Week 17 ~ Vocking Worst

Heilige Koe. So many miracles this week! This week I learned how important specific prayers are! On Wednesday or so, Zuster Merz prayed specifically for us to find one new potential. She had read about the power of specific prayers in her studies so we decided to try it. The day went on and we found no one.. but as we were unlocking our bikes to leave, a man came up to us and asked if we had belled his apartment building on Sunday. We said yes because we had, and then he went on to ask us what we were doing and what we believe. Then he invited us inside!! (That never happens btw). We didn't have time, but we are going to return this week! It was really cool to see the Lord bless us so specifically. On Friday I decided to try it again, and one of the first doors we knocked invited us to come back next Saturday. Finally, on Sunday,  Zr. Merz prayed for us to find one more person. And guess what happened? We found THREE NEW POTENTIALS. In one day. It was so amazing! That has never happened before. My testimony has really grown in specific prayers! I know that if you ever have need of anything, don't be afraid to be specific in your prayers. I know that the Lord will bless you and answer your prayers if you have faith! 

On Sunday, our new investigator Kester, from Africa, came to church and stayed all three hours!! We were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation the second hour and he said, "Why don't all churches know this!?" It was so cool.

Something funny: In a dinner appointment, a member fed us Vocking Worst.. when she told us what it was called we all choked because we were laughing so hard. She thought it was hilarious. (The v makes an f sound..) haha.

I love you all so much and pray for you! 

Love,

Zuster Fordiani

1-Carnival in Gouda on exchanges

2-The sunsets here are unreal

3-The elders... I just can't

4-Soaked

Week 16 ~ Dungeons and Dragons, Bible study, and a castle tour(!!!)

CRAZY WEEK. Like always. Seriously.

We had a lot of random stuff going on which is always fun. We had zone conference this week, which was fun because you get to see all your other missionary friends and get super pumped up about missionary work! Last p-day we had a zone p-day in Rotterdam and had a soccer tournament. It was super fun even though I suck at soccer hahah. We only have four sisters in our zone, so we became the four captains haha it was super funny.

According to Zuster Merz, this whole week I've been sleep talking in Dutch?! So I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully that can transfer over to when I'm awake lol.

We were knocking doors and this old man accepted a Book of Mormon and then gave us five euros! Haha we told him we couldn't take it but he insisted on us going to get a cuppa coffee... we tried to donate it to this huge church, but it was closed. I don't actually know where the money is now...

We randomly played Dungeons and Dragons with one of the elders investigators, Paul. Hahah it was amazing. We're going back today to play for a couple hours. I'm a wizard (Abish), Zr. Merz is an assassin (Teancum), Elder Roberts is a pallidin (Captain Moroni), and Elder Torrie is a ranger (Nephi). Dad--I'm sorry for making fun of you for playing D&D when you were in high school. I love you! ;)

We also got to go on a tour of a castle with the relief society! See photos below :) And yesterday we went to a bible study with a bunch of protestants.. it was super interesting!

Our miracle this week was our lesson with Michael! So we're actually not allowed to have lessons alone with men in a building--We need to have a third woman present, and we could not find any members that could come with us. He told us he would come for a lesson at the church, and we didn't know what to do because we would still have to have our lesson outside. Anyway, we arrived at the church and two women members were having a primary meeting there! It was such a miracle because we were able to have our lesson with Michael and address his concerns. At the end of the lesson he promised us he would read in the Book of Mormon and pray about it. The next day he texted us and asked for specific chapters to read. We assigned him Alma 32 and then he texted for more! It was so cool. I'm excited to meet with him again this Wednesday. He's a champ. His middle name is Kaas (cheese) and that's what all his buddies call him. Hahaha he's hilarious. 

Anyway this week was super random, but as always I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life every single day. I know that God loves us all personally and is aware of us and our needs.

Have a great week!

Zuster Fordiani

Photos from the castle!!

Week 15 ~ We´re not JDubs

Hallo! Not a lot of time, so here´s a quickie for this week!

Last p day was so fun! We went to Kinderdijk, which is a town with 19 windmills. It was so beautiful. See photos below :) We also accidentally rang a mosque this week. That lead to an awkward experience..

Pretty much everyone thinks we´re JDubs. We shared a little bit about our faith with a man at the door and told him about the Book of Mormon, and then when he was going back inside we heard him tell his wife, `JDubs.´ Dang.

Saturday we had a blitz in Amersfoort! A ton of missionaries and members all met at the church and then paired up to go out knocking. We were able to cover a lot of ground in that one day and find loads of potentials for the Amersfoort elders. Member missionary work is so important! 

Another cool miracle this week was that an American couple was visiting in our area and they had a friend here who they thought might want to hear the gospel. We met up with them in Breukelen and taught a 90 year old man a Restoration lesson. It was a super cool experience. Having members present in lessons really does make a difference. 

I challenge you all to do some missionary work this week! Hand out a pass along card to someone you know, give the missionaries in your area a referral, or invite a friend to a church activity. :) 

Ik houd van jullie!

Zuster Fordiani

1&5 Kinderdijk

2 Package!

3 Utrecht

4 Ranch doesn´t exist here... apparently it´s a secret.. Hence ´cool American flavor´

Week 14 ~ Amsterdam and continual miracles

Hey hey iedereen!

Sorry I don't have a lot of time today, so this might be short. This week was a little hectic, (like usual) but so good. I went on exchanges to Gouda on Wednesday, and because Zuster Merz is the sister training leader in our zone, she had to go to a Mission Leadership Conference so we traveled out and spent the night in Amsterdam with the sisters there and her and Zuster Cathers went to the conference the next day. Then I got to work with Zuster Lechtenberg (my MTC companion) in Amsterdam for the day! It was so great to see two of my old companions and have a sleepover :)

We are continually blessed with so many miracles each week. Our investigator, Emiliano, has been really sick and so we were able to have a member come over and give him a blessing. It was such an amazing, spiritual experience. The spirit was so strong and he started crying. We also had our first lesson with Michael, a new investigator, and he was talking about how he knows how much God loves us when he started crying as well! He was so confused and embarrassed that two girls on his front step could make him cry. We let him know it was the spirit and how much God loves him. Then, on Sunday, Michael and Emiliano showed up to church! It was Michael's first time at a church for 20 years! He said he had a really good experience at sacrament meeting. And Emiliano and his two sons stayed for all three hours and loved it! Emiliano basically fellowships himself haha he is friends with like everyone in the ward now. He is so awesome. It was such a great week.

I love you all!

Zuster Fordiani

1&2-Amsterdam

3&4-Our area is beautiful

5-Family photo! (Our district from last transfer) :)

​

1&2-berry picking

3&4-Dinner appts. are our fav