Ant Infestation

What a good week! Honestly nothing really good happened but it feels like it was a good week haha. 

Japanese koto

As a missionary, we live, sleep, eat, think missionary work all the time. So sometimes it comes out in my sleep since I sleep talk (Elder Ross and my brothers know what I'm talking about). Anyways, this week in my dreams Elder Peterson told me that I said, "Will you be able to come to church tomorrow? And then Elder Peterson said, "Yes" and then I said "お願いします” ("please"). Which doesn't really make sense but kinda funny and Japanese dreams are cool.

Japanese candy

We also got to speak in our church service in one of our English wards. We talked about deepening our discipleship with Christ and missionary work. Writing and giving talks as a missionary is so much easier too  I've always enjoyed speaking with people but stuttering makes it a lot harder. But since being a missionary I feel like I've seen a bit less stuttering in myself. I can't say the same with Japanese but it will get there, haha. 

We helped this other guy move and found this sick mascot head.

I got to see Kohtastsu again this week so that awesome! It had been a long time since I had seen him. He's doing well. Keep him and his family in your prayers please! 

We moved this guy this week and I got to borrow his skateboard for a sec.

Update on the nasty apartment we live in... I tore out the nasty bathroom rug thing and cleaned it to the best of my ability. Then we got a new rug (and it will NOT go next to the toilet). Seems like progress right? 

After we took out the nasty rug 

But then I noticed that in our kitchen I have been killing quite a few ants. Then yesterday and today I killed easily over 100 ants. So I called our housing guy and turns out we have an ant infestation (duh). SICKK. Thanks nasty apartment.... and thanks to the other elders who lived here before and trashed this place. 

So ya that was pretty much my week. We also helped some people move some stuff and clean. So that was good. If you wanna send me a love note or something, then here is my address:

Elder Tyler Ditto
Utah SLC Mission
3487 S 1300 E
Salt Lake City, Utah 84106

Elder Peterson and me

Oh also don't forget that this weekend is General Conference and Easter weekend! Double whammy... so sick! I am excited to listen to our modern day prophets and apostles talk. Make sure to really focus in Christ this week! 

Song of the Week:
- I Know He Lives by David Archuleta.  My mom sent me this song this week.  So good!

Scripture of the Week:
- Alma 62:41 (The Book of Mormon). 

41 But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their ^aafflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility.

This scripture is fireee. I loved how even though everyone experienced the same sort of issue with the length and difficulty of the war there were still two different responses. One side was all hardened and mad and the other was softened and humbled themselves. 

Love you all!
Elder Ditto

Getting Kicked Out of The Hotel?!?

Wow, what a week....

Cool Japanese garden

It started off with us getting a call from out AP's (assistants to the mission president) saying that Elder Cooper was getting Emergency transferred that night. So we had to do all the visits and lessons we had for that night and then hurry and help Elder Cooper pack and he was gone by like 9:30pm. So now its just me and Elder Peterson. 

Stories of the week:

We are moving:

Saying "bye" to the hotel Elders squad

Friday night we got a call saying we had to move to this apartment in Holliday... I was not excited. So we had a crazy weekend. We had to pack up all our stuff and be out in less than 24 hours. 

My new apartment is pretty nasty and old. Too many nasty missionaries have lived here I think lol. 

There is this mystery rug duct taped to the bathroom floor that probably has like 20 years of missionaries on it and gallons of urine. Lots of cleaning ahead for me.

かわいい:

We visited this family from the Japanese ward and this grandma who didn't know we speak Japanese looked at her granddaughter said (in Japanese : "Wow look at that cute boy! He is cute isn't he?!" And then  the granddaughter was like "Grandma he speaks Japanese!" And then she started blushing and I started dying laughing and said "ありがとう.” It was funny. 

