Week 80 Last Email Folks!

Hey Fam Bam and American Friends,

Well, this is it. My last Monday. I can see my mom reading this right
now just peeing her pants on the other side of this email. I love my
trunky family in Utah haha. I love my family in Japan too.

Honestly I'm going to keep this a bit short. I want to kind of write
what I learned, but I'm afraid that this email will end up being way
too long haha. And I don't think any of you realize this, but when I'm
writing I have to proof read then go back and fix my sentences.
Sometimes they come out really funky and out of order... Thank you
Japanese.

I will just say that everything good about me now, I owe to my
mission. My relationship with God, my testimony, my knowledge of the
gospel, my gratitude for my savior and understanding of his atonement,
my ability to work hard, love more, serve, rely on God, and many more
things... all of these things came from my mission. And I'm super
grateful.

My mission homecoming is next Sunday the 21st, the same day as the
Sapporo Temple Dedication, so if you wanna come check it out haha feel
free! I'll be attending UVU that next Monday... Wow in one week I
start school. What in the world. So yeah! Can't wait to see everyone!
Thanks for your support of my mission! Love you.

Sister Fordiani

Week 79 Temple day-- Tama Family

Hi everyone!

I missed emailing Monday because we were at the hospital Sunday and at
home all day Monday. Gomen nasai m(_ _)m <-- bowing person

We're getting chotto yabai on time here haha! My mission is ending...
Haha but if you were to ask me if I was going home next week, I'd tell
you no. Hahaha! I can't believe it.

This week has thrown a ton of crazy things my way! Last minute trials
you could say, but it's cool that with a knowledge that God is behind
all the little details trials don't really influence me the same way
they did before. In all of the trials, one can always find tiny
miracles or tender mercies. If you are not carefully watching for
them, it's easy to miss all of the peace that comes from recognizing
the Lord's loving hand touch your life.

The first came from Itou San. We asked her to pray about her baptismal
date on the 13th and she decided to move her date to August 28th
instead. It was a bit of a relief because she really does need more
time to study the gospel before she is baptized. We're trying to help
her the best we can. The ward is working closely with her too.

This week we have been so busy with meetings! Tuesday was my final
Tokyo Temple trip, Thursday was my final mission leadership counsel,
and Friday was my final zone conference with president and his wife.
It was my last time attending all of these things.

The second started on Thursday when my companion said she wasn't
feeling well. She threw up that day and didn't eat barely anything for
the next two. On Sunday she looked horrible but still insisted she go
to church. At church she looked like she was going to pass out, and
the members noticed (thank goodness because, I love her to death, but
she is so stubborn!) We all basically forced her to go to the
hospital. When we went they told her she was dying of starvation,
dehydration, exhaustion, and they were freaking out haha. So in Japan,
if a Japanese person even has the startings of a cough or sickness
they book it to the hospital. It's part of the culture. We Americans
kinda put it off a bit longer to see if it won't just cure itself. So
when the doctor read her vital signs he flipped! She wasn't really
dying haha. She just has the stomach flu. Which is contagious BTW. So
I hope I don't get it. She was in the hospital for 2 hours hooked up
to an IV haha. We got hilarious pictures. 😂😉

The crappy part is that we are stuck here in the house until she gets
better. They said one week. But yesterday (Tuesday) when we called the
doctor again, he said maybe 5 more days until she is fully healed.
Haha there goes the last week of my mission. Just kidding, I am being
patient I promise. 😊😉

Besides those things we are seeing legit sick miracles as always! The
Lords work moves forward still. Even though we are stuck in our
apartment! It's awesome.

