Oaks, Diana, TATEY

(Reunion of the MTC girls: Sorella Crandall, Hughes, Watson, Millis, some elder, Mal and Sorella Swenson. Thanks to Sorella Swenson's blog for this pic)

Hello hello!!
So first off: We had another appointment with Diana last night and we taught her some hefty commandments--some doozies you might say--Law of Chastity and Word of Wisdom. I, quite frankly, was nervous about these being problems and us having to move her baptismal date or something. Also, a little nervous because talking about the law of chastity in English has potential to be awkward but then...add Italian to the mix and ...no go. BUT it was actually so cool. We talked about the law of chastity and she just completely agreed with us and that it's the right thing to do and the right way to live. My mind was blown. Who does that?!?! THEN we got to the Word of Wisdom and I was more sure that this one would be more of a problem than the first one. But she agreed with this one too. She drinks coffee a little bit (and we assumed as much so we bought Orzo beforehand for her. It's like...hot chocolate but not. I dunno, it's a drink that she can drink the in morning INSTEAD of coffee) So it was cool and she totally accepted it and we gave her the Orzo and she was totally cool with it. It kinda weirded me out how cool she was with it. We have some more commandments to teach her tonight--one of particular note is Tithing. But hopefully we'll invite the bishop into our lesson and he'll help us out with it a bit. Her baptism is on Sunday!! I'm so excited. It's going to be a beautiful day indeed!!
Also another sock rocking thing that happened this week...in fact, yesterday: a little known guy by the name of Anziano Dallin H. Oaks came to visit!! WHAT?!? It was crazy! And what made it even cooler (if that's even possible) is that every single missionary from our whole mission came!! There's like 130 of us or something. But I got to see all the girls from my MTC district. Ah it was so so nice to see them. I think sorella Millis and I hugged each other for like 5 minutes. ha ha I love that girl so much. I think we're both praying to be companions in the future because we loved the MTC together. I loved seeing the other girls too Crandall, Hughes, Watson, and Swenson. It was like old times. Elder Oaks is amazing. We got to all go shake his hand and he asked us each a little question. He asked me where I was from and then said something about how he just went to a funeral there and the body was pulled by a horse-drawn carriage. ha ha I had no idea what to say to something like that. °That's neat.°..ha ha I didn't say that. There was just a pause and then he said °It was interesting°. ha ha I'm glad American Fork left such a good impression on him. ha ha He really was amazing though and his wife is adorable!! They have the cutest relationship and were teasing each other and laughing the whole time. He's just an amazing person. You just want to be better when you're in the same room with him. He gave us a couple analogies of how we need to be doing missionary work and how exactly we're used for these people and it really is overwhelming the magnitude of our calling. I felt overwhelmed and realized how much I need to improve and how much more I can be doing. It was an amazing meeting and I just felt so grateful to be able to receive training from him. I learned a lot and it was an amazing experience.
Thank you so much for sending pictures of my little nephew Tatey. Holy papa that boy's cute! My goodness, between his looks and his name, that boy's gonna be a charmer! How can you not love someone named Tate Willem?!? It's emotionally impossible I'm convinced!
As always, tons of Italian love getting sent your way, Sorella Hansen

