Week 8 ~ Hallo hallo!

Hallo hallo! 

I love the Netherlands!! And I love being a missionary! This past week has been so crazy and fun starting to get the hang of missionary work. We knock doors every day and mostly just hear "geen interest" from people (zero interest), BUT sometimes we find that one person who wants to listen and that makes it all worth it! This week after many days of knocking with no success, a man named Michael accepted a Book of Mormon and told us he would read it! It was so great! Another miracle that happened this week is that our investigator Emiliano came to church yesterday with his two young sons! He could only stay for sacrament meeting, but he LOVED it and said he could feel the spirit so strongly! Yes! 

Utrecht is kinda crazy, but beautiful! I definitely was not expecting to be put in one of the biggest cities in the country when I first got here, but it's great! Our area is huge and we either bus it, take the train, or take really long bike rides everywhere. But it's cool because I love bike riding so much.

Dutch is coming along well! I maybe understand 50% of what's going on, but it's awesome! Hahahah. I'm learning a lot though and it helps to really be immersed in the language. Luckily literally everyone speaks English though as well. So if you ever really need to get a point across, you can just chuck in the English word and they all know what you're trying to say and help you learn the Dutch word. :')

This last week has been SO HOT though! Humidity is insane! It's been in the 90s all this week and I definitely was not expecting that. Plus, no one in this country has air conditioning in their homes, so we basically just drip sweat all day long. Our apartment has been 90 degrees when we come home for the night at 9 pm. But it's all good and these past couple of days have cooled down a bit :)

I love my companions! We get along so well and always have a good time knocking and getting ice cream (like every day haha whoops).

I love the Netherlands and helping people come unto Christ. It can be hard some days, but it's all so worth it. I know that the Savior can help us with all our trials and hard times, and he knows exactly how we feel. He is there for us and will make up everything for us when we fall short. 

Ik houd van jullie! Sorry this email is all over the place!

Zuster Fordiani (or Zuster Italy or Zuster Spaghetti as the ward members know me as...)

PS my new address to send letters to is

Dr. Max Euwestraat 10

3554 E2 Utrecht

Netherlands

1&2-Why did the swans cross the road? (I don't have a punch line, sorry.)

3- We live above the grocery store, so naturally we take the shopping cart to our apartment, duh.

4- Cat selfie with my new friend I made while knocking.

5- I love knocking :)

1,2,3-Nederland is BEAUTIFUL

4- We're obsessed with ice cream

5- Waiting for the bus

Week 7 ~ Utrecht!

This week has been so great! I'm here and doing well in the Netherlands! My first area is Utrecht, Netherlands! It is so beautiful! I'm in another trio with Sister Cathers and Sister Merz. They are so great! I love them a lot. Sister Cathers is from Nothern Ireland and Sister Merz is from Murray, Utah. We have a lot of fun knocking doors and doing missionary things together haha. Sorry I have like no time to email this week, but everything is super swell! 

I love you all!

Zuster Fordiani

1- President photo bombing

2- best breakfast of my life

3&4- Sister Smith and my bomb hotel room..

5- my new bike Maxwell :)

Arrived Safely... 1st location ~ Utrecht, Netherlands

Dear Parents of Zuster Fordiani,

We are very delighted to receive your daughter in the Belgium/Netherlands Mission. She arrived safely on Tuesday the 12th of July with a smile, eagerness to serve, some trepidation and a little jet lagged!

Thanks for preparing her to serve the Lord as she will perform a great work as a missionary.  We will do all we can to love her as our own and help her fulfill the call to be that valiant servant.

Her companion is Zuster Cathers and Zuster Merz and they will be serving in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands.

I am sending a few shots of the first day with her group, new companion, a Dutch lunch and President and me. Enjoy!

Gratefully with love,
Sister Bunnell

President Bunnell
Belgium/Netherlands Mission

Week 6 ~ Tot Ziens Murica

Well, this is it! We're off! We head to the airport in two hours. I can't believe it has already come, but I'm so excited.

This past week has been crazy and hard, but good nonetheless. Saying goodbye to our Suriname elders was probably the worst thing ever, but I know they're going to do amazing things and change so many lives. I seriously can't even remember what happened this week, I just know it was good :)

I have grown so much here at the MTC and have learned to trust in the Lord so much more. I have a tendency to want to do things my way, but I know that if we trust in the Lord, he will NEVER lead us astray.

In Proverbs 3:5-6 it says:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

I know that God has a plan for us and will help to direct us in the right way. I have seen his divine guidance in my own life and am so grateful for his help and direction. I know that being here on a mission is the most important thing for me in my life right now, and I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ can help us to have a sense of direction in our lives. We all have a divine purpose here on earth, and we can discover that through the gospel. If any one of you wants to learn more you can go to mormon.org or meet with the missionaries! :)

I love you all so much!

Zuster Fordiani

1-Awkward skirt pants

2-Dutchie zusters

3,4,5-Exercise shenanigans

6,7-Saying goodbye to Sister Larson and Brother Bonney :'( 

1- #districtjoosh

2- Our zone family 

3- Onze doden list (our hit list). We crossed out everyone who has already left from our zone and it turned into a creepy hit list on our door haha

4- Our thug welcome pic to the new Dutch

Week 5--ONE MONTH DOWN

Okay seriously time in the MTC is the weirdest. I feel like I just got here, but I also feel like I've been here my entire life. The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. Weird. I can't believe a month of my mission is already gone. It's kind of sad actually. BUT I get to go to Nederland in exactly a week! We got our travel plans and we leave next Monday on a straight flight from SLC to Amsterdam! Whooo!!

This week we had the opportunity to skype members in Nederland and Belgie! My companions and I skyped a wonderful member, Maria, from Nederland. She was sooo nice and we actually understood her Dutch fairly well! It made me so excited to meet all the awesome Nederlanders.

Oh and Happy Fourth of July!! On Friday we were allowed to stay up past curfew to watch the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire celebration down the road. We couldn't see the fireworks super well, but it was still a lot of fun. #murica

We also found a tree that smells like cream soda. No joke.

Haha and on family history I traced my family line all the way back to Adam and Eve. I also found out I'm related to Sir Lancelot. So that's pretty dope.

I had a lot of awesome personal study time this week. I absolutely love reading the Book of Mormon! It's so amazing to see how similar our lives are to the ancient inhabitants of America and apply their teachings to my life. 

In 1 Nephi 18:21 it says:

And it came to pass that after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm.

I like this verse a lot because I have definitely seen how much the storms and winds of life cease after I pray. My trials and hardships seem so much more bearable and God helps me feel calm. I know that through prayer we can speak with our loving Heavenly Father, and he will help us to overcome trials and will comfort and guide us through life. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and am so ready to share my testimony of its truthfulness with the Dutch people.

Ik hou van jullie! Tot ziens!

Zuster Fordiani

1- Fireworks!

2,3,4- Temple walk

5,6- Triplets! Zuster Mangum is a PRO at Dutch braids