Well.... im glad y'all had a great Christmas from what it looked like, and am glad y'all think my laugh is different. i've been trying hard to make it seem more "southern" like, you just got to get WAY more enthusiastic about stuff that is not that funny. most of the time you just have to start laughing really hard and everyone else does too. its great i love it haha. Thanks for all the pictures, looks like everyone still doing great. 

I'm SUPER EXCITED for Cosmas, its amazing what one persons idea can become when its a good idea. im very happy to see that my good ol town of Mapleton can come together and do something so great. as ive been in these small towns theres one thing that ive began to notice about all of them. 

first, your business is everyones business. if you like it or not, everyone knows everything about everyone. so no one is really SUPER rude. If you are, well everyone in town just doesnt want to talk with you. so everyone really tries to be a little nicer. even if they really dont like you they might just say. "im sorry we just wont get along, goodbye"

second, everyone looks out for each other. not only because everyone is kin, but because everyone is just nicer. anyone is really willing to do anything from just giving out some water to someone walking past. to inviting them in, sitting you down at there dinner table and just making you feel right at home. 

now not everyone is Super South-er Hospitality but every once in a while you get some really great people down in these small towns. the people that dont like you will just avoid you, and the people that are just super nice will do anything they can to help. they're not really interested in the Mormon religion, but if i learned anything in these small towns, there are some very very great Baptists, Methodist, Pentecostals, Church of Christ, 3rd Baptist church once Removed. 

Great Christian spirit down yonder. for the 30 people that wont even look you in the eye. one person is really and truly great. 

glad y'all are doing well, we're makin it. no tornadoes or floods really close to us yet, so just keep us in your prayers! :P

Love 

Landion Aldana

The last few days have been very good

its sounds like its getting a little bit colder over there, the weather down here is super great right now. its hot enough that we can still walk around in shorts and stuff but at night it gets COLD! and you have to get under the covers and such. It's nice i think, it's got ups and downs to changing like 20* everyday so if you dont like the weather one day just wait till tomorrow and most of the time it gets better or worse. 

The last few days have been very good, we have been able to teach a few people here in Clanton and are hoping to be able to see them later this week and follow up with them and everything. Its funny, so 2 of the people we are teaching are moving, But they are only moving like 5 miles down the road closer to us. The thing is no one really leaves Clanton when they move they just move to a new house somewhere in Clanton. 

yesterday we played a little bit of Street-ball at the first baptist church. all the courts around here are outside so its super weird now playing on like a gym court. i like dont really want to play becuase i dont want to mess up the court or something haha. we have a lot of fun with the people around town, you can always find someone playing basketball somewhere so every now and then we like to play with them. 

This week we have a Christmas party for the mission!! so were all going to be going down to Birmingham and were going to have a devotional, lunch, Talent show (going to do a magic trick), and then head on back. it should be a lot of fun and ill get to see a lot of missionary's ive served around going home. 

SO....  Christmas.... because the next trasfer date was on Christmas Eve, they have moved it to next week, so if y'all are going to send anything it would be best to wait untill next monday so i can let you know if im going to be staying in Clanton or not. as far as anything for Christmas, the only things i could really think of would be some Black socks, some pictures (with some snow), and some good ol candy, 

(I do love, Cadbury Eggs, Chocolate, and Gummy candy.) just some ideas. other then that im going to pick up a new blanket here, and some shoes so other then soaks and pictures i couldn't really ask for anything more :)

my Christmas is great, i wouldent want to be anywhere else. i cant wait to talk in a few more days!! hope y'all is well

Landon Aldanana

Transfers

well it sounds like a lot of fun over there for thanksgiving, we had a really good time over here also. On thanksgiving Elder Wilson and I ran over to the Methodist church for Thanksgiving Dinner, then later in the day we ended up having Thanksgiving supper over at a members house and we had a good time over there playing corn hole and the turkey bowl. We finished up the night talking with a few people down by the member where we ate at. 

That was in a nut shell most of our Thanksgiving, these last few days we have just been getting ready for Christmas and such. today we went and got a Tiny little 10$ tree and some lights were going to set up and make our house all set up for Christmas. theres a super fun vibe going around the south with Christmas coming. I would guess everyone around is starting to get a little into the mood of giving and helping one another. its an exciting time around. 