So this last Saturday before the hospital episode on Sunday, we had a
lesson with Miyoko San. We met at the library for a lesson. She is
doing so incredible. Especially by being so patient with my Japanese
skills haha. She is learning more and more about the spirit and asked
that we specifically study the spirit today.
We asked her to bring her questions about the spirit to this lesson
and she did. She had questions about his size and shape and if there
were a variety of spirits. We read together from the Book of Mormon in
3 Nephi so that she could understand more about how the spirit speaks
and works with us. We asked her if she has had the spirit talk to her
before. She realized that she has before, frequently in her life. But
when she had that peaceful direction, she chose greed instead of
following the prompting. I shared an experience of doing that too
haha.
Miyoko San said that recently she followed the spirit though. One year
ago she wanted to do hula. But when she got pamphlets and information
from all the different schools in her area, she just didn't like any
of the options. She was sad cause she wanted to hula. One year later
when she came to our church (last June) she was so happy to learn we
had hula classes and she felt like she needed to go. In the lesson,
she then recognized that that was the spirit working in her life. It
was soooooo cool!
We gave her a list of scriptures, about the Holy Ghost, to read daily
so she can feel the spirit more. We also extended a soft baptismal
commitment. And she said that when she knows it's true she'll
definitely be baptized! STOP, NO WAY! She shared a couple of concerns
with us after that, but we are so excited for her to receive baptism.
It'll definitely happen this year!

As we were leaving she said that next time her daughter might come
from Yokohama to join our lesson! She said her daughter was going to
come today, but something came up so she couldn't make it in time. NO
WAY! She's already sharing the gospel with her daughter!

Okay and listen to this! When we were waiting for a ride after the
lesson--we were going to the church to watch Meet the Mormons-- she
told us that last week she had work scheduled for three days in a row.
That is super hard on her body because she is sick. Her job is
watching children but she says they frequently fight and punch and
throw toys haha. (They sound like brats hahahaaha 😂) So this last
week, every day before those three days of work, she said she prayed
to God for help. Then she looked at us with a big smile on her face
and said, "Guess what, I was okay all three days!"  STOP, NO WAY!

Then at the Meet the Mormons movie later that night, she told us
another story. She said that this weekend she was planning on going to
her parents like she does every weekend, but this week on Thrusday
they called her and said they are super genki so she doesn't need to
come over. She was super surprised but happy because then she could
come to meet the Mormons movie and our lesson. Otherwise she would
have had to cancel both things! NO WAY! When she explained this
situation to us, she said it in a way where she maybe is starting to
realize how much the spirit is involved in her life! I think she
realized that God helped her parents so that she could come tonight.

During the movie there were comments made by all of the people about
the spirit working in their life which sealed our testimonies from the
lesson earlier. It was perfect!

It was awesome to have our investigators watch the movie and learn
more about what we believe. Of course Miyoko San came, but two of our
Eikaiwa students Yayoi San and Truly San came too. After the movie I
asked them what they learned and liked about the movie. And they said
that they didn't realize that our church was such a big organization.
They thought we were just a small church Americans brought over to
Japan. They all said that they want to learn more about the Mormon
church and that's the reason they came! Yay! Two new investigators!

Okay I realize this is a novel already, but I came across this in my
studies this morning and just had to include it. It's from October
1995 Conference Priesthood Session by President Hinckley. It's
beautiful. And it was a perfect check for me today to see if I have
been a good missionary. Maybe you've read it before, but I absolute
love it.

"I speak also of missionary service. I was recently in London,
England, and there we held a meeting with the missionaries serving in
that area. Representatives of the British Broadcasting Corporation
filmed part of the service. They are preparing a documentary of our
missionary work in the British Isles.

Prior to this I had been interviewed by a representative of the BBC
Radio Worldwide Service. He had seen the missionaries and noted their
youthful appearance. He asked me, “How do you expect people to listen
to these callow youth?” In case some of you do not know the meaning of
callow, it means immature, inexperienced, lacking sophistication.

I replied to the reporter with a smile, “Callow youth? It is with
these missionaries today as it was with Timothy in the days of Paul.
It was Paul who wrote to his young companion, saying, ‘Let no man
despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word,
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity’ (1 Tim.
4:12).

“The remarkable thing is that people do receive them and listen to
them. They are wholesome. They are bright, they are alert, they are
upstanding. They are clean looking, and people quickly develop
confidence in them.”

I might have added, “They are a miracle.” They knock on doors, but not
many are at home these days in a city like London. And so missionaries
approach them on the street and engage them in conversation.

It is not an easy thing for a sensitive young man or woman to do this.
But they come to believe in these further words of Paul to Timothy:

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” (2 Tim. 1:7–8).

They recognize that fear comes not from God but from the adversary of
truth. And so they develop a capacity to engage people in conversation
concerning their work and their message. They and their associates
will bring into the Church during this year of 1995 almost 300,000
converts. That is the equivalent of a hundred new stakes of Zion and
more than five hundred new wards in one year.

