TWO YEARS 9/19/16

Dear Family & Friends,

Well.... We're here. It's my last email home. I want to thank each of
you for being a part of my mission through email. I have loved
receiving your emails and feeling your support. I've come to realize
just how much I love each of you.

I leave Texas on Wednesday and it's the most bittersweet feeling in
the world. I don't want to leave but I'm so excited to go home and see
my family and friends again. I can't even begin to explain to you how
I feel.

The memories from my mission are so dear to me! SO MANY GOOD TIMES. I
have made friends who will last a lifetime! I am so glad I met all of
the people I did. So many missionaries I've met have become such good
friends to me. I love them all!

I always thought I would serve a mission and assumed it wouldn't be
too difficult. When I got into the mission field, though, I learned
that the difficulty of the task I had undertaken was a little more
than expected. I was tested emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
When I began, I was overcome with a flood of homesickness that didn't
seem to have a cure. Exhaustion greeted me every morning and night as
I attempted to maintain the same diligence as my trainer. I was faced
with a realization that my testimony in the gospel needed
strengthening as I encountered a plethora of arguments and opinions. I
was being driven to the edge and it appeared to me that the fall would
be monstrous. That's when my life began to change. I began to give my
everything to the Lord. I relied on His strength as I could no longer
take another step with my own. I learned discipline; making my study
of the gospel and my diligence in the work meaningful and
constructive. I was taught patience, humility, and long-suffering by
the Lord. I learned that obedience to the commandments is where true
joy is found. I discovered a deep love of my family and realized my
divine heritage as a child of loving heavenly parents. I found myself,
I realized my priorities, and I learned what the pure love of Christ
truly is. I will be forever changed from this experience.

I have a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it's
true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. He is the
promised Messiah of the Old Testament. He is my rock and my salvation.
He is my strength and my song. The Book of Mormon is a true book and
it has brought me closer to Christ than any other book. It is a true
witness of Jesus the Christ and stands as a testimony today that God
loves all of His children and that we are in the latter days. It has
helped me come to know that Christ is my Savior, that Joseph Smith is
a true prophet of God, and that Christ's church has been restored
today. I know that the truth will go forth boldly nobly and
independent. It will penetrate every continent, visit every climb,
sweep every country, and sound in every ear. Truth has been restored
and God has called prophets in our day. I love the leaders of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know they are called of
God. I love what I have learned from my mission. President & Sister
Taylor, my mission president and his wife, are called of God. They are
true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and they are a witness of Him.
What they have taught me has made a lasting impact and will never
leave my heart. The gospel is true. Christ lives. Joseph Smith is a
prophet. I'm grateful I have gained this testimony on my mission. I
know God loves us and that He will provide peace and happiness as we
turn to Him. I leave this testimony with you in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.

See you on Wednesday!

Elder Joshua Needles

ONE MORE WEEK! SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

Hey! How's it going? I miss you all so much you have no idea! I'm so
excited to see you all again in just a little over a week! I'M SO
EXCITED! This is my last full week as a full-time proselyting
missionary! It's so incredibly bittersweet! I feel like I'm being
pulled in a million different directions! One day I'm so sad and the
next I'm so excited and happy! I can't even explain it. I'm going to
be so sad to leave my mission. I love it so much.

This last week was pretty great! We had a lot of great things happen
and a lot of awesome memories! Monday night was... well insane! We
stayed the night in Paris because we were having District Meeting the
next day. Remind me to tell y'all about it when I get home! The night
ended with me throwing up so it definitely was memorable! Haha! (Don't
worry I'm not sick). It was a blast though! We had District Meeting
the next day and it was so much fun. I really just love our District.
We have such amazing people in our District and I'm so grateful I get
to end my mission around these great people. That day I got my papers
that had my itinerary for my last day in the mission and also my
flight plans home. It was the weirdest feeling opening them up.

We saw a lot of people this week and found a lot of new investigators.
We're so blessed to be serving in Hugo because the work is going so
well! This last week was the first time EVER for the Hugo Branch to
meet in their building in Hugo! It was so exciting for everyone. On
Wednesday, we went and helped clean the building and we had a cool
miracle. We were outside and I saw a lady walking down the road! The
thought came to me, "Go talk to her!" So we did! She was very kind and
gave us her contact information! We went by to teach her and it was
such a great lesson! The spirit was really strong. I didn't think much
of it and we had invited her to attend church with us, but didn't
expect her to come. Well she showed up! My jaw dropped it was so
exciting! I'm grateful the Lord put us in the right place and that we
followed a prompting from the spirit. We also saw Ta again this week
and she is so excited for her baptism on October 1st. Unfortunately,
she didn't come to church so we have to move her date back, but she is
so excited regardless.

