3 Euro Txurro

Attitude of Gratitude. That's my family's motto. Because at the end of the day, we choose if it was a good day or a bad day. Let's just say I had to do some choosing this week haha.

Jose Maria, an absolute legend of a man

Jesus served a mission. He did street contacting and knocked on some doors. He taught kids, adults, blind people, and leapers, he taught them all. He taught with stories people would understand, one time he even just drew in the sand. I don't know if He ever got a pday (my day off each week) but I could see him and the boys playing some futbol or fishing or sum. Jesus helped convert a lot of people. I really want to do the same. But there were also a lot of people that rejected Him. A lot. And there were probably also a lot of people that believed Him and what He was teaching but didn't secure the bag (get baptized) in that moment. That had to be hard for Christ. Because He KNEW that it was true. And right now, as I'm writing this email, I feel like I can relate to Him a little bit more than I used to be able to through my mission. Jesus knows us perfectly! Don't forget that.

a walking Real Sociedad

I had Paella for the first time.--please note 'lil Timmy, the shrimp, eyeballs and all. Paella is a famous Spanish dish that has saffron-flavored rice cooked with meats, seafood, and vegetables. A nice woman in the ward made it for us.

On Thursday we traveled over to Zarautz to meet with 3 of our amigos who live over there. One is Jesenia, who had a baptismal date but we had to move it because she doesn't feel quite ready, the other was with our homie Andoni, which got canceled, and the other was with Lilian. A lowkey elect lady who really loves God. Lilian forgot to come to her own cita so we were a little bummed as the day didn't seem to be going exquisitely. 

Txurros! 3 euros, good cop

But then I remembered I had some euros in my pocket so we walked across the street and bought txurros! (churros in Euskera). Sometimes we need to take a step back, eat a churro, and laugh a little. We cannot forget to find the good moments in the hard times! 

I'm just tryna keep it real with y'all in the emails. Emails are nice cuz I can type out how I'm feeling haha. I feel like I could record some bangers (songs) right now if I had time to think about my thoughts lol.  I'm really grateful for these experiences, the good and the hard because they help me understand Jesus a little more. Jesus is an absolute legend. Idk how He did it. 

Taught a lesson in the back of a car hahah (my 2nd lesson in the back of a car)

We had a lesson on miracles with Juni (our homie who got baptized a few weeks ago) and she brought us Arepas. Those HIT. yummy. Shoutout Juni for supplying us with food because we are so poor right now haha. But we had a really good lesson with Juni about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She had so many good questions about Joseph Smith, prophets, and personal revelation. It was awesome to teach something a little different than usual. In the lesson, she said ¨I know the Book of Mormon is true." When she said that I just couldn't help but smile. The way the gospel changes lives is so cool and it's a privilege to be a little part of it.

Inside the organ!

We had a lesson with our friend Oier. He LOVES to play the organ. He plays in a few cathedrals around Spain. We had a lesson inside the cathedral San Ignacio in Gros, España.  Oier showed us around the organ and played some fire tunes. Gonna get a Oier feat. young chap songs one of these days haha. He is really talented and we told him that if he gets baptized he can play at the Tabernacle. broma, but fr. jaja. Anyways, Nelson and I taught him inside the cathedral while a service was going on. Preaching in the synagogue type b.

This week I challenge y'all to pick an attribute of Christ and study it and remember it throughout the week or day. I've found that having a specific attribute in mind can help me make better decisions throughout the day. 

This week I ain't gonna let nun get me down! 

Run it back Turbo!

Got transfer news! Pretty wild to think that I am almost done with my first transfer on my mission. I still feel like I don't know what's going on most of the time. Elder Nelson and I are staying in San Sebastian! We finna run it back!

Handstand in the town of Tolosa!

I'm really excited that we are both staying because this week we spent a lot of time fixing our schedules and finding meeting times that are actually going to work with our amigos because one thing I have learned about myself is that I hate when people cancel things, and unfortunately, on the mission, I think its safe to say that things get canceled more often than not. So our goal has been to try to reduce the rate of cancellations. Something I didn't really think pertained to a mission until now.

You know those classic crazy missionary stories of suspicious food, language confusion, and interesting people. I had a good one on Tuesday. Elder Nelson and I took the train to a super bonita city called Tolosa to visit and member and talk about baptism with the member's mom. Their door opened and we were greeted by a heap of cats. We sat down and some absolute grub was presented in front of us. A pile of tubes of meat and a corpse of a chicken, my best guess. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I still don't know what it was haha. 

After the lesson, we sat on a bench and watched a drug deal. A guy a few stories upchucked a small bag of mystical substance onto the ground a few meters (I'm learning) in front of us, then he whistled and a lady whipped around the corner and grabbed it as she walked by. It was pretty smooth I must admit lol. 