"Callow youth?” Yes, they are lacking in sophistication. What a great
blessing this is. They carry no element of deception. They speak with
no element of sophistry. They speak out of their hearts, with personal
conviction. Each is a servant of the living God, an ambassador of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Their power comes not of their learning in the
things of the world. Their power comes of faith, and prayer, and
humility. As we have been reminded, the work is not easy. It has never
been easy. Long ago Jeremiah said that the Lord would gather His
people one of a city and two of a family and bring them to Zion and
feed them with pastors after His own heart (see Jer. 3:14–15). In
terms of the individual missionary, the harvest is not great in most
instances, but in the aggregate it becomes tremendous. The work
demands courage, it demands effort, it demands dedication, it demands
the humility to get on one’s knees and ask the Lord for help and
direction.

I throw out a challenge to every young man within this vast
congregation tonight. Prepare yourself now to be worthy to serve the
Lord as a full-time missionary. He has said, “If ye are prepared ye
shall not fear” (D&C 38:30). Prepare to consecrate two years of your
lives to this sacred service. That will in effect constitute a tithe
on the first twenty years of your lives. Think of all that you have
that is good--life itself, health, strength, food to eat and clothing
to wear, parents, brothers and sisters, and friends. All are gifts
from the Lord.

Of course your time is precious, and you may feel you cannot afford
two years. But I promise you that the time you spend in the mission
field, if those years are spent in dedicated service, will yield a
greater return on investment than any other two years of your lives.
You will come to know what dedication and consecration mean. You will
develop powers of persuasion which will bless your entire life. Your
timidity, your fears, your shyness will gradually disappear as you go
forth with boldness and conviction. You will learn to work with
others, to develop a spirit of teamwork. The cankering evil of
selfishness will be supplanted by a sense of service to others. You
will draw nearer to the Lord than you likely will in any other set of
circumstances. You will come to know that without His help you are
indeed weak and simple, but that with His help you can accomplish
miracles.

You will establish habits of industry. You will develop a talent for
the establishment of goals of effort. You will learn to work with
singleness of purpose. What a tremendous foundation all of this will
become for you in your later educational efforts and your life’s work.
Two years will not be time lost. It will be skills gained.

You will bless the lives of those you teach, and their posterity after
them. You will bless your own life. You will bless the lives of your
family, who will sustain you and pray for you.

And above and beyond all of this will come that sweet peace in your
heart that you have served your Lord faithfully and well. Your service
will become an expression of gratitude to your Heavenly Father.

You will come to know your Redeemer as your greatest friend in time or
eternity. You will realize that through His atoning sacrifice He has
opened the way for eternal life and an exaltation above and beyond
your greatest dreams.

If you serve a mission faithfully and well, you will be a better
husband, you will be a better father, you will be a better student, a
better worker in your chosen vocation. Love is of the essence of this
missionary work. Selflessness is of its very nature. Self-discipline
is its requirement. Prayer opens its reservoir of power.

And so, my dear young brethren, resolve within your hearts today to
include in the program of your lives service in the harvest field of
the Lord as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints."

Isn't that amazing! I'm so grateful for my mission. Okay one more!

The Prophet Joseph once declared, “Where doubt is, there faith has no power”.
Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith!

 Went to Shonan to see the Gaitaus, Tatebayashi's, and Claudia
recently! Pictures below!

Love Sister Fordiani

1 MLC: Vainerere, Leach, and me
2 Our zone leaders ready to kill dendou!
3 photos and video of the hospital haha
4 Gaitau's house for lunch! Their new baby is so cute!
5 Claudia and fam! Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Week 78 Seeing Too Many Americans Lately... Why You Gotta Be So Loud!?

Good morning and welcome to this week's letter by yours truly: the
Peachy Fordiani姉妹

I'm really worry for not writing last week! We didn't shop for food or
do any p-day things last week at all actually. Hahaha. We went to the
Kyoumen Family's house and spent the day with Kyoumen Shimai and her
kids! Then we had a lesson at five clear across our area so we ran to
that and it cancelled 😭 so the Kyoumen's felt bad and invited us back
over for FHE and even more food! We ate okonomiyaki for lunch and
yakiniku for dinner! Delicious! I'll make it all for you when I
return! Now today is temple day! My last one! So we are heading to the
temple right now, so that means icky isogashii Tokyo trains... and
that's why I didn't write yesterday either.

