Sermon on the Mount - SLC Version

Hello!! Crazy week over here in the Salt Lake Valley and Southwestern Wyoming. As I am writing this email, I have a crazy amount of joy. I don't know why honestly, but let me tell you one thing... The Book of Mormon IS true, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ does bring JOY to our lives as children of our loving Heavenly Father.

Wyoming!!!

Ice skating 

We got to go ice skating this last pday, and that was super fun. Elder Hernandez and I did lots of exchanges this week too. And Elder Petty, Elder Ely and I only got to do three hours of missionary work together the whole week lol. 

Long drive to WY

Elder Wright 

I got a picture with a deer! 

Lots of exchanges!!

Elder Hernandez and I drove up to Rock Springs, Wyoming to give some trainings and do exchanges with missionaries. We listened to a lot of the Book of Mormon, lots of BYU Speeches, and General Conference talks. 

Wyoming!!!

And man Wyoming is cool! Like rad...and COLD. Super cold. And very windy. So many nice people there tho, and that was very worth it. We saw a lot of success on exchanges and I got to learn a lot from the other missionaries. Oh and Wyoming had STARS! I hadn't seen stars in a long time, since I have been in the city and usually the smog is kinda bad and blocks the stars. 

Yesterday we had a pretty amazing opportunity. Myself, along with six other Elders met with and taught over 30 students and teachers of a Christian school. They were from Los Vegas and came to visit SLC. We met in the chapel and they were taught the Restoration, Gospel of Jesus Christ, and parts of the Plan of Salvation. I could write a lot about how the experience went but there were just a few things that really stuck out to me that I want to share:

- We have to be humble in order to learn 

- God is our Loving Heavenly Father and sent his Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior 

- The Holy Spirit teaches us and confirms eternal truths

- There is a difference between honesty seekers of truth, and people who have the spirit of contention

- Joseph Smith was a prophet of God

We were able to talk about the First Vision (when Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and got an answer to his prayer) and talk about the importance of it. I felt the spirit real strong. I had to write it down so I wouldn't forget it. I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It helps us draw closer to God. I know it.

Watch the video if you can:

Conversation of the week:

*knock knock knock*

Missionary: Hi. It's nice to meet you. What is your name? 

Lady: Billie. 

Missionary: Nice to meet you. We are the missionaries. We want to share a message about Jesus Christ. Is there a day we can come back? 

Lady: Sure!! Wednesday morning at 9:30am weeks for me.

Elder Ditto: *thinking to himself this is not possible and he is in a dream*

^This was so crazy. The missionary I was with didnt even teach anything or given her a good reason for us to come back, but she was so down for us to come back. Wyoming people are another breed lol. 

Elder Leon

Song of the Week:

- Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth (Hymn #298). This hymn was sung in sacrament meeting, and it really hit different. I don't know if I have ever listened to it closely before. But this time I finally did, and I loved it. 

Scripture of the Week:

- The Introduction to the Book of Mormon. This one page in the Book of Mormon has explained so many different things, and answers lots of the questions myself, and other people have about the Book. If you havent read it before, or it has been a while.

INTRODUCTION

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the Hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, then a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto Him and obey the laws and ordinances of His gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” and “The Testimony of Eight Witnesses.”

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah.

Love you all!!
- Elder Ditto

I made it to Wyoming!!!

Alright, I'm gonna make this a quick one, and then jump into some spiritual stuff. 

Elder Thomas, ElderThiess, and myself

Here are the highlights: 

- Went to Wyoming!!! First time ever. Pretty hyped about it. Got to do exchanges and trainings around there.

Elder Hernandez and myself

- Elder Hernandez has been sick all week so we have to pause so he can inject himself with medicine all the time haha. He has been downing DayQuil and Robitussin to help out.

Crazy glasses I found while giving a training

- Had this funny experience where a member let us into her complex and then we were knocking on some doors and then we ended up knocking on her door without realizing it we started up a conversation and found out she is from Brazil and we asked if she is Catholic haha. She was really confused and the language barrier did NOT help.

- It snowed a little last night and this morning

A train on the way home 

- Had a talent show at Zone Conference and I performed. Thanks to all my training with the little Japanese toy...けん玉

Some elders performing at the talent show 

Also at Zone Conference, Sister Prier shared with us something that I wanted to share with everyone. She shared these three questions that she tries to think about when she talks:

- Does it need to be said? 
- Does it need to be said by me?.
- Does it need to be said by me now? 

I'd invite everyone to think about these questions too. It's pretty amazing how many things we say, and then after thinking about these questions you realize it wasn't needed. 

This talk I really want to share with y'all is called "Remember How Merciful the Lord Hath Been" by Neal A. Maxwell. I really enjoyed this talk and he talks about the "Wandamere ward," which is one of the wards that I covered for the last six months!

Click here to read:  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2004/04/remember-how-merciful-the-lord-hath-been?lang=eng

Oh, and this quote from a talk I listened to this last week is stuck in my head. It's from the Prophet of the Church:

"Fruit detached from the roots cannot long survive" - President Russell M. Nelson (April 2004)

Song of the Week:

- "I Had A Real Good Mother And Father" by The Lower Lights. I am so thankful for my wonderful mom and dad. They have taught me how I should luve my life, and are MY parents. I wouldn't have it any other way. They taught me what to do and how to act, and continue to show me that example. 

