Friday, April 9, 2010

Jeremy Hanna




I was married to the former Andrea Sinden on 28 February, 2009 in the
Seattle, Washington temple. It took some time to find her. I told
her that I was looking everywhere for her but she said I just needed
to look down ;). She is not that short though - she is 5'6" and I am
6'5" so we kind of compliment each other in a wacky numerical
palindrome sort of way.

I consider myself so very lucky to be married to such a sweet,
beautiful, talented woman. She has essentially two degrees, one in
international business and one in opera performance :). She even
plays one of my favorite instruments, the cello! We got to perform
Beethoven's 9th with the Utah Symphony Chorus last Summer at the Sun
Valley Music Festival - so fun and one of my all-time favorite pieces.

Andrea and I have been happily married for a little over a year now.
I had been working as a software developer for the Church in the
missionary department until recently. A couple of months ago, I took
a job that has brought us down to Austin, Texas. We, along with our
three little cats made the twenty-two hour drive down here and set up
our little home. We are also expecting a little baby girl in August.
Fortunately, we have air conditioning!

Nice memories from the mission:
- Pesto and focaccia in Genova (yum!)
- Doing a special kind of sidewalk chalk mostra in Nervi on the boardwalk
- Humbling experiences with companions who taught me many great life lessons
- Singing at the 30th anniversary of the Church in Torino
- Teaching and learning from Pino Donato and Ezio and John Odigie
(from Nigeria) and many others
- So many other wondrous little experiences

I still think of friends made in the mission and pray for you. Take care!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Anna Johnson








Wow...14 years ago I went to Italy for the first time...

Today I'm living in Germany. My husband, John, is my partner in crime and makes me laugh harder than anyone else ever. Sixteen months ago I was blessed with our beautiful daughter, Isabella, who unfortunately inherited her mama's stubborn side, but is so incredibly charming and funny that we can't help but love her to pieces. I also have three stepkids, but only my stepdaughter, Maddie (7) lives here with us in Germany...she's my best helper and full of "spitfire."

John is in the US Army. We live on a base on the far eastern side of Germany near the Czech border. I've loved being back in Europe and I've been back to Lugano already to visit la famiglia Nardotto as well as others. We've done lots of traveling around Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. I was really excited to be here for the 20th anniversary for the fall of the Berlin Wall. I am glad, however, that we have another 2 years here...it just might take me that long to finally learn German.

I've been working the past 10 years in marketing for state energy efficiency programs. I can't do my job from Germany so I've taken a sabbatical and get to relax a little as a stay at home mom and play with the kiddos and eat cheerios and tromp around in the snow.

I love reading about missionaries that I "once knew..." My favorite memories are always of my MTC group, Lugano and Ilaria and President Clegg and Sorella Stephanie Smith...and pretty much the whole 18 months of my mission.

Our family blog is http://chuckleheads.blogspot.com/.

Later gators...

Sorella Anna (Johnson) Larson

Photos - John and I, all three stepkids with Isabella and my two girls...

Monday, March 8, 2010

Ryan Fairbanks







My wife, Brooke, and I live in Vernal, UT. We have 2 wonderful and happy girls, age 11 and 1. In the Fall of 2009 we purchased a ReBath franchise that covers Eastern Utah and Western Colorado, so that keeps me jumping and running.

Brooke is an amazing support and encouragement to me! She is the love of my life and my very best friend and cheerleader.

My in-laws live across the street and we love doing activities and projects together with the family band, arts council and church service.

Last Summer I had the privilege of staffing Woodbadge. The summer before I was able to help with Youth Leadership Training (Timberline). Both experiences were amazing opportunities to review and help others learn leadership skills.

Ryan
Thanks,
Ryan Fairbanks
435-781-BATH
1-800-BATHTUB

Monday, February 22, 2010

Jason Mulliner




I remember fondly the people, food, and lessons learned from my time in Italy. Some of the greatest moments were when I learned from my companions and leaders.

Sophia and I have been married for 10 years. We have 2 fantastic girls (ages 2 and 1) with a third on the way.

After graduating from BYU, I moved to Austin, TX where Sophia was finishing school. We moved to the Philadelphia area about 3 years ago. Currently, we are both in school at the University of Pennsylvania. I am getting my MBA at the Wharton School and my wife is getting her Masters at the School of Nursing. We are enjoying the East Coast but look forward to some day in the future to return back West.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Tony Mascaro




I still look back on my mission as a very important and defining building block to my personal life. I was fortunate to visit Europe on two occasions before the mission with my family but the Mission is what really drove my interest to move back here and be among the people and serve them. As you may well know, I currently live in Zurich and have been here for almost 4 years with my wife and 3 beautiful daughters, one of which just arrive in November. This is the second time I've lived in Europe after the mission. The first was a trial period (mostly for my wife) during my graduate program where we lived just across the boarder from Geneva, Switzerland for 1 year. I love this place and it remains very close to my heart. However the time has come for us to return back to the states where we can settle down for a while and take care of our children. I am happy to say that both my wife and I have served the Lord to our best abilities while we've been here and hopefully have helped plant seeds or strenghten others who have faced difficulty.

Thank you so much for your great examples and may the Lord continue to bless you beyond your needs and desires. I look forward to the opportunity to visit you guys now that we will be living in SLC again.

Un grande abbraccio

-Tony

Monday, February 8, 2010

Rebecca Ryan




I live in Buford,Georgia,just North of Atlanta.

Nikki DiPadova




We are expecting our 2nd baby in January...we are a little behind! ;-) If you would like to check out what is going on in our our world, we have a blog: www.mosley2006.blogspot.com