Valentine's Day, Diana, Zone Conference‏

Well Hi-dee-ho fam and friends!I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day! Some of us missionaries were cutting out some red and pink hearts so we could go visit our investigators and some members for the big day. I officially decided that I just wasn't made for love when all of my hearts turned out looking like Santa hats. What a joke eh? But the next day I got flowers...aaaand that's been taken care of. :)We have an appointment every Wednesday night with our investigator named Diana. Well we had our ward missionary leader there who was a HUGE help to the lesson and she set a baptismal date for March 1st! I'm so excited for her, but at the same time I'm kinda stressed out and worried because this is when challenges and problems come hard core for investigators. So we're calling her everyday and we have another appointment with her tonight. She's so sweet and I just love her. We taught the lesson about having faith and prayers. We were trying to help her understand what faith is and how it's a principle of action. My companion set me up to tell my shpeel on how I decided to come on a mission and I really think that it helped her. What probably didn't help her, however, is how I was weeping like an infant during the story. Okay...that was over exaggerated--one glistening tear! We originally set the date for Sunday February 29th...only to find out that there is no such day...so apparently it's gonna be March 1st. She really is an awesome woman. She has such good intentions to not make mistakes--it's amazing to me. She has investigated other churches and she told us that she really feels something different with our church; and when she's with us. I'm so excited to keep teaching her and watching her grow in the church. So rad!We had Zone conference this last week and it was mind blowingly wonderful! I wish we could have zone conference every week. Our assistants are so amazing. And I think every single talk/training (by the assistants, President, and Sister Acerson) were exactly what I needed to hear. Not joking, during the meeting I remember thinking, "Okay guys, why don't you just excuse everyone and let me have it because we all know that you're talking to me." ha ha Thankfully many other people felt like it was just what they needed to hear also. I just left wanting to be 203% better. It was amazing!Well ,I don't know what more to tell...OH hows about how stoked I am that I'm an auntie! I want to see pictures if you can send them of the little guy. Every now and then when I would be doing something I'd realize that maybe my sister was having a baby! Ah! I don't know if that makes me an unfocused missionary. ....eh...lemme know. ha ha But we were at a dinner on Monday night with a family in the ward and for some reason the conversation got to the mother of the house's birthday. I think I said something awkward like, "Hey, speaking of birthdays, I think my sister's having a baby sometime this week." ha ha It just makes me laugh now because that had potential to be an extremely random subject change, and yet...it went over just fine. ha ha Well every thing's going forward. Everyday has its challenges and funny moments. Thanks for all of your love and support. And as always, I'm shipping some special Valentine's day/Italian love your way. Missionary kisses! Sorella Mallory Hansen

Mother Nature, Diana, and the Moon...

Well, hello hello. Greetings from Roma! Here's the weather report: This morning while we were studying as a companionship (my chair faces the window and balcony) I was SO blissfully excited because the sun was coming out and the tiles on the balcony were drying from last nights douse of rain. Needless to say, I had high hopes for today's weather. Well, ten minutes later...HAIL. Not even joking! White pebbles piling up on our freshly dried balcony! Then...maybe 30 seconds later this time...rain...lots of rain. It was the weirdest thing. I was completely fascinated with mother natures mood swings. It was bizarre. But...welcome to Italy I guess. Its always unpredictable like that. Perhaps that's why I like it here.Well, I officially have acquired a new skill. ha ha One of our members came up to us missionaries after Church and told us she