So no mom, the reason I didn't email wasn't because of the crazy man
who killed 19 people in Sagamihara. We drove past that facility on our
way to Machida church Saturday though. I know all of the details for
that story if you wanna hear about it later.

If I missed emailing the week before last week too, it was probably
because I was tired haha. You kinda get pretty tired when you are an
obaachan missionary. We battle exhaustion with prayer, food, and
shopping so no worries. No time to sleep though sadly!

This week has been stellar! We have done some pretty crazy stuff!

Miyoko Aihara San had another lesson with us where we discussed prayer
and feeling the Holy Ghost. She said it's pretty hard for her to feel
it and begin to recognize it because she has never felt it before. We
promised her that if she prayed to be able to feel the spirit, that
she would feel it. We also explained prayer and how we pray through
Jesus's name to God, and then God speaks back to us through the Holy
Ghost. She understands the godhead really well. It's super good. And
she really wants the influence of the Holy Ghost in her life.

Aiya Itou San has a baptismal date! Yay! She loves the doctrine that
we will be resurrected because she has so many health problems with
her body and mind. She wants to be baptized. She's absolutely an
angel. Her date is for August 13th. She is praying about her date! So
we'll find out tonight if she will get baptized that day or if she
wants to move her date to the 23rd which is her birthday! That'd be
adorable! She's terrified of putting her head under the water. So if
anyone has any good ideas on how to help her overcome that fear please
shoot me an email! You could be the means of helping her receive
baptism!

This week has been really good. We have been focusing on less actives
because we felt the need to focus on less active members from last
Sunday. We met a member who has been less active for 20+ years and she
was really nice. Another less active member met a Tama Member in Tokyo
in an eki and they invited her to come to the machida music concert,
dinner at their house last night with us, and then church today.
素晴らしいじゃないですか？😆

We went to the squirrel park this week, participated in the music
concert in machida--I played ukulele, and we went and danced hula for
old people! The machida music concert was awesome. Our investigator
Miyoko Aihara San came and created lots of friends in the ward. She
loves hula with the relief society. She is progressing so well❤️

The temple was really awesome today! We got matching outfits 👍

Love Sister Fordiani

Okonomiyaki at the Kyoumen's house

I'm being Olivia from the bachelor--this car is just too ratchet

Our Squirrel Park group of fantastic peeps
Miyoko San and us at out hula performance!
Our car ride over to Machida!
Itou San watching a movie of Jesus being baptized with a little boy❤️
The Kyoumen family making dinner together #goals

Week 76 July is soooooo HOT (today is 34 degrees)

This week has been so perfect, no joke. We have been doing lots of fun
activities with our investigators and we have been building such
strong relationships with them.

With Hashizume San and her daughter, we went to the zoo on Monday and
we talked a lot more to the daughter. We had a fun time together and I
think that even though they tell us they aren't interested in the
gospel, they are watching how Mormons interact and live, what we
believe, how we do things, etc. They seem to love having us around! We
had a lesson together on Thrusday night and just as we were finishing
up there was that huge rainstorm! Instead of sending us off to drown
outside in the psycho rain, she let us stay longer after the lesson
and we were able to talk a lot more together again. It was a miracle
because we only have a couple lessons left scheduled with her.

Shelly met with us on Tuesday! We haven't seen her for a few weeks
because she has been too busy and in and out of the hospital. We have
been planning to meet on Friday, but she met with us earlier in the
week because Sister Zylks is leaving. It was really nice because she
texted us and asked if she could see us! When we met she talked the
entire time about her life and decisions. It was good to just listen
to her. She needs someone to listen to her as she motivates herself to
get back into life. She's been really sick for a really long time.
When we were saying bye, she told us, "See you on Friday!" We are
excited she wants to see us so frequently! Yay! But Friday ended up
being too busy so we couldn't see her :( so we are going over Sunday
night.

