The New Bucharest Life

If I didn't think I was a real adult for the first year and a half of my mission, I do now!

Elder Ditto is in the house!

Life here in Bucharest is a lot different compared to the last time I was here with Elder Bontempo and Elder Jacobson. I am bouncing around from police station, to train station, to buying plane tickets, filming things for our Facebook page, and ensuring all missionaries are safe and always with a companion during transfer changes- every day is equipped with a new challenge and adventure!

Filming Sesh [Elder Welling] for the new Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Facebook country page called 

Biserica lui Isus Hristos a Sfinţilor din Zilele din Urmă - România . It was really awesome to get back in the video editing world!

Click here to link directly on the church's facebook page in Romania:  https://www.facebook.com/mormonii.Romania/videos/752406754954012/?hc_ref=ARS57SWatxTD0_Uu97x6qrmVYtFsfxrzJaKCJhBBp-VOtGH2Q-5B-2r-ykw_UN453xE&pnref=story

Elder Trottier is my new trusty companion. He is also the office guru, serving here for like five transfers throughout his mission as an office elder. I have been able to see him throughout my mission and am really looking forward to serving together. We will most likely be together till the end of his mission (July), and then I will have one more transfer after that. Elder Trottier is a great guy- super funny, always looking for ways to draw closer to Christ, and has a knack with people and the Romanian language. I am SO pumped for this adventure!

Elder Trottier hard at work.

So coming from Chisinau, Moldova- I had been "in the trenches" so to speak. All I had to do was worry about making sure I was finding new investigators, helping those who I met with come unto Christ, and strengthen the branch. Being the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency really gave me some great insight on what it will be like serving in church callings back at home. I felt like I was out of my mojo this week because what I am doing now really isn't just those three things! As an office elder, we are in charge of all the travel in the mission, ensuring everyone is legal and does their visa work, we are spear-heading some social media projects, and then basically do anything else that is needed of us.

It has been a treat getting to know the Hettinger family (mission president for Romania/Moldova mission) over the past seven months, and when President called me about this new assignment, I was giddy at the thought of spending more time with them. President Hettinger has a real way of connecting with people. When you talk with him, you feel like you are the most important person on the planet. He is a man of stalwart faith, and is a humble servant of God. Sister Hettinger is also one of a kind. She has reinforced the fact that you can have fun, and be obedient. She is a great example to me of following the words of our called church leaders whatever the costs. They are a great team and I am happy to be part of it.

Coming back to the Mihai Bravu branch this Sunday was SO awesome. Fratele Lucian asked me to say to say the closing prayer at sacrament meeting and when I got up I took a little glance into the congregation and felt peace and a great love for these Romanians. It was so fun to rekindle all of my relationships with many of the members. When you make a real friend here, they are truly friends for life! I feel so privileged to be back in a branch I love, and seeing the growth made even in the three months since I have been gone, gave me so much hope for the church here in Romania. 

Amidst all the craziness, we did our best to get on the streets and in the blocks to do good ol' classic missionary work. The Lord really did bless us with several opportunities to proclaim The Good News. 

The best one was getting let in by a family after one of the members suggested we try and block knock a particular block. The family had a relative that married a less-active, and were so curious as to what we believed. I know that God loves each one of us, and that the principles of Jesus Christ truly do bless our families. Eight year-old Flavia, jumped for joy and hugged the Book of Mormon when she found out that we were giving it to the family. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God! 

Here is to another great week! Keep calm and love it all!

Love,

Elder Ditto

End of a Chapter, Beginning of a New

Hey all!!

This was a whirlwind of a week. I don't really have a crazy story this week, but I do have a few highlights and tender mercies that we were blessed with as Elder Meek, Elder Atkinson and I worked our tails off. Winter decided to come back and we had to face snow storms, sickness, and new assignments, but through it all we kept on humming "Called to Serve"... one of the most special things about being a missionary is the "missionary mantle." We are endowed with power, ordained servants of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring souls unto Him. This calling is the most rewarding, and joyful thing I have ever done. Every time when I think I can't go on, or I have learned it all... the Lord always gives us another trial or opportunity to grow and come closer to him. 