wanted to teach us how to make scarves. If you know me very well, I'm all over anything scarfy. So on Saturday we shared a spiritual thought with her, had lunch, and she taught us how to knit! It was hilarious. It was just me, my companion, and then 4 elders. It was kinda fun I guess. I just got frustrated because after our appointment was finished all that I had was like...a half inch of scarf. We all just laughed about it because it's not like we have time to just sit down and knit. Apparently the elders knit at night when they could write in their journal or something. Good times.We had a really great appointment with our investigator named Diana last Wednesday in the church. We had a lesson all planned for her and felt really excited about it, but like many of the lessons we plan for on the mish...we were just supposed to do something else. She has been worried about her health (no need for details really) and the elders were in the church, early for Family Home Evening. So we asked her if she would like a blessing. She said that she did, so we went and got one of the elders, and one of the members gave her a blessing. After the blessing, they left the room, and she started crying and said that the pain was completely gone! She said it just happened gradually throughout the blessing. She and Sorella Chevalier were crying and I wouldn't be surprised if I was just awkwardly sitting there with my mouth open. It was so amazing. She asked us how she could thank Heavenly Father for what He did and Sorella Chevalier asked her to be baptized. Well, she didn't quite accept....she doesn't feel like she's received an answer to prayer about if this church is true. She came to church on Sunday (her second Sunday in a row mind you.) :) I get the feeling that she is expecting a voice or something to literally tell her that the church is true. We've prepared a great lesson for tonight with her about faith and the Holy Ghost. I'm really excited and really feel like she's making progress. She's fantastic and I'm so excited to keep working with her.We also got to go do some service for a great lady in our ward who's been having some back problems. Can I just say, there have been so many times (and no doubt, there will be many more) when I have just felt so blessed and grateful for everything that we have. This member, is from Egypt and was originally Muslim. She was telling us about how she found the church and stuff and I just felt so amazed at the things that this woman had to do to become a member of the church. We've made friends with the people that work at our fruit and vegetable shop and they, too are Muslim. They're fantastic. But apparently it's like the ultimate betrayal to leave that faith. There's really strict rules for us about teaching people who are Muslim because they can get killed for changing faiths. Things like that just hit me sometimes and I just feel really grateful and I don't have to worry about things like that. I hope this didn't sound like a slam against the Muslim faith. I've actually read a little bit about they're faith and it helped me understand them better. I still think our friends at the fruit stand are great. I just talked to them like 20 minutes go. But yeah...just be thankful k? :)As a last thought (and it just might be a stupid one) we were leaving a member appointment the other night and we were walking to the bus stop...I was walking down the dark little Italian street...and then WHAMY the most beautiful, full moon. It was ideal! I think I might have made an audible sound when I saw it. (Yup, I am that ridiculous.) It was beautiful and I just thought, "I wish everyone could see what I'm seeing right now. I wish they could stop what they're doing and see this beautiful full moon." So I had a thought, when there's a full moon here...is there a full moon there? I only ask this because, if so, then maybe some of you guys saw it! We maybe shared a little moment and you had no idea. Okay, so sometimes I'm awkward and think the moon's a good time. Also, I realize that I should have paid more attention in Astronomy class. Well signing off for now. Love you all lots and lots! Take care, be happy, love your life, and as always, there's LOTS of Italian love comin' your way, Sorella Hansen

