Week 20 ~ Kasteel De Haar & foo foo

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​This week was super good. I love Zuster Wilkinson!! We have been partying it up in the wonderful city of Utrecht. We had a great lesson with Michael this week about the Word of Wisdom! He is not so keen on accepting it yet, but we had Claudette with us as a joint teach and she helped so much! Joint teaches seriously make such a difference. I'm so grateful for member missionary work!

Kester fed us foo foo! It's a sort of African food made from potatoes, but it's kind of like the consistency of silly puddy and you're not supposed to chew it. It's pretty weird. It was good though! We ate it with chicken stew. Lekker!

We finally went to Kasteel De Haar on P-day!! It's the biggest castle in the Netherlands. It's literally a Cinderella castle. And it's so close to where we live! We're so lucky. Zuster Wilkinson and I were freaking out hahah but the elders were good sports ;)

Tuesday was Elder Roberts b-day! I made him banana bread and we stuck some candles in it haha. We also had zone training on Wednesday and we're starting to read the Book of Mormon as a mission all the way through before the end of the year! They gave us each a new copy and we are going to mark every time it mentions or refers to Christ and record all the names for Christ and tally how many times each name is mentioned. I'm SO excited. I've already started and it's so amazing to see how many times Christ is mentioned each page and even each verse! I love the Book of Mormon because it really is centered on Christ and we can come closer to him through reading it :)

I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, Zuster Fordiani

Week 19 ~ Food because... priorities

Hey hey iedereen. 

Transfer week was crazy but good. I got my new companion Zuster Wilkinson and I love her! She's super nice. We've been partying it up. It was sad saying goodbye to Zuster Merz, but I'm pumped for this next transfer!

On P-day we tried to go to the biggest castle in the Netherlands (which happens to be like 20 min from our apartment, who woulda known) but we got screwed over by public transportation. So we ended up at McDonald's. It was pretty chill. We're gonna try again today though.

Wednesday we learned how to make roti (I have no idea how to spell that). It's a Surinams food and it's these special tortillas with curry and oh is it HEERLIJK. We started out the transfer with finding three new potentials in one day! And we got our investigator Kester on baptismal date :) Hopefully Michael and Emiliano follow suit! I seriously love the people here. They are so stubborn and hard headed but so loving when you get to know them. One funny thing is that they do the kissy cheek thing when you say hello to close friends. So I was saying hi to Shauna and she started kissing my cheeks, but you have to do three kisses and I tried to pull back after the second and we ended up like half kissing. It was superrrr funny/awkward hahah.

We had a meeting in Gouda and I got a fresh, warm stroopwafel... so freaking yummy. And I finally tried oliebollen too! It's sort of like a scone. Sorry my emails are just always about food, but ya know.. priorities. 

Anyway I love you guys! :)

Liefs,

Zuster Fordiani

1-teeter totter life

2-finally got garlic nan in the centrum

3-Freaking chocolate butter is a thing here. CHOCOLATE BUTTEr

4-Mickey D's with the squad​

1-Zr Wilkinson!

2-Stroopwafels in Gouda

Week 18 ~ MAGGOTS and transfer calls!!

Okay this week was great but GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THIS MORNING LIKE AN HOUR AGO?!!?!? We moved our trash can outside on our balcony because there were fruit flies.. but you know what's worse than fruit flies? Maggots!!! Everywhere!! They were all in the trash can on the inside and outside of the bag so we decided to spray them to try to kill some and then they all started to crawl out and jump off the sides onto the deck! I almost threw up and then we dumped the old bag in a new bag and then took up all the floor boards on the deck and massacred those suckers. We stomped like 500 of them to death.

Anyway. It was a good week.

First of all Michael is amazing!! We had a lesson with him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he is so on board. He's still nervous about baptism.. he says he wants to know everything before he makes that decision.. We're going to talk to him about it more on Wednesday. But the lesson was amazing because he has completely changed! He came to our lesson more humble, less argumentative, more attentive, in nice clothes, and clean. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and he loves it! During our lesson he opened up randomly to one of the chapters in 2 Nephi where it's quoting Isaiah and he was so surprised. He said that's what he had had to read before he joined another church! I think it was a sign.. and then he asked to pray at the end of the lesson. He started out with a memorized prayer but forgot how it goes so he started praying sincerely. He asked for help as he takes these next steps and was grateful that we had found him. I think it was his first out-loud sincere prayer ever. After the prayer the spirit hit us so strong. We all sat in silence for 5 or 10 minutes or however long. I don't even know. Tears were streaming down his face and I think he may have got his answer :)

We also found a wonderful husband and wife who we were able to teach the Restoration lesson to! And they are both interested to learn more! Whaaaat?! So cool. They said we can return and teach their whole family! I'm so pumped! I've never taught a family before.

Conference was this weekend! I hope you all watched it because I only got to see the first two sessions. Which were AMAZING. Holy cow. I love how much was said about the Book of Mormon. I have such a strong testimony that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It has changed my life. And I continue to see the joy it brings into people's lives as they study the Book of Mormon.

TRANSFER NEWS: I'm staying in Utrecht! And i'll get my new companion on Wednesday--Sis. Wilkinson! I'm pumped to be staying in Utrecht, because we have amazing people here!

I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Zuster Fordiani

1-Elder Watson's granny. I LOVE HER

2-Frickin monkeys in a tree in a rich neighborhood

3-Exchanges in Amsterdam with Lechie!

4-Little froggy friend :)

5-With Sister De Vries :)

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) :)

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1&2-berry picking

3&4-Dinner appts. are our fav