This week we are going to be going to the Temple so were all really excited about that. The Birmingham temple is TINY!! haha but its really nice, i love going there its very nice to be able to just get away from crazy ol Alabama and just think and feel a great sense of peace. I've really started to enjoy going a lot more these last few months and look forward a lot more then i did. its a great time. 

this week i was able to spend a day or two up in Pratville.... a huge city, but i was able to work up there a little bit with the zone leaders on an exchange. we had a really good time, we talked for a good bit about ways to work and diffrent ways to go at problems. coming back Elder Wilson and I have some really great ideas and new things we want to try coming in the next few weeks.

these last few days ive found a really good time in my studies of the Book of Mormon. I've just finished it a few days ago starting from Jacob, So i've been reading first and second Nephi for the first time ever and there not half bad :P its crazy right!! been out 11 months and still finding something new everyday haha. I really have enjoyed reading them, Reading from Jacob to the end ive done it 2 times now so i was thinking to myself i better read the start of the book or i cant say ive read it haha.

work is going well, were super excited for the season, cant really tell you anything i would want for Christmas. Ill have to be thinking this week and seeing what cloths of something i might need. 

I love y'all hope you dont freeze. {im in shorts and a t shirt right now}

Elder Landion aldana

I guess this week to start of it was not very bad at all just a fairly slow week. it started off very good when we were able to have Elder Dube from the 70 come down and gave us some really good training and such and it was just a good time all together. Elder Lovest {a new elder from LA} were able to go on an exchange together for a day, but kind of 2 days. we had a really good time and were able to learn a lot from each other. 

Elder Wilson From Arizona and I are getting along super well. hes such a funny kid and he has a really good singing voice. so all the time around the house ill just randomly hear him brake out into singing in the kitchen or something and them he just starts to laugh, hes such a funny fellow. we have been having a really good time together.

this week we did a Lot of tracking, well most weeks we do. This week was a hard week because no one really wanted to talk to us at all. It kind of sticks becuase its not like were just going around and like just saying something like. { hi were missionary for Jesus Christ..} and they just say no thanks and shut the door. But they will just like open the door and be like sorry... i dont believe in sacrificing my babies to Satan and then shut the door.

Everytime they just say some crazy things and Elder Wilson and I just stand there like -_____- not really knowing what to say, or we respond like. GREAT!!! we don't either haha theres some crazy rumors around Clanton about missionary and stuff and all about the Mormon church so we just are trying different ways to talk with people and start conversations. 

we have some really good ideas were going to try this week as we go around and such and just are going to mix everything up so were not just like the last few missionarys that came by, we want to have people open the door and we want to kind of catch them off gard and brake down the walls.

everything has been going along great for the most part, the only thing we can complain about is its so stinking cold!!!! not a huge fan of the weather down here yet but its growing on me haha. I Love Y'all 

Elder Landon ALdana

I don't got a ton of time today because we have had a Super crazy day but we are doing very well down here. My new companion Elder Wilson and I get along super great. Hes from Gilbart Arizona, and hes 19. hes just such a funny guy and were going to be having a ton of fun together. the last few days we have also been having a ton of great things happening with the work. A lot of really fun and great things have been happening these last few days and Were really excited for the coming weeks. 

This week were going to be.

Going to Birmingham for a training for Elder Dube from the 70. 

Going on exchanges. 

Doing some tracking. 

And just having a blast with what the weather brings us. {Rain, Sun, Clouds, whatever come its great}

I love y'all and hope that everything goes great this week. 

a lot of tracting and a lot of rain

It's been a good week i guess for the most part, just a lot of tracking and a lot of rain haha. but this week was trasfers, Elder Evens is going to be leaving so well have to see how this next week or so works out. ive just been really tired the last few days, not really in the mode to do anything haha. 

to be straight up theres really nothing to crazy/fun that happend this week. We just knocked on doors all day everyday, there is a few people that we are hoping to see this week but for the most part we just knocked and got told off. we had a good training this week, we talked alot about the savior and his love for us. 

we talked allot about peter, hes just such a great guy. so human, but we talked about when he walked on the water with Jesus. How for a little bit he was walking on water but then fell. and when Jesus walked back with him to the boat and set him down. there were a few things that we felt we could take from it. 

One. God does not get leave us, He wants us soooo bad to come back to him. we pictured Jesus and Peter like a father and a baby. the father calls for the baby to walk to him and the baby falls over. The father is not upset but he picks the baby up puts it back and calls to it again, until one day the baby learns to walk. 

two. sometimes we don't see how far we really have come. you can take peter and say well he almost got to Jesus but fell into the water so he almost made it but dident. Or you can say HOLY CRAP, Peter walked on water. he might have fallen but he walked on water! thats crazy in its self. 

we just need to look forward and keep moving on. Jesus wants us to keep moving and to keep walking to him, he will pick us up no mater how many times we fall down, look back at ourselfs and see how far we come and thats somethign amazing. 

i love you all, hope everything goes well. 

Elder Landy Aldana

we're not swimming yet!!

were not swimming yet!!

so this week there has been a TON of rain and i think its still raining i don't really have an idea, haha but were doing just fine. besides it gives me a chance to put on my coat and such. get a few more layers on me for the winter coming up. better get used to using more then just a short sleeve shirt again..

other then a ton of rain we have been doing good for the most part, our investigator Jackie dropped us this week so she will not be getting baptized. so this week looks like were back to the grind. we have a few people that we are teaching right now that we hope this week we will be able to see them again and see where there at. 

