because it was a branch working solely with English speakers and I
wanted MORE THAN ANYTHING to work with/speak with Italians? Yeah. That
was pretty rough but alsssooo one of the greatest areas of my mission.
I'm hoping the same thing will happen here cause guess what? I was
transferred again! And this time to an entirely different country!
wat🙂
"Wednesday night gelato before I leave early Thursday morning"
Yup. For those of you who don't know, the Italy Rome mission consists
of mainland Italy from about the city of Perugia and down, the islands
of Sicily and Sardegna, as well as the island nation of Malta.
And I've been transferred to Malta.
Photo source: http://josephbraude.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/malta-country.jpg
Things that are new about Malta
- the LANGUAGE. Maltese is unbelievably hard but I've done this once
and I'll do it again. I'm struggling though trying to get used to the
fact that (practically) no one here speaks Italian. lol the other day
we were in a store buying something and at the end I said thank you
(in English) and then asked "come si dice grazie in Maltese?" (How do
you say thank you in Maltese?) and I didn't even realize that I'd
asked it in Italian. Luckily for me though, most people here speak
English as a second language so I can get by.
"Name of the church in Maltese ft. my new comp...does it look like Arabic? Yeah it does. Basically if you can speak this language, you can learn Arabic in no time. It's so hard thoð"
- people drive on the wrong side of the road and I've come close to
being run over so many times that I've lost count.
- people actually say "no thanks, I'm not interested" when they're
rejecting us. What? As much as I love Italians, usually they just walk
away or shut the door saying "no no no no no no no no no no no no
siamo cattolici" and that is a little disappointing. So when people
actually said no kindly, I was more than surprised.
- THE FESTIVALS. Holy goodness I thought Italy was crazy but noooo.
Apparently Malta is the party capital of Europe and EACH city has its
own day for what they call their feast, so wherever you go there's
always a party somewhere nearby...and fireworks, too. Man oh man we've
had fireworks literally nonstop since I've gotten here and while it
makes it hard to sleep I love it. I'd def be okay though if they
wouldn't do so many at midday.
- lots and lots of people from the United Kingdom. Besides the native
Maltese, we've got a lot of members here from somewhere in the U.K.
and I LOVE all of them.
- there are some other things as well but I'm a little all over the
place rn soooo I'll just stop the list here
As much as I love Malta though, I really miss Italy. And just like
when I was called to Palermo 3, I've been struggling with accepting
this as the will of the Lord. In the end, I know he wants me to be
here but my heart aches to go back to Italy. I also know that in the
long run, God is going to help me love this place and I'll never want
to leave. But right here and now, I'm still sad. I love Malta! But
I've spent the last 18 months of my life loving and serving the people
of Italy. They've literally become a part of me I've loved them so
dang much. Yes, they're unbelievably frustrating at times but they're
also some of the kindest most genuine people I've known. Soooo
basically I'm having an internal struggle rn over what's stronger: my
love of Italy, or my love for serving God? Because as Elder Bednar
said during this last general conference, it's really not about where
we're assigned to labor but just the fact that we're called to serve
that means something. And that's definitely been the first big lesson
God has taught me from being here: it's not where I serve but HOW I
serve him that matters. It's not about lifting where I want to, but
faithfully lifting where I stand. It's been humbling, and I'm still
working on it. But God is good, and life is beautiful.
Anyways! This past week literally flew by. We spent p day in Rome
again so I could say goodbye to the group of missionaries that was
heading home. I'm going to miss them!
"Saying goodbye to the sisters from my MTC group"
We also spent the remainder of my time in Ladispoli saying goodbye to
as many people as possible. It's really hard to do just one transfer
in a city and then leave. I really really REALLY loved the ward there.
I'll definitely keep in touch with them though SO there's nothing to
worry about.
"Saying goodbye to two of the awesome recent converts in Ladispoli"
Thursday morning we wake up to rain in Ladispoli (the rain thing
becomes more pertinent later just be patient) and get to the main
train station in Rome so I could meet up with the other elder coming
down with me, Anziano Boscan, who's also from my same group. We get
down to Malta and WOW ITS SO HOT HERE. We were finally getting some
nicer weather up north and I was thinking "yay we're having fall now
wooo!" And then I came down here where it's still 85 degrees and 90%
humidity most days. Gosh dang itðŸ˜ðŸ˜ buutttt Friday we had a giant
rainstorm come through...the same one that I had in Ladispoli on
Thursday morning😂 it was so bad actually that we couldn't leave the
house. We live in a hilly area and the streets outside literally
turned into rivers. Hahaha it was fun. We've done some finding while
I've been here and found a potential family! I'll keep you updated on
them. We also taught some recent converts and less actives who are all
awesome. Aanndddd I blessed the sacrament in Maltese on Sunday which
was literally THE HARDEST thing I've ever done on my mission haha. But
hey! I've learned one language already. I can definitely learn one
more!
Despite my heart being in Italy still, God is working really hard to
make sure I like it here haha. I think I'll get used to it quicker
than I'd imagine :)
"#nofilter #butforreals"
"Tiny boats lol"
Aanndddd that's about it. So! Have a good week errybody.
May the glory ever be to God
Anziano Hansen
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