Elder Nathan Ditto Email Address: nathan.ditto@missionary.org

Elder Nathan Ditto Email Address: nathan.ditto@missionary.org

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

On Go Mode

Holis


Elder Gomez, my new companion.  We are both serving as AP's



YOUNG CHAP RAPS.... 

This week was turbo 馃悓 the days start to mix like we playing Wordle 馃敗
I'm glad I was furtle 馃嵓 my baby boi Hill working up in the office 馃梽馃懆‍馃捈
From meetings to casas 馃彙 gave Junior the Book now he's holding it hostage 馃摌
God doesn't take losses 馃檯‍♂️ his knowledge and glory keeps the work popping 馃寠

That took way too long, but that's kind of how I felt this week! The new missionaries came in, so we got to help with that. 脡lder Hill is no longer in the office, so I get to see him often! And we have been grinding the obra in our area! 
It's been so fun to see Elder Miranda with my new transfer.

Junior got baptized!!  I was able to join by zoom!
Love, Elder Ditto

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

2025!!!!

Hola a toditos:) 



We are teaching a dude named Junior, he is from Guinea Ecuatorial (Africa) and he is super awesome. He knows a lot from the bible and requested a Book of Mormon online. He loves the Book of Mormon now, like a lot! He's also very enamored by the confirmation and receiving of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We really wants to get baptized and confirmed as a member of Jesus Christ's church! For now, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not in Guinea Ecuatorial, no chapels and no missionaries from what we can tell. 

Junior is in Spain for vacation and is leaving in a few weeks back to Guinea. Also, he doesn't even live on the mainland of Guinea, he lives on a little island haha. So that makes it even more probable that there is no church there. So the plan is to help him get baptized and teach him really well, then see if he can go to Cameroon or Gabon sometimes. It's a crazy situation, but it'll work out. I hope missionaries get sent to Guinea Ecuatorial soon to help our my boi Junior and his family and friends.

On Friday night, I was sick, and I started shivering so much, and I felt suuper bad, when I got in my bed I prayed to stop shivering, and literally exactly when I finished the prayer my body stopped shivering and I started breathing normally. It reminded me of the bible story when Jesus calms the storm, it was so awesome.

On Saturday, we had like four lessons planned, and they were all canceled, but no pasa nada, we followed our backup plans and got to work. We ended up teaching four different people we didn't know at the same times the other lessons were planned for, it was sick. 

1. We taught Moises about the mission, he wants to serve in August!!!!!! 
2. We passed by a member's house, but he doesn't live there anymore, so we taught a dude named Eugenio (also from Guinea Ecuatorial). 
3. Ame to church with her son! 
4. B Karen and S. Carby, an old reference that we never were able to meet in person after trying like 8 times. 

It was a miraculous day, la verdad.
    
Pensamiento Espiritual:

Parents do so much for their kids. They pay for school, light, electricity, food, car, gas, clothes, etc. And the kids usually aren't conscious or fully grateful for this help until that kid becomes an adult and starts paying for those things themselves! Then, all of a sudden, the sacrifice and help of the parents becomes apparent that the now adult can really appreciate and thank their parents for everything they did. 

I think the same thing happens with the help and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ did so much for us and we simply don't think about/understand/comprehend it until we put in the spiritual work to do so. One of the very best parts of missionary work is teaching someone about who Jesus Christ is and why He needs to be important in our lives. I have been able to help a few people this week understand and be more grateful for the perfect life of Jesus.

We get transfer news on Saturday, a ver que pasa! I have 3 transfers left.

Love, Elder Ditto

Monday, December 23, 2024

Merry Christmas Baby!

Feliz Navidad a todos! I hope y'all have a great Christmas and can take some time to think bout the Reason for this Season! My grandpa wrote a document about what the Premortal World could have been like the night before Jesus Christ descended to earth and was born in the manger. My grandpa is a spiritual giant fr (for real), he has got me thinking! We must have been next to him wishing for one last embrace and final moment with Him before He was to start his mortal life. Jesus would have recently revealed to Nephi that he was about to be born (3 Nefi 1:13) So sick. There are so many cool parts of the Plan of Salvation that we probably don't know or think about.

