A message from mom

I don't normally do this but this week of Josh's mission was a very special one for me. I was able to participate is Josh's baptism. A few month's back Faye text messaged me and introduced herself. Let's just say that was the first day of a forever friendship. We have become such good friends. I have watched her testimony grow and flourish over the last few months. We message each other daily and  speak on the phone every once in awhile. She has been a genuine friend to me and my son. Tim and I believe that she came into josh's life to help all of us with this transition of mission life. She has been like a mom to Josh helping him through his homesickness. Faye and her husband have welcomed Josh and his companions into their home. 
I know that Faye will be blessed for her commitment to our Heavenly Father and his restored gospel. She is such a wonderful friend and example to me.  
Anyway, since we have become such good friends, Faye received permission for me to see the baptism via facetime!! It was so cool to be a part of her beautiful day. Thanks Faye for sharing it with me. And thanks for scrolling the phone so that I could get a glimpse of my awesome son!

4 Days Ya'll and I get to talk to my TEXAN!!!!!!

Hey everyone! This week has been another good one!

             On Saturday, Faye Melton was baptized. I'm so happy that she's chosen to face her life towards Jesus Christ and the scriptures. I know she's going to be blessed. I had the opportunity of confirming her on Sunday. In the blessing I said "may angels never be far." I know that angels will always be near her. She has really blessed my life and a huge reason I survived the homesickness. It was also Dustin Melton's birthday on Saturday! We all went to the ward party and had such a good time. It was awesome to see their family together and having a good time. Their kids (Noah and Olivia) are the most rambunctious, loving, happy, awesome kids. I love their family.

             After the ward party we went to the Robison's and helped put up their Christmas tree! Madi (Celeste Robison's daughter) sang for me! She doesn't sing for anyone (Not even Brother Robison) and I pretty much begged her to sing for me. I was lucky enough to hear her sing! She's got an amazing voice and she really could go places and fulfill her dream of becoming a singer. I was nervous all night about transfers.

              There was a good chance I could have been leaving Whitehouse, but luckily I get to stay! It felt like I was at state waiting to see them post finals again - I was that nervous. I was jumping up and down when I heard I get to stay! I'm so glad I get to be hear. I will be here for another seven weeks and there's a 95 percent chance I'll be here for another 13 weeks. Which is awesome! I love it here, and I'm glad this is where I get to serve on my mission.

             Only 10 more days until Christmas!!!!! 10 more days until I get to Skype my family! I'm excited for that day. I hope this Christmas season is going well for all of you! Remember Jesus Christ - He really has blessed my life and He is real, waiting for us to come unto Him. Do it! It's the best feeling in the world to know that Christ lives and loves us and is our Redeemer. Keep being awesome and try not to forget about me this Christmas either! I won't forget about all of you! :)

                                  _ELDER NEEDLES_

Baptism of Faye

Faye's cute little kiddos

The original crew

PEACE! Nice socks boys

Below is Elder Needles with his long time High School friend
Elder McAllister. Josh was so excited to see a familiar face
last week. They talked for 30 minutes and then Dallin sang for the
whole mission! Great day!

FIRST BAPTISM

Hey everyone! I'm glad it's P-Day, because I love emailing. It's one of my favorite parts of the day :) This week I had my first baptism on my mission. It was great! We're really happy for Zack and he is excited to finally be a member. This week has been a pretty good one. Not only did we have a baptism and confirmation, but it was also the Bullard Ward Christmas party! It was a lot of fun to go to, and the Kindle family is so musically talented. They're awesome. There are SCREAMING babies at this library. I'm going crazy. I thought libraries were supposed to be quiet. Anyway, we've had so many crazy things happen with investigators. One of our now "former" investigators doesn't like us at all anymore. He told us to come get our book back or he would burn it. You can say he's no longer progressing toward baptism.

              I heard about Rocky getting 2nd at state! I'm really happy for all of you guys! 2nd place is awesome! I'm overjoyed that you guys placed! I love and miss you all so much. The screaming babies are leaving thank goodness. This Saturday will be Faye's baptism! She's so excited (at least I think so). She made her own programs for it and they are beyond amazing. They look so professional! Everyone in the ward is so happy that she's joining. People are saying she's really going to be a great addition to the ward. We watched 17 Miracles with her family and the Robisons last night! I love that movie, and it was really fun to do that! I hope everyone has a good week! Remember - Jesus Christ is the reason for the season. HE IS THE GIFT :)

Happy December everyone! I'm so excited for the Christmas season. I hope everyone else is as well! Here's some moments of my Thanksgiving week that I feel are noteworthy to share.

         For Thanksgiving, we went to the Robisons! They fed us so freaking well. There was a ton of food and it was REALLY good. I was pretty full after haha. I didn't even have enough room for pumpkin pie. Faye and her kids came over to the Robisons as well. The Robisons have a Great Dane named Tiny (Ironic, right?) and Fayes son, Noah, loved the dog. That's all he wanted to do so I spent a lot of time playing with a Great Dane named Tiny on Thanksgiving haha.

        On Wednesday, Zack had his baptism interview! It was announced at church that he'll be baptized this Saturday at one! (noon for most of you guys - or as the Texans would say it "most of ya'll) We're really excited for him and he's also excited to be baptized. Faye's baptism interview is tonight. She seems a little nervous but we know she'll qualify for baptism without a doubt.

         One night I was walking through the hallway of my apartment and a HUMUNGOUS spider ran right by my foot. It took a while to actually kill it because it was huge. We later found out that it was a wolf spider. The bugs here are huge and there are a ton of them haha.

          You're probably wondering why the title of this email is "Don't Worry - I still love Dr. Pepper." Well, let me explain. The zone leaders went to lunch one day with one of their recent converts named Hannah. They noticed that she was downing Dr. Pepper and found that she (like I) had a love for that soda hahaa. They were aware that I drink Dr. Pepper all the time and that I love it too, so they said "We know a missionary that could drink more Dr. Pepper than you in a meal." Long story short I was at Buffalo Wild Wings sitting across from a girl named Hannah about to begin a Dr. Pepper drinking contest. I DRANK SO MUCH DR. PEPPER. I got really sick and full. I hardly even ate any food. I felt like I was going to puke and I had to pee so bad (which by the way was against the rules - we couldn't go to the bathroom until after the meal). In the end I won by drinking three more glasses than she did. I didn't drink any Dr. Pepper for the rest of that day, but my love for the soda still remains. :)

            I love you all and hope you all had a fun Thanksgiving and Black Friday! Keep me in mind throughout the week (:

JOSH

Elder Needles found his dream car!

Merry Christmas from Whitehouse, TX

Happy Turkey Day!