Break through, 12 apostles, Old woman and van mishap

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