Receiving a Remission of Sins

Okay, I for real think this may have been the busiest week of my mission. It was insane. The exciting thing is that this coming week is very very likely to be even busier. Pretty hype. I'll tell you a few of the things that happened this week:

President and Sister Prier and me

- We went to Rock Springs and Evanston Wyoming for exchanges. So lots of driving. It was nice not being the one driving this time haha. Shoutout Elder Martinez

We went fishing on Pday

- Someone slammed their door on us in WY!! Woah. I didn't even know that was possible haha. The people in WY are so nice. Another person rejected my handshake too...

- Had a busy training for all the new missionaries and their trainers. Went really well tho! It's cool seeing them progress so much since their first day here.

Softball night 

- This week there was a protest (y'all definitely know way more than I do about it - Roe vs Wade), and there were quite a few people that yelled at us or gave some mean hand signs/gestures. That was sad 😟 all I wanted to do was share some joy

- Had a super good exchange in the Valley

- Elder Both lost his phone and gave us a call for help. We forge over to where they were at and got out to look for it. The very first homeless man I talked to, I just said "hey our friend lost his phone, do you happen to know where it is, and can you help us find it?" And then BOOM he just whips it out of his pocket and hands it to me. Thanks, bro

Me and poop water 

- While knocking on an apartment complex, the fire alarm went off and we went outside. Only to find out that there was water shooting out of the building. We drove under it....bad idea. We found out later that it was poop water, and the water never dried 😉 it was nasty

Saw Elder Wright at the Baptism!

Emily's baptism 

Okay, some other things I gotta write a little more about. This week our friend Emily was baptized and confirmed! I would love to tell you all about her, but you'll have to come meet her yourself...cuz I won't do her justice. She is so awesome and ever since we met her (like 4 weeks ago), she has been an amazing example to me. She has shown lots of bravery, determination, love, and obedience. Her baptismal service was INSANE. There were so many people there that we ran out of chairs and room for people to even sit. So we had people standing in the room, and even people crowding outside the doors trying to peak through the window and had people watching via Zoom. Such a good Sunday.

 Goodbye pics with the Priers

A good portion of the things we had to get done this week was because tomorrow (June 28th) we are getting a new Mission President and Companion. So we have had to prepare a lot of different things for them and clean up a variety of things too. I am super sad to say goodbye to the Priers, but happy to welcome in the Condies. It will be a fun transition for my last couple of weeks. I am so grateful for the Priers and for all they have done for me and the mission as a whole. 

We also had a meeting with the whole mission on Sunday. It was about the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am grateful for Joseph and his desire to find truth. I know he is a prophet of God. 

Me and Elder Napoleon 

Last thing - I am back with Elder Nogueira again! Whoot Whoot. Third separate time. By the end of my mission, we will have been companions for 6 months. That is crazy. Long time. I am hyped I get end in a trio. It'll be super dope. 

Love you guys. Don't forget.

Song of the Week:

- Praise to the Man

Scripture of the Week:

- The Book of Enos (in The Book of Mormon). We have been talking a lot about prayer recently, and this experience that is in the Book of Mormon is such a great way to learn

THE BOOK OF ENOS

CHAPTER 1

Enos prays mightily and gains a remission of his sins—The voice of the Lord comes into his mind, promising salvation for the Lamanites in a future day—The Nephites sought to reclaim the Lamanites—Enos rejoices in his Redeemer. About 420 B.C.

1 Behold, it came to pass that I, ^aEnos, knowing my father that ^bhe was a just man—for he ^ctaught me in his language, and also in the ^dnurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—

2 And I will tell you of the ^awrestle which I had before God, before I received a ^bremission of my sins.

3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the ^ajoy of the saints, ^bsunk deep into my heart.

4 And my soul ^ahungered; and I ^bkneeled down before my Maker, and I ^ccried unto him in mighty ^dprayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

5 And there came a ^avoice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are ^bforgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

6 And I, Enos, knew that God ^acould not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

8 And he said unto me: ^aBecause of thy ^bfaith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee ^cwhole.

9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a ^adesire for the ^bwelfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did ^cpour out my whole soul unto God for them.

10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my ^amind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have ^bgiven unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I ^ccurse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their ^dtransgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.

11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my ^afaith began to be ^bunshaken in the Lord; and I ^cprayed unto him with many long ^dstrugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.

