New Investigator, Adelle, Water and Italian Hospitality‏

I wanted you to see the saw-weet Italian street behind me but... you mostly get a close up of yours truly and a railing... sorry :)
Yeah RUINS!
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Well, what an adventurous week it has been! To start things off, it's been getting a bit hot in these parts. These days it's hardly out of the ordinary to feel like your whole body is just a little bit sweaty. Yup, it's yummy. ha ha Though I've heard that it gets much much worse. Apparently the temperature can get up to 40 degrees Celsius. I'll be 500 percent honest with you...I have no idea what that is in Fahrenheit...but I feel like it's not Cold weather! Oh well! I suppose I'll just have to make the sweaty, ravaged look work for me. ha ha Also, along with this fabulous weather I have been noticing a little something with my feet. The other day I took my shoes off and thought, "Oh mylanta, my feet look so dirty!" Well it turns out, I just have a tan line that makes me look like I have dirty hobbit feet. ha ha There are just so many funny situations that I'm running into as a missionary. You just have to laugh because there's nothing else to do. I'm gonna take a picture of my feet someday but I want to wait because I have a feeling this is just the beginning! My toes are glowy white and then there's a clear curve tan where the top of my feet are such a pretty brown! ha ha Best of both worlds?So this week has been fabulous. We have a new investigator! Woot Woot! We love new investigators! Her name is Bonaria. She is someone that Sorella Hughes and I met when we did house two Saturdays ago and I passed back with Sorella Bjarnason and ....she let us in! What?!? It was the first time that I've ever been let in doing house. I wished my life was on film and that I could just replay that monumental moment over and over. We went downstairs and met her son (He's probably like 30 or 40) and at first I thought he was kinda cold to us. He just shook our hands and then went back in his room. Then after a little bit of us talking to Bonaria she told us that her son is shy. AH! Lightbulb! I can see how he would be shy and not mad. That's okay! We can work with that! I asked her if he'd want to come hear the lesson too, but by that time he was in the shower so...yeah...no. We ended up teaching her the Plan of Salvation (because she's had a daughter that died in a car accident I believe) and it went really well. She understands the scriptures really well. It kind of freaked me out honestly because we were teaching about Adam and Eve and she seriously just understood it perfectly. So we'll be going back to see her again this week.I finally met an investigator that we have named Adelle. I met her for the first time this week and had our first appointment yesterday. (Other sisters taught her before me but she's been out of town a lot since I've been here) Oh my stars this woman is great. She's an older woman, probably like 60 but she's so cute I would think she was like 45 or something. She's so cute and wears cute little dresses, she's kind of a sass and therefore, I just already adore her! We talked about prophets and then shared President Thomas S. Monson's Conference talk with her "Finding Joy in the Journey". Oh man, she's the best. I'm so so excited to keep working with her. The elders might have a baptism on Saturday and if so, we're going to go out there and pick her up and bring her because she's just unreal! Man, I wish you guys could meet her, I just can't describe her properly. She's just marvelous. Oh, President's Interviews are tomorrow morning which I'm excited about. I love talking to President Acerson. He's the most amazing man. And along with the joy that comes from talking to the mission president...I will also get some mail--which we all know that I don't hate. :) And then transfer calls are on Monday! This transfer has gone so fast it's crazy. I'm pretty sure that nothing's going to happen to our companionship but you never know. I'll let you know next week.OH! Another little story before I say good-bye for the week. So while we were walking to Adelle's house after the bus stop, we ran into this man who was walking from one building where he was working, to another. Anyway he just looked at us and said, "It's hot today huh?" And we said yes. And he invited us to come into the garage where he was working to have a drink of water. It was this huge open garage and he offered us some water and we talked to him and his friend a bit before our appointment. He said that his brother is a member in Milano. He was trying to tell me that his brother joined the church in the 70's but I heard him wrong, and I said, "Your brother is one of the 70?!" And then he said, "What's the 70?" I ended up understanding what he ACTUALLY said and I happened to have the Ensign in my backpack that has the pictures of the prophet, twelve, and the seventy so I showed him the pictures and we had a good laugh about the whole misunderstanding. ha ha One day I will understand this language, but until then...plenty of good time misunderstandings. ha ha Ah..yes. How nice are Italian people by-the-way, that they just offered us water and they don't even know us? I thanked them, gave them a pamphlet (after our church chat) and we're gonna try to return and talk to them again.Welp, that's all for this week. I hope every body's doing so good and are having a fabulous summer so far. I love you and pray that you're happy and just having the best day, everyday. Italian love, Sorella Mal

Sister scambi, Finding Susan, 6 Numbers‏

Scratch marks for how many days they had to stay there. Count of Monte Cristo anybody?