Elder Evens has been sick for the last few days with a bad stomach bug that has been going around the town and at some point he got it, my bet is that in the next few days if not tomorrow ill end up getting it :( but were both feeling pretty good today, so we hope that the next few days go as well as we hope they do,

surprise surprise the end of this week is transfers, HOLY COW. it was just like yesterday i got here and now there thinking about switching us up and such. man time goes by so fast in these little towns im telling ya, so thats going to be changing up the next few weeks over here. but for the most part its just crazy how fast everything is going

ill tell y'all something that i learned this week, and something i keep learning. im just soo glad that God has made it possible that we can try again and again and again. somedays out here i get home and just want to call it quits and come back home, its like everything you do you just cant help yourself and feel like your useless. im just so happy that i can lay it all on the table with God and try again the next day and keep on moving forward. 

a great quote i love, when i dont feel like im doing good or on par with what i would like our mission President always says. "just keep moving the herd ruffly west." were all going at diffrent speeds and in diffrent lines, but the goal is just to keep moving in the same direction with everyone. 

i love y'all hope everything keeps going fairly well over there!

Love ELder Landon Aldana

its suppose to get really nasty the next few days i hear

well i am still alive, but after the storm coming in i dont know haha. its suppose to get really nasty the next few days i hear and from the looks of today its safe to say its going to be a good week.... haha but i think were going to do just fine, it shouldnt be too bad, and i dont think that we are going to be having much of a halloween. we dont really have any plans for it at this point. we might just have to wait till after when all of the candy goes on sale and get us some and have ourselves a party haha.

Elder Evens and i have been getting along super well for the most part. nothing too crazy has been going on down here, we just kind of decide where we want to go for the day. bike out there, knock on some doors and try and talk with some people. come home and eat and then go to wallmart and try and talk to some people for the rest of the night. right now were just really focused on a lady named Jackie she is set to be baptized next Saturday at 3:00, were super pumped for her. shes set it and she really wants to move forward so were just trying not to slow her down at this point. 

Miss Jackie has been coming to church for about a year now, and for a long time would not commit to a date. We started talking with her more and more and i think shes ready now more then ever. its going to change her life so much, its going to be crazy the change in her family. My only fear is that her family wont really support her all the way, and shes wheel chair bound, i just hope her family we see how much she wants this and will step in to support her with rides and not just sit around. 

So, the highlight of the week. were working in the ghetto/hood part of town on our way to see a member, and while were heading there we see this car parted outside with a bunch of people talking. So were like Sweet group contacts? i think yes!! We start locking our bikes up to the fence like right next to them and start to try and start a conversion, and they wont like even look at us. One of the guys in the passenger seat looks at me with like a crazy look. Kind of weird but then i start to see in the car, and like the one fellow looking at me has like 50 miscellaneous bills in his lap. The driver has a semi-large plastic bag in his lap, where there are about 40 other little small plastic bags. At this point we realize there a drug deal going on, like a foot away.... and were trying to contact them. So we kind of like freeze up for a second, and they exchange really fast wave to us and pull out there pot pipe like nothing happend.

its crazy the environment down here. i would say the people are alike to the ones in Camden but the environment is 180% different. All i know is that there is a lot of changes coming here in the next few weeks here in the branch and to our mission so it will be interesting to see what all happends. 

i love y'all, hope you have a great halloween!!

Elder Landon Aldana

nothing SUPER crazy has happened this week

i did get the BOX!!! and it was super great, everything in it has been sooo good!!, so i was thinking this week, and its something ive thought about a little bit, but i do not have a set of scriptures out here. If there was anyway that i could get y'all to send me a Quad that would be super great. theres a few things that i would really like to use on it that our pass along scriptures dont have so. it would just make my studies a little bit better, if its not too much to ask for! :)

this week we were talking with Jackie {lady with no toes} and shes doing alright. she has been taught for a few months now, not just by Elder Evens and I, but shes strange. she likes to come to church and has come for about 3 months now, but she has no desire to really change. we have been working on trying to quit smoking and from what she tells us she really wants to but just gives up every time. its like shes doesn't want to smoke but its to much work to fight it. well have to see how this week goes and if theres any other ways we can try and help her. 

this week we have been doing a good bit of tracking trying to just find new people, and the people here are not super happy to see us i would say haha. you can tell the people that really dont like us and the people who just want to talk. last night we were tracking at like 7:50 and its pitch black outside and we knock on this door and the lady starts walking over to the door, she turns on her porch light and looks out and us, waves us off and flips the lights off. probably got to be the highlight rejection of the week, but it just makes you want to go out more. to find those people that haven't met us before. 