Thursday was great. We ate dinner with the Pergande Family and it was
a ton of fun! They are so awesome. They took us on a drive around
their property through the woods and stuff and it was so fun! They
have a waterfall on their property! It made me really want to go
camping again. Friday we taught a ton! We went on exchanges with the
assistants. I went with Elder Mahy for the day and we taught so many
people. We also got 7 new investigators just that day! Crazy stuff! We
went to a place in Hugo called Buffalo Grill for dinner and I had a
Bison Burger and oh my it was SO GOOD.

We were able to teach some great lessons and set some baptism dates!
We had a really good week. It was amazing to go to church with the
Hugo Branch for the first time. Everyone was so excited! We were too!
I'm just so grateful to have been serving here right now. There are so
many great people that I have met who I just love!

I can't believe this is my last full week. I need to make the most of
it! I love the Lord. I love my mission! I'm so excited to see you all
again. Please know that I love you more than you know. Pray that I
have a great week and go out with a bang! I'll email once more next
week then I'm home bound! Love you!

Elder Joshua Needles

Last Fast Sunday 9/5/16

Dear Family and Friends,

Hellooooo! Happy Monday! It's good to be here emailing y'all. Emailing
has never got old for me, I've loved it every week of my mission. I
hope y'all had a great week! This last week for me was pretty great! I
had a lot of good memories made.

Monday night last week we went on a little exchange with Elder
Christensen & Elder Saxey. I went with Elder Christensen and it was a
lot of fun. We found this guy who used to attend our church! We were
able to teach him together and it was so much fun! I wasn't having the
best night up to that point, but teaching made me feel so much better!
It always does! I love teaching the gospel to people! The next morning
was district meeting. It was a really quick district meeting! We then
went to get some lunch then Elder Nigh & I were on our way back to our
area!

Brother Thomas went out with us for most of the day, and that night we
went to see one of our investigators (Carl). Now Carl is a really
interesting guy, because he knows the Bible inside out and he's really
skeptical of the Book of Mormon. He knows so many scriptures and so
many historical facts that teaching him is definitely a challenge! It
helps us grow and learn and study harder so we can answer his
questions correctly and with the spirit. He has a problem
understanding the great apostasy and he doesn't quite believe in
organized religion. As we have taught him, though, my testimony in
Christ and in the Book of Mormon has been strengthened greatly. My
testimony in this church has been too. I'm grateful for Carl for
helping me grow and strengthen my testimony even more. There was a
point in teaching him where I was able to tell him that I know the
Book of Mormon is true. I love it. It has brought me so much closer to
Christ.

We also were able to see our investigator, Gloria, the next day. It
was a really good visit. We haven't been able to really teach her in
the past, but this time we decided to change something. We did our
best to show we care about her! "Nobody cares how much you know until
they know how much you care." That quote is so true! We talked with
her and got to know her a little better. She showed us her guitar and
I played a little bit for her and she was just so happy! Afterward,
she was so excited to have us teach her. She was asking about the Book
of Mormon and actually taking it in this time. It was awesome!

Thursday was pretty cool. We planned a lot for Ruth's baptism which
would be the upcoming Saturday from then. We also had to drive all the
way out to Finley for dinner with the Browns. (Finley is about an hour
away) Our area is huge! Anyway, because we had to do that, we didn't
have a ton of time to work that day, and we only had about an hour and
a half left of the night by the time we got back to Hugo. But God is
good and provides amazing things! We were going to visit this referral
that we got from these members the other day, but when we pulled up
there was a huge thing happening with the cops right in front of the
house we were going to. Somebody was getting arrested, so we just
drove a couple blocks down. We then saw Ta's house (another
investigator). We both felt impressed to go see her, but she wasn't
home. I just felt like God made that happen for a reason, so we
decided to knock on the five doors around Ta's house. And it was so
great! Out of the five doors we knocked on, four answered the door. We
were able to teach people in ALL four of the houses we knocked on.
Every person who answered the door let us teach them! We ended up with
5 new investigators just from that! The Lord truly knew where we
needed to be and it's amazing how he led us there!