P.S. I don't remember where I was for this picture... just that I had to donate like 10 cents to go in. Wherever it was, somebody was in there for a while.

P.S.S. I'm the worst tourist ever.

.... and MORE ruins ... "Singing in the Rain" style.

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My marvelous fam and pals~ As always this week was full of fun surprises, learning experiences, and other joyous things! I got to go on my first scambi! I was actually so excited! (A scambi is just a companion exchange). So the two sisters that are serving in the north of the island came down for district conference and I got to be companions with Sorella Chevalier (my trainer) for like 12 hours and Sorella Hughes (from my MTC district) for another 12 hours. It was great actually! I've kind of felt jipped that the sisters don't really do scambi's because they're such a great opportunity to learn from other missionaries. So anywhoodle it was great. With Sorella Hughes we went to do house in this area that my companion and I feel like there's a future member--for certain! I'm glad that I was with Sorella Hughes because she killed it! Holy smokes, she's so great at doing house. I will be honest and tell you that house is not one of my strengths...at all. So Sorella Hughes was great to learn from. She told me that she tries to just start teaching from the moment that they open the door. She has this philosophy that if you ASK them if you can share a message, they say 'no'. So right when they open the door, she just starts teaching. She's so bold! Many times after a door would slam in our face or someone would say or do something ridiculous we just looked at each other and wished we had it on film to show our family and friends. ha ha It's unreal sometimes. We were talking about how much we've both changed since the MTC. We used to work out together and talk about how cool it was going to be to be REAL missionaries and not just pretending to be missionaries in the MTC. It's so cool so see the great missionary that she's turned into. Then we did a little Zone singing!! Woot Woot! I love zone singing actually! It was the first time that I've done zone singing here in Cagliari and it's WAY different then Rome. In Rome, there's people that will stop sporadically and listen, and then you go talk to them. Well this night, they weren't really stopping. One of our Zone Leaders, Anziano Brewster was just kind of following people and chasing people down to talk to them. I was trying not to die laughing because I was not prepared for such lengths! ha ha But Anziano Brewster talked to us before zone singing and told us to all make a goal of how many people we wanted to talk to and I was thinking, like 5 or 6, because we had the whole zone with us and somebody has to always be singing in the choir right? Well then Anziano Brewster said, "How about we all talk to 10 people." Whoa. I was startled but was game. So it went super well actually. I ended up getting 6 phone numbers! I was so excited! That's like more phone numbers then I've received since I've been in Cagliari and somehow they found their way into my planner and I just felt like I got slapped in the face with blessings and don't know how it happened! Yet, I will not complain. I've been flipping through our area book at lunch time and stuff and there are some investigators from a couple of years back that seem great but our record of them doesn't say why we stopped seeing them. One lady in particular was really bothering me that her record wasn't updated and I just really wanted to know what happened to her. It has been quite the search but we found her and actually met with her yesterday. It was so cool because after talking to her for like 10 minutes I just knew that she needs us. It's clear. So I'm really excited to work with her and help her because she's wonderful and because we have what she needs. Punto. In other news, I have officially decided that I have no future as a park ranger. I've never really considered it, but it's official, it's not happening. 1. bugs find me irresistibly delicious, and 2. it seems that any leafy plant with in a 15 foot radius of me just completely rubs me the wrong way! It's awkward. OH! For district conference this weekend President Acerson came because he had to speak and therefore he brought the love of my life: Mail!! I had a package and all of the elders just flocked around and offered the assistance of their pocket knives because they were THAT excited about seeing what was inside. Needless to say, the Peanut Butter M&M's were satisfying for them and we had the usual discussion about why there's no peanut butter in Europe . Ah yes, the excitement as a missionary on an island. ...peanut butter M&M's. ha ha I'm just saying, those of you who write me and tell me your lives are boring...not true. :) Well, I hope everything's going SO well for every one of you and hope you guys know that Sista Hansen loves you guys and hopes you're blissfully happy! As always, there's Italian love gettin' shipped in your direction, Sorella Mally

Mothers day, Getting stalked, Zone Conference‏

Don't even know what this is exactly, but it reminded me of the Arc de Triumph in Paris so ... aka I love it!
Me and my 1st comp. Sorella Chevalier
If you look closely in the background you'll see something rare and hard to find..oh..yep... RUINS!