Sora Gorzo

Here are some of the highlights this week while being a missionary in the land of the Republic of Moldova:

Exchange to Orhei

Our zone leaders felt like it would be a good use of our time to join forces with Elder Baker and Elder Wilkes in the small town of Orhei (45 minutes north of Chisinau) for a half a day. On Monday night, we had a lesson, and then grabbed our night packs and searched for a "maxi taxi" (ghetto shuttle bus). Much to our chagrin, the maxi taxi station was empty, and it didn't look like we were going to be able to get to Orhei. We then saw a little maroon Dacia Logan with a green "taxi" light. We asked the guy if he would be able to take us all the way to Orhei. The man didn't even hesitate and within two minutes we were on our way! I won't say if there were seat-belts or not in the back seat, but we did make it to Orhei safely and ended up paying the guy 400 lei ($25). 

Street Boarding on the only "big" street in Orhei!

The next day we labored with all our might to bring souls unto Christ, despite battling the freezing temperatures, and my cold. We gave away THIRTEEN Book of Mormons, and found several people that were interested in the unique promise contained in the book. 

Just like old times

Elder Baker is the best!

Alex Temporal and Spiritual

Alex had been coming to our advanced English class for a while and one day confronted us about taking private lessons. We agreed to teach him English for thirty minutes and then to teach him for thirty minutes about what we believe. One meeting turned into many, and within a month, we were able to set a baptismal date with Alex for the 17 of March. 

The Elders and Alex

Alex is unique as I have been able to help him develop spiritually, as well as temporally- helping him prepare for an interview with his dream company. Something that I love about our church is the attitude of ensuring that self-reliance. The modern-day prophets have emphasized this in so many ways throughout the years, and seeing people struggle in Moldova temporally has echoed this truth to me. I am grateful for the humility and desire that Alex has to improve his life so that his family might have a better future is inspiring to me. I know that living the gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the way to true happiness- following the council of the prophets ensures safety in this life!

Andrei

I met with Andrei [the man that had lost the church for five years after being baptized in Czech] at the new market just the other day. Andrei told me that he has been coming home with empty pockets- that he hasn't been able to provide his family with income. 

Andrei Gondiu - My brother.

This man has rock solid faith- he like Paul glories in his infirmities, but recognizes that he needs to find a way to provide for his family. I shared with Andrei a scripture that I had recently read.

Mosiah 24:1414 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

This scripture truly calmed his soul. I testified to him that the Lord knows his sufferings, and will provide a way to provide for his family. Like Alex, Andrei is a true warrior and an inspiration to me as who I want to become as a father.

Restoration with humble family

We were able to meet with a family who I met on the street last Sunday in their home on the 9th floor of an old block on the outskirts of Chisinau. There we had a traditional Moldovan meeting with fruit tea with organic honey, fresh walnuts, cookies- the works! We taught them the message of the the restoration and testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and showed them how they too could receive this witness.

The Best Two Years

I love missionary life, and I love Chisinau. 

Action shot

I made the Elders heart pancakes for Valentines day!

...and that's why the Lord sent me back to Bucharest!

SURPRISE!!!! Yup, I took an early morning plane and arrived this morning. 

Peacin' out of Chisinau

As I walked up the airplane stairs onto the plane, I took one last glimpse at the hills around Chisinau. The Lord truly put me through a refinement process I never would have imagined here in Chisinau. Now I am closing this chapter and beginning another one as an office elder in the capital of Romania. I am excited to see how the Lord will use my talents and what I will learn in these last six months as a full-time representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hurrah for Israel!

All my love,

Elder Ditto

Brother Virlan... I look up to this man

Dorin... my first friend in Chisinau!

Elder Griffeth... a life long friend

Elder Walch

Visiting Fratele Hanganu

Victor gave his first lesson in Sunday school... he rocked it even at 84 years old!

Elder Rybitsky

Elder Sargysan

Going for Gold!!!