On Monday Sister Kyomen invited all the missionaries over for dinner
and FHE with her 5 boys. It was so much fun! And her boys are crazy
haha! We played games together and ate yakiniku! (All you can eat
meat.) It was so nice of them to have us over! Then when Sister Zylks
transferred, Sister Kyomem came to hang out with me and be my
companion! Being a missionary with a member companion is the best. She
took me in her car to Costco and bought me food! It was sooooooooo
nice of her! Then we talked a ton about her family and about
investigators and I learned a lot of inside knowledge about the ward
and stuff. It was awesome.

On Friday, Miyoko Aihara our investigator and we had a lesson together
at the library. She contacted us asking if she can really receive
peace though reading the bible. So we taught her that the peace
actually comes from the Holy Ghost. Then we explained that as we keep
the commandments, attend church, pray, and read scriptures we can feel
the influence of the Holy Ghost. But when we are baptized we can have
the gift of the Holy Ghost and that constant companionship. She said
she is so jealous that we have the gift! What!? Then she gave herself
the commitment to come to church and she wants to meet with us once a
week! She's my best friend legit. I love her so much. We will help her
to feel happiness and peace!

Saturday night, we usually have English class at Sister Miyasaka's
house, but today she cancelled so we thought to ourselves, Ami chan
probably has free time during the same time on Friday! So we called
her and then set up a time to hang out! We didn't know what we should
do but then it came to us! We should go bowling! And so we did! Ami
chan had never been bowling before! It was sooooooooo cute! We taught
her how to bowl, about the score, how to pick a ball, and how wear the
shoes! She got gutter balls the first couple rounds and then she got a
strike! We were freaking out! It was so much fun! Then we went to
Baskin Robins and got ice cream! They had sherbet options! We just
talked and had tons of fun! Ami chan's tests are coming up soon and
she showed us that she is taking her biology test in English! We were
freaking out! How can she do that!? I can barely take biology tests in
English. She said she can't come to church tomorrow cause she has to
study and we completely understand! That's OK. But we are sad too
because she came last week and totally LOVED IT. So hopefully we can
meet with her and help her study and then during summer break she will
come to church and have time for lessons!

We had just lots of fun activities! Zone kubari kai in Machida area,
ping pong activity on Saturday, gospel study class with the Relief
Society sisters on Tuesday, transfers to new areas and new companions,
lots of lesson opportunities, and English class on Wednesday. This
week has been awesome!

I love my new companion! We get along perfectly! In fact, we are
basically the same person! She is from Mesa, Arizona and Anaheim,
California. She loves dance just like me! We kinda look like sisters!
This transfer is going to be perfect! I can't believe it's my last
one... :(

For my last transfer, and Elder Johnson who is also in Tama and who
also is on his last transfer, we decided our theme and focus for this
transfer is love and sacrifice. This is the discussion we had at
district meeting:

Love and sacrifice lie at the heart of the atonement of Jesus Christ
and should similarly lie at the heart of our missionary efforts. Love
is An anxious concern for the welfare of another and a great
motivating and driving force. Sacrifice is the act of giving up
something valued for the sake of something that is deemed to be of
greater value or importance. There is an important relationship
between love and sacrifice. You cannot truly posses one without having
at least in part the attributes of the other. They are inseparably
connected. As we love others we become anxious for their welfare and
seek to show the love we feel through our actions. These efforts lead
to the sacrifice of our personal interest, time, and effort in order
to express at least in part the deep gratitude, affection, and care we
have for those who we love. However as we find ourselves sacrificing
our time, talents, and means for someone else the love we feel for
that person deepens and becomes enriched with our sacrifice leading
therefore to an increase of love with then in turn leads to greater
self-sacrifice.

I plan on loving people with my whole heart for my last few weeks!

Obedience is the price, faith is the power, love is the motive, the
Spirit is the key, and Christ is the reason.

Love,
Sister Fordiani

Kyomen Family FHE
Shelly and us!
Transfer day

We were studying the Book of Mormon with Hashizume San and it got

pretty classy when she brought us grape juice and small chocolates, so
I took a picture. 😜
Lesson with Miyoko San!
We had the whole train car to ourselves!
Ami's first time bowling! ❤️❤️❤️

X-Men coming to theaters 😮😃😂<--crying of happiness (it comes out

right when I get home)
#NotTrunkyJustReallyWannaSeeThisMovieです。
Ice cream after bowling! They have the best sherbet here!
Our hike with Ali today "climbing the mountain" behind his house. I
got lots of bites 😭