Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

My Family & Friends! CHRISTMAS IS THIS FRIDAY I REPEAT CHRISTMAS IS
THIS FRIDAY! What in the world I'm so excited. I LOVE Christmas.
Celebrating Christ's Birth brings such a spirit that is undeniably
real. I love it! And I also love all of you, so much!
So quite a few things happened this last week. For one, I hit 15 whole
months on my mission. Can you say crazy? I've been serving for that
long! My 15 month mark was great! We went to a pizza buffet with
Brother Hyink, we taught a GREAT lesson with one of our investigators
(David), and the best part of all... that night we drove into Dallas! It was so weird to see Dallas after being out in East Texas for so
long! But I loved it! We went right back to my last area! (Dallas 4).
It was so awesome. We got to spend the night at my old apartment too,
with my mission son! Elder Hansen! Elder Hafen was there too, which
made me happy! I've missed those guys. It was so good to see them
again. It was also so great to be around my last area. I had so many
memories on every corner! The next morning we had a Christmas
Specialized Training! The zones that went on that day were Tyler Zone
(that's us), Heath Zone, and Gilmer Zone. Which meant I got to see
Elder Westover and Sister Awerkamp! They are two of my missionary
friends way back when I was in the beginning of my mission. It was
GRAND to see them. After the training, we got to do something REALLY
fun! We went to the mission home and had a party! It was so great. We
did a white elephant gift exchange. I ended up with a head massager!
Lol! Elder Parry (My missionary companion) opened a jar of rotten
bananas! Gross! I felt bad for him, but he eventually got rid of them!
(Now that was luck). So he ended up with a candle! Lol. We then had
music, 12 days of Christmas Texas Dallas Mission style, and the
nativity! I was a narrator for the nativity. Elder Parry ended up
singing in the 12 days of Christmas! It was a blast! President and
Sister Taylor are truly amazing. They made it so much fun. They are an
amazing example of what pure charity is. After the party, Elder Parry
and I of course ate at Panda Express because there isn't one in East
Texas. Then we got the BEST opportunity to go to the Dallas Temple and
do an endowment session. By happenstance, Sister Awerkamp got
permission and ended up at THE SAME session as us! It was such a
blessing! It was a great session, and was sad to say goodbye to Sister
Awerkamp, because she goes home in 2 weeks. I even saw some of the
Dallas 4 Ward Members in the Temple! Like Sister Hale! Whom I love! It
was so great. Afterward, Elder Parry and I of course ate at Chick Fil
A because there isn't one here where we are in East Texas. Then we
took the long drive back to Palestine! So you can definitely say that
was one of the best days of the transfer!
The transfer actually ends in 2 weeks. I'm not sure what will happen!
My guess, is that Elder Parry and I will stay together another
transfer, but you truly never know! We just both want to stay, because
Dave Davis and Ruby Bennett are both being baptized on January 9th!
We're so excited for them both!
This week I had my favorite Tex Mex. (Mexican food Texas style). It's
a place called Jalapeño Tree! Oh my goodness it was so good! I loved
it. We went with an awesome member (Tim Brewer) and I probably ate too
much lol. It just tasted so good! Texas has got some AMAZING food.
Also, there are some good cooks here too. Ruby (our Investigator who
is getting baptized on January 9th) made us some AMAZING food. It was
so amazing.
This Friday is Christmas which means I get to Skype with my family.
I'm so excited! I'm also excited because next Christmas I'll be home
for! This is my last Christmas on the mission. How exciting!
I love you all so much and hope you have the best Christmas.
"Through the years we all will be together if the fates allow... And
have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas now."
Merry Christmas, I love you all.
Elder Joshua Needles

Light > Darkness

Oh my wonderful Family and Friends here we are yet again on another

P-Day emailing each other during the Christmas Season. What better

thing could I be doing?! So happy that I get the blessing of emailing

you all weekly. I thank my God every day for you. Don't ever think I

don't.

What a week this one was! We are so happy with the people God has

prepared for us to teach! We set a baptism date with Ruby this week!

She is going to be baptized on January 2nd. That's now 10 new baptism

dates for our areas in just three weeks! I'm astonished at the

blessings God has sent our way.

This week we had one of the most memorable discussions of my mission.

We walked up to this lady outside of her house while her kids were

raking leaves. We just started up conversation with her and it

eventually led to us asking if we can share our message with her. She,

of course, said yes as she was already curious. She asked if her

husband could sit in as well. We said yes! He came and sat down and

before we began he informed us that he is a Baptist Preacher and that

he would not agree with our message... We knew it didn't start off

right because of the assumption that he would not accept our message.

We asked to pray and he said he didn't want to pray with us because we

don't believe in the same God... We then knew this could be rough. It

was very difficult. Just sharing the initial point that God is our

loving Heavenly Father already lead to a contentious attitude with

them. They began to argue with us in the nicest way possible. Their

friend suddenly showed up and sat down to listen. She began to tell us

some hurtful things. We were told we reject the Bible, Our religion is

false, the Book of Mormon came from a false prophet, we are only

following in our parent's footsteps, and that we don't accept Christ's

grace through he atonement. I'm not trying to make them sound like bad

people. They truly are great people. Very kind, unless it comes to a

religious topic. I was crushed. I was so sad that they were so

unwilling to accept this amazing message centered on our Savior, Jesus

Christ. (Now, just so you know, I don't normally cry in lessons.