We started out the week in Salamanca, Espa帽a.  A super cool city close to Portugal (shoutout padre). The work is going well down there, we had some fire hamburgers on Tuesday night. We met two ladies from Paraguay as we helped them carry a bed frame up four flights of stairs to their apartment, they gave us Sopa Paraguaya (it's not soup, it's like breakfast casserole). Then we shared about the Book of Mormon. 
My comp Elder Sharp and I had to wake up at 6am on Wednesday to catch our train to come back to Alcorcon. Then we had District Council, and then we had lessons the rest of that day. It was PACKED, and I definitely felt it. I was pretty stressed y tal. I think I am gonna make a song that starts out, "I woke up at 6am in Salamanca!" It could go hard lmk. 



Juan got baptized 馃巹馃巺❄️馃檹馃晩 It was a quick baptism service. His friend Santiago baptized and confirmed him. Juan is a G man, and has been SO blessed for growing his faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and now Enduring to the end. He is a big Spaniard man, but super kind, after the ordinance of his baptism we were waiting for them to change clothes and were singing The First Noel and as we were singing the "nooooooel, nooooel" part he and Santi walked in, it felt like an epic part of a movie. And Juan had a sincere smile on his face, that really touched me tbh. 

Even though it requires so much faith, work, and more work and rejection and prayers, a baptism program is about 45 min, and the actual baptism is like 10 seconds. I always want to feel the spirit super strong at some point during the baptismal program, and sometimes that happens, sometimes less. I am very grateful for all the times I felt the Holy Ghost with Juan as we taught him and as he smiled after his baptism.


Cooper is a missionary!!! Felicades mi hermano! He is at the home MTC then going to Mexico MTC 馃暣shoutout my brother. 
Love, Elder Ditto

Monday, December 16, 2024

Peace in the Gospel

Big news fellas. i have a neice ☺ Alysee di贸 la luz el 11 de Diciembre to Nora, foto abajo.
Alysee and baby Nora
Jonny Appleseed (codename) is awesome. He is a Spaniard man who is receiving so much peace and confidence in himself and in Jesus Christ thanks to many things but mostly the spirit he feels when he reads the Book of Morm贸n. His bautismo is planned for this Sunday. Pls pray for him 馃檹 
Plan of Salvation

This week we were teaching him the plan of salvaci贸n and he randomly goes 馃挕"Wait a minute, I just had a little thought pop into my head, when we partake of the bread and the water is it to remember the body and blood of Christ? And is it a moment to remember His sacrifice and try to be closer to Him?" 馃挕 It was so cool because we were not talking about that at all in the lesson, the Holy Ghost totally taught Jonny Appleseed that. It was very special to witness that.

2 Nephi 20:15

"Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" 

Uf 馃獡 It's so true. 

After being used to cut down a tree, an axe is obviously not going to boast and be like, "I am so awesome for cutting down that tree." 

As a missionary, I can't think, "Wow, I am so cool for saying that or for going to talk to that person." 

Because if I believe that God guides us to people, then I am like the axe, which is useful but is the instrument or tool needed to get the job done.  God is grand, and I am grateful that He has let me participate in His work. 

Today we went to Segovia, and tonight we are going to Salamanca. I took some cool pics.


Spreading Christmas Cheer



Kendama fun in Segovia with the castle in the background


Love, Elder Ditto



Monday, December 9, 2024

Christmas

Hey t铆os, my email list is getting shorter because a lot of my friends are done with their missions already. If I were a girl, I would be chilling at home right now, quite goofy.




President Nelson invited us to study the Atonement of Jesus Christ once a week. This week, I studied about it almost every personal study, and the more I tried to understand it, the more magnificent and grandiose it became. One thing I have noticed recently(ish) is that probably 95% of people know "Jesus died for my sins," but like nobody has thought about it recently or really even understands what that means. So I am on a quest to teach all the importance of our Savior Jes煤s, but:

"Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed..."

So hence, I have been studying it and trying to come up with several analogies to use for teaching, I would love any analogies you have used in the past for teaching the importance of Jesuscristo.

