Thanksgiving and the Tombstone Challenge

(An excerpt from Landon's Thanksgiving Letter)

I'm so thankful for my parents who love us more than we can comprehend. They are amazing and I love them. I love our family. Our family is special. Each of us are special in our own ways and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for the opportunity to write this to you. You are all my dearest, closest people and I love you all. I'm so thankful for you. I love my family. I love my Heavenly father who blesses us more than we know. I know I'm serving him and his children and I'm thankful to be where I am. I'm thankful for so much. I share my testimony of families being the most important unit here on the earth. I testify of God and his graciousness to all of us. I love him and you guys and leave my testimony with you in Jesus name, Amen. 

(The Tombstone Challenge)

One of the biggest events this week!! Two childhood dreams came true! First is a baptism on my mission! Wahooo! Second is.....well let's tell you the story, shall we? There is a burger place called Zarks Burgers. We heard of this challenge burger called the Tombstone! How cool is that? Yes...for all of you who know me, you know the story pretty much now. We went there for Thanksgiving. Me and E. Wood got the Tombstone. 8 patties and 400g of fries in 10 minutes. Tons of food! We started and its just go for it! Wood had been sick so his stomach wasn't that big and he got like 80% there. I finished it all in about 8 minutes. I pounded it and still ate a dessert after. I will get a t-shirt in a couple weeks and my picture goes on their wall for all of time! I'm the first one to finish at that locations! WAY cool right?!? I was so happy!! Super cool. I will be in the Zarks burger Quezon City Philippines for forever now! Awesome! 

He had to sign a contract! Haha! 

This week has been good

This week has been good. 

We had zone interviews to talk with president and get a training on how to better learn the language from the AP's. It was great. Pres talked about mastering my mind and it helped a lot this week to work on pushing thoughts out. Then on Wednesday and Thursday I spent on exchanges that were fun. I wrote about this in my letters home. So hopefully you can see them there. Anyways. Highlights: Dunking with all the kids and people screaming and cheering and videoing. I may not know a lot of what they said but it was a fun atmosphere, haha. Also I had my best lesson yet. I haven't had a lot of times where I was surprised with what I said but this week in that lesson I did have one of those moments. Most times its like I just know that I said it way wrong. haha. Anyways, its coming along. Also whats some other fun things??  Days are a lot the same so its hard to remember haha. Hopefully you can get some good stuff from my written letter pics. Or maybe even at least read them haha. Just been a good week that has gone by pretty quick. I'm excited for Christmas here. We will have a really fun ward party here on the 15th. Also we have a baptism of two kids this week and then brother Aljon whos 22 on Dec 1!  Oh here's a unique experience that I had. So Aljons girlfriend is thankful for our help in bringing Aljon to the church. We are so excited too! So on Sunday / yesterday they offered us dinner! Little did I know that it would be at KFC I was like, oh we aren't suppose to do that on a Sunday, haha. I realize that that isn't suppose to be how it is. But that's not how life was. We went with brother Ed the ward missionary. Aljons girlfriend payed for all of us and I really had to just focus on being a friend, Not judging. It wasn't hard once I came to peace thinking about how they were sacrificing and how were we building a relationship. It was good. Sometimes things don't go the  'way they are suppose to". See the good in it. I don't justify it or anything and I wont do it if I have control of the situation, but here I've realized that sometimes its more important to be about the people and be a friend and kind then to say 'oh we actually cant take your offer because we want to be so strictly obedient. Thank you for offering your only time that works and quite a bit of money to offer though!!"See what i mean? I just think we should follow the rules the best we can and then love and serve. Be the best you you can be. The best you can with what you've got where you are.  

People here are so generous too. They love the missionaries. This one area we go to, I always have like 4 kids on each hand and arm just holding on laughing and playing and they love when you just smile and talk with them!   This area it is very apparent to see how poor people are. They all share strength in the gospel of Christ and its nice cause many people here believe in Christ already so we automatically share that common ground. 

Ano pa? (What else)

Just working away. Lots of study. Lots of trying to remember stuff that I usually forget the next day. But its slowly coming. 

i will try to write a little each day this week so i can give more to share about my life here. Feel free to send questions too if you have any

Keep being amazing!1 more next week as usual!!

