Love Never Fails

Dear Family & Friends,

OH HOW I LOVE AND MISS EACH OF YOU YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I'm so grateful

for each of you. I hope your Easter was great and that you felt the

love of Christ yesterday. I'm so glad we were all able to celebrate

the most important event in the world! Jesus did it! He lives again!

He conquered sin and death! We are free and can find new life in

Christ! It's the only thing that keeps me going sometimes.

This week was very interesting. On Monday, I wasn't having the best

day so the Gilmer Sisters (Sister Howell & Sister Thompson) made Elder

Westover and me some smoothies and a big card that said "Best Elders

Ever!" It was very kind of them and I was super grateful for it. That

night we looked forward to the week with anxious eyes, as we had 5

Baptisms planned for the weekend AND a wedding for one of our

investigators. I was really feeling the stress, haha! Well, we went to

see Jessica and Brandon and it didn't turn out well. They told us they

would not be getting baptized on Saturday anymore and that they were

going to go to a different church for social reasons... We were heart

broken! Tuesday was good, because we taught the most lessons that day.

I'm always a bit happier when I teach a lot! We split up at night and

I went to see Edwin (one of our investigators that was planned to be

baptized that Saturday). It was a rough lesson. He had 5 people all

with different opinions thrown at him and he hardly had any time to

speak his mind. Both of his parents expressed their concerns for him

getting baptized for different reasons. One of the parents was

frustrated with me for asking him if he wants to be baptized or not. I

ended the lesson, having Edwin pray about it that night. It wasn't a

fun ending, but we were planning on talking to him in a more private

setting so he could tell us what he really wanted to do. I then went

to see Meagan! She's the one we were helping plan a wedding for so she

could be married before her baptism on April 9! We went over the

interview questions with her and she is so prepared and ready for

baptism! It makes me so happy! She's great.

On Thursday, we met with Edwin again. It was a sad day for us, because

he told us he just doesn't want to be baptized on Saturday anymore. It

was tough, but we understood and moved on. We aren't teaching him

anymore, but we hope and pray he gains a testimony of the Book of

Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith in the future. The good part of

that day was yet to come, though, because we went to see Aber! (She

was also one who backed out of her baptism). Well, we had a lesson

with her and she said she wants to be baptized! What! Yes! We were so

excited and happy! Aber is one of my very favorite people I've taught.

She is not afraid to share her concerns and speak her mind! It's so

great! It's really taught Elder Westover and me a ton! The next day,

we had Elder Whiteley and Elder Lindsay come to give her her

interview. She passed and is ready to go! We just can't believe it we

are so excited for her! Well, 3 of the people who were getting

baptized had already canceled on us, when we get a call about the

other 2. Their parents are divorced so they were with their mom, and I

guess their mom got upset about something and told the dad he can't

have the kids for the weekend anymore... So the last two were canceled

as well! It was truly astonishing how hard Satan has been working.

I've never had someone go through their interview and not end up

getting baptized. Never once. Well, now it's happened 5 times! Holy

moly!

It's okay though, because we still had Meagan and Terry's wedding on

Saturday. It was a loooong day! We were there from 10 AM to 7 PM. They

did the wedding down a big hill so we were hauling chairs, tables,

decorations, food, and all the works for a typical wedding up and down

the hill. It was a lot of work and pretty stressful, but fun at the

same time! I really was able to enjoy myself. The Sisters were there

to help all day as well so it was a lot of fun. Our Bishop is amazing

for all he does! He was there too and helped with so much! It turned

out to be a very nice wedding! I really enjoyed it. We decorated their

car, ate food, met a lot of their friends who could potentially become

investigators, and had a blast! By the end of it, though, I was

EXHAUSTED. I clonked on my bed that night and fell right asleep. The

next morning I was so sore from carrying things up and down the hill.

Elder Westover was too! My calves hurt so bad, haha! I'm still sore

today! But it was good and we're happy that Meagan and Terry are

married now so she can get baptized!

Easter was a lot of fun. We went to dinner with the Yates at the

Settles' home. It was a lot of fun and GOOD food! We then went to see

the Lawrence Family! Karen Lawrence is a Ward Missionary, and her

little sister has a boyfriend who is interested in talking to the

Missionaries, so we went over to introduce ourselves. We were able to

set up an appointment for Wednesday! We're excited for it. It was a

lot of fun to be with them! They are a fun family! We ended the night

by doing numbers just like we do every Sunday Night. It was good to

reflect back on the day and see just how much Jesus has done for me

and for everyone around me. It's a lot! I love Jesus and the love that

He has for me. Love truly never fails. It will always win. I love each

of you. I can't explain how grateful I am for you in my life. There is

a song that Elder Fonua once taught me and I love the lyrics.

Lay down, my dear brother.

Lay down and take a rest.

I'm gonna lay your head

upon your Savior's chest.

And I love you

but Jesus loves you best.

I bid you goodnight,

Goodnight,

Goodnight.

It's true! I love you but Jesus loves you best! Turn to Him. He's

waiting! Look unto Him in every thought. Doubt not. Fear not. Have an

incredible week, everybody.

With Love (because it never fails),

Elder Joshua Needles