December 29, 2015

 

Christmas gifts on the weights in my apartment.

 On Monday, December 21st we were able to go caroling with Bishop Hobbs' family.  It was a ton of fun being able to swing by people, sing to them, then give them gifts.  Me and my companion both suck at singing so we might of dragged the quality of the songs down ha ha.

On Christmas Eve, Elder Beddes and I went on a hike and then stopped by some member's houses. It was great just being able to visit with them and not be in a rush.

On Christmas Day, we woke up and unwrapped all of our presents. It was great. I got a ton of presents.  It was good having all that stuff to unwrap.  Thanks for sending me all that stuff.  I love the sweater and blanket.  I laughed when you gave me that board game and customized cards about the church.  I remember you always wanting to do that.  I love the ones about the Apostles because I am still trying to learn who are in the Quorum of the 12.  I'm starting to memorize every correct answer for every question for every card.  My first Christmas was good.  I felt loved. You accomplished your mission ha ha.

Then we went to the Bishop's house for breakfast and to Skype home. It was great being able to see the whole family and see Grandmother Ditty. After that we had a dinner appointment with another member of the ward.

December 26th Elder Beddes was sick so we weren't able to leave the apartment. So it was a boring day.


On the 27th we had to give a 15 minute talk in Sacrament meeting. That was my first time having to give a talk that long. I talked about the nativity.

Love you!

December 21, 2015

Niagara Falls was fun. The city by it was super oriented towards tourism, so you can spend a lot of money there quick. Niagara Falls was more beautiful then I expected. Turns out there are 2 water falls. A US one and a Canadian one. The Canadian side is better because you get a better view. 

Here's what my Christmas tree looks like

I received the 2 packages. I am waiting till Christmas to open everything. But I will open one on Christmas eve.

Christmas Zone Conference.  I spy Elder Ditty  -- 3rd Row, second from the Right.

December 14, 2015

This week we have been working with Laura and Manny a lot. They are doing great and have a date to get married on January 8th and baptized on the 9th. Also we have been teaching a lot of people this past week. The work is easier during Christmas because more people are willing to talk about Christ.
Also we had a ward music night where Laura and Manny were able to bring their kids and meet with members of the ward. It was a lot of fun. The ward in Stoney Creek is pretty cool.

By the way the weather here is still warm... I was not expecting this!  Unbelievable, it is snowing in Oregon and not in Canada. Today's high is about 62 fahrenheit. We're not even supposed to get a white Christmas!

I will be going to Niagara Falls hopefully today so next week I should have some sweet pictures!

Photo from awhile ago

September 25, 2015

Barrie, Sudbury and Weston Zones

From the Canada Toronto Mission Facebook Page

We had the great opportunity to meet with all of our missionaries over the last two weeks! Such a privilege to serve with these wonderful people! Each one is striving to serve the Lord and do what He would have them do! We love them all!
September 16: Hamilton, Brampton, Ossington Zones
September 17: London and Kitchener Zones
September 23: Oshawa, Kingston, and North York Zones
September 24: Barrie, Sudbury, and Weston Zones

I spy Elder Ditty -- Back row, third from the right!

November 22, 2015

 

From the Canada Toronto Mission Facebook Page

Last week Elder Perkins came for a mission tour and met with all of our missionaries! We learned so much from him! This photo is of the London, Hamilton, and Kitchener zones. 

I spy Elder Ditty -- 7th row, 2nd from left. 

We took Elder Perkins to President Monson's mission home in Toronto

 . . . and to Black Creek to see the probable site of John Taylor's baptism

December 7, 2015

My new companion, Elder Beddes, is from Farmington Utah.  As the Senior Companion I am doing follow up training and have to show my companion around the area. Which is kinda stressful because I am still new to Stoney Creek and haven't been in the area long.  We have a very small teaching pool so we tract a lot which sucks because everyone here is Catholic. So we are working hard to find more people to teach.

We are working with a young family who wants to get baptized. The problem is that the mom and dad aren't married, so we are working with them trying to get married. They have a desire to so I am excited! They have a young boy around 2 and a little girl about 8 months old. 
   
 I will hopefully get your Christmas packages on Wednesday at Zone Conference. I have been playing my Irish flute. I'm exited to learn Lord of the Rings music. It will be fun to Skype you on Christmas. The day before we do Skype I get a 2 minute call to set up the time that I will call.

Love you

November 30, 2015

Me and my companion at the Ward Christmas Party

This week was the last week of the transfer. The weather was cold but not freezing. It had snowed last week but no snow so far this week. All the locals are loving this unusually warm weather.