I'm feeling very Olympic today, how 'bout you? I must say, opening up and seeing "OLYMPICS" as the subject title on four of my emails made me a bit giddy, just like good 'ol Sanka Coffee from Jamaica. You know, the Olympics are actually kind of similar to missionary work... everyone getting all together and competing in many different events. Before my mission I don't know if I ever thought of missionary work to be a conglomerate of many different "works."  I guess I thought I would just be tracting and teaching all day. While that is a great deal of what I do here, there is SO much more to missionary work than just freezing you "royal Rastafarian nee-nees off" as Sanka would say. Missionary work is the work of bringing souls unto Christ. How do you bring souls unto Christ?

I guess I will share three different ways that fulfilled my purpose as a missionary this week. Keep in mind that I am serving in a trio right now, which has provided us with more people to work with, as two companionship's work join into one.

Love these guys!

I have had the blessing of working closely with the members of the Chisnau 1st branch while serving as the 2nd Councilor to the Branch President. The poor guy doesn't have much help from the few priesthood brethren that we have, so that is why I am helping him in the branch presidency. A recent convert by the name of Victor (he is 84 years old), has been having some issues with his living situation. He asked to meet with me and he described his situation. We created a plan, and then I felt like I should offer to give him a blessing. After explaining the purpose of a priesthood blessing, and asking him if he had the faith to receive one, my two companions and I laid our hands upon Victor's head, and gave him a blessing, like Christ did in the times of old. In the blessing, I felt prompted to promise Victor that he would have a place to sleep for the rest of his life (his landlord kicked him out that morning). We all gave sweet Victor a hug and he went his way. Later that day, Victor called me and told me that he tried to go back to the place where he had been staying. Miraculously, the landlord allowed him to stay there again that night, and every night until the 15th. Because of Victor's faith and the power of the priesthood, the Lord provided Victor with a way to have a place to sleep. 

This story is quite touching because of the fact that probably not one of us has had to think "where will I stay tonight?" That is not to say that God thinks less of our trials than of others, for he is the God of all the earth, our Heavenly Father! Victor's faith and this opportunity to help a brother by the power of God, witnessed to me that God loves and cares about each one of us!

Catedrala Centrala

Have you ever wondered what an Orthodox priest looks like? What about teaching the gospel to ten of them?

We got a phone call from the District President on Monday, asking us to prepare an hour-long lesson on our beliefs for a group of priests and priests-in-training, as part of an orthodox "build bridges with other religions" exercise. We were pretty nervous, yet excited. We were then asked by the head guy to focus on our beliefs on the after-life. Hmm interesting! We prayed and sought for inspiration, and line-upon-line, we prepared ourselves. The biggest piece of inspiration that we got was to start with the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ- to testify of the reality that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and by the power of the God, he translated a book of holy scripture, known as the Book of Mormon, to unveil some plain and simple truths that were lost from the Bible. 

Our Orthodox/Mormon Convention extravaganza!

As a testified of Joseph Smith, namely of the First Vision, I felt the spirit burn within me, testifying to me and to those orthodox priests that Joseph Smith did see God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. Throughout the discourse, we were asked (more like tested) with some difficult, deep doctrine questions, but God helped us answer, and we always came back to the restoration.

I know that those who had a contrite spirit and broken heart, felt of the truth of the things we said. Man. What a cool experience!

A lesson with Marina and her Mother.

To cap it all off, God blessed us with some really amazing people to teach. I am really thankful for the time I have had here in Chisinau, to see many people progress in the gospel! One guy who Elder Quist and I had been working with, named Alex, committed to baptism this week! He started off with only a desire to believe in God, and now is seeing the fruits of having faith and keeping the commandments! Another man who was a referral from the Facebook efforts of some other missionaries, also committed to baptism this week. Our lesson with him was very powerful, and the spirit truly witnessed to him that our words were true, and her recognized that this is the way to lasting happiness.

Though I am not watching the Olympics, I feel much more privileged to work in the Lord's vineyard here in Moldova! I feel humbled to be an instrument in the Lord's hands, and helping a variety of his children develop greater faith in him. 

