Leaping through the year!

Dear Family & Friends,

How are you all doing? I miss you all so much! I hope you had an
amazing week! My week was great this week! We had a lot of success and
a lot of fun!

This week we met a lot with one of our investigators (Jessica)! It's
been so great teaching her and her family! We taught her the Word of
Wisdom this week and she's now quitting smoking! It must be so
difficult to quit smoking! I can't imagine how hard that would be!
She's doing great, though. One night we promised her that if she read
a chapter from the Book of Mormon, that the next day she would see
Christ's hand in her life! Well, she did it and the next day when we
talked to her she said Christ was with her because she hadn't smoked
once the whole day long! It made me so happy! I was jumping up and
down excited!

On Thursday, we were able to go on a ROAAAD TRIP! There are two new
Elders in our zone and they didn't have a mattress to sleep on! So we
drove to Longview to pick up a mattress, then drove all the way up to
DeQueen Arkansas! It was the first time I've left the state of Texas
in 17 months! It was really exciting and a lot of fun, haha! We drove
through Oklahoma as well. I felt cool and like I was traveling! It
made me excited to travel after my mission! When we got to DeQueen we
asked the elders if there was anything else we could do for them...
They told us they needed a dresser and that it was in Idabel
Oklahoma... So we had to drive an hour back to Idabel, then an hour
back to DeQueen, then ALL THE WAY back to Gilmer! Needless to say I
was ready to get out of the car. It was a long day!

On Saturday, we did a lot of service for members! We went to Brother
Alldredge's again (the one with the pet goat named Rex) and it was a
lot of fun! His son kicked a soccer ball right into the goat and we
died laughing! It was so hilarious! Poor goat!

This week I was able to try fried catfish for the first time! I was
surprised with how much I liked it! I normally don't like fish, but
fried catfish is actually not bad at all! Sister Howell & Sister
Thompson also heart attacked our door this week! Haha! It was awesome
to come home to! We live really close to the sisters so we see them
quite often. Sister Howell makes really good smoothies so we have her
make us smoothies all the time!

Today we have to work on Stake President Report. Every month the Zone
Leaders send in a report to the Stake President and have a meeting in
which they talk about how the month went in the Stake. Well, our
meeting is tomorrow! So we have a lot to do today! So that's what I'll
be doing most of today.

We also set quite a few baptism dates this week! We currently have 10
people who are getting baptized within the next month or so. It's
exciting! Great things are going on here in Gilmer. I honestly really
like the ward here and love how much missionary work there is! I'm so
blessed to be serving here!

This last week was my Brother and my Dad's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAD AND SCOTT I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH! It was also my cousin
Kaitlynd's and I believe today is my cousin Beverlie's! I could be
wrong but oh well if I am! Happy Birthday to you all!

I love you all so much and I still can't wait for the day I get to see
you again. Please know that I miss each of you every day. I love you!

Happy Leap Day!

One of Your Serving Missionaries,
Elder Joshua Needles

The Promised Land

Dear Family & Friends,

OH HOW I LOVE EACH OF YOU. Seriously. My life would suck without you.
Thank you so much for being the best people in the universe. This week
was GREAT. I got transferred to Gilmer, Texas! I'm in the Gilmer 2nd
Ward! AND, my companion is Elder Westover! I LOVE Elder Westover!
We've known each other for over a year. I served by him when I was
first in the Tyler Zone. I also served by him when I was in DeSoto!
He's from Jupiter, Florida. He's been on his mission for 18 months!
(We're OLD). We are Zone Leaders in the Gilmer Zone and I'm loving it!
We call it "The Promised Land" hahaah. But it really is amazing here.
The work is going so well. We have 10 baptism dates and most of them
are really progressing! The work has just EXPLODED here and it's
amazing! I'm so blessed to be able to serve here. The crazy thing
about Gilmer 2nd Ward is, yes, it's an English ward, but it's also the
Spanish ward for the Stake because we have translation available. SO,
we also cover any Spanish work for the Gilmer Stake. I don't speak
Spanish so this will definitely be fun! Elder Westover is a Spanish
Missionary so that's good, haha! It's called a Bi-Lingual Area. We
also cover the Young Single Adults for the Stake. It's an interesting
combination! The Stake goes into a little bit of Arkansas and also
Oklahoma! We have one of the biggest zones (geographically) in the
mission.