On Wednesday I went on Exchanges again. This time I was in my area driving the car. And we were able to find a new investigator. Also later on in the week we were able to teach for the first time a young family who are super nice.

On Saturday, we went to a funeral at the church which was open casket. First time being at a funeral. And it was depressing to say the least. That same day we had the Ward Christmas party which was kinda weird. But the Party was fun.

Because it was the last week of the transfer we got a call on Sunday letting us know what we will be doing next Transfer. I am staying, and am going to be the senior Companion which means I will get to drive the Legacy!  My new companion is Elder Beddes and that is all I know of him. My old companion is going to Weston -- my last area.

As we were driving to go emailing today. My companion was pulled over for going 20 over in a school zone... yikes man.   But the cop was cool and let him go with a warning.

Love you all,
Elder Ditty

A family we are teaching

Downtown Hamilton

November 26, 2015

It was our pleasure to have your son here for dinner this evening. We had American Thanksgiving dinner in honor of our American Elders. He is doing well and is hoping you like his hair cut a little better. We hope you have enjoyed your Thanksgiving!!

Members of the Stoney Creek

Katie and Chris Shepherd

November 23, 2015

There was a temple rededication in Montreal yesterday and I got to watch it live and hear the dedicatory prayer.

November 16, 2015

Heads up my bag broke and I need to buy a scarf and maybe boots for winter. The card might get a little bit heavier. Its warm here. Its suppose to stay this way till December. Its weird.

The Niagara falls trip bombed. :(

I heard about the 132 people killed in Paris. I also heard that somewhere in Canada a mosque was burned down. There are still some good people left.  I will try and teach the Canadians although they're not very willing to learn.      

There is a saying that 1 day in a mission is worth 10 days back home of experience, which is true.

Love you

November 9, 2015

It was another good week. The weather was warm oddly enough. I even got sunburned one day. We spent a good amount of time doing service for people. Especially because it will be getting too cold to work on lawns and gardens soon. We have been helping some of the members with their leaves and lawn, and we volunteer every Tuesday and Saturday at a place that grows food and then donates to the needy. So we help them grow their food. 

We had skills and interviews this week also, so we had a meeting with the mission president which was fun. Also we were gathered as a zone so it was good to catch up with some missionaries.

On Thursday I went on exchanges with a Mandarin speaking Elder so it was fun being able to listen to the language while my companion taught. Overall the week went by fast.

November 2, 2015

Elder Ditty lookin' really Canadian, eh?

On the shores of Lake Ontario at Stoney Creek

Elder Thurgood has changed a lot since the first week. He had a companion that he struggled with so he basically went into his happy place the last couple months, but he's come out of it and is not such a robot. We hardly have any investigators and they're unreliable.

We are planning on going to Niagara Falls next Monday.

October 26, 2015

Home Sweet Home on the 7th Floor of The Elizabeth

My new address is 90 King Street East Apartment #707 Stoney Creek,  Ontario L8G 1K7.   My new companion is Elder Thurgood. He is really easy going and a good guy but we don't have that much in common. When I arrived at my new apartment I was told that we have cockroaches. I soon learned that this was true. Once I unpacked we went out and swung by the people that I would be working with. They are all really friendly. Over the course of the week we taught several lessons and contacted and tracted a lot. The people here aren't as friendly as they were in Weston. I usually only say a few words before they say that they're not interested. But that's okay because the ward makes up for it. They invited us to the ward Halloween party with music and games which was a ton of fun!  The people here celebrate Halloween way more than the people in Oregon.  Everyone decorates their house and gets into the spirit of Halloween. The ward is a really tight knit group. Also they are really supportive of missionaries and feed them a lot so I'm excited. Something that I have to be worried about this transfer is getting fat. The ward is always giving us candy and feeding us which is good but I'm in a car and don't get as much exercise as I'm used too. So I have to be careful of my weight. I wasn't able to go to Niagara Falls this week but hopefully sometime in the next 5 weeks I will be able too. Elder Ditty Brother Darlington Mabunda, Stoney Creek Ward Mission Leader, sent these photos their first day in the area.   Kyle's response to my "About that hair" comment: "I am starting to cut my own hair now haha. It's a learning process but its actually pretty good. The pic just made it look really crappy."