Japanese garden with Elder peterson

Skinny Elder:

Sister Gates told me I looked extra skinny the other day haha

Dreaming in Japanese:

Elder Peterson said that the other night I started speaking in Japanese and then at the end said ”ちょっとやばい” 

Saying Bye to Mace:

Saying "bye" to Mace 

I had to say "bye" to my man Mace (the guy who gives us breakfast in the hotel). It was sad. I've seen that guy almost every single day since October... we were good friends. I made sure to get a pic with him too. 

Meeting Zoe and Getting Fed:

Our first day moving into the apartment was a lame day. Everything was going wrong and then we went to go do some missionary work and I thought we should run by this lady's house who we had been trying to contact for a while. Then when we knocked on her door she let us in and her niece was there and we started talking about God and Jesus. She turned nine years old that day and said she wants to get baptized! So crazy and such a way to turn the day around! Then later that night I had skipped dinner because I was cleaning and unpacking. So when we were out visiting people that night I was starving. Then we visited a woman named Fia and she brought us "Mo Betta's" (Hawaiian take out)! Another answer to a prayer. So good.

Our new whip!

I was a Branch President:

During our Sacrament meeting with the old people branch, the branch president couldn't read the paper he was trying to, so I got to read all of the branch announcements and act as the Branch President for like 5 minutes haha. Probably will never happen again. 

My new calculator watch

Blessings:

I got to bless the sacrament in Japanese this week. I also gave some priesthood blessings to some really special people. I am grateful for those experiences. 

Overall a pretty weird week with lots of ups and downs

Song of the week: 

- "Big or Small" by the 2017 EFY album 

Scripture of the week: 

- Alma 57. So so good. Read it.

Love you all!

Elder Ditto 

Praying with a Zombie

Yoooo whats good its Elder Ditto. Here are this weeks stories:

James and Nori Johnson (and their family) used to live in Yakima.  They now live in Utah and came to the Dah ichi ward!  It was so fun to meet them (I was really young when they moved away.)

"GIVE ME MY MONEY":

Due to the fact I live in a hotel, our neighbors change almost daily. And some of our neighbors are a little louder than others. We have heard quite a few crazy parties or interesting couples staying near us. Most of which are not enjoyable experiences. The other night there was this huge group of people hanging out in the room right next to us that shares a wall with our bedroom. The noise level wasn't too bad until around 2am when this girl started freaking out because someone owed or maybe stole her money (not sure which). But boy oh boy she wanted this money NOW. She would not stop yelling and was like attacking this dude. It was tough to sleep that night.

Elder Neichman was given money and hair from some homeless lady. 

Litter Box Lady:

We have been visiting this lady and reading The Book of Mormon with her, and she is a nice lady. However, her home has the most rancid (as Poppy would say: foul) smell ever. I feel like I'm gonna pass out every time I go in there and when I walk out I wanna throw up. Anyways, this week was the first time taking Elder Peterson, so we warned him of the smell and he wasn't too worried. Until he was in there. Poor guy. Then when we got out he threw off this mask and said "my mask smells like cat anus now!".... not a good smell to have on your mask lol.

I got to hold some crazy reptiles 

Zombie Lady:

We stopped by this lady's house because one of our bishops wanted to know how she was doing. When I knocked on the door and she answered I could tell she was not all there and she was making crazy sounds and would start twitching and like spazzing out. So I asked her if we could pray for her right there. She said "yes" and while we were praying with her she started to run at me and grab me. She continued to say random things and then later we gave her a blessing. She said she has arthritis and Hep C. So all the drugs she is on makes her crazy I guess. It was really sad to see.

I GOT TO SKATE!:

I have been wanting to skate for my whole mission and Tuesday was my lucky day. We were walking by his skatepark and I started to talk to this guy and wanted to see him do a nose blunt on this ledge (skate trick). After a few tries, I asked if I could borrow his board for a sec since I haven't skated in like 7 months now. Man it felt good to skate for a few minutes. I miss it a lot. The dude was really cool too and has just moved here this year. 

