Fighting Fires and Wet Underwear

こんにちわ (Hello) and welcome to my weekly-ish post! If you have any questions regarding anything that I say during this post, then please shoot me an email (tyer.ditto@missionary.org) and I will do my best to answer them☺

I want to start off this post explaining a little bit of the "backstory" before I began my training at the MTC.* 

Last Sunday my family and I left to spend a fews days at Lake Roosevelt with the Ditto fam! We spent the next three or so days boating, playing lots of spikeball, soaking up my last few days being able to swim, eating good food, playing games, etc. It was a perfect way to end my time before my mission and kick off the next two years! On the evening of Tuesday, August 11th, I was set apart* to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Due to my stake president being out of town, my dad was the one who set me apart and my uncles Logan, Kelly, Ryan, Vaughn, and Brent were all able to stand in, which was really special. I also had the Sherry fam and Alex and Alexa on a zoom call, so they could be a part of it. I was also lucky enough to still have wet underwear from my last time wake surfing right before my setting apart. The next morning, we woke up early and packed up all of our stuff from staying at the lake and then drove home quickly so that I could get home in time for my first class at 12:15pm.

Last wake surf for two years!

I was so grateful to have my uncles and dad be apart of setting me apart for my mission.

Love my mommy!

SOO I am sure you are all DYING to know what my at-home MTC schedule looks like. Well, below I attached a picture of what my schedule was like this past week and then what it will look like for the weeks to come. Also for those wondering: I was called to go to the Provo, UT MTC, but due to COVID-19, the Church has adapted and made it possible for missionaries to continue their training from the comfort of their own home! I will do a little more detailed rundown of my schedule in my next email...sorry to make you wait a little longer.

My schedule

Also I want to take a quick second to thank all the people who helped set up a fun little entrance to my home MTC. And thank you for all the snacks and gifts. Special shoutout to Brother Ridd for the chopsticks... I have become quite fond of them due to the fact that they make it a lot harder to snack during class, and it takes me way longer to eat. Here are just a few of the foods I have eaten with chopsticks: carrots and ranch, m&m's, skittles, water (shoutout to elder scow for the suggestion...that was a hard one), lots of goldfish, sour patch watermelons, fried rice, peanuts, etc.

So fun to be surprised with this "Welcome to Basement MTC" when I got home from the lake.

Side note: I have filled out my VISA application. I am just waiting for the questionnaire portion. But still no real news on when or if Japan will be opening up anytime soon. BUT nobody in my district has received a reassignment yet. So let's all keep praying;)

I LOVE MY DISTRICT! They are so awesome and I have really enjoyed getting to know them as best as we can through zoom. They are all so fun and really bring the spirit to the lessons and classes. Everyone in my district is getting so good at Japanese too. It is so rad to see us progress in our language study each day. I cannot wait to someday meet them all in person.

My District

To close this email, I would like to blame the fact that this email was not sent out last week due to the crazy wildfire that hit Yakima last Sunday. I will try my best to not over-exaggerate this epic story too much:

The fire from my house.

Just a bit later the fire had spread so fast!

I was attempting to write my email last week when my dad ran downstairs and asked me if I wanted to go help my AWESOME stake (and mission) president protect his house from the fire! WOAH. I knew that there was a pretty gnarly fire going on the hills across the valley, but I had no idea that it was that close to people's homes. I quickly threw on my Chacos while my dad grabbed some shovels, headlamps, and masks and jumped into our car. I then ran and gave my mom a big kiss and hug before I went off to battle. To which my beautiful mother told me that I cannot wear Chacos when fighting fires...so I ran back inside and put on boring normal shoes. We then picked up a few other ladies and gents who wanted to help, and drove over to President Hendricks' house. Our efforts included spraying down the electrical pole, pulling out lots of sage brush, fighting off killer scorpions, raking dead brush, and trying to convince President Hendricks that the fire was getting too close for comfort and that it was absolutely necessary for us to evacuate his collection of sweeeet cars (we were not successful in that regard...). 

Clearing out the fire hazards from our Stake President's home.

Anyways, to make a long story short, the Hendricks' house was blessed to never be harmed by the fire, and after we finished working at his house, we ran by a few other people's homes to see if they needed help with anything. 

Song of the Week: 

I REALLY miss music, so I am planning on sharing with you all some of my favorite songs since being a missionary. And if you really don't have enough time to listen to the whole thing, then at least skip to 3:33 and get ready to be blown away!! 

P.S. - Someone please make a playlist with all the music I will be missing for the next 2 years:)

I just wanna end this email saying THANK YOU so much for everything you guys do. If you are on this email then you have definitely made some impact on me and my life. Thank you for always supporting me and I can feel all of your prayers in my regard. I am so excited for 8 more weeks of being at the MTC, and learning more japanese. I LOVE THE GOSPEL!

Here's a few explanations!! 

*Setting Apart = “We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.”

*MTC = Missionary Training Center (where new missionaries learn how to speak a language (if applicable) and better teach our church beliefs)

Love, 

Elder Ditto