Well...I'm home and blogging again.

Well I've been home for about 6 months already. Crazy. I cannot even believe I've been home that long already. I think about the mission everyday and can't stop talking about it. Hopefully the general publics love of Italy makes it slightly bearable listening to me. haha I just thought I'd let you know that I'm gonna be bloggin'. If you want in on it, here's where you can find my thoughts. Like old times, reading them once a week! :) malloheartseurope.blogspot.com The blog is hardly adorable but it's a start for now. Lots of ...Logan love, (wow that sounds not as beautiful as when I said 'Italian')
Mallory

Mallory's Homecoming

Mallory will be speaking in sacrament meeting

Sunday, May 16th

2:00 p.m.

The church is located at 300 north and 900 east in America Fork

Welcome Home!!

After a full day's delay, and endless hours in multiple airports, Sorella Mallory Hansen arrived home! The family had the house ready for her arrival.

The Hansen Clan... Waiting a little longer

Finally she descended the escalator amid tears and shouts for joy.

Mama Hansen and Mal

Mallory, Kim and Debi

Big brother Cody and his fam.

Meeting Tate, her nephew for the first time.

Getting reacquainted with her niece Mya.

Sorella Swenson, Hughes, Hansen and Millis

These four were originally in the MTC together, Sorella Millis was Mallory's MTC companion, but sadly Mal never got to serve with any of them in the field.

Overnight in Paris ~ What a punishment

We just received a call from Mallory informing us that after about a 5 hour delay in Paris they were notified that their direct flight to Salt Lake City had been canceled due to a defective right engine. We're sure that Mallory is devastated by the news that they will be staying in Paris for the rest of the day and tonight. The airline has provided them with hotel and food vouchers, and we are waiting to hear when she will arrive home. We are expecting sometime tomorrow night.

Back in the U.S.A., whether she likes it or not!

Sorella Hansen arrives home today at 2pm!

Wahoo!!

We love you Mal!

The daughters Josef never had, apparently I'm supposed to leave Italy one day....‏

Buon Giorno once again!! I hope er'body had a marvelous week! I had a grand one indeed. Have I mentioned how much I love and adore the fact that Josef exists in my life?!? Oh my stars he just might be one of my favorite human beings. We've seen him several times this week and er...last week my companion mentioned that I'm going home. (Yeah, I hadn't told anybody) He was really upset. It was really sad. I was sitting by him in sacrament meeting and was asking him how the other meetings had gone and he said, "I can't even look at you." It was the saddest thing. He's not mad at me or anything but he's just sad. On Monday when we were at his house he was like, "I've never told you guys this but I always wanted a daughter and you guys are like daughters to me." He is wonderful. We have an appointment with him in like an hour. He's been doing well but for some reason he's still having trouble praying and asking God if this is the true church. We've been trying to work with him and figure out what his concerns are but it's been difficult for him. Tonight we're going to talk about the Atonement and repentance. Sunday was my birthday and had several surprises in store. One was the fact that I had to give a "farewell" testimony in church. It was completely bizarre. I feel very blessed to have been able to learn and love these people with the only 6 weeks that I've been with them. It has been a huge blessing to feel such a love for them and love from them in return. Isn't it marvelous that you can know someone for only 6 weeks and already love them? My companion was really sweet for my birthday. She made me crepes for breakfast. :) And she made a birthday cake for a member appointment that we had after church. (Somehow she did all of this when I was in the shower. Magician that one.) It was a fun birthday indeed...besides the fact that I'm a year closer to being elderly! But until then, I'll continue to enjoy all of the Italians telling me how young I am. It's rather nice. :) Tomorrow morning really early I have to go to the Mission Home and have a testimony meeting with everybody, I'll sleep there that night and then the next morning I get on a plane. I think I almost just threw up a little bit. I have been doing very good to shove it out of my mind. The fact that it's practically here makes me ...not really sure what to do with myself. ha ha I think everything will be fine. I am happy to come home. I know that the Lord called me to serve for a year and a half. That's what He wanted. I'm happy that I was blessed with the opportunity to do it. I will miss Italy terribly--obviously. I have a family of Italians here that I love so much. i have learned so much from them and the Lord has taught me a great deal since I've been here. But I also have developed a greater love for my family and I am excited to be able to see them and you all again. I really do know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I have been blessed out of my mind to have been able to teach the message of the gospel for a year and a half. Jeffrey R. Holland was right. I am my best convert. I had my own plans instead of a mission but in the end I'm glad I didn't do them. I know that God wanted me here to help His children here in Italy. He wanted me here to convert ME to the gospel. I love the gospel. I have seen time and time again how obedience to the commandments brings immense joy and convert. Why would you not be all over that?!? I love you all and can't wait to see you and give you a big hug.
A wallop of Italian love, Sorella Mallory Hansen

Book of Mormon Give-Away Comp, A Conversation about Jesus, Three Musketeers‏

Hello guys!
Well, another marvelous week. Is the weather as fickle in America as it is here? Oh my stars, one day it rains and is completely gloomykins and then the next...it's blazing hot! It's been completely nuts. I don't really know how to dress for the weather. Whatevs I guess. We finished our Book of Mormon competition as a district. After we won 4 days in a row they just called it off and told us they'd buy us the good fruit from their fruit stand as a prize. :) We've started over though and are having another go at it. It's been really fun to have a little competition that pushes us and has scored us some pretty bizzangin' contacts. No complaints!
We had an appointment with someone who stopped us on the street the other day and asked us if he could hear our message. He's Muslim and it was quite an interesting lesson. There are really strict rules about teaching Muslims so I had to talk to our mission president about it to make sure everything was cool. It was really interesting. It greatly increased my testimony of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. He pretty much tried to use the bible to prove that Jesus was just a prophet and not the Son of God or...our redeemer. Yeah. We'll see if he calls us to see us again but...we won't be making the call. ha ha He was a nice guy but...I know that Jesus atoned for our sins. I know that. I know that He is an essential part of the Plan of Salvation. I know that. I find it kind of laughable that you're trying to use the Bible AGAINST Jesus. Really? It made me want to do some more studying from the Bible this morning about Jesus and yeah, lets just say my testimony remains unshaken on his stand point.
Let's talk about Josef!!! Have I mentioned that I kind of adore the fact that this man exists in my life?! We finally got him to come to church and he came for all three hours. He LOVED it! ha ha Oh it made me so happy. We've also tried really hard to bring a bunch of members to his appointments so when he came to church, he had a LOT of friends. It was rad. So I don't know what was taught in your priesthood sessions at home (I'm assuming it was the same lesson but I don't know if they did something a little different here...anyway) but apparently in priesthood they talked about how we all need to work together and have unity. Josef came up to me after the meeting and said, "It was beautiful! Practically what they said was, "All for one, and one for all"". ha ha He continued to ponder it and reflect throughout church and then in the end he came up to me again and he said, "It's beautiful. All for one and one for all. Like the Three Musketeers. Do you know who wrote that book? I'm absolutely sure that he must have known Joseph Smith." ha ha I have had a good laugh over that for the last couple of days. I have always enjoyed the three musketeers and now I know why. Apparently the author knew Joseph Smith. ha ha I love Josef. We have an appointment with him tonight. We're going to teach him the law of chastity. Should be splendid.
I hope everything's going beyond grand for you guys. Take care of yourselves. Be happy. And remember what the musketeers say, "all for one, and one for all!" ha ha aka...take care of each other. :) Roman love,
Sorella Hansen