this week ive really found a super great time studying King Benjamin out of the Book of Mormon. the guy is just so cool!!! and he just goes down and does things himself. ive really loved trying to figure out what kind of person he was, how he lived his live and the last words we gave to us to study, i think he had a good idea of what God wanted us to do. how he wanted us to interact one with another. 

this week i also really really like something President Hanks wrote us. one thing he talks alot about is what we call arrows out. all of us have our arrows in, we think about me or what about me, and the whole goal is to take your arrows and turn them out. putting others before ourselves, but a quote i loved from his letter today goes something like this

"the only competition you are in is to become what the Lord wants you to be. Your only competitor is.. . YOU!"

ive really grown to love this the more times i read it and really try and apply it to myself. its something everyone needs to work on. and im so gratefull for the life changing advice our wise President always gives us. 

but anywho nothing SUPER crazy has happened this week, just the good ol grind. I Love you all, its so great to be in Alabama!

Love 

Elder Landon Aldana

Lots of pictures!

you have the best looking yard for the last 20 houses!

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY!!!!! POP, I did know it was dads birthday, But only after I looked at my calendar and was like, what’s this little writing on Saturday. Ooooo its dads Birthday! So I didn’t forget so much as I was late :) but from what I’ve heard it sounds like y'all didn’t miss a nothin, always on top of things like always. I'm glad that everything is going well for the most part. Its way too great of weather to be having anything go wrong. 

I've been doing really great the last few days. This week was the first week in a long time that we just had the whole day with nothing written down, so we were able to just go out and start knocking on doors. It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time haha, one thing that I’ve learned being in these small towns is that everyone already knows who we are. So you can to find really creative things to say right as they open the door or they just say, yaya go away. For example,

we're just walking around and we knocked on a door, I could tell on the ladies face that she did not want to talk with us at all and was not interested in talking with us at all. She opens the door thinking we’re going to say like we’re missionaries or something, but we look her right in the eye and were like. "HEY!!!! We’re the Mormon missionary’s going around and you have the best looking yard for the last 20 houses." 

It always makes my day to be doing something like that just to see how much their face changes. It goes from, "get off my porch you Cult!" to "Wait what??" she was no more interested about the gospel but she did get a little laugh and gave us a smile. Much better than an I don't want anything to do with your Golden Bible. It’s the little things like that that just make it so much easier to go out and work hard. 

Clanton has been really good so far, it’s not the biggest town in the world but its a little bit bigger then Camden haha. I’ll have to take a video if possible riding on the sidewalks over here, they might just be some of the worse sidewalks I have ever done been on. So they build all these sidewalks but they never built the ramp to get onto them. So you have to jump off them and then jump back on them, the only problem is there’s a new sidewalk about every 15 feet. So you’re just jumping on and off the curb of riding in the middle of traffic. It’s kind of a lose lose situation. 

We’re teaching a lady named Jackie. She’s I don't know how old, older. But she has no toes. She lives in the hood part of town called west end where her neighbor moved out because they were shot and killed a few months ago. She is trying to quit smoking and drinking coffee, she’s super nice and has a great spirit. She is hoping to get baptized on the 31st of October. I wish y'all could see some of the houses my great friends live in, it’s so hard to be here. To see the poverty around in these areas. I am so grateful for the peace in my life the gospel brings to me. 

I love these people so much, I’ll never forget how much these people have touched my heart here in Alabama. I've made it a goal to "ponderize" a scripture every week, this week its Alma 6 : 5. I love y'all you guys so much, thank you for all the prayers for me and this work we’re all apart of.

Elder Landon Aldana 

Clanton Alabama, its a good little town

Clanton Alabama, its a good little town down here, i had heard a lot about it from some past companions and others that i served around, so i felt like i had a picture of what i thought it was going to be like, but holy cow!!! theres like a billion houses here, and a few trailers.... well a lot. but they have paved roads so thats a lot better then last time haha. and we have a wallmart right next to our apartment so im not going to complain at all. 

My new companions name is Elder Evens. He's from Vernal Utah, guess I'm back to my Utah companions again haha, but i really like him. he's funny and is like a cowboy... ish, but more of just a farm boy. We haven't really gotten to see how the other works in teaching and like we just haven't really had the chance to feel each other out yet and found out how the other works. i think that in a few weeks were going to be rocking it. 

so far most of the people that i have met have been really nice to me. they havent been very interested but there nice for the most part. the Branch here is nice, the people that i have met at least. i hear there's about 30 that come but since it was conference only like 4 people came and we got to say hi to. From the people that i have met they have been really nice to me, were still just kind of in that "who are you and why are you here again phase." but i think were going to get along better.

im super excited just to get out and be able to go and do some work, im hoping that this week because we dont really have anything as far as meetings, we can just go out and just grid the days. its been a long time when we have been able to just go out and do missionary work, im really excited just for the change thats here. 