Let's go for gold and bring souls unto Christ!

I love you all!

Elder Ditto!

Change, but still on the Lord's errand

Hello all!!

Well I have reached the end of my emailing allotted time once again... too many great and exciting things happening all at once [deciding on BYU-Provo housing for the fall]! I am currently emailing with my fellow Romanian Elders in Chisinau, but without Elder Quist. 

Saying goodbye to Elder Quist... He is going to do great in Constanta!

He has left to Constanta on a special assignment to be with an Elder who's companion had to go home due to medical reasons. It was sad to see him go, but as I watched him walk to customs through the airport, I couldn't help but smile, knowing how much he has grown, and thinking about the wild times we had together getting thrown into a foreign country and expected to swim!

Life is full of changes!! Starting July 1st, Romania will join with the current Hungary mission forming it's own mission (Romania/Hungary Mission), and Moldova will join with Kiev, Ukraine mission! Craziness!!! 

Pday Tennis Sesh!

President Hettinger asked us to share a story of faith in Jesus Christ from this past week to him, and I thought this was such a cool story that I want to share it with you all as well!

It was late and Elder Quist and I were wiped after teaching our weekly English class. Although tired, we were both excited to finish the night by visiting a family that we had found while block knocking a few weeks ago. They had received the message of the restoration really well, but we struggled to keep in contact with them. We decided to just visit them and when we knocked on the door, no one came. Elder Quist said that he was sure there were people in the apartment, however.  Saddened, we did not give up!

We set out to knock doors on one more block before calling it a night. We got to the 10th floor and as we walked up the extra flight of stairs after the 10th floor, (for some reason that is how the buildings work here), a scrap of paper caught my eye. I picked it up, to find that it was a 200 lei note! That is a lot of money! I showed it to Elder Quist and we came to the conclusion that it must belong to someone that lived on that 11th floor. We knocked on all the doors, but no one answered the doors. Elder Quist gave one more knock and then finally a man opened. We told him the situation and he said, "I have never seen two guys so honest! No one is like this!" He then told us that the money was not his, but would ask the little old lady next door. She opened the door after several attempts of ringing the doorbell, and the man inquired of the lady if the 200 lei was hers. She (also) honestly said "no," but she was hoping that we had found her keys that she had lost that day. Inspired by the Holy Ghost, I am sure, I decided to give that little old lady the money. 

The man returned and thanked us and had almost closed the door when I stopped and asked if he would be interested in a message of Jesus Christ. He stopped, and reluctantly opened the door. That led to a discussion (interrupted by the little old lady giving us homemade cabbage placinte) about the Book of Mormon and ultimately the message of the restoration. He had many questions referring to the Bible and was concerned that there could not be another testament, and it was then when the gift of tongues came in! Bible references, my best teaching skills, and pure Romaneste flew out of my mouth, followed by the purest testimony of the Book of Mormon uttered by Elder Quist. The spirit was burning, I felt like we were Nephi and Lehi from the book of Helaman, "behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven."

The heavens were with us, and this confused man was able to receive some answers to his important questions, by the power of the spirit. Denis is going back to the Czech Republic and I pray that God will guide him to the missionaries, or the missionaries to him. It was our faith in Christ that caused us to act and then make a difference!

Andrei, our good friend who was also in the Czech at one point, is at a period of difficulty right now. the piata where his little clothing store was, was just bought by the supermarket, Kaufland. Everyone had to evacuate, and we were able to help him move to another location. 

Andrei's old spot for selling clothing

Getting the job done.

No more piata... just junk

The new location isn't as good but he has faith that the Lord will help him provide for his family. We found out that his wife is not very supportive of his religious choice to be Mormon, but Andrei wants to help her see that Mormons really aren't that scary! We are getting him a church produced New Testament kids' edition so that they will read to their little boy!

I love being a missionary, and I love seeing the results and trials of my faith, as well as others'.

I would love to write more, but you will have to wait six more months to get all the stories!!!

Love you all!

Elder Ditto