Beautiful Baptism, Friendly District Competition, Taking care of your Cadillacs‏

Hey friends and family!
So we had a baptism on Saturday which was crazy cool. Her name's Fernanda and she's wonderful. It was much more eventful then we had been planning because, making a long story short, she didn't show up at 6...when her baptism was supposed to happen. Yeah. There was some last minute Satan being a jerk-face drama, but in the end some members went to her house, gave her a blessing, and got her to the church! By 7:20 she got all dressed up in her baptismal dress and she just looked so happy. I'm glad she was able to get over the problems that were going on because you could see that once she overcame them, that she was just filled with joy. It was beautiful. She gave her testimony afterwards and...ah...it was great. She really knows that the church is true. She bore testimony about how she doesn't feel alone anymore now that she's found the church. It was a stressful but absolutely beautiful day all at the same time.
A couple of the elders in our district have challenged us to an ol' fashioned "who can give out more Book of Mormons". (How many of you judged me about whether or not I correctly pluralized Book of Mormon?" Because...I just did) BUT we decided that there's no point in giving out Books of Mormon (changed it up, just to make sure that I'm right at least once) :) unless something comes out of it. So we are keeping track of how many we give away a day BUT it only counts if you get their phone number. So we've been working on our finding and so far we've gotten one everyday....and we're winning. shhh..
Yesterday one of our few appointments cancelled on us last minute and so...that left us with a whole afternoon of finding work on our hands. We did just about everything. Street, bus, metro, house, trenino....yup, we did an hour of one thing and then changed it up. It was about 8:00, we'd been working for hours and still no bites. Wouldn't ya know, on the way home a guy on the trenino looks at my Book of Mormon and decides to ask me about what it is and what we believe. Cha-ching! So we spent the whole train ride telling him about the restoration of the church and bearing testimony and we gave him a Book of Mormon (part 1) and were getting a lot of good feedback on his part. He was really into it. I had already asked for his phone number 2 different times when it came up during our ride and then when we were at the end of the line (his stop) I asked him one last time. And...he gave it to us! (part 2). His name's Marco and he's genuinely great! He happens to have a wife and two children. Italian family? Don't mind if I do!! Hopefully we'll be able to meet with him on Saturday. He said he was going to have to talk it over with his wife. So...we've been praying for her a lot lately. :)
And in closing, we taught my dear friend Josef about the word of wisdom this last week. This little guy is my favorite. Oh my stars I just want to introduce him to all of you. He's marvelous. He loves analogies and so it's good times preparing things for his lessons that will catch his attention and get him to apply the lessons that we're teaching. So my favorite word of wisdom analogy is starting by talking about a beautiful, expensive car and how the mechanic that made that car knows it in and out. He knows exactly how to take care of it so that it'll run well, last, and so you can enjoy it! We asked him what would happen if I just up and decided since I didn't have gas that I could just put some peanut butter in the gas tank instead. He gave quite the reaction and was like, "Oh no, you don't do that." ha ha And we talked about how God created our bodies and knows the ins and outs of how they work. The word of wisdom is an instruction manual for how to take care of them, make them last, and enjoy them! He loved it. However we got to a point when he said, "Well, I don't understand why I can't have a little bit of wine every now and then. If I'm not an alcoholic, why does it matter?" and I was like, "Would you put even a teaspoon of peanut butter in your Cadillac's gas tank?" He sat there quiet for a second and then said, "You're right. Are you sure this Smith wasn't a genius?" "No, Josef, he was a prophet." ha ha I love that man.
Well, I've got to scadaddle. Apparently we can get into the Colosseum for free today! Why would we not be all over an offer like that?! So we're gonna go check that out and then we have an appointment with a contact that we met on the train. He's a really cool guy from Congo named Victor. He's seen the missionaries around in Congo and wanted to talk to us about the church. So we'll be seeing him tonight. I hope that you guys are having a marvelous month of April. I think about ya (just the right amount) and pray that you're all doing well and are happy. Take care of yourselves. Roman kisses,
Sorella Hansen

Two Birds with One Stone, Meetin' our boy Gaetano, Last Zone Conference!?

Well Buon to the Giorno guys!
What a busy and crazy week. Last week for p-day we went to this never disappointing museum called Villa Borghese. (If I spelled that wrong, try not to judge me for being illiterate). It was gorgeous. There were so many breath-taking sculptures that I'd heard about and just seeing them in person was okay by me. I'm hardly an art guru but I can enjoy myself staring at a beautiful statue for a bit. Mmm Mmm...
Well there is just tons to tell. We did a little bit of my favorite finding. The ol' "Best Referral Ever" finding. Ah, it just makes me so happy doing it. So we said our prayer over the map and got 2 streets in common. We were headed to our first street and on the way there, there were 2 women and a little girl waiting at the bus stop who stopped us and asked what time it was. As we told them, one of the women was eyeing the Book of Mormon that my companion had in her hands. We found out that these women are from California and have been here for 2 months. Anywho, the rad part is that one of the women had lived in Utah for a bit and was starting to take the missionary discussions when they ended up moving to Rome--it happened really quick. She told us that she has been looking for the church here and wants to finish taking the discussions. We just bore our testimonies to her about how we know that she is so important and that God loves her. We told her that we'd prayed to know where to go and that God had led us to her. She knew that it was true and started crying. Oh my stars it was just beautiful. We gave all of them big hugs. BAH! I loved that moment because we were an answer to each others prayers. We were looking for people who want the gospel and will accept it. She was looking for our church. God just up and answered two prayers in one! I sometimes wonder if He smiles and feels proud of Himself when He does stuff like that.
Then on our second street we decided to mix things up a little bit doing house (because it can be a doozy if you don't think of a way to make it different) So...we decided at the doors, since we already knew that we were supposed to be there, that we'd just say, "Are you looking for the truth?" And if they said 'no', then it wasn't them that God sent us to. Nice right? So we did a couple of floors and we got to this 30 something year old guy and he told us 'yes'. Honestly, we had almost gone home for lunch and language study (because it was time) but both of us felt that we needed to finish the street and do the very last palazzo. Welp, his name is Gaetano. We set a return appointment with him and brought a member. We just taught him the first lesson but he loved it and will be coming to church and the baptism on Saturday.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we have a baptism on Saturday. It's a woman that they were working with before I got here but I've been able to help with her for a couple of weeks now and it's been really sweet. She has had some rough, "Satan is a jerk-face and is trying to rock my boat" moments in the past weeks so we've been working on keeping her strong. She's wonderful. I love her more and more every time we see her. Her name's Fernanda and she'll get baptized Saturday. Good times!!!
Also our awkward training at Zone Conference went a-okay. It was funny because when they announced that sister missionaries would be giving a training, everyone was kind of surprised. Sisters haven't ever given trainings at zone conference. It was a pretty cool experience I suppose. We just talked about working better with the members. I think that it went pretty well and that they got some new ideas. The worst part of the whole Zone Conference ordeal was the fact that I had to give my "dying testimony". Yuck. The cool part was that Sorella Swenson and Sorella Crandall are both in my zone so I got to hear theirs too. I love them. Anyway it was completely surreal and 100 percent awkward. I'd been so preoccupied with other things that I hadn't even thought about it. Pretty much it consisted of me shakin, kinda crying, and then sitting down afterwards. ha ha Nah, it went fine but I just felt that it was all too surreal. ANWAY, I gots to go because this e-mail is lengthy to say the least. I hope that everybody is of jolly good health and having a marvelous April. P.S. Why is it already April?! Welp, read your scriptures everyday because it turns out their completely wonderful and will change you life. Seriously, try it. And in closing, if you haven't read "pray always" by Anziano Bednar recently...you should give it a glance. He gave that talk in October 2008. I read it this morning and it completely rocked my socks. I love prayer. Anywho, be good examples and be happy because l love you.
Sorella Hansen

General Conference back at Rome 1, Josef loving Pres. Monson, Bonding with the Danish‏