 Dang. Gonna stitch this up

Had some really good lessons this week. Jesenía has a baptismal date! Please pray for her to feel comfort and God's love for her, because she is pretty nervous about baptism. We're seeing that baptism seems like something kind of scary for a lot of people. But really it's not. It is a commandment and it is very important, but also it is a huge blessing! Through baptism, it is the only way we can return to live with God again. So if you have any fire tips for how to teach baptism I would love that. 

Delicious food (traditional to Pays Bascom, called Bonito en tomate)

Fireworks! Mucha gente!

This week I was reading in Acts about Paul (he was such a good example of a true disciple of Christ, and he is evidence that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can change for the better!) Then Tyler sent me this scripture which is a heater so I would like to share it with y'all. 

Romans 8:31, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" 

Absolutely no one! That's who! Even though it can be hard to find strength in God at times, when we continue to pray for strength and surround ourselves with good people and media, we can feel His infinite love for us! And that is so powerful. We are on God's team! And God literally can't lose! 

The lads!

God loves you!

GROOVIN'

Mosiah 4:27, "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."

bobadillas LEGENDZ

my digz

Work hard play hard yo. I feel like I'm getting in the groove. The lingo isn't prime yet, but it gets better every day. Also, two people from Spain said my Spanish was good. That's what I call a WIN! 

PAYS VASCO

There is a festival all this week. It's called "Semana Grande," very unique lol. But it basically means just lots of concerts, fireworks, y drunk homies! It's sick tho there's a way dope culture here.

los Oviedo, teaching about testimony

Èlder Nelson and I are working hard, we have been seeing some good success and are hoping for some fire weeks ahead of us, finding those people who God has been preparing for the gospel, then that's when we fly in and serve them up the good word.

  Also, I learned this week that I really can't cook, I have no clue how to cook anything besides breakfast lol. Mad respect to all the chefs out there.

This morning Nelson and I locked ourselves out of the piso, bad news, so we called up a locksmith and bought groceries in the meantime. Then the locksmith came (just a normal guy with a fanny pack and a son, and told us not to look while he just slid a laminated card in between the door and the wall and kicked the door open. Bruh charged us 110 euros. We got scammed so hard. So dumb of us, I will never hire a locksmith ever again. Anyways...

un Barco (went to the island today)

Real Sociedad flag y flag de playa de Concha

At the island on pday

Enjoy the week and study the scriptures with a question in mind this week! 

A week of milagros

God works Miracles: here are two from this week!

♧NESTOR. (homie from Senegal and speaks mainly French). We got to his apartment complex and rang the doorbell for his room but he didn't answer. A few seconds later we heard someone walking so we waited, and when the door opened. IT WAS NESTOR. Out of every person in that complex, and out of all the times he could be leaving his house, it was literally at the exact same time as us. bruhhhh. He was starstruck haha. He opens the door and it's us! we got him. We talked to him for a little and gave him a French Book of Mormon. 

♤ROSA. We were walking home around 9:45pm and we saw a lady and both instinctively started speed walking. We ended up teaching her right there! She shared a super powerful testimony about how she knows she will see her son again who passed away from cancer. The spirit was so strong. We have another lesson with her tomorrow. I love God because of the miracles he does.

This week:

- Exchanges with Élder Lesue in Pamplona. 

- Did a kickflip (not my cleanest one lol) for my boy Diego and we got his number!

-Exchanges with Élder Nebeker in SanSe. Since Elder Neb is serving in another area I was in charge that day. It was challenging but actually way fun and I learned a lot.

Dinner with this wonderful family - Kenneth y fam (la comida fuego)

- In Spanish, during a lesson, I accidentally asked two maybe homosexual homies if they were best friends forever lol.

English class

- Taught slang words in English class. Words such as Dope, rizz y bussin. Their homework was to send in sentences with these vocab words haha.

At the church trying to type up a program for the baptism.  We didn't have the key to open up the computers so we had to get creative.

Baptism of Juni

- Baptism of Juni!!!! So special. Watching the conversion process of someone is a privilege. Élder Nelson and I learned how the whole church worked on the day of the baptism. Planning a baptism service is so stressful. We were running around like madmen and I ended up giving a little 5 mins talk off the dome. 

Throughout the week I always have super sick ideas for emails and then Monday comes and I forget them all. But this week I started writing down one or two miracles that I saw that day. And I have been able to find something every day! They are small (like guessing someone's room number) and they are big (like talking to Rosa!), most importantly, they are every day. This week, I challenge all of you to look for God's hand in your life, every day. For me, this has helped me be more grateful.

Lastly, went on a dope hike for our pday to Monte ulia. 

Hike to Monte ulia

Send me emails! 

Got a new Sis this week!!

