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