Sorella Hansen and Diana - A convert from when Mallory was first serving in Roma 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well we really had quite the week! There's so much to say and I don't know what is of more value for you to hear so...I'll just blurt some stuff out that comes to my head and err...just skip over it if it's boring you out of your minds k? So General Conference this weekend official rocked my socks! How rad is modern day revelation? Really now, how can you NOT love all of their amazing counsel. They're just marvelous. It was actually really cool because we got to go to the Rome 1 building (where I started the mission) to watch all of the sessions. So I got to see all of the members and our new convert Diana. It was a really really rewarding experience and it was such a blessing for me to be able to see that I was remembered and that I did make a difference at the beginning of the mission even if I didn't speak the language like a champ. So many people came and said hi and we took pictures together. Ah, it's an amazing ward. I had forgotten how much I love and miss them.Our investigator Josef came to conference. He's our investigator that comes from Ethiopia and he is seriously, ridiculously wonderful. He was actually invited by the Vatican to go Saturday night at 6 p.m. until Sunday at 6 a.m. for a special...I dunno..meeting for Ethiopians. Anyway, he said that they've been inviting him for years so he decided that this year he'd go. Welp, he came to the session that was broadcast at 6:00 p.m. Sunday night here and he LOVED it. He adored President Monson. He said that he had spend over an hour listening to, supposedly, the best speaker/priest at his meeting at the Vatican. But he said that President Monson said what that man had said, but with more simplicity, clarity and heart...and he did it in 20 minutes. He kept saying, "That man has a gift." We were like, "Yeah Joseph. He's the prophet." ha ha It was really cool that he made the effort to come and that he really enjoyed the talks. They made him think and he felt something special. Bam!! We got to the area for General Conference a little bit early so we decided to rock a little metro. We got on at the end of the line were going to ride it half-way and then come back. Anyway I started talking to this killer cool guy named Giovanni. He commented on my last name and I told him it was Danish. He was like, "Really? My mom's Danish." And somehow we started a grand ol' conversion all because I have a Danish last name. Anyway he was crazy cool. He is married and has 3 children and he was genuinely interested when I talked to him about the restoration. So he didn't give me his number (I asked) but he took a pamphlet with my number and...whammy! 1 hour after we talked on the metro he called me!! He just wanted to thank me for the conversation that we had on the metro because he said that it's rare to have genuine conversations these days. So the downside is that he's probably not in my area but the point is that he and his beautiful Italian family needs the gospel. I talked to him for a little bit this morning on the phone but the phone cut out and I wasn't able to get a hold of him again yet. So hopefully something slamming happens! I got a question about what this area of Rome is like. Honestly, it's not postcard Rome--though that is only 45 minutes away. Honestly I kind of forget that I'm in Rome sometimes because it just feels like a big city. But then I bump into someone and they say "scusa" or I hear Italians yelling at each other across the street and I just smile and know exactly where I am. We're going to do some good ol' sightseeing today and it should be a solid good time. There's a woman named Fernanda that we're preparing for baptism and she's been having some rough times lately so we're going to bring her some joy and spirit...which never did anything less then please so...should be grand. Welp, I think I have rambled for long enough! I love you guys oodles I hope that you know. Be happy and love your lives because they're beautiful. Lots of love,
Sorella Hansen

Preaching the word of God, Josef, General Conf‏

Buon Giorno from Roma!
It has been a crazy week. It is always an interesting process readjusting to a new city, new companion, new members, new investigators, etc....but it's good times as well. I'm excited to get to know this place and these members. There are about 3 times as many members here in Rome 3 then there were in La Spezia. There were like a good 10 women in Relief society. Big deal!! It was a good week in La Spezia when we had 4.
One day this week when we were out doing some finding work a man from Nigeria stopped us and said, "Hey, are you preaching the word of God?" I just looked at him and smiled. "Yeah actually." ha ha He went on to talk about how he's looking for a church and so we got his number and set up an appointment when we can see him. His name is Kevin. ha ha It was kind of crazy. I've never had anyone use that approach before but...it was okay with me!
We have a cool investigator here named Josef. He's rad. He's from Ethiopia but he's been here forevs. He's like 70 or something. He's really intelligent and it was really fun teaching him. He has a lot of questions and you can tell that he really thinks about this stuff and has sincere questions. We had a member there that was a huge help and just bore his testimony any time that he saw the opportunity. It was crazy cool. We're hoping that he'll come to General Conference. He sounded like he was interested.
I'm still trying to adjust to being here. It's been weird. I know that it's normal but...it's just awkward. Sorella Dalia wrote me from La Spezia and updated me on everyone there. She said that the Acevedo family is really progressing and that the members were sad that I left. It was really sad because the week that I left, that just happened to be the week that all of the members went to the temple in Switzerland. So I didn't get to see or talk to any of them. That was kind of hard. Anyway, I'm really learning a lot and am so excited for general conference. I hope you're all planning on going into General Conference with a question. I know I have like 80 questions but I truly know that the prophet and twelve apostles are inspired and as we take our concerns and questions to the Lord that He will use them to communicate to us the things that we need to know. I am ever so grateful for the gospel and my Savior that have helped me everyday throughout the mission. I hope you guys are all healthy and happy. I love you tons and tons. Italian kisses,
Sorella Hansen

Child birth, out with the coffee, Good-bye La Spezia‏

Hey guys!
What a week...as always. We had probably half of our lessons cancel on us--welcome to life as a missionary but the ones that we did have went really well. We went back to the members that we'd knocked into last week doing house. We had our first lesson with them where we taught the first lesson and her 11 year-old son Paolo was so excited and said, "Grazie mille" like 5 times when we gave him his own book of mormon. Yeah baby, that's how excited you're supposed to be when you learn this stuff! haha He's a great kid and it was really cool to see his reactions throughout the lesson. Afterward on the other hand...was the opposite of ideal. His mother, Sharon, who is 7 months pregnant with her second son randomly decided after the lesson to tell us all of the gorey details of our new investigator Paolo's birth. Not joking. She graphically took us through the two day journey of her labor and I don't think I have ever NOT wanted the gift of tongues more in my life. She talked to us for like 15 minutes and I felt like I was there. ha ha My companion and I looked at eachother after we left the appointment and I just apologized. "sorry, all I wanted to know is what she was going to name the baby." ha ha Miracles never cease, nor do the awkward moments of my mission.
We taught the Acevedo family last night and we were going to teach them the Word of Wisdom--straight forward, clear as can be. I was really surprised with the reaction quite honestly. There are some serious problems with the word of wisdom in that family and we invited them to set a date of when they would be completely done. Leo said from that moment, he would obey the word of wisdom 100 percent. We then said, "and we don't want any distractions from this goal so if you have anything against the word of wisdom in your house, let's throw it out now." ha ha I love moments like this is the mission because it can be thoroughly enjoyable being bold. So Judy goes, "Well I don't drink coffee but I have it here in the house for my friends that come over and like it." Well Leo says, "Nope Judy, we'd better throw it out." They DUMPED the coffee out into the garbage and then Leo goes, "And throw away the kettle that we make it in". ha ha So...they did. It felt so good to see them desiring to make changes because that is something that has not always been there.
Well we got transfer calls yesterday. President up and transfered me to Rome 3. I'm kind of relieved in the sense that I really feel that I have done everything that I could here in La Spezia. I've helped the people that need my help. So I'm glad that I have that closure. As far as going back to Rome...eh...I didn't see that coming. It should be great. I only have 6 weeks left in the mission and why not finish them in the City that my mission is named after right? It'll be interesting to have been born there and die there. My companion's name is Sorella Miles. She is from Washington I believe. I've only seen here at Transfer circle a couple of times but she seems nice. We'll do a great work. Anyway I love you guys tons. Enjoy your beautiful lives. Go to church. Read your scriptures. Love your lives and know that you are very berry loved. Italian Kisses,
Sorella Hansen

