Palestine &Athens

Family and Friends! Oh, how I hope you've had a good week and a great
Thanksgiving. I miss you all so much. SO DANG MUCH. I have a lot to
tell you about! So much has happened this week!
First of all, on Monday I got all packed up and said a semi formal
goodbye to Elder Hansen (which was SAD AND SAD AND SAD). He was such a
great companion to have. I didn't sleep too well, because all of the
new missionaries in the mission were spending the night, and I also
was super nervous to find out about transfers the next day! I finally
got some sleep and went to the transfer meeting the next morning.
Brother Armstrong drove us over so I could transport all of my bags
and all that good stuff. I got to see a lot of people I love! Like
Elder Douglas and Sister Chinchillie and Sister Jones. I also had to
say goodbye to people I love. Like my whole District! (Elder Langford,
Elder Hafen, Sister Weichers, Sister Greenall, Elder Ahmad, Elder
Hansen and Elder Thomas). That was SAD. :( I love them all so much! At
the meeting, I found out that I WAS GOING BACK TO THE TYLER STAKE! So
now, here I am back out in East Texas in Palestine and Athens. My new
area borders my first area! So excited to be back out in the Tyler
Stake! I am also the District Leader here, and I am back-up training
my new companion (Elder Parry). He has been on the mission for as long
as Elder Hansen has! (So 2 months). I'm also happy that we have a car
area, lol. Blessings from God!
So the crazy thing about Palestine and Athens... It is the BIGGEST
area in the mission. Huge. Palestine and Athens are far enough away
from each other that we alternate wards. One week we stay in Palestine
and work there, and the next week we stay in Athens and work there.
Right now we are in Athens. When we stay in Athens, we stay at a
member's home. Which means WiFi and food so I'm happy! The sad part
is, is that if I get a letter or package from y'all there's a
possibility I won't see it for another week if it comes while I'm in
Athens. :( But there are pros and cons to everything! This week we've
been staying at the Hyink's home! I love them! They're so kind!
When I got to the area, I was sort of worried we wouldn't have
anything planned for Thanksgiving, but that wasn't the case. We ate at
the Ross Family's Home. IT WAS SO GREAT AND THE FOOD WAS AMAZING JUST
KNOW THAT I LOVE TASTING THE FOOD. Seriously. Good food. And we had a
good meal! We then explored their home! They showed us their pond full
of cat fish. We also found one of their "gopher traps" and there was a
dead gopher in there! We pulled up the chain so of course Elder Parry
and I had to get a picture with a dead gopher on Thanksgiving Day.
Lol. They also had tons of old swords that we got to see. Then,
Brother Ross showed us all of the guns he has. HE HAS A TON! I held
quite a few of them. It was cool. I was grateful to have had a good
Thanksgiving Day.
We went to Athens on Friday (that's the day we switch back and forth
between areas). I have loved the Athens Ward so far! Our Ward Mission
Leader, Brother Caldwell, is AMAZING. He will be so great to serve
with! On Saturday, we took an 18 year old member to do missionary work
with us all day long. His name is Sam. It was SO MUCH FUN! We jammed
to Christmas Music, ate food, and shared the Gospel so much! We set 6
baptism dates that day! SIX BAPTISM DATES. Joann, Cassandra, Anita,
Alexis, Michael, and Luis are getting baptized on January 2nd! The
Lord truly blessed us with success that day. We also had other amazing
lessons with investigators. It was a great first few days in a new
area.
After church on Sunday, we spent the rest of the day with Brother
Caldwell. At the end of the night WE GOT TO DRIVE INTO TYLER! I was so
happy! I've missed Tyler, Texas so much! We drove through Chandler,
Texas as well which is where Tina (one of the people I taught and
baptized in the Whitehouse Ward) lives. I felt very nostalgic! It was
so great to see Tyler again though. Brother Caldwell found it humorous
that I was like a kid at Disneyland as we drove through my first area
in the mission and Tyler. There are just so many good memories there!
I love you all so much and am so grateful for you! Please have an amazing week!
D&C 6:36
Your Missionary Friend,
Elder Joshua Needles