Saturday was amazing! Ruth was baptized! It was a really great
baptismal service. Her grandson was planning on baptizing her, but the
both agreed that they would like someone in the font with them to help
lift her up after she went under the water. So Elder Nigh was able to
get in the water with them! Well, Ruth is really scared of having the
water go over her face, so when her grandson said prayer she stopped
and said "I can't do it!" She was so nervous! There was a lot of
people quietly saying "You can do it, Ruth!" Well, her grandson
couldn't get her to go under the water, so he had Elder Nigh take
over. It took them a long time to figure it out, but eventually she
was buried in the water and came out excited that she did it! Elder
Nigh unexpectedly performed his first baptism ever! It was awesome,
haha!

Sunday was my very last fast Sunday as a missionary. I went up and
bore my testimony and it was the weirdest thing knowing that the next
time I'll have a chance to bear my testimony in church will be at
home. It's definitely a bittersweet feeling! Ruth was also confirmed
in Sacrament Meeting. That night we taught Kevin and he is still
progressing really well! We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he
understood it well and is willing to live it when he gets baptized! I
love all of the people we teach here! We have such a big teaching
pool! And on top of that we got 14 new investigators this week! Crazy
stuff! The Lord has truly been blessing us.

I'm grateful to God for sending me to Hugo Oklahoma for my last
transfer. This branch is seriously on fire! They have high hopes and I
believe that the church can grow here with this small group of people.
This Sunday we'll make history, meeting as a branch in Hugo for the
first time! We're all so excited! I only have a little over 2 weeks
left of my mission! I can't wait to see you all again! I love y'all!

Elder Joshua Needles

God Be With You 8/29/19

Dear Friends & Family,

This week was incredible. Seriously, one of the best weeks of my
mission. I love serving so much. I'm so grateful the Lord put me where
I am for my last transfer. I've made so many amazing memories,
especially this week. I really hope all of you had a great week as
well. I pray that you continue to have good weeks!

Monday last week was a lot of fun. We mainly just played basketball
for like 3 hours but it was so much fun. I enjoy being with the
missionaries in my zone. I seriously love them all. So whatever we're
doing I'm always having a blast! We had to drive all the way back to
Hugo afterward. We stopped in Paris to eat at Panda Express for
dinner, then we got back to Hugo in time to teach one of our
investigators (Poly). Then our week began and I had no idea it would
turn out so great.

Tuesday we went over to Ruth's and taught her. It was her "make it or
break it lesson" because her baptism is scheduled for the 3rd. It went
SO well! The Lord has prepared her and helped her be ready. We were so
happy by the end of it and we were able to set her baptism interview
up for Friday! We also taught Vicki this week and I always enjoy
seeing her. She gave us a referral! The lady's name is Ta! We went
over to Ta's on Thursday and our visit was AMAZING! She is so
prepared. She felt the spirit so strong it was incredible. We quoted
the first vision to her and invited her to pay attention to the
feelings she gets as she listens to the words of Joseph Smith the
Prophet. She said she got the chills! She was so receptive and we set
a baptism date with her and her daughter for October 1! It was one of
my favorite lessons on my mission. I'm so glad we were able to teach
her and she is so excited for the 1st of October!

We also taught Mary this week and she's doing better. We read the Book
of Mormon with her and it's amazing how the Book of Mormon can soften
the hearts of people. She wants to read more about the Prophet
Abinidi! We saw Kevin as well, and he is still progressing toward his
baptism on the 24th of September! Aaaagh we're so blessed to be
serving here in Hugo! We taught Scotty this week too and his sister
came to church on Sunday telling us that Scotty is wanting to go to
church! SCOTTY WANTS TO GO TO CHURCH THAT'S SO EXCITING! The Branch
President told us that he has been a little different since we got
here and started teaching him. I really hope Scotty keeps progressing.
He's already read through Alma in the Book of Mormon which is so
awesome!

Thursday night we drove to Paris to stay the night there, because we
had a Zone Meeting the next day! We were there and so were the Mt
Pleasant Elders and the Idabel Elders. We had a really fun night! I
love all the missionaries in our zone so much. Zone Meeting was also
really fun and pretty crazy. I got to see so many missionaries I love
to death then... at the end of Zone Meeting Elder Holst and I were
asked to bear our testimonies about our mission. When a missionary is
about to go home it's sort of tradition to have them bear testimony
then sing "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" to them. I've watched
it over and over again as missionaries went home and I never thought
the day would come when it would be me! Well, it came! I stood up
there with Elder Holst looking at all of these people I love as they
sang the song to us. I didn't cry thank goodness haha. After Zone
Meeting, Elder Lazenby went and got us some pizza for lunch so we, as
a zone, ate some pizza at the church and it was so much fun.
Afterward, Elder Nixon & Elder McCrite came up to Hugo with us so that
Elder Nixon could give Ruth her baptism interview. I LOVE Elder Nixon
& Elder McCrite. The interview went well with Ruth and she is now
ready to go for this coming Saturday! SO DANG EXCITED! Elder Nixon and
Elder McCrite went to dinner with us and we taught one of our
investigators (Tess) then we did exchanges that night.