One thing that ive really grown to see is how just like... i dont know if its lazy or im just like kind of uncomfortable here.... i dont really know how to say it like. i feel like something is missing right now but i dont know what it is. something important that like i had in my personality or something, but i just feel off. i dont know if its just because its a new area or what but its kind of freaking me out. i hope it goes away here in the next few weeks or its going to be a weird next few transfers. 

i dont really know what all to say at this point, i loved conference. i think my favorite talk would have to be from Elder Uchtdorf about keeping the gospel simple. it really just stuck out so much to me about just keeping the gospel simple and dont get in the way of the lord and his work. all our just is is to just take what he gives us and work with it. its perfect the way its at just learn to live with it and worry about the hard stuff latter. 

i love y'all thanks for the support!!

Elder Landon Aldana

UPDATE:  On September 30, 2015 Landon was transferred to:

801 Trilliam Lane

Clanton, AL 35045

Well I'm going to be getting Transferred, and on the Plus side I don't think the world is going to be ending sometime this week, so were doing good for the most part haha. I tell you what its like you hear everything down here that's big in the world. The last few days the Pope, End of the world, and Football have been everything I've heard, From everywhere. so its been an exciting last few days around here and everywhere else. I'm sure it's pretty big over there, well everything except football haha.

I'm glad to hear that everything is going super good back home also. the last few days I feel like I've met more people from back out west then I have out here in Alabama. everyday I'm convinced that this world really is small, being here in Camden hasn't helped much also because now I can fully understand what, and who people are talking about down here. It's almost like all of the pieces came together and everything makes sense now.

this week has been a good week, hard, but good. we have been going down to a lot of places and just working as hard as we can for these last few weeks, but we have been able to meet a lot of people. but its also been hard because we have been saying a lot of goodbyes these last few days haha.

Yesterday the Branch threw me like a goodbye lunch haha. we all came together and had like some ham and cheese sandwiches and everyone came with something. it was really nice to see the Branch together and just being able to see everyone together one last time. there was about 19 of us, but I'm going to miss everyone here so much. our Branch President is really funny. after church he was leaving he's like, now remember no where else are you going to be able to call the Branch President Mr.Bubba.

I'm going to miss this Branch a lot. they have been really really good to me. the joke was if I stayed they were just going to call the Mission President and ask him to keep me here for the next year and a half like the old senior couple that was here before me. so I guess its a good thing that I left when I did or I might not be leaving ever again :P, but its really good for some change and moving around and such.

Alabama sure has a way of teaching me things. but I'm super happy that I came out here, I don't know where I would be right now if I hadn't come. I'm sooo happy to see my friends and others come out here to work hard, missions are meant to push you hard. or this one is haha, but when your just about to crack, that's when everything makes sense. I'm very happy that I was able to be out here.

I love y'all I hope that everything is going good for you guys, keep thinking about us.

Elder Landon Aldana

I know where I want to be and I’m going for it.

I’m so excited for Grant to be going off. He's going to have so much fun over there, and I’m super pumped to hear from Elder Blonquist. They’re both such studs. They give me good motivation to stay out here and keep working hard. Everything that we have been doing down here? Well Tuesday we helped collect honey from some wild bees. It was crazy!!! We just got into like a bee jacket, and so our hands were exposed and such. It was super scary haha but a lot fun. And we were able to go and help/ watch 2 wild hogs get skinned and cut up.

I don't really know what to say about this week. It’s been a really weird week haha. I think this was one of our busiest weeks so far, not only were we doing some crazy fun stuff with nonmembers, but we also were able to talk with a few people, but it’s been a really hard week also. This week we were going to a ton of places that I haven't been before, but I just have no idea what we’re going to do now.

This week is transfers and I’m excited but kind of sad. I’ve really grown to love all of these people here, but at the same time I just have no idea what to do now. The only places I haven't been in our area are over 20 miles away, everywhere else I’ve been. So I’m excited to be able to go out and be in a new area. But this week was really great.

This week we were able to get back and teach a lady for a 2nd time and she had read a little out of the Book of Mormon. So it’s been really cool to finally be able to teach someone a second time. But we’re really excited to be able to work with her. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in this next week or so.  

I’ve been just really tired this week. And it’s just been really hard the last few months. Sometimes it’s really hard to figure out what God wants you to learn. The more I think about my time here I’ve really become part of this town. But I’ve left the mission, right now I don't feel like a missionary. Right now I really just want to go out and work. But I just have no idea what to do, but we defiantly try. I’ve met some of the best people down here.

Just keep thinking about all of us missionary's out here. I guess this week the thing I would want everyone to remember is that it’s really hard, and all of us struggle to be the best we can. When it gets hard I think about y'all and I want to be the best I can for y'all, for my Mission President, for God. I know where I want to be and I’m going for it.