Getting Robbed, Investigators Earning us Over, Found an Inactive!‏

Well the funny story of the week is only funny because ...I got robbed blind! ha ha Yes...THAT actually happened. I was just minding my own business returning from our slamming P-day in Pisa and WHAMY in the La Spezia train station some goon apparently thought it'd be a chipper to unzip my backpack and nab my wallet. It wasn't until we got to the bus stop that we noticed my backpack was unzipped. I panicked and felt completely violated but after filling out some papers with the police (all in Italian, which was fun) we just went to branch FHE and pretended it was all a bad dream. End of the day my companion and I are learning a lot about budgeting! We've been using her credit card and we make awkward comments to each other like we're a poor newly-wed couple when we buy things. "Babe I don't think we can afford the expensive tuna this week." Ah man. Despite the fact that it had my credit cards, bus pass, permesso, I was more upset about the fact that they stole my cute H&M wallet that I bought in Rome. Come on buddy. At least leave the wallet! ha ha I don't know if I told you last week but we received some sweet revelation for the Acevedo family that has been working like a charm! We have struggled with them to make progress and act. Also it doesn't always seem like they appreciate our time when we're there for appointments SO we came up with this brilliant plan! We made them a poster for their fridge that has three columns: Come to church at 9 as a family, read a chapter of the BOM as a family, and pray together as a family. They get a sticker on their poster every time they do one of these things. They get 3 stickers if they all come to church! (we really wanted to emphasize that one.) So basically we won't go to their house for appointments until they earn 5 stickers. Isn't this a fun game?! So this way THEY decide how often we see them. We could come twice a week or once every two weeks--just all depending on them and their commitment keeping. And...it must have done something because they were ALL in church on Sunday--the first time this whole transfer. So we're loving that. We just call them every night to see how they're doing and ask if they got any stickers.Our transfer of non-stop finding continues! This week the fun adventure is we were doing house and discovered an inactive member from Ecuador! She joined the church there, came here 13 years ago and only came once. She now has a son that's 11. She said, "Maybe God's telling me I should come back to church." We just smiled at her and nodded and said, "We agree." So we'll probably start teaching her son and we're hoping for good things there.Well I hope you all had a beautiful week. The sun has started to come out a little bit this week which I have hardly been complaining about. maybe I can get rid of this milky skin of mine. (Thanks Judy!!) Make good decisions, know that I love you like crazy, and...hold on to your wallets! Italian Kisses, Sorella Hansen

Fakin' it, answering the peoples prayers, Celebrating the existence of women‏

Oh my stars can we just talk about the awkwardness that made up my Sunday?! So our dear Acevedo family decided to invite the branch president and his wife over for lunch. Sparing you some of the painfully awkward details (because you're not missionaries so you shouldn't have to deal with it. ha ha) they put on QUITE a show. Oh mylanta it was brutality. I love this family. I've been working with them for 5 months but they are a quirky bunch and I am well aware. But they pulled out some stops for this meal with the branch president and his wife. First off, Judy (the mom/wife) told us that she couldn't come to church on Sunday because she would be preparing lunch for them. She was like, "Oh sisters, I think that Jesus will understand." I was like, "Err...Judy, I daresay that Jesus wants you in church." But alas, she didn't come and just Leo came to church. So we went with to their house after church and please picture this in your minds: where there used to be a pull-out bed, there are now two fancy sitting chairs. They have a fancy table cloth, AND on a shelf they have the Bible opened...like as a decoration or something. I was just dying inside about this big fancy show that they were putting on. In the end it was fine. They really like Presidente Margheriti and his wife. Obviously because they're marvelous. I was so glad for that meal to be over though. It was such an event and it was just SO not them. ha ha Oh dear. One for the books!We went and saw Giuseppina Maiello yesterday. We haven't seen her since week 2 of the transfer. We tried so hard to prepare ourselves for that first appointment. She told us that she was going to have her son do the communion in the catholic church even though she knows that it's wrong and I think we were depressed for like 2 days. It was all that we could think about. Well we've been praying about her and we called her last week to see her. When we first sat down she told us that she had read the book of Mormon last week. ---which is MASSIVE because she told us at our last appointment that she wouldn't read it because she didn't want to confuse her son. Then she said that after she was done reading the book of Mormon one night she said a prayer and asked God to have us come back and see her again. Well we called her that night! So when we were sitting at the table she was like, "How did you do it?" We were just like, "You came into our minds." And she was like, "At what time?" ha ha and we said, "in the evening". And she goes, "That's when I was reading the book of Mormon." It was really crazy. We answered her prayers!It was really cool. We're going to go back next week and listen to a talk with her and her kids called "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence". It's an amazing talk by Elder Holland (who rocks my socks every time I listen to him). It should be good. In the meantime we bore our testimonies to her about the importance of being an example for her family. Praying, reading the scriptures...we told her that when her family--and especially her husband--see her doing these things, it will leave a very strong impression on them. She really liked that. So...from the last appointment it was definitely a step up! :)So...you know how Italians are always celebrating right? Well little did I know (Or...I forgot since last year) that March 8th is a holiday here!! It's called La Festa della donna. Or...Women's day. Yup, it's a day celebrating women...just the fact that we exist pretty much. Obviously we partook in the festivities. Why would we NOT?! ha ha They have these beautiful little yellow, puffy flowers that you give to women on that day. Some old lady gave some to my companion on the bus. It was a delightful little holiday. I just might try to make it big in the states. Good times...I should probably scadaddle. We're spending p-day at a little city that you might have heard of...Pisa!! There's really nothing in this city but the leaning tower but somehow I still find myself 124% amused and entertained every time I come. No complaints!! Well it's been another week of hard work but there's more that we want to do. Hope you're all having the time of your lives! Loving ya lots from all the way over here in La Spezia, Sorella Hansen

Run-in with pin lady, France in Florence, New investigator!!‏

BUON to the GIORNO guys! I hope you all had a marvelous week in the homeland. I'll just take a couple of minutes to tell you about this last week here in the mish.So...as I mentioned my companion and I have been doing oodles of finding. It's pretty crazy, we see a lot of crazy stuff, but we always come home nice and tired and have the marvelous good feeling of knowing that you worked really hard that day to share the gospel. Also, I don't complain about the fact that all of this hard works makes me sleep like an infant. Oh man missionary work is the best sleeping pill in the world. Love it! ha ha So with all of this finding that we're doing we get all kinds of funny situations. One day this last week we were doing some house and ringing some citof's. A woman left the building as we were ringing the citofs. My companion started talking to her and the woman waiting until I finished talking on a citof so that she could talk to both of us. She was an older woman with a bright pink hat that had like 7 different pins in it. We told her who we were and what we were doing there. Half-way through she gave a grin like, "that's cute and all, but I've got news for you"...you know what one I'm talking about or have I just seen it a time or two? She then proceeds to give us this big marvelous speech that went a little something like this, "There's really nothing for you to do here. No one wants to hear what you have to say. We're ALL catholic. Or...there are some people who are Buddhist. OR....there are also some who are Jehovah's witness. And then there are some who are atheist. Therefore, you should just stop what you're doing because nobody cares." ha ha Good thing we know what we're doing here and we don't rely on the people on the streets to tell us if we're doing something worthwhile. Excuse me ma'am, we work for God. We're just trying to give you the opportunity to be happy out of your mind. If you don't want to take it, well I can't stop you, but nor will you stop us from giving the same opportunity to your friends. Ah, yes...gotta love house. :)We had Zone Conference in Florence yesterday and it was marvelous! Elder Paya came and spoke to us. He's a member of the seventy and...I didn't hate the fact that he's French. :) He was delightful and I learned so much. I love zone conferences because they're always such an amazing opportunity to see ways that I can improve and be more effective. I enjoyed this one especially because I didn't feel like I got bashed in the face with all of the things that I need to change, but Elder Paya taught and told missionary stories, and the spirit was able to tell us what we needed to change and apply. It was nice.We got a new investigator this week! His name's Daniele. He's so cool. I've seen him on the bus a couple of times since I've been in La Spezia and I got his number a couple of weeks ago and we finally were able to set an appointment and we taught him about the restoration. It was so rad. He has so many questions! I love questions! It means that he's thinking and pondering and searching. Those people are nothing but a joy to teach because they'll do the work to find their answers. Yeah, It was such a blessing to meet and teach him after all of the hard work that we've been doing. God is really blessing us. it is ever so clear and we are just so thankful for His help.Welp, that's all for this week. I hope you're all doing well. Go do some fun things with your beautiful families. Love your lives k? Everything is more beautiful and happy that way. You are very loved and blessed and don't ever forget it. All my love, Sorella Hansen