Hardly ever). We had never said anything negative about what they

believe and didn't retaliate when they said those things toward us. I

just started sobbing. I've never cried like that in a lesson. I was

sobbing and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know it's true

with all my heart and it was literally hurting me inside that they

would not consider that God actually does still speak and that He has,

in fact, revealed more light and truth for us. I walked away from that

knowing that I did what God would have me do. It was a testimony

builder! It ended well. We actually prayed together and they offered

to feed us sometime. Not sure if we will end up taking them up on that

offer.. Maybe if we're desperate. ;)

We got to go to Tyler, Texas this week! I was so happy! I LOVE Tyler!

We ate at the best place to eat in Tyler... Stanley's! If you don't

know what Stanley's is, it's this AMAZING BBQ place that has the

legendary sandwich - "The Mother Clucker." Now, my personal favorite

is called "The Ex-wife." Which of course I got! It was so great to be

back in Tyler! In Zone Meeting that day, we had a discussion about how

light overcomes darkness. I love the whole concept of light and truth!

The discussion we had as a zone can be (for the most part) summed up

in this scripture:

D&C 50:24

24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and

continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth

brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

It was so great!

We got to Athens on Friday. This weekend it has been storming like

CRAZY! There were so many flash flood warnings and so much water! It

was scary to drive in! BUT, it didn't stop us from a great weekend. It

was the Ward Christmas Party! It was so much fun! We wore our ugly

sweaters, ate tons of food, played lots of "minute to win it" games,

and got to know so many great people. The Athens Ward is truly a great

Ward. So blessed to be serving here.

The next day was church and we arrived to no electricity because of

the storms. So, for the first time in my life, we had church with no

electricity! It was so dark in the Sacrament Meeting room I could

hardly see the speakers. It wasn't just the church, though. It was the

whole city of Athens! All day, Sunday, they had nothing! The stop

lights weren't working. No houses had electricity. It was insane! It

looked like a Ghost Town! Especially in the rainy and foggy darkness.

It truly made me appreciate LIGHT so much more! ;)

Well, I hope you have a great week! Only 11 more days until Christmas

everyone! I love you all.

Elder Joshua Needles

Hark The Herald Angels Sing!

Dear Family and Friends,

What's happening?! I miss you all so much! I love you all as well. I'm

so excited I get to email all of you today. It's always so much fun to

email all the people I love every week. Makes me happy.

This week was good! We had a lot of success and saw a lot of miracles!

On Monday through Thursday, we went out with a member who was always

really nervous to do missionary work. He loved it! He had so much fun

doing missionary work and he really broke out of his shell! It was

awesome to watch happen! He's a crazy driver, though. So I was hoping

and praying we didn't get in a car wreck haha. I'm convinced he looked

at the road in front of him only 30 percent of the time we were

driving. Haha. He's a funny guy. He always says, "MAAAAAAN!" Then

snaps his finger when something goes wrong.

This last week we set three new baptism dates! Carlos, Wanda, and

Dave! We're so blessed to be serving here where the work is going so

well. It's sometimes hard being in East Texas, because you really

don't have anyone to talk to or interact with. All the Missionaries

are so far away so you never see them! Sometimes it can feel lonely,

but it sure does help me notice God's hand in my life more and truly

turn to Him!

Elder Parry and I jam out to the Pentatonix Christmas Album all the

time! Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is so fun to listen to! I just love

Christmas time so much! Everything is so great!

This week we went to this member's home. (By the way, East Texas has

some very interesting people... And that includes members). He invited

us over so we could share a message with him. We could not find his

house forever! We drove for 30 minutes trying to find his place! When

we finally found it, all of the lights were off... I was kind of

nervous, so we decided to call him to make sure he was home and okay

for us to still come. He said "Well if all the lights are off, then

it's not my house." At this point, Elder Parry was 100 percent sure it

was his house so it was weird to hear him say that. I was talking to

him on the phone, and I told him I'd get out of the car to go look at

the address. When I was getting out, he said "Oh! Elder! That's my

crazy neighbor's house! Get out of there fast, they will get out a gun

and shoot you!" At this point I freaked out, jumped in the car, and

drove away as fast as I could. My heart was racing. The member had

hung up on us, then called us back laughing because it WAS in fact his

house and he WAS in fact trying to scare me. He found it very

humorous. Haha. Not the best experience for me. Elder Parry was a

little freaked out to, because this member is kind of a creepy person

to begin with. Haha.

Driving in East Texas is scary sometimes! I've almost hit THREE deer

now! They are all over the place! I just have to be careful while

driving. They also have a wild hog problem out here. There are so many

wild hogs! They are scary too! So aggressive! Haha.

On Saturday, we went to lunch with a member in the Athens Ward. (He

drove all the way to Palestine to go with us to lunch). And it was a

lot of fun! His name is Tim Brewer. He's a crazy man, but he loves

musicals so I get along with him great! Haha. We went to a really good

Chinese Buffet. I love Chinese food! It was a lot of fun.

I'm excited for the Athens Ward Party this Saturday. Everyone is

wearing ugly Christmas sweaters. I've already got mine. ;)

I hope you all are having an amazing Christmas Season! Remember that

Christ is the ultimate gift! #ASaviorIsBorn

Love you all!

Elder Joshua Needles