I love y'all, it’s not always easy, but it’s always worth it

Elder Landon Aldana

stuff from Shea-

so im going to be staying in Camden for another 6 weeks. i really am happy where im at, its nothing like ive ever been to, and the people here are really nice. nothing super crazy went on this week. we had some of the Elders from Selma come down and visit us for the day, it was a typical day, went into the ghetto. talked to people about putting some rims on there cars. talked to some ballers about where they play and if we could join them. nothing super crazy, we got rained on a few times ill have to send my SIM card home so yall can get some pictues and videos ive taken of how we tracked and some crazy storms the last few days. 

  the other day we went out tracking and this fellow yelled at us like Jehovas!!!! so we yelled back like MORMONS!!! so they invited us in and we talked for like 40 minutes about there life and such.... its crazy the people down here will just tell you everything about them. im having a really good time down here. its going to be crazy to see what happends next. 

I don't know about any super crazy stories, everyone down here is pretty normal.... sort of. once you get up into Selma, that's when the fun really starts. People don't have super crazy stories, or if they do its really hard to know what stories are real or just made up, but people have the best names in the world down here. I love hearing peoples names more then anything down here. the other day we met a  Teriyaki, or Za'Merica or

Q. people are just so funny haha, im going to have to convince my wife to name my kid something super fun.

Elder Whetton and I get along super well. hes from Arizona. Hes been out about 22 months so hes not new by any means. we have things that we do different and we both think super different and like were close but also not. we work good together but we just haven't gotten to really feel each other out and all we only teach about 6 lessons a week, if that. and a lot of the time its a really hagered like on some porch, with them drinking and someone blasting rap music right next to us. so its really hard to figure out how each other teaches, but I think were starting to learn how each other thinks and works.

im super happy to hear that work is just want to wanted. I was just thinking the other day what I was going to do when I got home for work and I don't really have a good idea what I want to do anymore. something with computers im sure, but its moving around right now as people ask me and such, get me thinking about it haha.

the people here are super great, I love um, miss love y'all, miss y'all

man people let me look at there 2000$ guns down here, haha yesterday we got invited over to a birthday party, half of the people were super excited about the party and the other half all were bringing out there shoot guns and riffles and taking them apart and stuff, right in the middle of the livingroom. man i love the south, you just never know whats going to happen to you one day or the other.

 sometimes ill be walking down some dirt road, and ill hear a gun shot coming from down the road and just see trash and dogs and all sorts of mess all over. days like that i just turn to Elder Whetton and am like. "what the poop are we doing right now? how did we even get here?" Alabama really has made me miss a lot of the things that we had back home. its really just opened my eyes to poverty not just in other parts of the world, but here in the U.S. ive had some much fun down here and learned so much already haha. ive just forgotten about my old life out here. i really have just becuase part of this town down here. this week we helped someone skin a pig and tomorrow were going to help someone we met yesterday harvest some honey from bees. so its just a whole crazy world down here. im living the country life for sure. 

sorry i aint got much to say this week. we have been out of town for about 4 days so were still kind of getting back into things haha. but i love ya miss ya hope everythings going well

Elder Whetton and I are staying really busy

sounds like y'all are having all sorts of fun over there just moving along. something i was just thinking about was you saying that Elder Ballard came and talked to 25 stakes in Utah, if im not mistaken i think there is about 7 stakes in Alabama. just a little fun fact while y'all are over there haha, but Alabama is Great! this last week we were travelling alot.... we had our temple trip on Thursday and we suppose to be there at 8:00 am, but its a 3 hour drive from our house just straight there not taking in traffic of anything. So we spent the night in Montgomery and headed up at about 6:15 only to hit not only rush hour traffic but also some construction. we made it duo and were able to have a super great time at the temple. 

after that we came back to Selma becuase we had a meeting the next day down there so we spent the night again so we wouldn't have to drive home and then another 100 miles back up the next day. we got home on Friday around 9:35 and we had left on wensday at like 5:00, so its just really great to be back home for the next little bit haha. speaking of home this place really just is home. we were in some of the biggest citys in Alabama this week and i was like blown away that we had big citys in Alabama. i totally thought it was all just super country and lots of red necks, but i was wrong. The citys over here are as big as salt lake its crazy!!!.. Im excited to see other places in Alabama, this week was just a weird week. i feel like the longer i stay in this town the weirder everything gets. 

saterday and yesterday we were out tracking and just talking with everyone we could, Camden is just weird. we were out and about yesterday and like 4 people in a row tried to bash us, and like another 5 were just preaching to us we like dident get to say anything for like 2 hours. it once again just makes me so happy to know what i do. People believe in some crazy stuff down here, take my word for it. I can give you about 20 different ideas of where we came from, how we got here, and what were suppose to do here. im just so happy and grateful that i was able to grow up in a nice house with a great family. that's not something a lot of people have around here. 

