Malta Mission - Week 21
A sad Good-bye, a Mission Wide Conference in Rome & a Baptism are a few highlights of our busy week!
The hardest part of serving a mission, is saying good-bye to our amazing missionaries when they are transferred or, are going home. Monday was a very sad day for us. Sister Hobby's mission had come to a close and we had to say our good-byes. She has been an extraordinary missionary, and her absence will be deeply felt by everyone in Malta. We will miss her delightful smile, her Australian accent, her vibrant personality, and her talent for bringing the spirit into her teaching. However, we are so happy for her to reunite with her family in Australia and embark on the next chapter of her life.
Monday night English Class
Institute on Tuesday
Wednesday night English Class
On Thursday, we flew to Rome for the Mission Wide Conference which was held on Friday. When we got there, our host couple was working the evening shift in the Visitor's Center, so we had them drop us off at the mall. It was so exciting to be in a real mall! In Malta, the shopping centers are so small, I don't think they deserve to have mall status! Due to our limited luggage space, we couldn't buy anything, but I enjoyed walking around and window shopping. We heard that Fratelli La Bufala was a great place to get Italian Pizza, so we had dinner there. It lived up to its reputation. It was very good!
We also found a great gelato place and it was delish!
The following day, we had an amazing conference with Elder Stevenson, which was attended by all the missionaries from the Italy Rome Mission. In the morning, we assisted in preparing a grab-and-go lunch for 220 missionaries. We had quite an impressive production line.
The conference was fantastic. Elder Stevenson took the time to personally shake everyone hands. We thoroughly enjoyed all the speakers and the messages they shared. However, the highlight for us was meeting missionaries from across the mission. Being in Malta, where we are quite isolated, it's an uncommon occurrence to converse with other senior missionaries. That evening, we had the pleasure of having dinner with a group of 19 senior missionaries.
We didn't get a picture of the whole group, but here's our table. The Hartshorns are on the left, serving a Military Relations Mission and then Launa Wyson is on the right (her husband is taking the picture). We really enjoyed getting to know these two couples!
Heading home from Rome! This time I was seated next to Sister Loughney and she and I talked all the way home. She is the sweetest thing! We sure love our junior missionaries!
On Sunday, our chapel was filled once more. A mission leaders conference was scheduled to take place in Malta the next week, with all 19 Mission Presidents from the Europe area in attendance. Elder McConkie and Elder Gerard, along with their wives, were in Malta for the conference and presided over our church services today. Several other couples were also in attendance for the meeting. Alongside our esteemed visitors, we welcomed about 12 friends and our devoted branch members. After our services, we enjoyed a Munch and Mingle. It was a great time for everyone.
Making cookies in Malta can be challenging due to the unavailability of certain ingredients. It makes it hard to make my simple recipes from back home. I love the Andes Mint cookies that are made out of a cake mix and thought I would try some substitutions to see how they would turn out. I usually use Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake mix and Andes Mints. But this time I used the Betty Crocker brand, which is expensive, but readily available here, and for the mints I substituted After 8 Mints. Although they didn't taste as exceptional as usual, they were still very delicious. I'm looking forward to baking them again soon.
The baptism of Emilio was planned by the Elders several weeks in advance for 6:00 PM, and Emilio was thrilled about it. What they hadn't considered was the end of daylight savings time the night before. Arriving at 5:00 PM to prepare, we were greeted by this stunning sunset, exactly what the elders envisioned for the baptism. However, due to the clocks being turned back, it was already dark by 6:00 PM. when everyone else arrived.
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All the missionaries with Emilio |
We had a great turnout. (The group picture was a little dark.) We started with a wonderful program followed by the performance of the baptism. We were exceptionally grateful that Christian, who has only been a church member for one year was asked to perform the baptism. He was excited and honored to perform that sacred priesthood ordinance.
Despite the cold water and darkness, Emilio's baptism at St. Paul's Bay was a beautiful event.
Following the baptism, I served my imposter Andes Mint cookies, and they were an instant hit; everyone absolutely loved them!
Looks like we visited a week too early! So cool you got to be spiritually fed by all those visiting authorities. I’m glad you got to try Fratelli La Bufala! Sounds delicious. You’re becoming quite the baker! I better up my game to keep up! That evening baptism actually looks really nice - glad Christian got to baptize him.
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