This morning I was reading in the only book I like to read (The Book of Mormon) and came across some fire verses. Before I share the verses, here's some context. Moroni was an ancient prophet in the Americas. And when he had the golden plates (what we now know as The Book of Mormon) there was a huge war going on where everyone who believed in Christ was put to death by super wicked people. So every day, Moroni hid by himself to preserve his life. Imagine that! 

In the 7th chapter of his book, Moroni wrote about charity.  He wrote that "charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him (Moroni 7:47)." 

I think charity can be shown in many different ways. So these last couple of days I have been trying to earn this gift by focusing on others because that is what Christ did. And I can testify that every day I have kept this goal in mind I feel more love for the people here and also missionary work! Because missionary work is hard! But that doesn't mean it can't be fun too! Every day I love the people a little more and come to know our Savior Jesus Christ a little more too. Can't wait to see myself in 2 years. 

Love it here!

DIVERTIDOS

- Zone Conference. Was absolutely a blast. Played fútbol with other missionaries and amigos. Learned a lot. Had to haul around my enormous bag to Zone Conf, absolutely goofy of me, but I didn't have a smaller bag.

My new bag

- But God is always watching out for me so of course I found a nicely sized classic European leather bag in a garbage pile in Irún 2 days later. Dog I was so hyped! This bag is so botín (swag). I took it home and now it's my travel bag. 

- Used an imperial-looking portapotty basically. Idk what else to call it haha. It was a big metal box and there was a laser that pointed at you while you were in there. 

- Went to Hondarribia on Saturday during a massive festival. If I understood the info I gathered from Spaniards, this festival was straight up a day off work solely for the purpose of drinking beer. Haha. There were hecka lads sipping that day. But we found a family who was so ready to hear the gospel. We taught them the whole Plan of Happiness and gave them copies of the Book of Mormon. That's a miracle! 

Pays Vasco flag

- Some facts about San Sebastian (my city right now). It's part of Pays Vasco (I think it's like a fake country made up of Northern Spain and Southern France). People from Pays Vasco speak the language of Euskera. And it has literally no relation to any other language, there's not even a Book of Mormon in Euskera. To say "hola" en Euskera you say "Kaixo." It's way dope. Most signs in San Sebastian and surrounding cities are in Euskera. 

Tyler and Hailee at the Payson Utah temple

My family...minus me!

Oh ya, and I got a new sister this week. Love you Hailee!!! 

On Tyler and Hailee's wedding day I carried around this picture from their wedding invitation and bought an Absolutely fire donut to celebrate their wedding!!

Send me pics or music or letters or whateva lol: 

Email: nathan.ditto@missionary.org 

Address: 

Calle San Martin Kalea 15 2B

San Sebastián 20005

Donostia Gipuzkoa España

Love yall! AGUR

Gave another talk in church on Sunday, July 30

Ratatouille Vibes this week

HEY

- I saw FRANCE! Some members live in a city called Irún (which borders France) and you know Élder Nelson and I snagged a picture.

The river separates Spain from France.

The river separates España y Francia and our homie Santiago was telling us how there's an island in that river that is part of España for 6 months and the other 6 months of the year it is part of France lol. Gotta go teach the good word to the island natives before the 6 months are up haha! 

- Played fútbol in España with some kids! This has been something I've always wanted to do my entire life. 

This member family invited us over for dinner.  It was so yummy!

Dinner!  Bread, cheese, and prosciutto

- one thing I love about Spain is how diverse it is. The people, lots of immigrants from Central America, and also the beautiful nature and super old city. Like we were in the city with all the cathedrals then we saw this dirt path leading into the trees and we just trotted into el Camino de Santiago. We were following the maps to get to an amigos house but we ended up at like an insane asylum or something haha.

Miracle:

One day we were walking back to our piso (apartment) and I was kinda down not gonna lie! Spanish was brutal that day and some lessons got canceled. But as we were walking two guys stopped us! This never happens hahaha. Ever. I was confused. I was like "You want to talk to me??" And also one of the guys (Anthony) spoke English. Miracle already! But Anthony is from Romania and he was telling us about how he wanted to learn more about the gospel. First, I thought I was dreaming because this never happens. But I wasn't dreaming because we've had some lessons with him and his dad and he's saying he loves reading the Book of Mormon! This is why I'm here. Some days are hard bro! But when something like this happens I remember why I'm here and that God is watching over all of his children. 

Have a great week everyone! Tyler and Hailee are getting married in 2 days! Holy!  Addison comes home from his mission in less than a week! 

Sorry, this email isn't anything special. It doesn't rhyme or anything lol, but I'm so grateful for this time I have to serve the people of Spain!

I've given two talks in Spanish so far.  Here they are if you would like to listen:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vQ5CTtIlOrAKFE68oz6Ywww-bBglG5jr/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tzjKqcUodWjH-VN1bO3uHmZAgleTxJ0J/view?usp=share_link

Love, 

Elder Ditto