Elder Whetton and I are staying really busy thou. yesterday we went over and helped skin 2 wild hogs for a little bit, and tomorrow we going to help a fellow we met the other day harvest some honey from wild bees. we dont do a whole lot of teaching down here. right now the people just are not ready for it, but man o man do you get to talk and help and just get to know SOO many people down here. when we go tracking well knock on like 10 doors and 9 wont open but the one that does will bring us in, give us some water and well just talk for an hour. the people here are really nice and very welcoming to us. 

im super excited for all of my friends that are going out to serve missions. talking with my other friends out right now i know just how different all of our missions are going to be and how much of a change it brings into our lives. Camden has showed me so much about myself and ive learned a great much down here. im excited for the change that a mission brings and grateful to be serving here. Alabama is just starting to get into the fall season and the weather is just giving us a tease of whats to come, yesterday it was 67*ish and 40% humidity. it felt really really good. we was just fittin to walk to church it felt so good. 

i love y'all im doing really good out here. keep praying for us.

Elder Landon Aldana

man i just wish y'all could really get down here

This is an un-edited letter...

well we made it threw the first days of football season, but not without everyone... EVERYONE talking about it, i guess BYU made some really big play right at the end of the game. thats all anyone talks about now whenever where at the store or just walking down town. ill hear people talking about the Alabama game or the Auburn game, or some big play from another team. its really funny, you can tell what teams won and what teams lost and such because everyone starts talking smack on each other and saying y'all need to switch teams. i hope y'all know whos going to win this year....  but on the plus side i hear both teams won, so no one can get too beat up about it :). 

sounds like fun back home. school started up, work still work, everyone's still moving along. is it starting to get colder over there? i bet y'all are just getting into the good weather, its still hot as ill get out down here. 90*s on a good day so if you can stay out of the sun and in the shade its not super bad, but its still hot. we are going up to the temple this week, Elder Whetton and I are super excited, but its a really long drive like 3 hours i think, so were going to be out of camden for like 2 days spending the night closer so we dont have to drive all day. 

man i just wish y'all could really get down here. talk with some of the people and just be in this town. it aint nothin like i have never did see, people are just sooo nice down here. there not super excited to talk about religion with you but people are just really really nice down here, well towards us. you just dont want to get on peoples bad side or no one likes you. last week we were able to go up to Montgomery for a zone training. we had a lot of fun up there and were able to learn alot. one of the training we were talking about the "Thats fine" principle. in a nut shell its more of less just to get people to grow a spine and not get pushed around out here. the idea is that when people start to knock on church beliefs or use excuses to get you to leave, you just say "Thats fine" and push for a better day to come back, or in the house right then. 

its mostly just meant so we are not wasting to and just getting our legs pulled. a lot of the stuff we train on is finding out how serious people are. we never ask will you try, or can you. we always are trying to leave commitments or get commitments with a yes or a no. lots of WIll you? and does today at 5:00 or tomorrow at 5:00 work best. just trying to get people not just to say something to get you away but let people know we really want to talk with them and are serious about what we do and our time. .

Elder Whetton and I are doing really good together. i know one thing the mission has done for me is really helped me to learn to compromise, to really work "together". Sister Hanks trained on working well with companions a little bit ago a said something i really liked. "If you or your companion are makin 70% of the decisions, your doing it wrong". they really get us to trust and work with people that are completely different then ourselves. ive really loved to see how each one of my companions has worked and how they try to work there hardest. the one thing ive also learned is how to admit your wrong, i know with Elder Whetton and I once someone gets set on a decision and has no compromise our day just stinks. we both have to make decisions and ask for advice from one another. 

well Abalama is the place to be right now. there's no other place i would want to be other then right here. 

love y'all

Elder Landon Aldana

lots of pictures!

I'm really glad that y'all liked the pictures I sent home, I’ll have to see if I can’t take a few videos every now and then. they took me a little bit to take but I’ve been trying to take a few more pictures over the next little bit, to answer moms question about how big our branch is and about how many people come to church. sooo... as far as Adults last week we had 9 but we had about 8 kids under the age of 8 so we had a few people, we average about 14 adults and like 5 kids every week, so were pretty small haha. I’m pretty sure were the smallest in the mission, so can’t get any smaller haha. But we do really good, I don't think anything is going to happen to this branch. Everyone has like 3 callings, haha.

Camden is doing really good, the other day we started heading to a place in our area called oak hill. As we were heading up there we were able to find a few roads that I haven't ever been down so we were able to go a talk to few people that we haven't met before. We had a good time going out to the boonies and talking with some good ol country folks. It’s always super fun talking with some good county folks. I just wish y'all could hear some people talk out here. When you talk with people it just gets better over time.