Elder McAllister

THOUGHTS  

I have had a little extra time to email today and I have read some emails of other missionaries. Wow, its crazy to realize that many missionaries, friends, brothers and people I call family are dealing with such similar experiences. I know that missionary work is soooo good and I absolutely love it!!! It is amazing!!! But there is a side many people don't see. They don't see the hours and hours spent learning a language, and studying the gospel. They don't see the times or days where you are so emotionally spent that you don't want to do anything but lay down. They don't see the times where you are so stressed and don't even know why. They don't see the times where you feel like your brain has stopped working or the times where you are sweating so much and sitting there just thinking and struggling. I read a quote that I think is true. " Some of the hardest, most vigorous battles will be fought in the depths of your soul." Some days feel crazy hard. Sometimes your mind will run for hours on end, and you will hit a low. A low of feeling like you will never get this language. A low of feeling like you will never be good enough to be an effective missionary. Feeling like you're tired and beat hot and uncomfortable and angry and frustrated. But then in these moments......sometimes nothing will happen, and you will simply start to move past it. You will continue on. This is where our patience is tried. This is where we must move on. Will you sit and give up? Or keep moving on? (moving on means you are having faith and you are also showing your faith- fun fact). Sometimes though, you will read, or pray, or something will touch you to bring about a change of heart. Something will inspire you to get better. Now these are the times where Christ works in us. He helps us and builds us up. He is always there for you. Now when you hit these lows, and for some they might be weekly, daily, or even hourly. But they are only for a short time. Time always moves forward and gets better. This is something I know to be true. I know that Christ will always help us get better. But now lets look at the flip side. Christ always helps us, we know that. I talked about how sometimes we feel so much stress. How you can feel as a missionary. But lets talk a little more positive. People don't see the countless hours faithfully spent diligently studying the gospel, or a language. They don't know that you only improve slightly each day. That it's little by little. They don't see that when we feel these ways, we continue on. These times of continuing on are what build us, Show our faith and make us better. These days come and will be hard. But that's ok. They make us stronger. As we move forward we learn to better control our minds, our thoughts, we improve and get better. I talked about what people don't see, but all those times are times of faith, hard work, diligence, long suffering, having hope, being obedient. These are all attributes of our savior. Sometimes us as missionaries don't realize that. Sometimes we think that its just hard. We need to realize that we are doing a magnificent thing. That we are trying and giving our time and lives to the Lord. And as we do all these hard things, we become more Christlike. We show willingness to learn. We are humbled, we are taught, we are tried and tested. And all of this is part of Gods plan. We left our families to be here as we left our families in heaven to come to earth to be tried and tested. One thing I notice is that when we take a step back and look a little broader we see far more good than bad. Far more growth than struggle. Far more blessings than heart ache. 

Missionaries are a great example of trying to be like Christ and becoming more Christlike. They are a great example of learning and growing. Missions are great. Don't ever let the hard stuff keep us from the good. That's something we should apply to life. There are many things we can apply to life. We should always look with a big perspective. Always try to have those Christlike attributes and improve them. Always work hard for those things we want to achieve. Want to learn a language? Study and be faithful in that study. Want to get a certain job? Study for that thing. Work hard every day. I have lots of thoughts on this but the main message is that there is a lot of struggle in a mission. There is so much that people don't see. There is so much that I didn't even know about till I got in the field. There is also so much good. They do soooo much good. They grow so much. We grow so much. We must look to have a positive perspective on things. Look to broaden your perspective. Cling to those good thoughts and those positive things and don't let those negative hard things stay with you. Have a growth mindset that is strong. Now my last thought is that for all of this we must have a strong foundation on Christ to do so . When we are built on a sure foundation we can not fall. When we build on him we know that we will be supported and that he will not give us anything we can not bear. This is important.   Life is tough, but so are you. Never is there too much bad in the world or in your life. Never is there enough bad to outweigh the good. Everyday is a chance to think like this. Everyday is a chance to learn and grow. Everyday is great day to be alive. 

The week and the Orangutan

 This is their plastic washing machine, but they dry everything outside.

 Apartment from the outside

Here Is an update and some facts and stuff. I hugged an orangutan today at the zoo- it was cool. Street food rocks here. Its good. A mission is really good and really hard. I was talking with elder Wood today and we agreed that we had no idea what a mission was like before we came here. Its much different than I thought. Easier in someways and harder in some. Its interesting. Anyways, everyday us new guys agree, that the mornings are harder, but the nights we always go to bed so happy and excited. Its great. This week I had a cool experience. I was real frustrated for a bit one day cause I felt really stuck In the language and felt real dumb. Anyways, I read in Alma 13:28 and 1 Corinthians talking about how God doesn't push us till we break but he gives us stuff we can handle. So don't fear. All things are possible with God.  