October 19, 2015

I'm getting transferred to Stoney Creek. Its by Niagara Falls. I forget my new companions name. I will meet him tomorrow. I don't know what my address is or what ward I'm assigned to yet. I will find out tomorrow. I have got all my stuff for winter. But the new area I'm in is like a bubble from the cold. It's a lot warmer then the rest of Toronto. It snowed the first time a few days ago. Love you



Thanks to Wikipedia for filling in some blanks, and giving us a preview of Elder Ditty's new area.

Stoney Creek Waterfront

The community of Stoney Creek is located on the south shore of western Lake Ontario, just east of Hamilton. As of the 2006 census, the population of Stoney Creek is 62,292. Stoney Creek is 92.72% white (European), (of which 55% had British or Irish origins, 16% Italian, 21% Croatian, Polish, Serbian, Ukrainian etc.), 3.0% South Asian, 1.0% Black, 1.0% mixed race, 0.6% Chinese. Due to the temperate environment on the western end of the Niagara Peninsula, the Stoney Creek area in eastern Wentworth County was and still is known for fruit growing. In recent decades, as the quality and reputation of Ontario wines grew, Stoney Creek became part of the fringes of the Niagara winery region.

 

The most scenic waterfall in Hamilton is Webster's Fall.  May be a future P Day visit.

October 13, 2015

Thanksgiving Day in Canada is celebrated on Columbus Day in America

 

This week was crazy. We had a ton of service projects that kept us busy. Also I had to go on several exchanges, one of them being with Spanish elders. So I sat in on lessons while everyone was speaking Spanish.

You can tell that it is Fall because all the trees are different colors which is awesome. The weather for the week was sunshine. Which is weird because the last couple weeks had been cold. But overall the weather is getting a lot cooler. 

Coming in November the mission should be getting Ipads which I am pumped for.

We had Thanksgiving this week. We had Thanksgiving dinner with the bishop and the food was delicious. All the normal thanksgiving food. To celebrate the holiday we went to President Clayton's house and played football and soccer so it was a ton of fun.

This Sunday is the end of the transfers, so I'm exited to see what will happen!  

Elder Ditty
 

Fall in the Weston Zone

Day after Canada Thanksgiving Day! Weston and Brampton Zones over to the Clayton's for the second annual Turkey Bowl

!

October 5, 2015

Kyle's Zone

Sorry I didn't write a recap last week. I was really rushed on time. But the last couple weeks have been good. The weather is getting really cold, so I'm having to buy a lot of winter gear. It hasn't snowed yet but the wind is picking up. Every Sunday the Zone has a sleep over which is pretty fun. Me and my companion are good. In two weeks I will probably have a new one and be done with training which I am pumped for. One of the investigators that had a baptismal date dropped out because he said the devil was tempting him to and he couldn't handle it. So its kinda frustrating. Sorry for not emailing last week and the short email this week. Again I am really rushed on time. The reason why is because of the sleep overs. It really messes up our P day schedule.

Elder Ditty

Note:  I commented that his hair seemed even whiter than usual, and he replied that he's been in the sun a lot so it's sun bleached.   Wow.  There's blonde and then there's Kyle blonde!

September 21, 2015

I'm doing good. I'm learning so much from my experiences out here and trying to constantly self improve. I might be training a new missionary in a couple weeks so I need to make sure I have all the rules and responsibility's down.

So for this week we were able to get 3 people to commit to baptism. They are all super great people. The first one is a 9 year old boy.  His family is less active but we're working with them to become active. In our lesson with the family we invited the son to be baptized and he accepted. We're working on a date still because the father wants to baptize his son. But he has to talk with the bishop about some things. So we are going to have to wait until that gets cleared up.

The 2nd is a man that is 31 years old. We got a call from him at 1 in the morning leaving a voice mail saying he knows the church is true and wants to be baptized. Why can't all investigators be that easy. The date for his baptism is October 18th.

The 3rd is a girl in her 50's who we met a few weeks ago. She is learning about the church and feels that it is true. She will probably be baptized at the end of October hopefully. 

My week has been good. I had another sleep over with the zone leaders and went on another exchange,  so I'm getting to know the people in my zone pretty well. The weather is getting colder but it feels really good. It's far better then the hot humidity of the last couple months.

September 14, 2015

So over the course of the week, me and Elder Moffat were able to contact some returning members. They were super friendly and I am excited to see them in the future. But for the rest of the week we had a lot of appointments that have bombed on us.

My trainer is also the district leader now, so that means I will be going on exchanges every week of the transfer. So for the exchange this week I was with Elder Frenadez. I was in his area and he is a Spanish speaking missionary. So for the lessons I just sat there while everyone else spoke Spanish. When the day was over we went back to the apartment and there was a huge carnival right next to us so that kept us up awhile but it was nice hearing normal music for a change.

