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
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