Last week I got a haircut way shorter than I thought haha. The guy took off a lot of hair but It looked good and fine. Every night I make a bottle of 2 liters of tang and put it in the freezer and in the morning its a slushy and is such a blessing after I workout cause its soo refreshing. My house mates and comp are all way older than me which is weird. And everyone here is stunned when I tell them I am 18- they always ask if I'm joking -haha. My comp Elder Mangandi is 22 in a month and the other companionship is 22 and 25. Crazy Right? They are Filipinos and are like done with their schooling haha. I have a lot of life ahead when I get back. I'm a youngen.  Its really going to help me grow up and be a man. I had some kids this week just run and jump all over me -they were these young primary kids haha this was at church and they were pulling off my tie and belt and stuff it was like I was getting mugged hahah. Cute, but crazy haha. Also the primary program was this week and was awesome! A lot like the ones in Utah. The church is pretty much the same everywhere. The gospel always is the same but so is everything else too!! Kind of cool. Anyways I had a dog try to bite me this week luckily he got caught by the chain. You would never believe how my area looks. Very crowded and very very poor. Lots of trash everywhere. This is the hardest zone in the mission too. Its going really well though and our ward is doing awesome. We had 11 investigators at church this Sunday! Cool right? WE are anticipating 4 baptisms in December!! 

Leaving the MTC and Landons new area

Ok so lets start off with the MTC. We are finally out of that place and I'm so happy. It took me legit 6 weeks to adjust to it and then we left right as we got all adjusted. Kind of funny. Anyways I had a really touching goodbye with elder Hendry. He will be going home due to his depression. He left the same day as us and he told me how thankful he was for my words and most for just being his friend. Not going to lie, but it was hard at the beginning to adjust to each other but I made a goal because he was so hard to work with I wanted to just be someone he could call a friend. Because he had depression and was so dependent I didn't study as much as I probably could have but I really accomplished helping his life. President said if I didn't learn anything in the MTC but helped him it would be a success and I actually was able to learn and more importantly help him. I will not forget how hard it was but its true that you see the blessings after the trial of your faith. Saying goodbye he gave me a tie to remember that I can do hard things on hard days. Hard day, just put on that tie. He also said something that helped me and I wrote down cause it was good. He said, When times get rough, don't worry, you know what to do, you've always known what to do. I like that. Be confident and trust in god. Rely on what you know.


I also got to trade some ties with some guys at the MTC and that was cool. One little guy named Elder Igot gave me one of his basketball jerseys and left me and elder Wood speechless when we asked him if he was home sick and he said no cause he knows god is taking care of his family and that hes here to serve god. What an inspiration! I too know god is watching over my family and that he is helping me out here. Not gonna lie though, still a little homesick. Not bad, but its hard to leave the people you love so dearly. A mission is hard, but god is with me and all of us and provides a way for all that we do.


We had balut again and it wasn't as bad the second time, the mental stuff was mostly gone and it just tastes like a hard boiled egg, not bad. Saying good bye to family at the MTC is weird to have family member for only 6 weeks and then probably never see them again. Weird right? I'm thankful for my eternal family sooo much. I know i will be with them forever/ Walangg hanggan pamilya


SO we left and drove the crazy roads to the mission office and building. Pretty cool to meet real missionaries who have been out working instead of in a dumb classroom all day everyday.

You can tell I'm grateful to not have to go to class for ten hours a day now. It's all good though cause I learned and it taught me lots of things. I will forever be grateful for that experience even though it was hard.


Anyways we got there and had orientation and all that jazz and had a meeting with pres, one on one and that man is amazing. He's a man of god and I've been excited to meet him. He has a very calming authoritative voice and he doesn't mess around. When he was talking to all of us he said that if you told him you wanted to go home, then unlike other presidents, he wouldn't tell you to stay, he would tell you to go home. Hes here to work and not babysit. Which is good, cause I'm here to work. I've been waiting to actually work.

Pres and his wife are awesome.


Everyone talks of Baliwag and the rural part of the mission like a beautiful paradise, I never wanted to get my hopes up though so I never expected to go there. I got my comp, E. Mangandi and hes a Philippine- my area is called tonsuya and its in the caloocan zone. I was nervous to have a native comp. We had lots of business stuff learning how stuff works and money and the mission and seminars and then went with the APs to our apartment. Oh its nice cause elder Wood and Hoover are in my district so we played ball with them this morning and will see them tomorrow for zone training.