This week, my allergies have been more than awful! I have been
MISERABLE because of allergies all week. It's okay though, they are
finally starting to calm down. It's just something about Gilmer that
makes them go crazy! I've been trying lots of remedies. One night,
Elder Westover poured the natural honey from the area in my mouth!
Apparently that is supposed to help with allergies. Welp, he got it on
my face and the floor. I proceeded to move my face even more in a
panic which got more honey on my face and stepped in the honey on the
floor. It was really funny! Haha! On Wednesday, I officially hit my 17
month mark! I have been on my mission for 17 whole months I can't
believe it! I seriously can't believe it's been that long. Before I
know it, I'll be back home going to college and being with my family!
That is so weird to think about!

On Thursday, I met the Auld Family. They are recent converts and I
love them! Their kids LOVE missionaries so they were so excited to get
to know me. They were giving me candy, singing songs for me, and
drawing pictures for me! Haha! They are the cutest kids! That night we
actually went on splits. I went with a member of our ward and it was
quite the adventure, haha. We went to one of our investigators
(Monty). Well, Monty's place had recently burned down, so he's
currently living in a trailer and doesn't have much because of the
fire. When we got there, the member put his hand in the sink reaching
for a rag, and he cut his hand on a knife that was in the sink. He
turned and looked and Monty and me. When I saw the blood gushing from
his hand I sort of panicked. I don't do well with blood, haha! Monty
was frantically looking for a towel or something to stop the bleeding.
I felt like I was going to pass out, haha! He eventually found
something and the member just put pressure on his hand. Luckily, he
didn't need stitches or anything and he's doing better now!

We did service for a member on Friday! He has a pet goat named Rex and
a pet dog named Cinderella! Haha! So great. His wife is Hispanic, so
she made us some really good tacos. THEY TASTED SO GOOD. The next day,
we got to go into Dallas! We had recent converts going to the Temple
to do baptisms for the dead! It was great to see them all go to the
Temple for the first time! Sunday was so great, because we were able
to go to Bullard for the Mission President's Fireside! It was so good!
Elder Jones and I sang "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" as a musical
number. It turned out really well! The best part, though, was one of
my converts actually spoke at the Fireside! Toby Thatcher in the
Bullard Ward! I was so happy to see him! He did so great sharing his
testimony as well and he is going on a mission after he graduates from
high school! One of our investigators (Edwin) came to the fireside and
on the way back we actually set a baptism date with him! It was so
exciting! I'm so happy!

I'm just so blessed. This area is amazing! We taught 26 lessons this
week! That's so awesome! I'm loving it so much. I love the people in
our zone! Everyone is so far away from us besides Sister Howell and
Sister Thompson (and they are AWESOME). But I love everyone! My
allergies are gradually getting better as well ;) haha.

I hope you all have an amazing week! Look right next to you, Christ is there!

Elder Joshua Needles

Harvest this field from sunrise to sunset

Dear Family & Friends,

Oh, I love you all so much I hope you know that. I'm so excited to

email today! You all mean so much to me! Thank you for that! This week

was so great! I loved every second of it. My companions for most of

the week were the assistants (Elder Lindsay & Elder Hanson). We served

in the Dallas 1st YSA which was a blast. It made me miss serving in a

YSA! It was fun to be companions with the assistants as well, because

I got to experience a lot of what it is like to be one. We did a lot

of office work, discussed transfers (which are happening next week),

and taught a lot of people! On Tuesday this week, we were contacting

people at Richland College. I walked up to a girl named Tiffany.

Conversation led to a gospel discussion and soon I was teaching her

the Restoration. I then invited her to be baptized and she said yes!

So her baptism date is on March 5th! Elder Lindsay & Elder Hanson were

so happy. It was a lot of fun to contact at a college!

Wednesday, we had a meeting with President Taylor. We all sat down and

the first thing he said was, "Elder Needles, I'm calling you to be a

Zone Leader right now." I was shocked! But that's what's new! I'm a

zone leader in the Tyler Zone now. The meeting was mainly about what

would happen at Follow-up Training, which I was asked to train at.