Awkward rejections, Looking for happy families, Do what you know is right already!!

Well, doing a lot of finding like we've been doing lately gives us many opportunities to laugh at all of the excuses, mean things people say, and unavoidable awkward moments. Ah yes, welcome to missionary life. We ring citofonos and people will poke their head out of their shutters 4 floors up and say, "Who is it?". Really? Are we actually HAVING a conversation from this ridiculous vertical distance? All right!! We've received an awful lot of "No's" but Heavenly Father has been giving us plenty of opportunities to laugh and remain upbeat despite the rejections. Finding work has just been getting more and more fun. But we have done an awful lot of it. My stars! This last week we've had like one appointment a day and the rest of the day...we just find people! We've been working really hard and we both feel very strongly that the Lord will bless us for our efforts and we know that He's helping us out big time.We were able to set a return appointment with an ITALIAN FAMILY. woot woot!! Can one even complain about that?! I think not! They were a beautiful family and were great, happy people. I almost have forgotten what it's like to be in a home where the family is happy. I have seen so many jacked up families in my mission all I have to say was a happy, loving family was entirely refreshing. We taught them the first lesson and they asked lots of questions. However in the end they just ended up telling us that they were Catholic and were going to stay that way. We gave them a Book of Mormon and we've been praying in every single prayer that they'll call us. I know for sure they felt the spirit when we were talking about the restoration. And...if they don't call us back, the great thing about doing house is...we know where they live! They were seriously such a beautiful family. I think I fell in love with them. I feel like Lucy from While you were Sleeping. I know what you're thinking, "How many times in a 1 year and a half can she reference that movie?!" Great question. Don't put it past me. Bah, if nothing else, I know we were a first step for that family. That man is gonna be a bishop or something I just know it.We taught the Maiello family this week. We have prayed for that family in every single prayer just wanting so badly for them to recognize the spirit and the need for them to change their lives and remember the testimonies that they have. We went to the appointment. Only the wife--Giuseppina--was there. We prepared a whole lesson using Helman 5. We talked about the spirit and light---how she had it. She had it in her home. She knew what to do to keep it there. She saw the differences in her family, her relationship with her husband when the spirit was in their home. We read a bunch of verses with her from Helaman 5 and then we had prepared three questions for her. 1. Do you recognize differences in your home since the missionaries haven't been here/since you all called off your baptismal date? She said yes. She then answered question 2 before we even asked her. It was 2. Have you felt the spirit since we've been with you today? She said that she has. She recognized it when we came in and she felt it during the lesson. Question 3. Do you want it back? Oh man I wish I could accurately describe the look on her face. Her eyes looked so tired and so much differently then they have in past lessons. She looked like she was going through such a hard time. But she responded to our last question: Yes. Bam. That was it. This is just what we wanted. This was the purpose of the lesson! To get her to recognize the spirit and the need to have it back again. Well, that's when little dinkus Satan thought he was completely hilarious and it was so clear that he has been messing with this family. We were talking with Giuseppina about the things that she could do to bring the spirit back into her life and back into her home. We asked her to start by reading the Book of Mormon everyday. She said no. What?!? You just said that you want the spirit back. Why would you NOT be all over this?! Welp she continued to tell us that her son was about to do Communion in the Catholic church and she can't let him see her reading the Book of Mormon because it will confuse him. THEN she continues by telling us that she knows that this is the true church and she'll never deny that. She know that the Catholic church isn't true and that the communion doesn't really mean anything....but she's still doing it. It makes zero sense, she knows that it doesn't make sense and she wanted so badly for us to rationalize with her that it was okay, that her situation was different. Well, we work for God. We can't do that. It was so not how we saw the lesson going but we've been prayin a lot about it and we really feel like we need to stick with this family. But it also gives us a lot of inspiration to do finding work and find people who are searching and are prepared.WELL there's my week. It's been completely nuts but as always it has strengthened my testimony and made me more grateful for the gospel in my life. And in closing: How is Italy doing in the Olympics? :) Lemme know! Italian love, Sorella Hansen

Milky white, Last minute talk, Praying about going under the water!!‏

Oh my stars. Let me just welcome you into a moment of my life that happened in our appointment with the Acevedo family. Out of nowhere Judy (the mom) looks at me and says, "Wow Sorella, sei troppo bianca. Sei come il latte!" Yup, she said, "Wow sister, you are too white. You're the color of milk!" haha Oh my dear it was just a moment that I thought, "WHEN do I get to go back to the island? At least I looked NOT like a dairy product when I lived there." Ah yes, good times...So this week has been nothing short of bizzanging. I love my new companion. We have only been together a week but it has been one of my favorites in the mission and I couldn't be more stoked about the time we'll have together. We get along really well and have so much in common it's frightening...and yet entirely enjoyable. We have set some really great goals and I'm so stoked about working hard and accomplishing them. We have been doing a lot of finding. We do a lot of bus, a lot of house, we've even stopped people on the street and it has just been so wonderful as far as that's concerned. I'm just so grateful that I get to be companions with her. We work really hard together but we have so much fun too. Many times we'll be laughing about something during lunch and just say, "What was president thinking?!" I hope I get to be with her for the rest of my mission because things are just going so good.On Saturday the branch president called me and asked me to give a talk the next day. That's the joy of serving in a small branch is they can (and do) just call ya last minute and ask you to give a inspiring jolly ol' talk. I think it went well. I totally conjugated something wrong in my talk and I knew it and I made a face...and the girls in the front row corrected me. It had potential to be embarrassing but...I just like to think of it as "Well, it shows that everybody was listening!" ha ha We had a great appointment last night with our girl Miriam. She's an amazing, strong woman who loves Jesus. We taught the plan of salvation with a couple from the branch. I think we emphasized the importance of being baptized in this life like 5 times. And in the end when we invited her to pray about being baptized on March 20th she understood and said that she'd pray. Not complaining!! It was a really cool lesson. The spirit was there. My companion did fabulous and the members were a great help. I love those appointments!Well I hope you all had a fabulous Valentines day. I think it goes without saying that my Valentines day was filled with...love of all mankind. Welp, have a splendid week and ...make good decisions. ha ha My advice is hardly inspired....but it comes from a good place. Love you tons. La Spezian love, Sorella Hansen