This is the golden plate that our English student Mohammad gave me... it's hanging in our bathroom.
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Happy mothers day to all of my family and friends who are, in fact, mamas!! Congrats on that! Mothers day is particularly enjoyable for us missionaries because we get to call home! It was a joyous day indeed! I was a happy lass! Although the time goes all too fast. It was so fun to hear their voices and talk for a bit. I only get to talk to them one more time and then I'm Homeward Bound. (Hey, isn't that also the name of that one animal movie where the dogs and cat get lost and fall down a waterfall or something. Wow, movies from my youth flashback. Yipers!) Anywho, I wrote a long beautiful e-mail and then it got deleted because my e-mail account has something vile against me. I'm trying to remain calm but just know that the e-mail that I previously wrote was brilliant!! So here is a story to get your hearts a-pumpin:Yesterday my companion and I were waiting at this bus stop by a grocery store because we were on our way to teach a girl English at her house. Well, while we were waiting I saw this car pulling in to the grocery store really slowly and the driver was looking in our direction so I tried to be a pleasant little missionary and smile and nodded. He continued to pull into the grocery store parking lot slowly---continuing to look at me (my companion had no idea any of this was happening) and I just tried to talk to her like no big deal and we were talking about our lesson for English class. Meanwhile this man pulls into a parking spot backwards and just keeps his car running. I was kinda freaked but just trying to play it cool and pretend like I didn't notice so that my companion wouldn't flip. So finally the bus came and I hurried and got on and thought the whole thing was over. I walked to the middle of the bus and looked back to see if the man had gotten out of his car to get groceries but ...negative, he actually pulled out of the parking spot, still watching us, and it appeared had every intention of following us! WHAT?! So I start going through my mind the different books I've read and movies that I've seen and am trying to come up with some clever escape. I informed my companion that we were being followed and since our bus stop was approaching I just decided to call our district leader and make him stay on the phone with me. So we got off the bus and I was talking to Anziano Pittson and I was right--this man had followed directly behind our bus the whole way and when we got off he drove slowly behind us. Uh....yeah, I was freaked. So since the street was a pretty fast moving street, I found some places that we could cross that would make it difficult for him to follow us (all the while talking to our District leader on the phone) and eventually we lost him. But my oh my it was quite the fright! End of the day it was a rare experience. I mean, how many people can say they've been followed by a 210% creeper on the Island of Sardegna? Perhaps not many.Also we had Zone Conference this last Thursday and it was great. President Acerson is the best! I just constantly write down everything that comes out of his mouth because he's amazin'. And another perk of zone conference is a little diddy that I like to call....POSTA! Yup, Mail! I love getting mail. Thanks for the letters guys. I'll be writing you back on the double! But until you receive them, just know that I wuv you very berry much and hope you're all healthy, happy, and not being followed by creepers. The church is true. Italian Kisses! Sorella Hansen