Changing a flat

Survey Time:

We have been doing this family history survey with people on the streets wuote a bit the last few weeks. One night on exchanges (when you swap companions for a few hours), we were doing this survey in Sugarhouse. At the very end of the night I wanted to get in one more survey so while walking back to our car we say this lady and I asked her if she would take a survey...she said "yes"...but right away I could tell this would be an interesting one. Every single question I asked she just looked at me like I was stupid and when I asked her if she knows of any inspirational stories from her ancestors she started going off on how she felt judged and how her life is hard because of white people and how we were judging her, etc. It was just crazy because we were being so nice to her and just wanted to learn a little about her family, but she just wanted to go off on us for some reason. Honestly this was the worst survey I've done and that's because the spirit was not there. The whole experience was uncomfortable and not enjoyable at all. I don't get why people cant just be nice and if they don't wanna talk then just say that nicely. Bruh moment of the week (Thanks Ben)

Nick Townsend:

Elder Townsend 

Yo I got to see Elder Townsend (one of my roommates from BYU) this week and that was so sick. It was great to see him again. He looks better than ever and I wish we could be companions one day. 

 

This week was also Zone Conference, so that is always fun to get to see everyone and learn a lot too. This time it was a lot about obedience and using technology safely. 

Lots of driving

High up in Highland

NEW UPDATE: Utah is opening up vaccines to everyone 16+ so that is super exciting. We as missioanries are supposed to get it in the next 6 weeks or so. I am excited and hopefully that helps me be able to get to Japan. Oh and also we just found out that we are now allowed to eat meals with members and have member prepared food. We are also allowed to tract (hopefully I never do this tho since it's no very productive), which is when you knock on random doors. 

Scripture of the Week:

- Alma 34:41 (The Book of Mormon). Patience is so important and something that we should always be working at to be better.

41 But that ye have ^apatience, and bear with those ^bafflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.

Song of the Week:

- Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Vocal Point. I love this song and Vocal Point is fire too. Always brings the spirit. 

Love you all!

- Elder Ditto

Tandem Biker Gang

Wow what a week.... honestly a pretty wack week. 

Tandem Bike Ride:

I got to ride a tandem bike with another Elder last week and that was so dope. Definitely the coolest ride on the mission thus far!

"I promise I won't break it":

On Monday night I went to go pick up a new phone from another Elder who was going home. I got it and was excited to finally upgrade from my J3 (probably the worst phone to exist in my opinion). Flip phones are more desirable haha. Anyways, this new phone had a pop socket on it so I was trying to get that off and was waiting for some other Elders to bring me some dental floss (because that's what you are supposed till use to get them off). Then Elder Cooper was like begging me to let him try to get it off with his huge pocket kife he has. And he kept promising he would be careful and wouldn't break it. So I gave in and let him try. Then like a minutes later, I turn and look and he is cranking on this poor little phone hard so I tell him to chill and just let me wait. He wouldn't stop and then he started to use the knife to pry it open and use leverage. I could literally see the back of the phone bending and then BOOM POP. Shattered phone. 

I'm not sharing this for empathy or anything like that...this sucked and at first I wanted to just go off on him and sock him in the face or something like that. Man companions can be hard sometimes. But this experience helped me realize how imperfect I am and how Christ loves everyone. This was kinda a test of my Grace and love. I really wanted "justice" and for him to "pay" for his idiotic move.

Forgiving people is hard but it is a blessing to be able to try to forgive and forget. 

Japanese is Easy: 🤣

Psych!! Is flipping hard.... but there were some cool experiences with it this week. We were at youth group on Wednesday and while we were playing this dodgeball game I got a call from some random number so I ran out and picked it up. Then this dude started going off in Japanese and I had to like switch my brain to Japanese mode. We talked for like 10 minutes all in Japanese and set up an appointment to come over. It was pretty sick actually. I definently felt the gift of tongues playing a role tho. It was cool. Elder Peterson and myself also did some role playing Japanese lessons with some people this week. They were hard but a good learning experience too. 