I got talking to Elder Nixon that night and so many things were going
through my head. I just realized how blessed I am to be surrounded by
such amazing missionaries and people. I am excited to go home but I
almost don't want to leave haha. I'll definitely miss weeks like
these.

Saturday we taught so much and it was a blast! Then, we went to church
on Sunday. We had 5 investigators come and we got HUGE news this week!
HUGO IS GETTING A PLACE TO MEET IN FINALLY! The papers are all signed
and we will finally be able to meet in Hugo on September 11th! This
little branch is so excited! Everyone is just on fire, with getting
their own missionaries, and with the church building finally being
ready. I really think the work is going to explode here! It already
has! We taught 26 lessons this week and found 12 new investigators! WE
ARE SO DANG BLESSED IT'S RIDICULOUS! I love my mission so much.

Welp, there you have it. Another great week here in the Texas Dallas
Mission! I can't believe the transfer is halfway over! I will be
coming home in about 3 weeks... Wow... Thank you for all of your
emails and support. I wouldn't have made it this far if the Lord
hadn't worked through y'all to lift me and support me. I love God and
all He has done for us. I love you all as well! Have an amazing week
and God be with you!

Elder Joshua Needles

23 MONTHS AUGUST 22,2016

Dear Family & Friends,

It's P-DAAAAY! Happy Monday to all of you! I hope you've had a really
good week! My week was amazing this week I can't wait to tell you all
about it!

This week was great for quite a few reasons. Last Monday we went down
to Gilmer for the night because we would be having Zone Conference in
Longview the next day! We got to see Wendy again! It was so awesome to
see her! Zone Conference was really good. It hit me while I was there
that it was my very last Zone Conference on my mission. I couldn't
believe it. I can't believe I'm that close to the end. After the
meeting ended, Elder Nixon and I practiced with Sister Merrill for the
Mission President's Fireside. We were asked to do a special musical
number! We decided to sing "Ye Elders of Israel." Driving all the way
back up to Oklahoma was pretty long. We stopped in Paris, Texas to get
some dinner and Elder Nigh was able to try Whataburger for the first
time ever! Haha! Whataburger is a really popular restaurant here in
Texas. Elder Nigh was really happy to get to go there.

This week with teaching, we had quite a few highlights. We found this
lady named Windy! She is pretty awesome. We went this week and taught
her the Restoration. The spirit was really strong! We challenged her
and her family to read from the Book of Mormon and ask God if it's
true! Right after we challenged them to do so, her 11 year old son
shouted "It's true mom!" It was so funny. We were able to commit Windy
and her son Jonathan to baptism on September 17! We really hope it
works out with them, because we have loved teaching them already. We
also had some cool little miracles that happened in order to find new
investigators. Like once, we called a number thinking it was a member
of the Hugo Branch. We asked if we could come meet him and he said yes
and gave us his address. We went over and it turns out this guy we
called is not a member of the branch, we just had a wrong number. But
get this, he let us in and we were able to teach the restoration to
him! He was very open to it as well which was so great. We were able
to set up another appointment with him and hopefully be able to teach
more and help him draw closer to Christ!

This week we taught Derek and it didn't go so well. He ended up
backing out of his baptism which was really sad for us. He believes
with all his heart in Joseph Smith the Prophet and in the Book of
Mormon. He knows he needs to be baptized, but he can't seem to get
over some social anxieties. He said that in January he'll get
baptized. We told him to call us when he is ready. We felt peace
afterward; knowing that God has a plan for Derek and that we did the
right thing.