Scripture of the Week:

- 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. The last few days I have been thinking a lot about charity and how I can better show it. This chapter was one that really stuck out to me yesterday. I am grateful for opportunities when I am pushed to show my charity and patience with those I get to surround myself with. 

Love, 
Elder Ditto

Hot Air Balloon Proselytizing

Welcome back!! And Happy Valentine's Day. I hope everyone is getting to spend time with their significant other today, and remember the true meaning of Valentine's Day...jk idk what the true meaning is haha. Oh, and if you are a missionary, then hopefully you spend some extra time talking to your fam and spending time with Jesus:) 

A sick Jeep from some war back in the day 

Overall this week was pretty good! Really busy. Me and Elder Hernandez got some trainings done, and we even got to go up to Coalville! Which I thought was Wyoming lol, and I was stoked cuz I haven't been to WY before...but it's just Utah haha. So I guess I will have to wait till we go up to Rock Springs, WY this week. 

Selfie at MLC with Elder Welch, Weed and Leon

I sadly don't have lots of crazy things to share. It is a hummer cuz by the time it was Saturday night, I had only gotten to work our area and do normal missionary work for 5.5 hrs! Which is wild. But I will try to write down better the things that happen while traveling around too. We did help two more people choose a baptismal date, which is cool! And we spoke in church and got some more people to come to watch and listen to us talk about Jesus Christ:) 

This week I walked into a wall and cut my head, got to have interviews with President, gave some church tours, met a lot of crazy cool people, saw a Chick-fil-A hot air balloon, and got offered to ride in it, got In-n-Out, and had MLC (mission leadership council).

Chick-fil-A balloon

A cool quote from this week and this week's trainings that we gave, was when a missionary said "wow, I have never planned so good" and "oh man...this just makes sense! I can't believe I hadn't been planning to help people progress." I honestly thought all these trainings about planning and goal setting was gonna be kinda lame and not needed. But it amazes me how many missionaries don't know how to plan or struggle with these things. Pretty cool that President Prier felt like we needed to talk about these things, and some people thought it would be dumb. But I know that Preach My Gospel and the revelation President Prier receives is so important. 

the Quran

Selfie with Elder Wright and Hernandez 

Song of the Week:

- Sleep On The Floor by The Lumineers. Since it is Valentine's Day...this song is really good. Def a song I will have at my wedding hahah

- I Need The Every Hour by The Lower Lights. This one is very fitting for my love of Jesus Christ

Scripture of the Week:

- Doctrine and Covenants Section 107

Write me an email or letter! I wanna hear you y'all are doing! 

tyler.ditto@missionary.org

Elder Tyler Ditto 

Utah Salt Lake Mission

3487 S 1300 E

West Entrance

Salt Lake City, UT 84106

Me and Elder Ely and Elder Petty

Goodbye! 

- Elder Ditto

Car got Stolen. Chipotle with Spiders.

This was by far the most different week I have had on my mission. To start off, we had transfers, and now I am serving in Murray. Again. Wild haha. It's actually South Salt Lake, but we are in the Murray zone. But the crazier part is I am covering one of the same wards that I covered like 10 months ago which doesn't happen all that often. But ya, we cover two wards, and I live like three minutes down the road from where I lived for the last six months. 

Goodbye Elder Nogueira:(

Towers On Main. I was here every single day for the last 6 months. Crazy!

I was sad to leave the South Salt Lake Stake and all the awesome people there. But also I was ready to see something new. Which I sorta got haha. Oh, and I am in a trio again! Elder Ely is from Spokane, WA, and likes cinematography and mountain biking. Elder Petty is from North Carolina and likes making music, and wearing spiderman costumes. We have been getting along well, and trios are always really fun! 

Okay here are some highlights from the week:

- We got Chipotle. But Elder Nogueira's had a spider in it. Not yummy 

- A missionary car got stolen in our zone  they left it running and then some guys took it. Then he also stole all their Books of Mormon, pamphlets, jackets, etc. He took everything in the car.

- I had SO many meetings this week I had to go to 

- We started teaching a guy with SIX fingers.

- Someone gave us an English Quran!! Finally. It took forever.

- Let's just say we saw two naked whales... eww

- Our mission is being a pilot mission for a new daily schedule! Basically, we start studying an hour earlier and plan at night. So far it's been good and bad.

This leads me well into one of the parts that has made this week so weird. So for the next transfer, I will have my two companions here in Murray, and then a companion in Rose Park area (Elder Hernandez). The two of us are going to be going around the whole mission giving trainings on implementing the new schedule, how to plan effectively, and how to set goals that allow us to help the people we teach progress and help us as missionaries improve. So basically every day I leave Elder Ely and Elder Petty to meet up with Elder Hernandez and we do our training stuff. So it is really weird only working in my area sometimes. But I am excited to see what good comes from these trainings and exchanges. It'll be fun and a growing experience. 

-Final goodbyes to so many I love in my last area.

saying goodbye to people 

BWW with Elder Nogueira. There is a national wing shortage tho, which made it more expensive:(

Song of the Week:

- American Money by BØRNS. Shoutout to Elder Nogueira for playing the song for me. It's way good tho

Scripture of the Week:

- Doctrine and Covenants Section 33. This section is super good and one that the mission has been focusing on a lot recently. 

Oh, also I got another roll of film back. If you wanna see the pics, then let me know.

Thanks fam,

Elder T. Ditto