Transfers, the priesthood rocks my socks, A place called Liberty‏

Well, well, well...how's everything going? It's been quite a crazy week. It was my companions last week as a missionary so there were lots of saying goodbye, pictures, and that kind of stuff. On Tuesday morning we had to take a train at like 5:15 a.m. to come to Florence where my companion dropped me off so that I can do an exchange with the sisters until I get my new companion. Sorella Skabelund went to Rome and is flying out...today actually. I've been doing an exchange with Sorella Dalia and Sorella Hughes. It's been fun actually. I'm kind of in love with Florence, really, like it might not be healthy or normal. But whatever. I'm embracing it because that is my life. So it's been cool to go to a couple of appointments with them and talk to some of the people on the buses here. It's been a fun change. We got transfer calls yesterday and President said that I'm staying in La Spezia and I'll have Sorella Dalia as my companion. It was funny that we had spent the whole day together and talked about how we wanted to live at BYU-Idaho together...and then President called us and told us that we were going to be companions. It was funny. I'm really excited. She's really fun and we are a lot alike--for better or for worse! ha ha Nah, I'm excited for this transfer. It should be slammin.So...as far as the work goes, do you remember the cookie lesson from a couple of weeks ago? Yeah well....there was kind of an explosion this week with that family. It was really hard. They are kind of known for calling us the day of our appointments, like a couple of hours beforehand, and cancelling. So long story short, something happened that made them get really mad at us and they called and told us that they didn't want to see us anymore and didn't want to have anything to do with us. Yeah, it was killer. I've never had anyone do anything like that to me. It made me think of those stories that I heard before the mission about how missionaries would go to an investigators house and there would be a book of Mormon in a bag hanging on the door with a note saying that they didn't want to see the missionaries anymore. Yeah, I remember hearing those stories and thinking, "Well crikey that's the worst." Well this week I got the opportunity to understand first hand how much it is a complete bust! It was brutality BUT with lots and lots of prayer and gaining a greater testimony and appreciation for the priesthood, we were somehow able to go talk to them and they're still going to let us go over and teach. I have spared you the fun details but just trust me, MIRACLE!!!Also guess how delightful this little moment of my life was. So I went to English class and this man Antonio told me that he brought me something. He's just this sweet Italian man. He's married and has a daughter my age. But last week was his first week at English class and we were talking about books and I hadn't ever read his favorite book. He BROUGHT me his favorite book, all wrapped up in this cute and awkward lawn gnome wrapping paper. It was the sweetest thing. The book is called "Un luogo chiamato LIberta" or in English "A place called Liberty". Have you guys ever read it? It's a big book and it's in Italian! I'm stoked to read Italian books when I get home. How cool is that?! AND to make things cooler, he plays the mandolin! He has like 5. Scratch that, he does have 5. I told him who my favorite mandolinist was and he's gonna check him out this week. What a fun little moment right? Who would have known 2 years ago that I'd be here, in La Spezia, Italy, just talking mandolin music with some guy named Antonio. Sometimes I have moments that I just back up and look at my life and just think, "Man, didn't see that happening 2 years ago...or even a week ago." hahaWell, I don't really have anything crazy rad to tell you about this week. I'm still in Florence for today and we'll probably go back to La Spezia tomorrow morning. Forecast for the next six weeks of my life: La Spezia! Then after this transfer...I'll just have one measly transfer left. Yuck. Too fast. I've been talking a lot with Sorella Hughes yesterday and today about how she's feeling and how her mission's going and stuff. It's been so nice to talk to someone from my group and see what's up. I feel less crazy at the fact that we're feeling a lot of the same things and it's been nice. Anyway, I hope you all have a marvelous week. I'll let you know how everything going week 1 of transfer 11 next week. Take care. Lots of Italian love, Sorella Hansen

Homemade Pasta, a CHASE, Fasting for Referrals‏

Hey fellas! Sorry I really don't have a lot of time to write this week so it will be brief. This week has been good. A member taught us how to make homemade pasta which was a delight!! I was hardly complaining. On the contrary! It was a solid good time. and it wasn't even that difficult to make is the kicker. Why don't we all just make homemade pasta like the Italians? It was pretty good. I took plenty of notes so hopefully I'll be able to conjure up something that resembles pasta when I get home. I make no promises though. :)Well I got to go pick up my Permesso di Soggiorno this week. I have tried to explain this several times but the name of whatever it is in English has vanished from my mind. Oops? It's the document that makes it legal for me to live here. So we went on Thursday and waited in this lengthy line and my companion and I noticed someone in the line. Well...if I have to be honest we were playing a game that we were trying to guess where everyone in the line was from. ha ha racist? Hope not! Anyway we noticed someone who totally looked Italian. He was like 7 people behind us in line. He stumped us. So...me being the random person that I am, I suggested that we should guess what his name is, what he's doing here, etc. What is this guys story? (If you think this is 300% creepy, it really wasn't, but permission granted.) I just find myself fascinated with people sometimes. I just want to get the whole scuttle on who they are. I dunno. I can't explain it. Anyway, so we played this little game, I got my permesso, and then we left to take the bus. As we were waiting for the bus I was like, "Sorella, we need to talk to him about the church." She kind of laughed because I don't think she thought I was serious. She was like, "Well, if he gets out in time and takes the same bus, then we'll talk to him." So we got on the bus and he still hadn't come out of the building where we just were. I was panicking and was like, "Seriously Sorella we need to get off this bus." The bus pulled away!! I rang the bell to get off at the next stop and we were both kind of nervous because we didn't know what to say or do really. We got off at the next stop and ran back. ha ha I'm sure we were quite the sight. We got back to the building and he was still in line. My companion was like, "This is creepy." She wasn't really stoked about what we were doing. I really couldn't even explain it but the more I looked at that guy in line the more I felt the desire to talk to him about the gospel. So there we were standing there trying to think about what to say and then ...he came out! He walked on a different staircase and was going in the opposite direction. Nice. I just looked up at the sky and smiled and thought, "So this isn't going to be easy for us huh?" ha ha So we started walking after the guy. My companion was still saying things like, "this is creepy." And I was just like, "Dude, you go home in 2 weeks. You will never see this guy again. We're here to share the gospel. We are confident, happy people with something to say. What is creepy about that?!" So....we may or may not have run after this man and stopped him at his car to talk to him about the gospel. ha ha It was an adrenaline rush because I've never done anything to that extent. I remember thinking in my mind, "You know all of those "open your mouth" scriptures...well I'm gonna do just that but oh buddy somebody had better put some words in there because I've got nothing." And I dunno. It was really cool. He was totally nice and wasn't weirded out at all about the fact that we kind of chased him down to talk about the church. He originally told us that he isn't super religious but we were able to bear our testimonies to him and give him a pamphlet with our number on it. He was really great. I'm really glad that we took that leap. I'm so thankful for the faith that we were given to do that because I was a bit nervous but ...it was crazy cool. By-the-way, his name's Pablo. He's from Argentina and he's here to play rugby. I was way off. :)Last week my companion and I fasted and prayed over our ward list and decided on a family that we wanted to ask for a referral from. We went over to the family's house that we felt strongly to ask and presented the message. It went really well. They were really excited that they were an answer the missionaries prayers. And they're really excited to fast and pray for a referral. We're going back this week to see what they've come up with.Anyway, sorry this is a random, awkward letter but...why then is it different from anything else that I send home? Hummm....WELP! I really gots to skedaddle!! Thanks for your letters and love. You're in my prayers...even if they're in Italian...they still totally count! Read your scriptures. They'll kind of rock your socks...daily. Italian love from my heart to yours! Sorella Hansen