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Note from Aubry: I was intrigued my Mal's question, "Do we see the same moon?". I thought I knew the answer but I'll admit I wasn't sure. So I turned to my ultimate resource...GOOGLE. And yes, we do see the same moon. It's slightly different due to rotation and orbit and lots of other things I don't totally understand, but for the most part we see the same moon. So there you go. :)

Squid, Diana in Church, Metallics....

Grazie Mia collega!

My companion gave me this little bag of Italian candy. She's a thoughtful little lass.
My Companion.
She wants to teach preschool after her mission and mentioned that she wants Italian children's books. So I bought two for her fro Christmas. It's kind of hard shopping for a present when your companion has to be with in sight and sound. But, we made it work.

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Happy February! I love walking by the windows of stores here in Italy and seeing the tacky stuffed red hearts that say "ti voglio bene" on them (I love you). ha ha Ah...I just love when silly things like that translate into other countries. This one time I walked by a car that had a thing in the window that said (but it was in Italian of course) "Doggie on board". ha ha I seriously just laugh that those things are a worldwide good time.Well, I never do know where to start with these letters. I don't know what people like to hear. This week--like all weeks--was crazy. For one thing, we had dinner at one of our investigators houses last night. I've talked about them before. Carmela and Giada. We're struggling to get them to commit to coming to church and stuff. Sorella Chevalier has been teaching them since she's been here (like 7 or 8 months, mind you) and they've just, since I've been here, started to read and pray. They're great. Giada kind of makes it harder to get in but, you know me, that just makes me more determined to make it happen. She speaks English pretty well apparently and French a bit too so I think next time we go, I'll attempt to conjure up a conversation in French. Also, they have a nephew named Giorggio who whenever we come, just wanders his way into the room and listens to us. He's like ..17? I don't know for sure. But it's been interesting to watch the situation because he was one of the people smoking up a storm when we first went over. They all smoke, but it's cool that he wants to come listen to us.OH, so the dinner. This is important mostly because I think I genuinely felt fear when I saw it. We came in and went downstairs to the kitchen and I think gasped (inside, of course) when I saw this white, slimy, stringy thing in her hands. She had like... octopus or squid or something and she was washing it and I genuinely was frightened. OH man I just saw in my mind those aliens from Independence Day and freaked out. Don't worry, nobody had any idea I was nervous about this...this was just all happening inside my head. But they were white and she cut them up (yes, many of them!...like 5) and cooked them in a separate pan from the pasta. Anywho, when they were done, they were black and were in black juice (ink? I dunno...and don't wanna) and so our pasta had this black juice and chunks of some swimming creature. In her defense...in was pretty good. But it turned every one's tongues black. I kid you not! ha ha Oh mamma it was a doozy.We had a lesson last Wednesday night with an investigator that we haven't seen as frequently as we'd like. But she committed to come to church which, is a big deal you might say. But more then that...she actually came! It was testimony meeting and I think she loved it. Every now and then after a testimony I'd look over at her and she'd just whisper "bello" and I'd just grin inside and listen again. She's awesome. We have an appointment with her tonight and ...I have some high hopes for her indeed.So, on the awkward side of my life: ha ha OH man, so last P-day we wanted to go to the Colosseum. You know, thought it'd be pretty sweet or something right? So we stopped at other cool things along the way and when we got there...Colosseum was closed. Closes at 3 apparently. (Just for your future reference) Well they have dressed up gladiators wandering around outside of the Colosseum and you can pay them to take a picture with them. One of them shouted to us, "Are you from Utah?" Naturally that got my attention, we went and talked to him a bit about the church and told him that we have an English class and stuff. He INSISTED that we take a picture with him. ha ha And he told us we could have a picture for free because we were friends now. Well, I'm already dying at the situation of taking a picture with this adult man dressed in a metal helmet, armor, and kilt! So Sorella Chevalier went first, and then ...unfortunately...it was my turn. He put his hand around my waist and took my hand and ...needless to say I LOOK as awkward in the picture as I felt. It was brutality. He then told me how I reminded him of an ex-girlfriend or something. Oh dear, I seriously walked away just so confused with my life. Like seriously, one minute my companion was buying a key chain and the next, I'm in the arms of a gladiator?! It wasn't on my to-do list for the day, I'll say that much.The next day in English class, one of our students, brought me a gold plate with Nefertiti on it. I kid you not! It was so awkward trying to explain that I couldn't take it and then other missionaries came over to us and tried to talk to him. Well, he was getting offended so they told me to just take it. He's from Egypt and his name is Mohammad. (Those of you who went to France with me, understand why this is ironic) But all I have to say is this: Do guys look at me and think I'm easily swooned by metallics? One day, a golden clad gladiator, and then next an Egyptian plate! My life is an everlasting joke and it just laughable. So...the plate is hung in the bathroom. ha ha I'm totally sending pics.Well, signing off from Italia. I think we're going to try to get into the Colosseum again today. (before 3 this time) There's tons of stuff to do and we've really been trying to step it up so that we can earn progress and blessin's.

Here are a couple of questions:How is your mission Pres. Have you even had much time to meet with him much?Our mission president is sweet. He's really such a nice guy. I don't know how it works with every mission but I guess I thought I'd get more contact with him. I dunno, I talked to him for like 3 minutes the night I got here for an interview, and then we had like a 15 minute interview a couple of weeks ago. But yeah, he's a great guy and his family's incredible. I'm looking forward to getting to know him better because he's awesome.

I have a friend in our ward whose sister got home last Wednesday from the Italy Rome mission sister Jones.Um, yeah I've heard of Sorella Jones. She actually served in the same area that I'm in right now. I've never met her. Her last transfer was my first so we never met, but I've heard people here talk about her every now and then.

Can I email you pictures?Um...yes I believe that you can. But I don't know how much this e-mail account can take. So I'll probably have to delete them afterwards, but I'll print them or something. But if it's pictures of my nephew, I'd love to get them either way--mail or e-mail. :)

Sorry this e-mail is so long, I'll write a better, shorter one next week. Love you all. Sending appropriate Italian love your way, everyday, Sorella Mallory Hansen