Also for this week it was stake conference. It was pretty cool because we had a member of the seventy there. Also the mission president gave a talk too. So the talks that were given were awesome.

The weather is starting to get cold. It's been starting to rain a lot.  It is finally starting to look like how I pictured Canada to be. I'm super exited for the colder weather because the last month has been super hot and humid.

Elder Ditty

Septembe 8, 2015

We were able to go to the Toronto Canada temple this week. It was awesome being able to attend it. I had a great experience being there. The night before we went to the temple we had another zone sleep over. All the Elders that fell asleep were pranked. Some of the pranks were getting slapped with a handful of saving cream or getting a ton of ice cold water poured on you.

It was also the last week of the transfer. So everyone was making predictions where everyone would be going. Me and my companion are staying in the same area. However, about half of the zone is leaving. So we're going to have a lot of new faces. Also because of it being the last week of the transfer we were able to go downtown. The skyscrapers were huge and CN tower is awesome. We then went into China Town and it was crazy seeing all the different stuff they were selling for food. It was bizarre. After that we went back to the apartment and prepared for the new transfer.

Elder Ditty

August 31, 2015

This week has been good because I had an ice cream birthday cake from one of my investigators! Also my zone had a sleep over at the zone leader's apartment. Each week it gets a little harder to write about my experience for a certain week because the longer I've been out the more everything blends together. But I'll do my best.

The week started off well because we started talking to a less active member. In the past she treated the missionarys less then well and stopped coming to church. So the missionaries stopped trying to contact her. As I was doing my daily planning Sunday night,  I was looking for people who I should call. And her named jumped out at me. I told my companion I was going to call her and he warned me against it because how rude she has been in the past. I felt that I should still call her. So I called her and my companion was super surprised when she was super exited to set up an appointment with us and to have us teach her family. When we went over to her house we found out why she became less active. Her oldest daughter had died, which lead her to become depressed which lead her to alcohol and smoking. So the day that I called her she knelt down and prayed in the morning asking for God to help her. Later that day she recieved a call from the missionaries. So now we are working with her and she is trying to give up smoking and is starting to come back to church.

One of my investigators, Alex (the one who keeps sending my mom pictures of me and my companion) found out it was my birthday and bought me a cake. He is also insisting that on our P day he will take us to Niagra Falls. So I'm not going to argue with him. We have been teaching him a lot. He's been going to church with us and reading the Book of Mormon. He was converted Catholic when he was 19 and has been super devout to his faith. But he has had a lot of experiences recently with Mormons that he believes it isn't a coincidence. Which is why he is meeting up with us.

Last night we had the sleep over with the other Elders. It was super fun and we did the cinnamon challenge and other fun stuff. We stayed up till 2 am talking. Which I am now feeling the effects of.

Look forward to sharing next week's experience with all of you!

Elder Ditty

August 28, 2015

Elder Ditty's investigator, Alex, sent this text:

Guess who's celebrating birthday today?  :)

As my lesson coincided with Elder Ditty's birthday, I ordered a nice ice cream cake (cookies and cream flavor) as a surprise.  

When one slice is not enough . . .
It was so delicious that even the Book of Mormon had to wait for a bit.   :)
Your son, in particular, was very happy.  It is important for him to feel acknowledged now that he is far away from his family, serving God in a most genuine way.
Greetings from Toronto!

August 24, 2015

So this last week has been very successful. Me and my companion were fortunate to teach a ton of lessons to investigators and less active members. It was great to see a lot of them attend church with us. One of my favorite things about my mission so far is meeting so many different people from so many different cultural backgrounds. It's a great experience. It's also awesome trying out all the different food that is here.

The weather is starting to get colder here! And all the locals are starting to freak out.  Apparently they're not big fans of the winter here. But I'm looking forward to the colder weather because the last month has been hot and humid.

It's fun doing street contacting because you get to talk to all sorts of UNIQUE people. One person said that he believed that heaven was on Jupiter. Often times imams from the Muslim faith will come up to me and try and convert me to become a Muslim. But most of the time they are friendly people.

Each week I am out here I like being a missionary more and more. I'm learning so much and meeting so many great people.