After the meeting we went to Richland College again and I met someone

named Cynthia! Same thing happened! She accepted the invitation to be

baptized on March 12th! Such a blessing to be placed in people's paths

who are prepared to hear and accept the gospel! That night we met a

Muslim Family. They were the kindest people I had talked to in a long

time. We had a long discussion about each other's beliefs and I was

pleasantly surprised to see people from the Islam faith who are so

kind and are just trying to serve God. They gave us a copy of the

Q'uran and we gave them a copy of The Book of Mormon in Arabic. That

same night we ran into someone who claims to be Christian. But he told

us our Book of Mormon is stupid, that we only believe it because we've

been brainwashed, that Joseph Smith is a fake, and that because of

Jesus we don't have to live the Ten Commandments... (?) He even told

us that Muhammad is a fake too. He was very close minded and it hurt

to see someone who is so not willing to hear a message and take it to

God. It really surprised me. The difference between running into

Muslims and someone who claims Christianity was drastic. I expect

someone who claims Christianity to be a lot more loving and

understanding. I just pray for him and hope he finds happiness!

On Thursday, we had Follow-up Training! It was so much fun! My

favorite part is when we split up the Trainers and the Trainees and

have an anonymous companionship inventory. They said compliments and

improvements about their companions so that they could become more

unified. We also had pizza for lunch so I was super happy! Friday was

a lot of fun. Elder Hanson and one of the YSA members went to a lesson

and dropped Elder Lindsay and me off in Rowlett. We didn't have a car

and we were just going to do work on foot! We met so many people who

used to be members! One of them actually lived in Boise in the past

and attended Meridian High School! It was fun to connect about that.

One lady slammed the door on our face without us saying anything. As

we were talking to some kind people, the police showed up! Yep! She

called the police on us! He told us we had to leave, and luckily,

Elder Hanson had just gotten back to pick us up so we did. The next

morning I finally got news on what was going to happen for the rest of

                                    the transfer! Elder Nuccitelli from Lehi, Utah is my new companion for

now. I am a zone leader with Elder Jones and Elder Matheson, and I'm

back in Palestine & Athens for now! Right when I found out I hurried

to Elder Nuccitelli's area because HE WAS IN DESOTO! I served there

for 6 months so I was excited to go back to the area for a bit. We

were able to eat with the Martineaus! I love them so much and it was

so great to see them! We then hurried as fast as we could to BULLARD

(WHICH WAS MY FIRST AREA) for the adult session of Stake Conference!

President & Sister Taylor spoke at it and they were great. We spent

the night in Tyler so we could be there for Stake Conference in the

morning. Stake Conference was so great. I got to see so many old

faces! (Like the Oteros, Robisons, and Links) Right after the meeting,

we had Mike Jett have his baptism interview! He'll be baptized this

Saturday and we are so excited! We then got to go to the Link Family's

Home for lunch! Oh I was so DANG HAPPY! We jammed on guitars and

ukuleles and ate really good food. It was awesome to be able to catch

up with them. They are an amazing family! We got back to Palestine and

I had to do Stake President Report and Numbers for the zone. We

cleaned up our apartment and got settled in and now here we are!

We are going to MLC tomorrow. Elder Zwick is coming to our mission

during our Zone Conferences so that should be interesting! I actually

get to sing in a special musical number! It's six Elders that Sister

Taylor has asked to sing in it. Elder McAllister is one of them! So

tomorrow should be loads of fun.

It's been a crazy fun week. I received so many blessings from God. I'm

just so happy to be a missionary. I love it so much! I still miss you

all terribly, though. So don't forget it! Love you all! Hope you have

an amazing week!

Sincerely,

Elder Joshua Needles

Craziest week of crazy weeks!

Dear Family & Friends,

OH MY GOODNESS THIS WEEK WAS CRAZIER THAN LAST WEEK! So, a lot

happened. I received so many blessings from God this week, though, so

I'm still happy as can be!

