Week 63 Odawara Castle and Transfers!

Hi!

No time! Like literally only 20 minutes! So two coolest things:
Went to Odawara Castle today and dressed up as a samurai--see awesome photos below.
Got transfer calls! I'm leaving Shonan! I've been here for 6 months and I am going 1 1/2 hours away to Tama! I'm so excited for the new adventure and it'll maybe be my last area! Ahhhhh!

Love Sister Fordiani

Week 62 総大会は素晴らしかったね？

Hi!

Wasn't conference amazing? I loved it! I can't wait to re-read it over again and again in the next couple of months!

Today we went with Mariko, my grandma's best friend, to Enoshima island for her birthday! It was so much fun! We went after to the restaurant Eggs n' Things and I had a yummy breakfast eggs and sausage, but my companion and Mariko both got a mountain of pancakes that looked so delicious! It was so good to spend time with her!

Everything is going well! Thanks for the emails! Love you!

フォルディアニ姉妹
Fordiani Shimai

My girls at the temple❤️ and Elder Ford bombing in the back... 🙃
The rest are pictures of Enoshima island, the cave, and the restaurant!

Week 61 April! Whaz up?

Hi everyone😊😊😊

Gomen! Sorry I'm a day late! Temple p-day! So I'm typing this in the train right now trying to balance haha! Forgive me if there are typos because that's probably the moments when the train jerks and I almost fall onto the poor little old lady sitting in front of me...

This week was AWESOME! Seiji Kun got baptized yeah! Oh my, it was a beautiful, beautiful baptism. So spiritual, at first incredibly hectic, but soooooooo.....man there are not words to describe how much happiness and how powerful the spirit was.

Here's Seiji's story. So on my birthday last year his mom and him came to church. They had been to other churches before and his mom was baptized into another church. They thought church was fun and they wanted to go again (Roxana, his mom, said when they came to church that first day, that she was bringing Seiji to church to learn about Jesus so that he will stop misbehaving haha) So Wallace Shimai and I started to work with his mom because we are sister missionaries so we can't work with boys. And Seiji is only 9 years old! How cute right? So they came to church every week and we built a super strong relationship with his mom. I LOVE HER. And thought that relationship we discovered how strong her testimony is on baptism. She is kinda stubborn so she won't be baptized again... yet. But she told us that she wants all three of her boys to be baptized. Seiji Kun is the youngest and we gave him a kids Book of Mormon with the pictures. And he read the whole book in like 3 weeks! He said his favorite story is Abinadai. One night he told his mom that he knew that our church was the right church and he never wants to go to a different church again. So one night on the train I asked her if we could teach and baptize Seiji Kun and we took off from there! We taught him all the lessons and this last week we practiced his testimony at the pulpit and his interview. His desire to follow Jesus Christ is through the roof! He tells me every day church is his favorite place. After his baptism his mom called their family who is living in Bolivia and told them Seiji was baptized. I wasn't there but she said the grandpa was so happy! Their extended family are all members of the church 😊 at Seiji's baptism his best friend at church sang the Baptism Song and the spirit
was so crazy thick. Then Seiji gave his testimony we prepared and was literally shaking at the microphone so I came and stood next to him at the mic and he was able to give his talk. His testimony is the strongest about Joseph Smith. He said he knew the church was true when he decided that he was going to be exactly like Joseph Smith.

Two of our investigators came to the baptism, Jhoselin and a new investigator Margarita. They both asked after the baptism if they could serve missions haha and Roxana told me that she wants to get baptized before I go home to America. Good thing I go home soon because that means she is getting baptized in the next 4 months!
Yaaaaaaaayyyyyy! 😊💕

Soooooo many blessings! Sooooooo many miracles! Other awesome things that happened this week: Helped our English student Ali paint his house for like 4 hours! So much fun! I love service! The ward made me all kinds of special bread and pasta from rice so that I have more of a variety of food to eat ❤️ it's been a bit tricky with my gluten and lactose allergies (plus trying to read the kanji on the back of packages...) Became a traveling agent for a couple hours and called the US embassy in Tokyo for a member haha Had dinner with the Gaitau family!
Went to Spanish branch in Fujisawa with Gian and his wife on Sunday and they loved it! Gian Carlos has a baptismal date for May 7th the same day as Hasegawa San! So please pray for them! Today we're going to American Eagle in Yokohama! Yeah!

