Eternal Memories

Dear Family & Friends,

How was your week? I love and miss each of you so much! I'm so glad I

get to say that I have each of you in my life! Makes me so happy!

This week was so great! The week flew by because we were so incredibly

busy! We were blessed to be able to teach 31 lessons this week! That's

so awesome! I feel so blessed. We also were able to set another

baptism date! So we have 13 people we are helping get baptized right

now! It's been so much fun!

On Monday, we were able to do some fun stuff for P-DAY! We were able

to go to a member in the Gilmer 3 Ward with Sister Thompson & Sister

Howell to feed some cows and go on a hay ride! It was a blast! Except

for there was no hay on the hay ride! Haha! It was still fun and we're

so grateful for those members for making our Preparation Day fun! On

Tuesday, we had one of the most memorable lessons I've ever had on my

mission. It was heart breaking. It was with our Investigator, Aber,

who has a baptism date for April 1st. We taught the Word of Wisdom and

she just kept saying she could not give up coffee. We knew it wasn't a

huge thing and that she could do it. She eventually stopped everyone

(The Bishop and his wife were there, her best friend Brenna was there,

and our Investigator Edwin was there) and she said this: "I've read,

I've prayed, and I got my answer. It's not true." Everyone was silent

for a good 30 seconds. I didn't know what to say. It was seriously

heart breaking because she had been doing so well and we have loved

teaching her. It ended and I just wanted to throw myself against a

wall. I was so sad! Well, we didn't want to give up on her. The

Sisters were having a baptism this week, so we last minute invited

Aber to go. The Bishop's Wife, Sister Sullivan, picked her up and she

came! That night we called her and she told us that she felt something

at the baptism and that she wants to be baptized! I COULDN'T BREATHE I

WAS SO HAPPY! Elder Westover and I were jumping and dancing and

yelling we were so happy! It was one of those unforgettable memories!

Thursday was an important day for us. We had a lot of important

lessons to help people progress. We had a lesson with Meagan. We are

currently planning a wedding for her and her husband so she can be

married before her baptism on April 9th! The lesson went great! Meagan

has been one of my very favorite people to teach on my mission. She

really is progressing so well and she doesn't make me feel stressed

about it! So awesome! Later, we split up so Elder Westover could go

teach Edwin and I could got teach Brandon & Jessica. We both had plans

to go over the baptism interview questions with them. Jessica &

Brandon are totally ready! I'm so excited about it. They just need to

come to church one more time before their baptism on the 26th! Edwin

went well as well! We still need to work through some things with him,

but we're so excited for him to be baptized on the 26th too!

Saturday was a pretty special day! One of Elder Westover's past

companions was getting married in the Dallas Temple and we got

permission to go! Well, we got their a bit early so we were able to go

to another sealing with some members in the 3rd Ward. It was my first

time seeing a sealing happen. The kids were there and it was

incredibly special. There were a lot of tears! Then, we got to go to

Elder Westover's companion's sealing! President Taylor came as well

and it was just as special! I really loved seeing the power of

Godliness manifest in the ordinances. We were able to eat Panda

Express in Dallas that day as well so I was overjoyed, haha.

The weather was really bad this week, so one of the days we went to

this place we had never been before in this area. Well, the roads were

awful! So awful to the point of tons of mud! We were so scared we were

going to get stuck... And well, we did. But only for about 20 seconds!

I was scared out of my mind! I DID NOT want to get stuck in the mud!

We luckily got out of there and survived, haha.

Church was great on Sunday! 7 of our investigators came! We also were

able to teach a new investigator Sunday night. Her name is Jessi and

her baptism date is April 30! We're excited for her and excited to

help her get to that point!

Well, I hope each of you had an amazing week and have another amazing

one. I love each of you and pray for you daily. You help me keep

going. Remember Jesus. He's there.

Sincerely,

Elder Joshua Needles