Got to the apartment and it looked messy and there was stuff everywhere and its small. But so is literally everything here. So small. I was nervous but I accepted it and went forward just trying to be loving and ready to work. I'm in the lords hands so nothing will be that bad. My room is small and I put all my stuff where is goes and luckily I packed one suitcase in another so I'd have more space which helped. Small and crammed but as times gone up its gotten easier and I have learned to adjust. That's something you learn on a mission. To adjust. So we share the apartment with the zone leaders and my comp is the district leader. Way nice! They all speak good English and help me when I get a little nervousness or frustrated with language stuff or whatever. They are good to talk to. Tonsuya and caloocan are hard areas. The hardest in the mission and the ZLs told me that all the trainees here were especially hand picked to come here by pres. Reasons are unknown, but that makes me feel good. Literally thrown into the belly of the beast in a sense. Just kidding, its not that bad. Our area is great and there is a really good ward mission leader who absolutely loves the missionaries and he goes out with us every day so far to members and lessons and stuff. He rocks and is a big reason our ward is so good. We had 5 investigators at church this Sunday and my comp believes more in smart missionary work so we don't go tract all day but set up appointments with investigators and we visit members,.

My comp is good and helps me with anything I ask. Hes a patient man and if you ask him he will let you know that he is disobedient. He listens to music with head phones and stuff like that but hes not bad at all. The ZLs are super chill and I asked a lot of questions at the beginning about where to go and what to do but its really up to us. They are good hard working missionaries and are very successful. Its been weird to see things I would do different but I am just trying to learn all I can so things are great in that area. So here's my daily schedule.


Wake up and work out and its nice cause we have 1 30lb dumbbell! Wahoo! Thats the most workout stuff I've seen in forever!

Wake up 6:30 and then work out and shower and eat breakfast. These guys I'm with all cook rice and some meat or something for all the meals, so fun fact- I haven eaten out here yet. Only stuff from members or these guys. Its nice and saves money. so we eat then plan at 8:30 and study till 12 then 12-1 is lunch and then study more till 2 and then we head out at 2.

Studying on your own is difficult but its good and hard and I do tons of stuff. We have like personal study doing reading or doctrine, up to you and then we have comp study which is usually lesson practice on transitions and me learning how to teach in Tagalog. language study where I read and talk and do all I can to learn the language. Then lunch then a little more study on the language and then head out and meet members or teach lessons to investigators or do whatever we can. First stop is always to pick up bro Edu first though. Hes a big help.


Heres some more daily life stuff.

The house is dirt and hot. Holy moly- I have accepted the fact completely that I will sweat all day every day. AC is a blessing. I shower day and night and we are one of the lucky houses to have a working shower. Always cold water though. Cockroaches are all over and I've seen 3 in the apartment. So funny to kill them -haha. We eat lots of rice here. I soak a handkerchief every day here. No joke, soak it multiple times. Our area is more city and lots of houses. The streets are so small and the walk ways are tiny. I am constantly watching my step for some kind of animal poop and constantly ducking my head from wires. Its crazy. All the houses are soooooo small too! I have hit my head on multiple multiple things. The people are accepting of my broken Tagalog and also speak English a little so that is very helpful and they are all so friendly and feed us or give us a drink whenever we stop by to say hello. more to come! ask questions please if you have them!!

Lots of animals and stuff here and just trash filled rivers and our place is very stinky. I have adjusted well to all of it and will continue to adjust. But I really am enjoying it. I get homesick a tad or a little down when studying and stuff but God answer's my prayers by inspiring me to read scriptures that are amazing or he touches me whenever I feel down. I love my father in heaven. He is helping me for sure. I love everything though and have no complaints about my living conditions or the heat. Not complaints but I'll tell you all how it is. Hot and stinky and hard. But good. Good to serve the lord. Hard to learn the language but not impossible. God provides a way for us to do hard things. Love you so much!!! Love,

Elder McAllister

 The view from the internet cafe he will be emailing from each week

Arrival in Quezon City North Mission

Landon made it safely from the MTC to the mission home and was assigned a companion and taken to his new area! We heard from his mission presidents and should be hearing from him on his Pdays, which are now Mondays! Here are the pictures Elder and Sister Hughes sent us from October 31.