Love you all! Only a little bit left of my mission so working inspired and working hard!
Sister Fordiani

Week 60 Happy Easter!

We have just been blessed beyond measure!

Yesterday was the most amazing day of my mission so far! First off, it was beautiful! The Sakura (cherry blossoms) are beginning to come out! I am in a beautiful area to see the sakura in full bloom next month! Yay! Then we had an incredible DCS where we planned Seiji kun's baptism for this Saturday! The ward is helping out so much! They're incredible! Seiji Kun is getting baptized!!! Then as we waited for our investigators to come to church, first Seiji Kun and Roxana his mom came, then Hasegawa San and her son Ryouma came, and then Jhoselin and her three little baby girls came!! I was blown away! It was Hasegawa and Jhoselin's first time at church and they ate it up! They LOVED IT! So much thanks to God in my heart. It gets even better! We met with Hasegawa San after church back in Chigasaki where she lives and had an incredible lesson! We invited her to be baptized on May 7th and she accepted the invitation to follow Christ on Easter. How beautiful is that? I'll remember that forever. So incredible.

Sorry this is a shorite. But here are some other incredible things that happened this week:
I let Claudia cut my hair so it's short now! Haha!
I got a beautiful Easter package from my family!
We ate dinner at the Nishime Family's house!
We had a zone blitz in Odawara.
I received my death letter and filled out my flight information... 😷
We found a lady on the street who asked us to teach her English even before we mentioned that we teach free English! We can definitely do that for you! Haha! Awesome.
We watched meet the Mormons with Claudia and she cried! Good tears people! She loved it!
And my sister got her mission call to Belgium, Netherlands speaking Dutch!!! I'm so proud of her! Olivia you're amazing!

Love you all!
Sister Fordiani

The blitz-we were late we missed the photo but look at all these amazing people!
Odawara castle
Mission call!
Me and claudia's girls
Package and hair cut!
Dinner at Nishime's
Silly members! Gaitau family hahahaha!

Week 59 Shortie!

Haha this one will be a shortie! Gomen!

This week has been really good! We have started to teach another family! They also speak Spanish (of course) and their names are Gian Carlos, Deyanira, and they have two little girls! Every time we go over I play dolls with their daughters and we play catch too! Don't worry! I help teach! But it helps keep the girls quiet! Haha I love kids!

We also had a way sick tennis activity! I haven't played tennis in YEARS. And man I have no skill! We had an Eikaiwa student names Rie Sagawa come with her son who is Daniel's Japanese twin. (Danny, her son has the exact same birthday as you and you're the same age!) and another family came with their two daughters! They loved the activity! Yay! And I'm still sore from playing! Haha... outta shape shimai senkyoushi probs...

I gave a talk in church yesterday which went really well! I talked about family responsibilities! And I did it in Japanese! Haha gotta practice for all you peeps who will wanna hear some language skills when I get home... I'm really not that good at Japanese! I try my best though!

We found some water colors in our apartment and so I started to paint again! I used to paint in high school so I'm a bit rusty. Check it out!

Ummmmmm.... Today we are going to Odawara and we are having lunch with a member! Yay! Haha I'm sorry I can't think of anymore things! Please pray for Claudia and her daughters Akemi and Gaby! They are sick with influenza and stomach problems! They could use a prayer or 7!

I love you all!
Sister Fordiani

Paintings I've done in the last two days and Mt. Fuji!

Anna sending us a video message. :)