Sad Japan News:

Japan's borders are being remained closed until March 21st. Sad... but that's okay. 

Everyone please pray and fast for the Japanese peeps that they will stay safe and open up sometime soon, because they need it. It's so cool to see so many other countries open up too tho. 

 A cool family in Holliday

Close Your Blinds:

Last week we were visiting these peeps and they have a huge window in the front room and when I walked up to their door I saw some stuff I wish I could un-see. Don't do romantic stuff in your front room, or at least close the blinds if you do. Man, that was a rough day lol.

Saying "bye" to Elder Peterson

Saying "bye" to Elder Hamner 

Saying "bye" to Elder Richards

Oh also I got to see Elder Townsend at transfers and that was sickkk. We are in the same zone now. And I said "bye" to Elder Hamner and Peterson.... sad sad times. Oh and said bye to Elder Richard's from the dai ichi ward cuz he is headed to Spokane this week.

We got to hold the cutest puppies ever!

BBQ with happy Elder Peterson

Elder Peterson

Scripture of the week: 

- Mosiah 5:2 (The Book of Mormon). How can you have a mighty change in your hearts and become more christlike?

2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty ^achange in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do ^bevil, but to do good continually.

Song of the week: 

- Raging by Kygo

Love you all so much!

- Elder Ditto

Getting ET'd

 Yooo Fam Bam!

I upgraded this week 

This week was pretty ehh and then I don't really know what to think of it after that. Here are the couple of things that happened this week:

Too much Carbs:
- Long story short, we ate this super fatty and cheesy noodle dish given to us and then has bread and butter with it. Then I was forced by this member to eat more dessert which was a LOT of fudge, ice cream, peanut m&m's, banana, sprinkles... Then after downing that we went to go give this lady a blessing for her surgery coming up. I had to focus so dang hard when giving the blessing to not pass out. I was literally flexing like my whole body  I didn't feel very good after or during the whole night... don't let people tell you what to eat, and eat healthy if possible 

It snowed!

Teaching a Utah Politician:

- We visited this family who's dad was previously in the Utah government in some way (I don't remember what he was exactly). But they are really cool and sadly he lost the most recent election. But maybe he will help me become president one day or something like that. 

Transfers Came Early:

- I'm Saturday morning, we got a call from President Prier saying that there was this Elder who needs to come into our area ASAP. Basically some stuff went down in his past area with his comps and some other missionaries (I won't get into the details), and he needs to leave. So we left our service project and picked up Elder Peterson (from Colorado and originally called to Kobe Japan as well). He is pretty cool. He's a nice guy who is a pilot and like a video games and band. 

The new trio (Elder Cooper on the left and Elder Peterson in the middle)

So ya, I will be in this Japanese area for at least another six weeks and then we will see. I will be with Elder Peterson and Elder Cooper still.

The bros

"I preform for people on stage":

- We are now teaching a cool guy who we met a few days ago. He's really nice and is retired. He used to be a male stripper and "stage performer". There might be some interesring stories to come from our encounters. 

The Granite Tabernacle is so cool.

Satanic Cult Member: 

-After sacrament meeting in the Japanese ward, these two guys came in the back if the chapel (one with some serious ice and the other guy was a young adult with some cool tats too). They said they wanted to be given a blessing and for us to pray with them. Basically the young guy uses to be apart of an Irish satanic cult and was trying to get out of it so he had to flee to the US. He also is a member of some heavy metal band so he is recording the rest of his album while he is here anyways. The cult and his crazy satanic grandma is trying to sell his soul right night and are hunting for him. Definitely not how I expected my Sunday afternoon to go. 

Also Elder Hamner (the Elder that lives below us and has been here since I got here and is going to Chile is leaving this transfer... So that's super sad). I will miss him 

Some more boards I worked on this week

Love youuu all,

Elder Ditto