Sunday was so great! Kevin, Ruth, Wilma, and John all came to church!
It was especially exciting that Kevin came, because he had never been
before. But he is super excited for his baptism! We are too! I,
unfortunately, won't be here for it because I go home before the 24th,
but teaching him is a blast and I really hope it ends up happening.
After church, we got to go to... GILMER!!! I love Gilmer so much haha.
The Mission President's Fireside was there so we traveled all the way
just to be a part of it. I was so excited to see everyone! Not
everyone I wanted to see was there, but I did see quite a few of my
friends. The Fireside was incredible! Elder Nixon and I were shaking
like a leaf up there in front of everyone singing, but it went really
well. I really like Elder Nixon and I'm so glad we got to do that
together! Toward the end of the fireside, our Mission President
(President Taylor) was speaking about the Book of Mormon. He talked
about exit interviews and how they work with missionaries and a
specific question he asks them. He said, "Why don't I show you. Elder
Needles will you come up here?" It was completely unexpected and he
told everyone I would be going home it about 4 weeks. Then he asked me
the question. Have you gotten closer to God on your mission? I
responded, yes! Then he asked would you attribute any of that to the
Book of Mormon? I responded that I would attribute most all of it to
the Book of Mormon! I love the Book of Mormon so much, and I know it's
the word of God. I'm so grateful for it and I'm grateful for "the
miracle of a mission" that has happened to me. I love my mission so
much.

This last Wednesday, I hit my 23 month mark on my mission. I've now
been out for 23 months... The feelings I have about it are
bittersweet. I can't believe it's been so long. I keep having a flood
of different emotions hit me throughout the week. One day I'm sad that
it's almost over, the next day I'm out of my mind excited. It's
inexplainable how I feel. I'm just trying to make my last month
memorable and worth it.

I love you all so much. I'm grateful for every single one of you in my
life. I hope your week is amazing! I can't wait to see you all in
about 4 weeks!

Elder Joshua Needles

OKLAHOMA AUGUST 15, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

It's yet again another Preparation Day! I'm super pumped for P-Day
today. Hoping it'll be a good day. We are down in Paris, Texas with
Elder Christensen & Elder Saxey so it should be pretty fun. I hope
y'all have had an amazing week! For me, it's been a really good one
full of a ton of memories!

On Monday, I was able to finish my goodbyes with the people of Gilmer.
It was very hard to leave that area. I loved it so much. The Ibarra
Family gave me a "Jesus Welcomes You to Gilmer" sign. They signed it
and gave it to me as I left. I was super grateful and it was a great
ending to serving there. We got up bright and early in the morning so
I could travel to Dallas for the meeting that all of the trainers
have. I was able to see a lot of missionaries that I'm good friends
with so it was pretty fun. The meeting was good although I was pretty
tired. When we went in the room we saw all of the new missionaries. I
looked around and guessed my new companion would be Elder Nigh. I
turned out to be right! My new companion is Elder Nigh from Pocatello,
Idaho! He's really cool. I enjoy being his companion. He's really
going to be a great missionary too. We opened up the Hugo area this
week so we didn't have anything! (Car, phone, contact info) so we
spent some time in Dallas getting all of that taken care of. Once we
got our car and phone we were off! We traveled through Paris, Texas on
the way. It took a while to get to our area but we finally made it!
Hugo, Oklahoma is so small! And we live in an even smaller town!
Sawyer, OK! We live on members property so we met Brother Thomas in
Sawyer and he led us to where we would be living. I was surprised to
see we live on top of a barn! Haha! It's awesome and unlike anything
I've ever experienced on my mission. Oklahoma is full of cows, wasps,
mud-dobbers, & ants. SO MANY BUGS. Our car got infested by ants this
week so we had to get them all out. The missionaries who had the car
before us left food in it and somehow ants found their way in.

We finally got settled in our little apartment on top of a barn and
planned for the next day! We spent the week finding all of the
investigators and members in the Hugo area. We met so many great
people! Our first lesson together we taught Ruth. She is good friends
with the Thomas Family. We were able to teach her about baptism and
confirmation and we set a baptism date with her for September 3rd!
We're so excited. We also set a couple more dates this week. Kevin
committed to baptism on September 24th and Derek committed to
September 10th! We're being so blessed right now. Derek is a very
interesting investigator. He loves the Book of Mormon and has a firm
testimony of it. He knows it forward and backward it's crazy! He has
studied so much and knows so much about it that his faith in it is
almost unshaken. We were surprised to see this because he still was
never baptized. Well, he had a few of the commandments to work on
before being baptized so that's why it hasn't happened yet, but we
were able to commit him to September 10th! He really is such an
interesting guy and I think he'll be great for the Hugo Branch. We
also were able to find lots of new investigators this week. Notably
Wilma and Wendy. We knocked on their door and we were able to talk to
them for a little while. They're awesome and we really hope they
progress! We gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to read it so
hopefully something comes of it. We're meeting with them on Thursday
this week!

