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