12 And it came to pass that after I had ^aprayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy ^bdesires, because of thy faith.

13 And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be ^adestroyed, and the Lamanites should not be ^bdestroyed, that the Lord God would ^cpreserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be ^dbrought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be ^ebrought unto salvation—

14 For at the present our strugglings were ^avain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that, if it were possible, they would ^bdestroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers.

15 Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to ^apreserve our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.

16 And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would ^apreserve the ^brecords; and he covenanted with me that he would ^cbring ^dthem forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.

17 And I, Enos, ^aknew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest.

18 And the Lord said unto me: Thy fathers have also required of me this thing; and it shall be done unto them according to their faith; for their faith was like unto thine.

19 And now it came to pass that I, Enos, went about among the people of Nephi, prophesying of things to come, and testifying of the things which I had heard and seen.

20 And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to ^arestore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our ^blabors were vain; their ^chatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a ^dblood-thirsty people, full of ^eidolatry and ^ffilthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in ^gtents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the ^hbow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.

21 And it came to pass that the people of Nephi did till the land, and ^araise all manner of grain, and of fruit, and ^bflocksof herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats, and also many horses.

22 And there were exceedingly many ^aprophets among us. And the people were a ^bstiffnecked people, hard to understand.

23 And there was nothing save it was exceeding ^aharshness, ^bpreaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually ^creminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things—stirring them up ^dcontinually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction. And after this manner do I write concerning them.

24 And I saw ^awars between the Nephites and Lamanites in the course of my days.

25 And it came to pass that I began to be old, and an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed away from the time that our father Lehi ^aleft Jerusalem.

26 And I saw that I ^amust soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world.

27 And I soon go to the place of my ^arest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall ^brest. And I rejoice in the day when my ^cmortal shall put on ^dimmortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the ^emansions of my Father. Amen.

Love, 

Elder Ditto 

Praying with Elder Holland

Elder Holland came to speak to our mission. Yup. It was awesome. I even got the opportunity to say the closing prayer and shake Elder Holland's hand. It was a great experience. 

Me and the Book of Mormon 

Let me share a few other highlights first though: 

All the Elders from MLC

- Last MLC (mission leadership council) with the Priers (because they are returning home from their mission). Super sad. We had a yummy BBQ and all the training went smoothly (for the most part)

We had some crazy weather this week. One included this large sagebrush. 

- Someone thought I was from Argentina cuz of my Spanish accent!!! Ya for real. No cap. It was one of the best parts of my Spanish mission haha 

- Saw a scary motorcycle accident...the bike was in like five different pieces 

Elder Martinez, Elder Scott and I

- Taught a Russian guy and he took a shot of Vodka (straight from the bottle) in the middle of the lesson... not expected 

Spikeball while waiting for someone we are teaching to come to the college

- Spent more time than we would have liked in the office compiling a mission history of all the transfer boards

- We are teaching this AMAZING girl who wants to follow Christ so bad. She needs some extra prayers for support from others. 

 The whole mission at Elder Holland's devotional 

Okay, now I wanna talk for a second about the Devotional on Saturday. It was with the whole USLCM (Utah Salt Lake City Mission), President and Sister Prier, the MLS couples, Elder Cook, President Pearson, and a few other guests. I learned a lot about the high expectations we are held to as missionaries, and why, especially as a return missionary. Elder Holland also talked a lot about the importance of the morning hours. He said that if he looks at our mornings from 6:30am-9:30am, then he can tell how our day/week/month/year/life will go. I would have to agree. Whenever I have really good mornings and study well...then my days are usually better. We learned a lot together. 

I know that Elder Holland is an apostle of the Lord and that he helps the prophet of God lead the church. This is Christ's church on earth, and we can find peace and happiness through following His teachings. 

My dad and I in Squamish, BC in 2019.

Last thing — Happy late Father's Day! I am so grateful for my dad. He is a beast. 

Song of the Week:

- Religious Man (from Nacho Libre)

Scripture of the Week:

- D&C 100:6 — 

6 For it shall be ^agiven you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.

- This was shared at the devotional on Saturday, and I thought it was appropriate to share it here. I know that this promise comes only when we do our part and study the doctrine. I have seen that as I study and pray hard, then I have help from the Spirit while teaching and sharing the gospel. 

Love, 

Elder Ditto