There is a member who goes with the missionaries a lot here named
Brother Terry. He knows everyone the missionaries work with and it's
super helpful! We spent a lot of time with him this week in order to
better get to know the area. One night, he took us to eat at an
Italian restaurant and it was super good food! Everyone here in
Oklahoma either lives on a ranch or in government housing almost!
We've run into so many cows it's insane! They're everywhere! We even
are woken up in the morning by the Thomas Family's cows. One night
this week, there was a big thunderstorm and it was pretty crazy being
on top of a barn for it! Our beds were shaking and the Lightning was
shining through the windows frequently. It was crazy! Also, we have
too many spiders and bugs where we live. We've killed so many wasps,
bees, mud-dobbers, and spiders in our apartment haha. Every time we
see a wasp we immediately jump to our feet with fly swatters and bug
killer! It's funny how quickly we react to it now!

It's been such a good week regardless of all of the wasps and ants
haha! I'm so grateful to be in the Hugo Branch. We don't have a
building to meet in so we all have to travel to Texas for church and
there is a very low attendance at church, but they are SO excited to
have us here. They kept mentioning at church how "The first ever Hugo
missionaries are here. Our very own missionaries!" Derek and Ruth came
to church as well. I'm happy to be around such humble people who just
want to serve the Lord. I hope we can find success this transfer.

I only have a little over 5 weeks left of my mission! I can't believe
how fast the end is coming. I hope to make this transfer one of the
best on my mission. I don't have much time left so I need to make the
most of it! I'll be in Gilmer this Sunday for the mission president's
fireside! So excited to see my Gilmer friends again!

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Elder Joshua Needles

The Beginning of the End August 8, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

I hope you all are doing great! Thank you for all of the emails! I
love hearing from each of you! I am excited about this email because
it marks the beginning of the end! I am now going into my last
transfer as a missionary! I only have six more weeks. I can't believe
it! Well, we did get transfer calls this morning, and unfortunately
I'm leaving Gilmer for my last transfer! :( I'm so sad to leave Gilmer
it's been my favorite place to serve! I will never forget all of the
amazing people here and all of the incredible memories I have made.
Tomorrow I'll be traveling up to.... OKLAHOMA! I'm opening up a new
area in our mission. I'll be serving in Hugo, Oklahoma! My new
companion will be... I don't know yet! Haha! I'm going to be training
a new missionary so I will meet him tomorrow in Dallas. I'm excited to
train for my last transfer.

This last week was a good week. We were able to teach Belinda and she
has been doing really well. I really think she'll get baptized for
sure. She's got a sincere heart and really wants to know the truth.
It's been so awesome to teach her and I'm excited for her to continue
to grow in the gospel. We were also able to see Jami and prepare her
for her trip to the Temple on Saturday. We were able to take her and
it was a great experience. Wendy and Little John came too. Brother
Pilcher drove us and it was a blast! We had a ton of fun going to the
Temple. On the way back, we stopped at a Tex-Mex Restaurant and ate
some good food! Memories were definitely made this last weekend. We
saw Zack and we also saw Jan this last week and they were both doing
really well. I love teaching both of them it's always so much fun! On
Friday, we were able to do a little exchange with the Mt Pleasant
Elders. I accidentally left my suit pants in Paris the last time we
had Zone Meeting, so I had them deliver them to me! They came to
dinner with us and we ate at Bishop Sullivan's home. It's always a
blast when we go there. They are such an amazing family and I'm so
glad I've gotten to meet them. What great people.

Sunday was a good day. It was fast and testimony meeting so I went up
and bore my testimony. I felt like I was leaving Gilmer (and I was
right) so I went up and told them all how much I love and appreciate
them. There were several members who went up and mentioned how they
don't want me to be transferred and I just really realized how much I
love these people. They are amazing and I'm so sad to leave them. That
night we ate at the Potter's home and it was a blast as usual. I love
the Potter Family.

Well I have so many memories that I'll never forget from here in
Gilmer. So many amazing people -> Bishop, His Family, Aber, Meagan,
Brandon, Belinda, Pam, Jan, The Ibarras, Zack, Brother Spencer,
Brother Pilcher, the Stephens, Cherri, Wendy, John, Lily, and so many
more! I'm sad to leave but excited for the memories to be made ahead.
I will always love Gilmer!

I hope y'all have an amazing week! Wish me luck as I open up Hugo, Oklahoma!

Elder Joshua Needles

P.S. See you in six weeks!