Thanks so much for all your support and prayers!
Elder Ditty

August 23, 2015

Text from Alex:

Dear Mrs. Ditty,

I am forwarding you another picture of your son, taken a couple of hours ago as he taught Sunday School after worship.  This is him with Elder Moffat.  The funniest thing was when Elder Ditty was talking about Jesus' obedience to his father and he mentioned his own experience from the time "he was a child" in relation to his obedience to you, his parents (assuming that at age 18 he is now an adult).  :)

This statement coming from an 18-year old put a loving smile on the face of all class participants.  :)

You should be proud of your son.

Greetings from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alex

August 17, 2015

I can see the cn tower from my apartment.

Kyle's Email to Mom

Alex is a great guy.  He came to church with us for the first hour yesterday. He's super intelligent and a devout Catholic.  He attends mass in Latin.  He was approached by the Catholics a few years ago to go train in Italy to become a high position in their faith but he didn't because he has a good job he didn't want to give up.  So it might take time for him to accept everything we believe, but I have a good feeling about it.  He regards the Book of Mormon as holy scripture.  He has been losing sleep, waking up at all hours of the night and when he wakes up he reads the Book of Mormon. He made a joke saying that Mormon missionaries have been disturbing his very comfortable life.  He wants us to teach him about genealogy tomorrow, so I'm going to bring the laminated papers you gave to me of our ancestry.  The most interesting thing I've eaten so far is cow liver ha ha. Hey,  I'm also learning how to cut my own hair.

Kyle's Email to Dad
The days are starting to blur together.  I'm starting to be able to navigate my way around town -- a little.  The mission strategy has changed.  Before we were just trying to find investigators, but now we are trying to strengthen inactives.  The activity rate in Toronto is 25% so we're trying to bring it up, and through bringing it up we hope that we will get referrals for new people to teach. Nothing really new this week though.

August 12, 2015

I received this photo and text message from Elder Ditty's investigator, Alex.

Dear Mrs Ditty,
My name is Alex, from Toronto, Canada. Your son, Elder Ditty, asked me to forward this picture to you. This is him and Elder Moffat from Utah, at my home in Toronto a couple of days ago giving me my first lesson on LDS Church and The Book of Mormon. You should be very proud of your son, who at such young age, is a great testimony of God's grace. Thank you.

August 10, 2015

Kyle's Email to Mom
I have an awesome investigator named Alex. He's the nicest guy and has the coolest story. Alex was 14 in Croatia during the Balkan wars in the 1990s. His parents were high up in the government. During the course of the war he lost a lot of family. During the war the town he was in was under siege.  The only relief the town got was from the LDS church.  He said our church had saved him and thousands of people in the town.  He came into Canada during the war as a refugee and hadn't had an encounter with the church since. But then one day he got a cd about a Mormon who converted to Catholicism. The cd just made him super curious, so he studied more about Mormons.  He thought everything about us was bizarre. Then one day while driving he said Joseph Smith and his history all of a sudden made sense to him.  Then 3 days latter he runs into missionaries (me and my companion). We taught him a lesson and he took a picture of us and said that if he does convert that he will show the picture of us to people and say that we were the missionaries that taught him.  He thinks that running into us is more than a coincidence and that he has a deep respect for us and that we are truly representatives of Jesus. He is astonished that the church has kids go out all over the world and preach. Alex is a great guy and offered to buy us dinner and take us to the cn tower.  He is super wealthy by the way.  He loves just about everything towards the church. There are a few things that he has doubts about, but we'll teach him the best that we can. Love ya.

Note:  I was so excited when Kyle finally sent photos using the camera I bought him.  Being the outdoorsman that he is, I shouldn't be that surprised that the photos were of a beaver and pigeons.

"We found a lake close by and we saw a beaver."

"We have two baby pigeons out side our balcony door. Each day they keep getting bigger."

 

Kyle's Email to Dad
Hey dad hows it going? It's crazy that I've already been gone a month. 23 more to go. I've had some crazy experiences. I've had some pretty crazy encounters with people haha.  One person thought Ozzy Osborne was a prophet of God. I had a Muslim get on the ground and tried to have me pray like him in front of a crowd of people.  I said no,  and then he called me an Atheist and said I thought I was better then Jesus.   One other time I was at an apartment and a guy pulled the fire alarm because someone had stolen his stolen beer and he wanted the cops to show up.  The poorer people here are crazy.  But I found out that within 5 minutes in a car from my apartment are multi million dollar homes. It's crazy how segregated things are here. In the million dollar homes everyone is white while in my apartment area everyone is black.  One of my investigators is in the area with the millions of dollars and he is in a super nice apartment building that he has to pay almost 2000 bucks a month for and it only has one room. He is the nicest guy. Ask mom for the story when you get home.  Love ya.