On Monday Night, I received a call from the assistants that they

wanted me to attend Mission Leadership Council on Wednesday! Elder

Kenworthy and I had already planned on going to Dallas the day before

for an appointment Elder Kenworthy had, so we decided to stay in

Dallas on Tuesday and stay the night so I could go to Mission

Leadership Council.

So we drove up on Tuesday! We got to Elder Kenworthy's appointment and

surprisingly Sister Tatro and her daughter from the DeSoto Ward were

there!! I was so happy to see them! I served in their Ward for 6

months and actually taught their daughter the discussions before she

was baptized! It was such a great reunion. Then that night, at the

assistants apartment, there were a lot of people staying there so I

got to see a lot of people I love! Like Elder Truman, Elder Ahmad, and

so many more! It was so much fun! We had a blast, and I hadn't seen

that many missionaries together in a long time. Where we serve, you

are just too far away from any other missionaries to see them! So it's

pretty much just you and your companion! Mission Leadership Council

was SO MUCH FUN! Over half of my MTC District was there. Sister

Taylor, Sister Jones, Sister Skousen, Elder Hasson,  and myself! I

love them all so much! It was so great to see them and get to talk to

them! I also saw people like Elder McAllister and Sister Weichers.

What a fun day! We got back into Athens that night and went to sleep,

knowing we had to be up really early to travel to Tyler for a Zone

Meeting. Zone Meeting was great. We put together really good trainings

from Mission Leadership Council and trained on that. In the beginning,

I was just sitting there when Elder Jones, Elder Hafen (a different

one than the one I always used to talk about), and Elder White asked

me to last minute sing a song with them! It was so much fun singing

again! I sang the Tenor part and I was really nervous it was going to

sound so bad because I hadn't practiced once with them, but I did it

and it turned out well! After the meeting, most of us went to

Stanley's BBQ in Tyler! I LOVE THAT PLACE SO MUCH. It's seriously

amazing. It was fun being with the zone. I enjoy everyone in my zone!

Friday, we drove back to Palestine and we finally got to teach Dave

the first New Member Lesson! It was great to see him. He is just on

cloud nine after being baptized! It fills me with joy seeing people so

happy from embracing the gospel. The next day, we went to Sister

Palmer's and Ruby had made us food! She is so kind! That day, though,

unfortunately my companion made the decision that he wanted to go

home! :( I was so sad! He needed to make the decision though. And I

think it was probably best for him to go home right now :/ SO, we

drove BACK to Dallas! I can't believe two of my companions have gone

home this transfer! I'm really not sure what's going to happen to me!

But, it's a blessing I got to go to Dallas, because I was able to

attend the Dallas 4th Ward for church!! That was the Ward I served in

last! It was so good to see everyone again! Such a huge blessing! That

day, Elder Hanson and I took Elder Kenworthy to the airport. His mom

met us there and he was off! Then, President Taylor told me he wants

me to serve with Assistants until he can figure out what to do next!

So right now I'm awkwardly in the Dallas 1st YSA AND Palestine AND

Athens! Haha! It's been fun serving with Elder Hanson & Elder Lindsay,

though. We all came on our missions together at the same time! It's

been fun! So right now, I'm waiting to hear the news! Last night, we

got to eat at the Farmer's home in Dallas 4th Ward! That was so

awesome! I love that family! They got on Facebook to show me a video

and saw Kristin Callis on my mom's Facebook page! Turns out, they know

who she is! They were like "WE KNOW HER!" They knew her from living in

Utah when they were both young couples. I had to tell them she passed

away, and they were sad to hear that. It's a small world, though! We

just found out we're having ANOTHER Mission Leadership Council today!

Yes! On P-DAY! So we essentially don't have P Day today :/ But it's

okay! We're out here to serve the Lord! On that note, I found out that

my mission has been extended a week. I no longer go home September

14th, but September 21st! This happened because of a change in the

MTC!

You'd think through all of this I would get really down, but I'm not

down! I'm actually really happy! It's so great. It's all because of

the Lord. I love God! I love Christ! It's been the craziest week of

the crazy weeks, but God continues to bless me! :) I'm still a

missionary and I still love and miss each of you. I hope you all have

an amazing week! You're in my prayers!

Sincerely,

Elder Joshua Needles