the old woman was hardly scurrying about and ...she just toppled over! Sorella Chevalier and I ran over and helped her pick up her vegetables and stuff and helped her and then went back to waiting at the bus stop. I was just standing there and it hit me that I just saw an old lady get hit by a van. WHAT?! Well on an upper side, every thing's going well in Italia! I sent some post cards a couple of weeks ago and I really hope that you guys get them. I sent it with a stamp that I'm not sure if it works outside of Italy so...if not...then I'll figure something out. I love you guys. Hope every thing's going well. Sending all my Italian kisses, (inappropriate? maybe)
Sorella Hansen

New Year, Baptism, Magic Tricks

Buon Capo d'anno!! Well it is the first of a new year and lemme tell ya a little bit about how it goes down here in Roma! So we went to help with the ward new years party (just setting up and stuff) and we had to go home before pretty much anyone came. ha ha Ya know, we missionaries are back at the apt at 9:00. So we went to bed on time and set our alarm clock for 11:55 so that we could watch the fireworks and then go back to bed. Well....we wouldn't have needed an alarm clock. These Italians are NUTS about fireworks. They don't have the dinky, stay-on-the-ground, high pitched squealing Utah fireworks that we have. Nope, nope, nope, from every balcony there was like a mini Stadium of Fire!! (Minus an awkward musical guest) It was out of control. And big ol' blasting sounds coming every which way. ha ha Yeah I was just looking at the horizon watching all of them go off on from our balcony and it was so cool.Also, I don't know if I've ever told you this but our apartment is literally across the street from an army base. ...yeah. So we hear little explosions and gun shots quite frequently. It really freaked me out the first little bit here, but I'm getting used to it. Anywho...just a fun fact about where I live. Gotta love it.So New Years day our ward had a baptism!! It's the elders investigator named Yuma and he's great. It was seriously one of the coolest things. I'm so excited for him. Although kinda scary thing...so when he was going under the water...I think his feet slipped or something. Because...Anziano Lombardo had kind of a hard time getting him out of the water. So...it was almost awkward beyond belief but luckily he DID, in fact, come out of the water and seems to be fine! ha ha Yikes!We had an appointment with this awesome lady who's a member but isn't very active. She's really cool though. Her name's Carmen and she's Philippino (sp?) and she went ALL out on dinner! Mamma mia! But bless her heart she let us serve our own plates so everything was good--it's when THEY serve your plate FOR you, when you're in trouble. Her 20 year-old son came later in the dinner and Anziano Herrick was pulling out some of his magic tricks! ha ha OH man, it was so funny. He only taught me one, but they were dazzled. It was hilarious. And then one of the Philippino members that came with us brought out some magic tricks and he was hilarious because he's really shy but he was SO into his magic tricks. It was a good time.Well an update on our friend Toni: So he didn't come to church the day after we met him, and I asked Sorella Chevalier if we could call him Saturday (Jan 3) to invite him to church again. Well he didn't answer his phone and therefore didn't come to church on Sunday. HOWEVER he called us back Sunday night and was way excited to hear from us. We have Family Home Evening tonight in church and he said he was coming. I'm way excited. We have an awesome member named Dimma who's like 21 or something and is getting ready for a mission and we're hoping they'll be friends or something. ha ha Okay sorry if this sounds silly, but I don't know how it's going to work out but I'm excited.Well every thing's going swell here in Roma. I don't want to write too much because my last e-mail was ridiculously long I'm afraid. But every thing's good. We're working with some of our investigators and trying to help them progress. It's amazing how things come up and make it difficult for them to meet with us or to come to church, but we're working on it. They're awesome people and I'm excited to keep working with them. I hope you all had a safe and happy new year! Here I sit typing with purple fingers, and I read my family's e-mail where they're splashing around in 14 foot waves...ah...I'm just shaking my head...that's all. Christmas 2010 will be a warm one. ha ha
Lots of Italian love, Sorella Hansen