I don't really know what all is new in Camden, everything is about the same.. Nothing to crazy is happening. It’s still a little bit hot but the cold air is starting to come it so now it’s getting nice. If you’re in the shade the weather is not too bad but it’s still pretty hot if the sun is on you. but it’s nothing like it was a few months ago, now it’s just like 90s and such, nothing to even sweet about...... sort of.

I guess like just the culture of the mission down here has really stood out to me this last week. I don't think it’s a surprise to anyone that every mission is different and down here I think one of the biggest differences is just how we as missionary's have to teach and learn the scriptures. Alabama being I would dare say probably the biggest religious state in the US, has all sorts of church's and religions. Not just Christian, I’ve met Muslims, Buddhist, Humanistic, and Atheist. 

I’ll be the first to tell you, people down here will tell you straight up you're wrong to your face, and then start to try and prove they're right. I don't know but like I’ve really started to know the scriptures way more than I have before and a few times people will always say about the same things. A big thing down here is the trinity, people always bring that up in conversation and basic doctrine. When you talk with these people most of the time they just answer there question themselves if you just talk about the restoration or the atonement.

Now down here in the south we get a TON of people that know a lot about the church. I’ve met people I bet know way more about the church than I do and way more about the Bible than I do. These people tear into the church, I could give you more church anti about Joseph Smith, our beliefs and what past prophets have said. It’s very convincing; these people have spent their lives trying to drag people away from the church.

As I study the scriptures there's always something you find when you read them. The Book of Mormon brings the spirit, I’ve felt it, and know it does. And if the Book of Mormon brings the spirit, nothing else matters. It doesn't matter what all has happened in the past, or what people have found out about the church we don't have answers on. All that matters is that the church that Jesus Christ started is back and it’s true. 

Bible bashing gets you nowhere. Trust me, I’ve seen it, it doesn't ever work. Keep faith in the scriptures, something I love out here we use is. Question the church? Yes. Doubt the church? NO. Always be leaning into the church, but don't just follow blindly. I love this place, I’ve learn sooo much about the gospel of Jesus Christ and I’m just starting.

 I Love Y'all!!

Elder Landon Aldana

Football season is starting up!

Football season is starting up! It’s getting to be a really interesting time down here. I’ve heard so many stories about football in Alabama and I’m going to be here for it and I’m super excited. For y'all that don't understand, there’s 2 HUGE teams down here. Alabama, and Auburn and both are about as big as the Christian religion down here. Alabama and Auburn are also Super big rivals, you have to pick a side. I've heard many a story that down here when the football season starts tracting gets super fun, half the people will kill you for interrupting the game. I'm super excited to see what’s going to happen haha. But that's just part of Alabama!

Think week has been a good week. It’s been a wet week.... we have had thunderstorms for weeks it feels like. You just put all of your stuff in little bags and hope for the best, if it ever gets really bad you just camp out on someone's porch for a little bit, unless they let you in haha. We have been able to see a lot of different people because everyone asks us if we want a ride. I would bet 4/10 people ask us if we would like a ride even when it’s not raining. It’s even weirder when you know like half the people so they stop ask if you want a ride, most of the time we don't need a ride, so you just start talking with them in the middle of the road about who knows what.

Later on in the week we were going over to see a lady that we have been trying to get in contact with for a little while now but she hasn't been up to it the last few times. This week as we were coming over we met for the second time a really nice fellow. They were having a big ol party and there was about 10 guys all drinking and smoking, having a good ol BBQ. So we went over and started talking with them just about whatever they wanted to talk about. Or even just let them talk to us. 

They gave us some of their BBQ, and we showed them a few magic tricks and parted ways. There are a few sayings down here that just make me really happy and you hear them all the time, one of them is when people are drinking and you come up to them. They always say "Not today, sorry guys, but I’m drinking. Come back tomorrow" it’s just a really nice way of saying, sorry boys we're not interested haha. They use that one a lot or "sorry were Baptist", or "don't worry I’m saved I've found Jesus" all of them really just mean, we're not interested. The people will still talk with you and are super nice, but they don't want to talk about Mormons and stuff.

This week were transfers so there are 2 new Elders in the District, one of them came out with me. He’s from South Africa and we're super good friends so I’m excited to get to work with him for the next little bit. The other one is from Delaware; we have a good ol time all together. We’re a good mix match of personalities and we have a good time together. we try and play street ball on Mondays with them and the Elder from South Africa is 6'5 and I’m 6'4 and Elder Whetton is 6'3 so we all look like freaks when we come out to play with them haha.

I've been doing good down here, the people are really good to us. Thanks for all of the support y'all give me. I'M SUPER PUMPED that Grant is going on a mission!! He’s going to have a blast out there in Japan. I’m super excited Andy leaves there in about a week also, thery're both going to rock it in their areas. I also sent my SIM card home today so y'all should have some pictures off that. I love you guys, keep praying for us,

Love Elder Landon Aldana