brown sugar + chocolate chips = an inactive and investigator in church!!‏

14 lengthy years ago, two sister missionaries made some scrum-diddly-umcious chocolate chip cookies for Sonia. (Sonia has been a member for a long time...but has also been inactive for a large part of that time...like right now) Sonia's eyes got huge! It was clearly one of the best things that she'd ever experienced, and a moment that she would never ever forget. EVERY time missionaries would come over in the passing years, she would recall with PASSION this experience of tasting her first chocolate chip cookie in hopes that the current missionaries could make this moment, once again a reality. By inspiration of transfers (because obviously transfers are expired...wow..haha I meant INspired to the max!) my companion and I have had the privilege to be let into Sonia and Alessandros home--after them not accepting missionaries for a long while. But perhaps even more inspired then THAT is the fact that our district leader has a father in the military. What does this MEAN you might ask? Ha. Why it means that he, until the ripe ol' age of 21, has access to the military base near Pisa, which contains our two missing ingredients for chocolate chip cookies: Brown sugar and the ol' chocolate chips themselves. They went to the base while we were in Pisa and we sent them with money for these two items.
January 25, 2010. My companion and I (after having had this appointment cancelled on us 4 times...) finally got ourselves into an appointment with these guys and right after the closing prayer we pulled out ONE beautiful, golden brown cookie. Sonia said with semi-faked excitement, "A cookie." I realized what the problem was. She didn't understand what kind of cookie this was. I told my companion to adjust the saran wrap so that Sonia could see the little drops of chocolately goodness known to us as chocolate chips. My companion adjusted the saran wrap just so, so that as I have said, Sonia could recognize what we had brought into her home. Her expression changed drastically. She gasped! "Is that HIM?" (the word for cookie in Italian in masculine, hence the 'him') She said again with more anxiety, "Sisters, is that HIM!?!" We smiled and nodded, and I kid you not, Sonia starts crying! Tears falling down her face, dare I say a good three. She is SO excited about this moment. But alas, we are sister missionaries and have a point. We give her the cookie and she splits it between her and her boyfriend Alessandro. They eat the cookie with exaggerated slowness, eyes closed, and a dopey grin on their faces. Alessandro told us that he felt the spirit when he ate the cookie. My companion and I were busting up the whole time. She told us that it was JUST how she remembered. We explained that there was a reason that we only brought one cookie and not a whole plate. Up until this point, they've let us have appointments (though not as often as we'd like), they feel the spirit, and they recognize the need to change certain things in their lives. However, they have not set foot in church since we've been here, nor a long time before we've been here. We explained the importance of hungering spiritually. We read a couple verses from that marvelous book of scriptures called the book of Mormon. (Enos 1:4, 3 Nefi 12:16, and 3 Nefi 12:8) We talked to them about a couple of things.1. They've got hungry souls. How do we feed a hungry soul? Welp, read your scriptures every day (WHICH we found out they've been doing AS A FAMILY since our last appointment. woot!!), pray everyday, get your body to church on Sunday because you've got to feed your soul.2. When we go to their house. They love it. They feel the spirit. But they're only eating like...A chocolate chip out of a chocolate chip cookie (spiritually speaking) ;) Pick up the spiritual cookie and just eat the crap out of it! Why are you nibbling on something that makes your soul feel good? Your hunger for that cookie is never going to be filled until you eat it. Likewise, your hunger for righteousness and spiritual things will never be filled until you're righteous and you do spiritual things. We know that the spiritual cookie is good. It's hard to watch them just nibble at it and not enjoy it like it should be enjoyed.The lesson went well. In fact, Sonia understood what we were trying to teach before we even taught it. After she finished her half of the cookie she said, "wow that was good. Imagine. If a cookie can bring me this much joy, how much joy would it bring me to keep the commandments." BAM! Alessandro, who is not YET a member of the church, said that he's been reading the scriptures lately and that he knows that it's true. He said that many missionaries in the past have given him a book of Mormon and he's never read it. But he's reading it now. He loves it and he just keeps wanting to read it. Yeah baby! That's because you're soul is gettin all drooley over somethin that is bringing delight!THEN came the invite: "WILL you take a bite of your spiritual cookie and come to church on Sunday?" Are you guys ready for this? Here's their answer. Without hesitating, and with decision, they say, "Si". What?! No excuses? No hesitations or "We'll see"?!? Oh how my heart just wanted to explode with joy. I love when people are more then willing to do what is necessary to continue having the feelings that they feel when we teach them. I love when they do their part. When they take the steps. I LOVE that. I went home that night, wrote in my journal and just thought, "Man, these are the days that I LOVE being a missionary." Sorella Hansen

P.S. Eat your spiritual cookies k?

Pisa, Special Fasts, Finding work!‏

This is Ariel, He's the elder's investigator. He came with our district to a Naval museum. The museum was kind of a bust but the company was a solid good time!

Sorella Skabelund, Sorella Hansen

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Well BUON to the GIORNO!!Pisa proved to be a romping success. We had a splendid time admiring the leaning tower and taking the classic embarrassing pictures of how we're leaning on it and holding it up. Ah the stupid things that we do for an entirely unoriginal picture. ha ha Whatever. I still walk away lovin my life so...no complaints. In other news the scarf scene was a complete letdown. I was so excited to drop like 50 yen on scarves but the lady wouldn't even bargain with me. What is that?! So, I kept my dignity and walked away with a little drawing of Pinocchio. Please judge me. ha ha Well this week did not fail to bring the crazy unpredictability's as every week. We purposely didn't set very many appointments so that we could find more people. We even did a special fast so that we can find more people to teach who will keep their commitments and progress. Testimony of fasting? Check! We found an investigator that day named Davide doing some survey! He's pretty rad. We left him a pamphlet the first time, set up a return appointment and met with him the very next day and taught him about the restoration. It was cool. Apparently many years ago the missionaries used to go to his family's house and teach his mom. We're all over that!Then on Monday Sorella Skabelund and I had about a half an hour before our appointment with the Acevedo clan. I was like, "Hey we haven't done house yet today. We gots a goal to do house everyday." So we decided to knock the palazzo right across the street from the Acevedo family. The very FIRST citofono (Err...don't know how to say that in English. It's like...let's just call it the 'doorbell', to make things simple) a man answered and buzzed us into the building! We talked to him at his door for like 10 minutes and got his phone number and taught him a bit about the church. Bizangin'? Yeah, you could say so!We got another last minute phone call this week asking for a musical number in church. So...we threw together an ol' piano duet. I'd played it before the mission with my sister so I already knew it. It wasn't perfect but I think it was still pretty and was fun I suppose.Well things are going forward. There is still lots to do but I have found that as I set honest goals that I have been able to make improvements and seen huge blessings. Heavenly Father is helping me with the language and to become a better missionary. Of course...He's also showing me plenty of things that I need to improve. Thankfully it's a nice balance. :)President stopped by ol' La Spezia yesterday to interview us. It was a good interview. And I didn't not put up a fight about the fact that he brought love in physical form! Yup, Mail! It was so great to hear from you guys. I'll be writing you back on the double. Keep reading your scriptorials. I find out every morning that they're STILL true. Crazy right? Keep saying those prayers because Heavenly Father listens to ya and loves hearing from you more than I do...and that's a lot!! Go to church. Yup, all three hours. There's nothing better you could do with your time AND you get a nice dose of blessings for your attendance so...yeah. I'm grateful to the max for the things that I'm learning out here. I know it's where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing. I love you guys a lot and hope that you're loving your lives. Love you more then Peppermint hot chocolate on a startlingly chilly day! Sorella Hansen

The tower that leans, Building on ROCKS, Zone Conference‏

With my dear Sorella Chessman. This girl is nothing but a delight. Unfortunately, she got herself transfered off the island so... I see much less of her. :(

Beautiful Cagliari

P-Day: Walter took us to go see a casle and a beautiful view of Cagliari.

This is where I live / Preach the gospel!

