"It is not the fact to change things that are around you, but rather to ask Heavenly Father to help you know what you have to do in order to do His will."

Obot and Axell's Baptism 

Dearest Family,

     I think that I will just start off by saying that I think that I have the biggest worry wart of a mother in the world! But, that is why I love her so much :) Phone call to the couple missionaries, just because of one week that I didn't send a letter! Yeah Sister Semken totally ratted on you... I was not surprised at all. I was thinking that if I was living with an American, I would tell him that I bet my mom has already called the couple. Because Africans just wouldn't understand that. Haha but it is a simple reason, there was just no connection... There was power, just no connection. So here goes the best son/missionary in the world award. EVEN THOUGH there was no connection, I still wrote you guys a letter in Microsoft Word, and I will attach it to this email... I am so good that it makes me sick! Such a champion. Such an over achiever. Such a good looking son of a gun if you ask me. Ha but what do I know am I right? ;) So yeah. There is my reason for not email you guys last Monday. No connection. And I don't know how many times I have to tell you... If I am sick with malaria, or something bad has happened, you will get a call directly from President Weed! Don't worry about me here! I am doing just fine and healthy!

     It sounds like the past two weeks have been pretty good! A lot going on for sure! Father’s day, which I talk about a little in my other email, birthdays and fishing! And the Strongs coming over! That sounds like quite the week! I am all mixed up on what happened which week, so I might be a little confused... But I feel that that won't really matter! It looked like the fishing trip with Joe and Ashton went well! I am super jealous... I don't know where dad got this idea, haha but I like fishing! Maybe like one time when I was 6 I complained that I was cold or bored. But all the other times I have loved it! So if anyone thinks that I don't like fishing, toss that thought aside. Because it's not true. And I beat Jordan in our hunters safety test as well. Just to get all of that cleared up. I sure do love hearing from you guys every week! I got a nice letter from Sister Reeves! Tell her thank you very much. She does a good job in writing the missionaries! And Lor and Lee's letters have been awesome too! I am honestly so blessed to have so much support from my family and friends!

     So this past week has been pretty good... I will start out with some stuff that I jotted down that I thought would be worthy to share with you guys! On Thursday, my companion and I went on a split with Elder Maxwell, a new missionary in our zone who got here about 4 months after I did on the mission. I worked with him in my area and it went pretty good. I think that it is always fun to work with other Americans. It gives me a TINY little taste of what serving a mission in the states would be like. Or just another mission that you are with other Americans... What a world... And the change from working with Kobongo. Been praying a ton and really focusing on the good. It has helped a ton too. I have found that it is not the fact that he is changing, but the fact that I have been changing myself to be able to be compatible. I always used to pray that he would just change... But then I was reading the Liahona of this months and the talk about personal prayer really got me thinking about how I was going about the whole situation wrong. It is not the fact to change things that are around you, but rather to ask Heavenly Father to help you know what you have to do in order to do His will. To maybe humble yourself and follow the spirit more than following your own desires. Like punching someone in the face. It is a slow process, but prayer has been a really big factor that has been helping me a lot.

     The baptismal service went really well with Obot and Axell! They both had their interviews on Friday night at the branch, and then Saturday morning was their service. The water was working and everything! I think that there were a total of 9 baptisms, and 3 of them were from our zone! Whooo! And we have another 3 in our zone this Saturday! I am pretty stoked about that :) Obot was super happy about his baptism and was really excited to call his dad and tell him all about it! Of course the whole service was in French, so I was translating for him like usual. I was the one who confirmed him in sacrament meeting though. It was probably the hardest thing I had ever had to do in English! Well at the start at least because I had never done an ordinance in English before... So one, I didn't know if I was going to say was going to be right, and two, I didn't want to get tongue tied! But, the spirit came right when I laid my hands upon on his head and I was able to confirm him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost! He is excited to receive the Priesthood as well this coming Sunday. I am going to be sad when I have to see him leave to Ghana in August! Axell was happy as well! He is a cute little kid. Other than the fact that when we went to his house that Saturday night his mom gave him the worst WWF Smackdown I have seen in my life... I was like, "Down Shrek! Down!!" Let's just say that she could be the linebacker that replaces Brain Urlacher this year for the Bears... Probably my least favorite part of African culture... The fact that when they read "Parents, correct your children" in the bible, they think that it means whacking them with a fufu stick! Oh yeah and Lucress, one of the little girls that went to buy me spaghetti all the time, got shipped off to live with her sister in the village... So no more church for her :( She was absolutely heartbroken. She was getting ready to go do baptisms for the dead for her family too! I guess there is still a small chance that she might be able to go... But I guess we will see.

     So yeah I mean there is my week in a nutshell. Just kinda doing the whole missionary thang. Gotta be smilin', gotta be dancin', gotta be preachin' that gospel!! tylerpoppe,colbyjones,taylorperkins,brandonmenlove. Love all of you guys for your support and love! You guys are awesome! I will talk with you guys next Monday! If connection permits us...

                                     One love,

                                          Elder Landon "L-Train" Layton