Birthday, Devil's Saddle, Mostra‏

Buongiorno!!Hey guys! So this week was fantastic actually! I have met more investigators and members and I have been feeling a lot better about the whole city change thing. I am much more used to the city and love it more and more everyday.Last Wednesday we had an appointment with an investigator who is 14 and she is fantastic. It's just her and her dad at the house so we had to sit outside when we taught her but it went really well. We showed each other our pictures. Sorella Bjarnason and I showed our pictures of home and of our friends and stuff and then she went and got her pictures and showed us. It was fun and I think we've got a better relationship now.On Saturday we went to do some service in the morning at an inactive members house. We did a little weeding. It was actually pretty fun. It's nice to do some service like that from time to time. It's just tranquil and I love having time to just think. Also, it was my birthday! Woot woot! the big double 2! It's funny because holidays and birthdays just obviously aren't the same as they've been all growing up but they're fun in their own missionary way. :) After doing service we went and worked with another inactive member for a little bit. And my companion is actually so sweet and wrote little notes all over the apartment (while I was in the shower I guess) just saying happy birthday and stuff. It was really sweet of her. And then on Monday the Elders brought me a cake to our district meeting and sang. It was so thoughtful. It was my first birthday away from home but it was a good time. And actually while we were weeding in the morning, we got a text from our 14 year old investigator (that we had seen on Wednesday) and it just said happy birthday. I didn't even remember telling her that it was my birthday but it was actually so cute of her.This morning we woke up at the ripe ol' hour of 5:00 am so we could do some hikin'! We met up with the elders and hiked up to a park high up in the city and watched the sun rise while we did our morning studies. It was so beautiful! Then we met up with a couple of members and investigators to go on a hike! It's called "Devil's Saddle". It's supposedly where they say Satan fell from heaven or something. It was a way fun hike. I actually love hiking around. It just reminds me of family vaca memories. It was really fun. Oh mamma it's so hot though. I'm afraid that I'm going to be a pretty color of red tomorrow because I have yet to invest in sun screen. It's on my to-do list! AND...we kinda got lost on our way coming down the mountain...like we took a harder trail that took twice as long. But I really can't complain. In moments like that I just have to think "hey ya know what? Sure it's hot and we're lost but come on! I'm on an island off of Italy. It's beautiful and...I would be an idiot to complain". And by-the-way, the coast was BEAUTIFUL! I probably took like 200 pictures of the same coast and lighthouse but whatever! I will not apologize for it!I've just been thinking, it's been a year ago this week that I decided...slash...discovered, that I needed to go on a mission. It's just so crazy to think about how much my life has changed in a year. Just thinking that a year ago, I had NO CLUE that I'd be serving a mission, going to Italy or even that this Island of Sardegna existed. But now I'm here. I'm a missionary and this is my home. It doesn't cease to blow my mind. I'm sure everyone's lives change from year to year but this is one of the first that have been this drastic for me. Unplanned. But I really can't complain. I mean...I'm sure if I wanted to complain...I could come up with some things but in all honesty I just feel very blessed. Missions are hard. My friends and family weren't lying when they told me this. Yup, it's hard. That's no new news, but it's also just an incredible opportunity. I've met so many amazing people and have come to appreciate so many things that I certainly took for granted. I'm so blessed to be a member of the church. I'm very very blessed to have my family who are members of the church, who love me and support me. I'm very blessed to get to serve these amazing people. I truly love the Italian people. I love talking to them on the bus, I love trying to speak their gorgeous language that I botch to the max, and I love learning about their culture and trying to understand why they do things the way that they do. So...I dunno, I've just been thinking about certain situations that are hard or trying how to handle or adapt to things that are difficult and it just made me reflect on something that my mission president told me in our first interview. He just told me to be positive. (I know, it wasn't as profound as your were expecting. Nothing unheard of, that is) But it's true, when you want to see the good and beautiful things in your life--if you look for them, then you see them. It's the coolest thing. Sorry this is so random and scatter brained, but end of the day, it's something that I've been trying to work on ever since I went to France and has been something really fun for me. I just love taking crappy situations that come, and find something funny or something cool about the situation. It's my favorite actually because we can't decide what things happen to us, but we can decide how we feel about it and what we do about it. Anyway, this was random, I hope you all continue to love me after this little diddy. :)Ooo! One more thing! WE did my first mostra on Sunday! I'm sure I've talked about Zone Singing before, but mostra is different. Mostra is where we set up a "display" and then we go stop people on the street and try to get them to come look at the display and let us explain a little bit about the church. Well I noticed a man sitting a little ways off but from time to time he looked over at us and I just kept thinking "somebody's gotta go talk to that guy". There were a lot of people in this palazza. But I just kept looking at that guy and was driving myself crazy so I went and just sat by him and we talked for like 45 minutes. It was way cool actually. He used to take the lessons from us before I guess. His name's Giuliano and he was great. He's coming to church on Sunday and we exchanged phone numbers. I'm really excited to work with him. I know this goes against everything that we teach children these days but...I love talking to strangers! Don't tell the elementary school children, but I really do! I think it's so underrated. If you guys don't do it...you should give it a try. It's pretty fun and who knows, you might met a new friend or something.Anywho, I have written more then necessary this week. I hope you're all healthy and happy and know that Sorella Mally is thinking of you on this little Island and is sending TONS of Sardegnian love your way!! Sorella Hansen

Ooo! Fun Fact: I'm actually closer to Africa in this city then I am to the mainland of Italy. Who woulda thought eh?

Buon Compleanno!

Happy Birthday Sorella Hansen!!!

Mallory, we love you and hope your day is full of Italian love and, knowing you, lots of new adventures! We are so excited and happy for you as you grow and become a stronger and more amazing woman each day of your mission. You are truly an example to each of us!

Lots and lots of Birthday love! ~ Your crazy Fam.

Birthday wishes or comments will be sent in this weeks e-mail so let's help her feel the BiRtHDaY LoVe!