Key points:
Law of Justice/God
Law of Mercy/Grace
Sin (some context)
Agency
I just want to say that I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and I am so grateful for Him. A lot of people don't understand that yet, so I'm gonna tell them, you should too!
Love, Elder Ditto

Monday, December 2, 2024

Come December

Come December! Fire song. I want to listen to it right now. This week, we got sick. My comp got sick on Thanksgiving, so we were in our apartment basically until 7 p.m. It's chill, though. I am grateful for when we do have health. I am sick now. I feel pretty good, but my voice is gone, lol. Tomorrow we have a zone conference. I am supposed to give a presentation, so we will see what happens. 

On Thanksgiving, we taught English class. At the beginning of the class, I had everyone do a little presentation, saying their name, how long they have lived in Spain and one thing they are grateful for, all in English. Tony said, "I am grateful for getting to know the church." So awesome. 



Tony got baptized and confirmed yesterday, he gave his testimony at church and at his baptism. When we first met Tony (a little more than a month ago) he was so very depressed and was not living a few of the commandments. We have met with him a lot and now he is way happier, filled with peace, and lives all the commandments. He still has some earthly needs and his life is pretty similar to when he first met us, but he is a completely new person. I really hope that he gets blessed up by our heavenly father with a nice job and lo dem谩s.

I am so excited for Christmas! Let's go boys, we gotta grind this Christmas and preach the good word. Aight, hasta luego, gonna go play in the turkey bowl 馃Λ馃張

One more cosa. We are teaching a Spaniard fellow named Johnny Appleseed (codename) he has some mental problem thing that makes him depressed a veces (at times) and it is really sad. Three weeks ago his friend (who is a member) invited him to learn about the Book of Mormon and how it could help him. Johnny has read from Come Follow Me for 3 weeks straight now and says that he hasn't felt depressed once! Even better he feels a joy that he has never felt in his entire life. Johnny came to the baptism yesterday and said he liked it. 

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Jesucristo restored the church through the prophet Joseph Smith. If you want to read the Book of Mormon, let me know! 

Love, 

Elder Ditto

Monday, November 25, 2024

Changed Heart

Chavales! God is accelerating His work here in Alcorconcito. I shall tell y'alls a crazy story:

mas o menos 6 months ago: Elder Moyle and Elder Thayer got ice cream with the Young Adults (18-36 yr old members of the church, in Spanish the abbreviation is JA) and invited a lady on the bench to eat with them.

6 months ago-3 months ago: the lady came to activities from our church but kept going to her church, she had callings and is/was very strong and faithful to Jesus Christ in her other church. She was not at all interested in meeting with us or reading the Book of Mormon.

2 months ago: Elder Farnsworth and I had 30 minutes one day to do contacts on our phones, we went outside to do them (ALWAYS gotta do that stuff outside cuz that's where the miracles are at my bois) and sat on a nice bench. Ten minutes later a Venezuelan dude walked up to us and said "Elders, I am inactive and want to come back to church, can you guys help me?" So we said, "For sure my boy!"

Still 2 months later: we have a branch party and both the Lady and the dude mentioned above come, and dance together.

Still 2 months later: the dude invites the lady to church, she comes, she loves it, we teach her, and every single time we felt the spirit together, she started STUDYING the Book of Mormon along with the bible and her testimony grows even bigger about Jesus and his teachings/church.




2 days ago, the dude baptizes the lady.

Insane!!!!

The work of God shall prevail tios, I have no doubts. 

Here's a sad story, a lit family from Peru told us they don't want us to come to their abode and share the good news with them anymore. The mom is an inactive member from a looong time ago and she has two sons, they are lit, we played kendama together, taught them, and even gave the mom a blessing of health and it literally healed her. But ya, one day those ni帽os will see missionaries and talk to them hopefully. 
We bought a Christmas tree today, and our water heater broke earlier this week, so we heated up water on the stove and showered with that. Felt like my boi rench.

Love, Elder Ditto

On Go Mode

Holis Elder Gomez, my new companion.  We are both serving as AP's YOUNG CHAP RAPS....  This week was turbo   the days start to mix like ...