Week 58 More Rainy P-days 😭

皆さんおはいよございます！

This week has been full of awesome miracles! We taught Seiji Kun on Wednesday and asked him to be baptized on April 2. His mom and him agreed that the second would be a good day. Roxana has yet to commit to baptism because of some worries, but we love them so much and they both have awesome faith! Hasegawa San relishes in the fact that little by little she is learning more and more about Jesus Christ. She had only heard Christ's name once when we first met with her. But now she is understanding more and more how through following Christ's example her life can completely change for the better. Watching her testimony grow has been the biggest blessing in my life. She is so hungry for knowledge. Today we watched a video where Jesus is blessing the people in the Americas one by one. When we finished, I asked how she felt and what impressed her about what she saw. All she said was, "感動した" which means deeply moved. She said, "I can't explain in words what I am feeling, but I'm feeling it in my heart and I know it's good." 😊 Claudia told us what has been holding her back from coming to church! She has concerns with just about everything we've taught her haha. But we are so happy she trusts us enough to share her concerns with us. Her family is so beautiful. Last Friday when we we were together she said to my companion in Spanish, "I want my two daughters to grow up and be like Sister Fordiani". Claudia is so special. We also taught the restoration to Jhoselin! She is another mother of three cute girls from Bolivia! (I think I just might move to Bolivia because I love all of my Bolivian investigators so much!) The elders transferred out leaving us a bit small BUT it's so fun to work with Elder Konno who is my doki! Yay! The more I work, the more I can see God's hand in our lessons, our finding, in our investigator's lives, and in literally everything we do. There is no force strong enough to stop this work. Even all of my weaknesses in the language and just my weaknesses in general doesn't effect the amount of miracles that happen every day as long as I have
faith. "And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith he can do all things which are expedient unto me." (Moroni 10:23) Last but not least, in my studies this week I read the most beautiful words. Enjoy! 

"You are not forgotten. ...Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you with an infinite love. Just think of it: You are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time! He who created and knows the stars knows you and your name--you are the sons and daughters of His kingdom. The Psalmist wrote: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? … “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.” God loves you because you are His child. He loves you even though at times you may feel lonely or make mistakes. The love of God and the power of the restored gospel are redemptive and saving. If you will only allow His divine love into your life, it can dress any wound, heal any hurt, and soften any sorrow." (Forget Me Not: Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

The power of the gospel and of the atonement are real and it can
completely change your life if you allow it to. It's full of happiness
and peace.

Lots of love,
Fordiani 姉妹
Dinner at a members house with the district! These were on FB so you
might have already seen them haha!

Week 57 Rainy Chinatown Day

Hi everyone!

We had some really fun events! Yay!

The last two Saturday's we had some fun parties! We had FHE at our
church and Claudia Gushi and her husband came with their girls and
Roxana came with her son Seiji too! We played games and learned about
the sacrament and the importance of coming to church. Then this last
Saturday we had a Fiesta at the Shonandai church! So many people came
and the Gushi's and Roxana and Seiji came too! The members were
soooooo helpful for both of these events! They made time to come to
both of the parties which made the events even more fun and helped our
investigators see the super positive influence of the church!

On the way home I asked Roxana if we could teach her son Seiji because
he told me that he wanted to be baptized and he knows our church is
true! It was a really weird and random time to ask her because we were
standing on the train, but I was prompted to ask her right then and so
I did and she said yes! So now we are going to meet with and baptize
Seiji Kun who I adore! He's nine years old and just so, so, so cute!
Miracle!

Also, it's March..... where is the time going!?

Today we are going with Brother Ozawa, our recent convert, to Yokohama
and China Town to eat at a famous Chinese restaurant! I'm soooooo
excited! Oh and we got transfer calls! I'm staying in Shonan for my
fourth transfer with my same companion. But we were shocked to find
out that one set of our elders were closed!!! So now there will only
be two elders and two sisters in our area... Bring on the dating jokes
haha! We get so many dating jokes from the other missionaries! It's
hilarious. 😂 An elder I was with at the MTC is coming here! Elder
Konno! He's such a doll. He's this tiny little Japanese boy and he
legit looks like a doll. (I'll get a picture of him) I'm excited for
the new transfer. But I'm way sad to see elders Palomino and Brummett
leave. We've all been together for like 3-4ish months now! So sad.

Okay last thing! I felt like I should write some letters to people
from my last area! Nakano Shimai from Hodogaya got my letter, got my
new phone number from the missionaries in Hodogaya, gave me a call,
and then came and visited me in Chigasaki like 3 days later! I was so
happy to see her haha! She's so funny! And she brought me flowers! I
haven't been given flowers in ages haha! I love her!

I had some way yabai moments this week too.... They aren't appropriate
to share right now unfortunately because it's pretty kimochi warui,
but ask me about my first week of March when I come home and I'll be
happy to share haha!

Love Fordiani Shimai!
Our zone--Fujisawa
Nakano Shimai
Our district--Shonan
Claudia's Family
Roxana
Everyone at the fiesta!
Seiji Kun!