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Hey fellas!! I'm writing you this week from a jolly ol' town called Pisa. We decided to actually do something killer for P-day so we thought we'd give the ol' Leaning Tower a shot. I'm actually super stoked about it. I saw it about two years ago with a dear friend but...can't hurt to see it a second time right? Aaaand the fact that they sell pretty scarves and heartbreaking ties right in front of the tower is hardly a disappointment. I've started a nice collection. :) We had a really cool lesson with an inactive family this week. It's a single mother of two and they haven't been to church in like a month! And...we really want to help her daughter get baptized. :) So we went and saw them and we taught them that "Wise man built his house upon a rock" little diddy. We got the kids all in on the actions which kind of worked. Then they were kind of too A.D.D. for the whole song with actions. My heart went out to people with callings in the primary. I eventually resorted to desperate measures to get their attention and started awarding them imaginary points for good behavior. Ex. "Ten points for whoever does the actions the best!" "18 points if you can tell me what the wise man build his house on." Actually it got them to participate and I have not the slightest clue of why the imaginary point system was appealing though I did not find myself complaining! So we taught a lesson on how WE can build our house upon a rock. We talked about how even though one built his house on a rock, and the other on the sand...it still rained for both of them. I think sometimes we think that as long as we have our lives built on concrete things---on the teachings of the church, following the Savior---we think that we're good. But the rain still comes. We still have our trials and difficulties and hard things to deal with. BUT when we build our lives on things that are concrete, then we will be secure when the trials come and we won't worry about it. Anyway, I can't believe I just spent like 15 minutes of my internet time talking to you about that primary song. Take it for what it's worth! Even if it's not much. We had Zone Conference in Florence! Two beautiful things that I love about every transfer. Zone Conference where we get to learn crazy cool ways to improve our work and be better missionaries AND we get to see other missionaries that we know and see how much they've grown and changed. Sorella Hughes and Sorella Watson are in my zone. (They were both in my MTC district ) It was a pleasant moment indeed to see them and see what amazin' missionaries they've become. I can't believe it. In a lot of ways I still feel like a kid in the mission. It's cool to see the people that they've become. The mission changes people. It's pretty legit. Aka...amazing.Well I gots to be a-jetting. On the trainride home I tried to talk to an African man in french and...it was kind of an explosion in my face. ha ha It's like I hadn't ACTUALLY studied french for 6 years. What the?? So...I was surprised that I was able to make awkward small talk...though the little accent that I once had in french has now gone to the wolves! Whatever! At least I can get my point across in Italian. THAT is something that I will count my blessings for daily! ANYWHOODLE, I hope that everything is going fantabulous for you guys. Behave yourselves, get to church every Sunday, read those delightful scriptures that are--by-the-way---still true, and just enjoy your lives k?? Talk to ya more next week. Til then, Sorella Hansen

New year explosions, Mute, Writing down my life‏

On the boad BACK to Cagliari with my new companion Sorella Nelson. It's like 11:30 p.m. because we had to wait for quite a while to get on. So, if I look sleepy-kins...that's because I am.

Family Home Evening at the park.
Me, Sorella Nelson, Sabbrina, Sorella Saffina, Carla Saffina

Paolo & Walter their first Sunday with ties!

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BUONGIORNO!!! Well how was er'bodys New Year?!? Hopefully pleasant and full of off the chain good times. What do the missionaries in the Italy Rome mission do for New Years you might ask? Well, let me tell ya. We spend the entirety (you know me...spellin'?!) of the first day of the year cleaning our apartment from top to bottom. The night before we were instructed to go home a little early because these Spezians get a little crazy at the end of the year. Understandably so though, who doesn't? So we went to bed at 10:30 and then set our alarm clock for 11:45 ha ha yeah yeah I know that you all actually stayed awake for the big moment but...we're sister missionaries and have the sleeping schedule of a new born child. Try not to judge k? Anywho, so we woke up to all kinds of bombs going off! I guess here, instead of pretty fireworks being the bees knees it's more of a mentality like, "As long as it makes a big BOOM, I find myself satisfied." Well big booms were heard indeed. Then...we went back to bed and woke up to cleaning our house. Best of times. My second of two new years in Italy. CRAZY SAUCE.Funny moment of the day. I've been reading Jesus the Christ lately and I've been learning lots of crazy cool things that I didn't know before...yeah...like it's almost embarrassing. Well yesterday I had read the chapter about how the angel Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ like 3 months apart and stuff. Anyway so I read about the situation when he announced John the Baptists birth. (I was completely uneducated on this matter.) So when we were leaving the apartment we got in the elevator and my companion was being awkwardly quiet and ...mimey. (I spell like 3 year-old! Judge me not.) So being completely confused by this behavior I just said, "Oh I get it! You're being Zacharias after he heard that his wife was gonna have a baby!" She laughed and then our day was filled with words again. Tell me honestly: Scale of 1 to 12.45, how sublimely awkward is it that I make scriptural references to my daily life? Lemme know!!We had a pretty big step back with our family that has baptismal dates. Pretty much the wife called us and told us that the husband is still drinkin' really heavily and treats his wife very very poorly when he drinks. Ah, I just felt sick. We've been working so so hard with this family to get them to progress, to help them strengthen their testimonies, to help them have a happier family. It was just something really hard to accept. But after a bit I tried to see what we could do with this situation, what we could learn. Both my companion and I felt strongly that we need to step up our finding work and find new people to teach--because the people that we're teaching now aren't making the progress that they should be making. We're going to step back a little bit and see if they miss the message, the spirit. In the meantime, my companion and I feel we've got to find those people who WOULD progress if they knew about the gospel. We're still working with our old investigators, but they need to make some progress.So...we've been setting aside time everyday JUST for doing some killer finding. I actually really enjoy doing finding work. I'm totally awkward at it but it really makes me feel like a missionary. I love bearing my testimony to people. I love at least giving the opportunity to accept the restored gospel. And it's really cool to look back afterward and see all of the ways that God blessed us and directed us. Ah, it just feels good.Yesterday we had a crazy cool experience with a family that we're working with. The wife is an in-active member and the husband is not a member. When we first got here to La Spezia we decided to just drop by their house and meet them and they let us in! They let us help clean their house a couple of hours a week and through that, they are now letting us work with them and teach them. We taught them last night and it went oh-so-well. Alessandro, the husband, was really touched last night and did some really great reflection. He let us give him a Book of Mormon (he's a hard-core catholic...well, welcome to Italy) and he is committed to reading it. They've born their testimonies to us several times that they know that we're here to help them and they're just really humble amazing people. I am so excited to keep workin' with them and seeing the changes that the gospel brings people to make.Well the work is going well. I notice new parts of the city all the time and just look at groups of palazzos like, "Oh dangit, there are a LOT of people there that don't know about the gospel yet." I try to fight the urge to hyperventilate and we start one house at a time. :)ALSO...I got a new journal!! I know that you all care. I'm going on my third! How awkward is that?! My life before the mission is probably contained in a half of a journal and it's almost painful to look back at some of the awkward moments of my life that I felt to record on paper. But alas, I actually love looking back at my journal in the mission. I haven't written everyday like I initially wanted, but I have written every transfer! ha ha It's been amazing to look back on experiences that I've had earlier on and remember those moments so vividly. It's also been really eye opening to look back at me and the person that I was and sometimes laugh at some of the things that I did and think about how I would do things differently now. It's been cool to watch the process that God has not only been doing with our investigators, but with His missionaries. Surely I will look back on this time of my mission in a couple of months from now and laugh but that's okay. I am hardly perfect...as if that isn't wildly apparent. But I learn little things here and there everyday. It is a blessing indeed to serve a mission. It's like as cool as...Peter Pan learning to crow. Or...Jack Sparrow becoming captain of the Black Pearl BUT obviously oodles cooler. ANYWHO, officially signing off because I have gone far too far. Ciao for now! La Spezian love, Sorella Mally Hansen