Michael Needham <michael.needham@myldsmail.net>	Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 11:35 AM
YO, well i wrote all the family personally so ill just tell you about the great experience i had this past week :) 1. So last Sunday, me and elder Doman and another pair of companions in our district were asked to teach the class about eternal life. it was a great lesson and everyone participated a lot which was nice. But after the lesson us four elders sang God be with you till we meet again in spanish to the other elders and hermanas in the class. The spirit was so strong at that moment, it was truly one a great experience. The hermanas started to cry...it was so crazy. i guess i DO have a good voice ;) haha 2. Me and Elder Doman are now teaching two more investigators throughout the week. They're are teachers and their investigator names are Jose and Armando. Me and Elder Doman continue to work very well together and always try our best to have the spirit with us. After lessons our teacher evaluates us and they always say we are really well at connecting with the investigator. Another story about this is..as we were practicing on i think thursday. me and elder doman taught two hermanas in our district you were pretending to be one of there friends back home who was having some problems. Her name was Amy and her dad had just past away. She didnt know what to do cause she thought she wasnt going to see him again. Me and elder doman taught about the plan of salvation, and Elder Doman made a great connection because when he was 6 years old his brother passed away from a crazy accident. Elder Doman told her that he know because of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ he would see his brother again. We then told Amy about the whole plan that families can be together forever. And we promised her that through this gospel she was see her dad again one day. She began to cry...(now remember this is just practicing and Amy is just another hermama in the district role playing as a friend of hers back home) and she still cried. The Lord is really helping me and Elder Doman out because everyone keeps crying in front of us. hahaha its just a great feel things. I just give Elder Doman a big hug after lessons cause we're both so proud of what we just did. 3. Lastly, this week we started a thing called TRC. Where random members who speak spanish volunteer to come to the MTC for us to teach them. We had a good lesson and it was really fun, i finally gained some confidence in speaking spanish because Elder Doman told me that was my best lesson so far. the spanish is finally clicking. The TRC volunteers who we taught evaluated us on some paper and i got them laminated. Ill send them home soon so you can read them! Anyways it was a very fun week! ps i can finally play bball again haha, my foot is great! We just did a session at the temple this morning which was fun. A kid got a bloody nose during the session, it was real awkward cause he didnt know what to do. i just laughed haha. But the girls..i mean sisters..keep getting cuter every week. But dont worry, im handling myself :) i keep remembering what dad told me last week... if you dont look once, you're not a man...but if you look twice, you're not a missionary. i look 1 and a half times ;)  but hey kk, i go on a temple walk every sunday from 3-4! come say hi next sunday if you can! im uploading a few pictures from the MTC experience so far.  Love you all, have a good week!! Love,  Elder Needham

March 18, 2013

Wassgoood family and peeps! 

I had a great week last week continuing to transition into the MTC. Each day it kind of seems like a jail dream haha, cause we just stay in this gated area doing the same thing over and over everyday. But the thing is, i love it! The spirit continues to fill the halls and everywhere we go. Every class, devotional, personal time, etc...my testimony grows exceedingly. Im so happy to be here. My district is pretty freaking awesome!! We always have a good time and we're always making each other laugh. Some of the kids in my district are just like kids i would chill with at home. We just make funny(righteous) jokes haha, and we just laugh all day. Elder Doman, my companion, is the funniest kid i know. At the beginning of the mission i thought he was the shyest guy and we wouldnt be able to get work done...but now i am so grateful he is my companion. We just have our own little jokes and handshakes..other companion pairs always confused and ask us how me and Elder Doman get along so well, or are you sure you guys didnt know each other before this? haha its ballin. But funny story, my teach Brother Hendrickson is a cool guy...so the other day i wrote him a note telling him that he needed to call Keilani or add her on facebook and take her on a date. hahah so keilani if he gets too shy, just look him up on fb. his names matthew hendrickson. He's a solid dude. 

Ever since we began learning the language we began teaching a 'fake' investigator. His name is Gregorio. And it was so cool cause me and Elder Doman we're able to get him to convert to baptism this past week. Theres nothing like the feeling of when someone truly believes what the spirit is telling them and wants to be baptized for there self. Gregorio is now my districts teacher along with Brother Hendrickson. Gregorio's real name is Creighton Hardy....keilani...IM HOOKING YOU UP!! I am very blessed with the teachers i got and the kids in my district!

We have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday night which are way fun. We haven't had any Apostles yet but we've had a few elders from the quorum of the seventy. Its exciting to hear from people that are constantly with the Apostles and The Prophet. 

The language is coming a long slowly...but surely. I am able to carry on a conversation alright, if they talk REAL slow. Haha but it is getting better, just need to keep the word Patience in the back of my head. 

Plus mom you dont need to send my running shoes when i get to Mexico. I have my basketball shoes and those work great:) and it actually ended up being my foot that i sprained last week, but its doing great and its healing so fast. I know the Lord is really blessing me to prepare for his work because throughout high school and stuff i never had injuries like this heal SO fast! Plus i was getting a bit sick this past week with a cold, and it went away over night. Its crazy to think how much he truly cares about his missionaries. 

And....when i get to mexico and you want to send a package. *MAKE SURE* you put like pictures of christ or very religiious stuff on the box because the mexicans steal things a lot but if they see sacred stuff on it they wont touch it. Just for a heads up. 

I got an email from my mission president this week and he told me and can now email family AND friends. So pretty much whoever haha. Its way cool! So mom if you can get on my facebook and just like post that anyone can email me if they want. But Dear Elder is also really nice cause theres nothing like gettings letters during the week. It just makes you smile and have a big smile on your face haha. 

Mom Dad Nate Morgan Jared and Keilani, i love you guys! hope you're all doing well and write me a Dear Elder :) ps Nate and Morgan, get pregnant 9 months before i come home. No sooner!! haha

Talk to you next week!

Testimony: Yo se que por el oportunidad a ser en un mision. Yo se que Jesucristo es nos el Salvador. El libro de Mormon es the verdadero palabra de Dios. Estoy por mi familia y amigos. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen. 

Elder Needham
Future Elder Shumway
Elder Green

Elder Doman, Elder Needham, Future Elder Shumway (Mike's Cousin),
Elder Green (Mike's cousin) and Companion.

Elder Needham's first email from the MTC

FAMILY!!!!! 4 messages

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Michael Needham <michael.needham@myldsmail.net>	Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 2:23 PM
To: cneedham06@gmail.com, gneedham23@gmail.com
Hello family and everyone who's reading! Its been such a great experience so far since i've been here. There are so many great people here and its amazing to see a ton of people here that I actually know. The moment i got here me and my district got straight to work and started learning the language. When i received my call i was excited to speak spanish, but holy freak it is so hard to learn a language. the two days were the longest days of my life, but now its the fifth day and things are going a lot better. im finally starting to understand the language which makes it A TON better. Still have a lot of improvement i need to work on though. But overall, things are going great!! Our district is in the classroom about 8 hours a day just studying doctrine and the language which is kind of tough, but i love my district and we make it fun. Brother Hendrickson is my teacher and he is the coolest dude, he and Nate Stevenson(scott stevenson's little bro) went to the same mission so it was fun making that connection right away. Its a lot easier to learn when brother hendrickson is in the class with us rather than just studying by ourselves. But we're all getting better each day! My companion is Elder Doman from Portland Oregon. He's a bigger dude and he's a cool guy. He's kind of a shy guy so the first few days were tough because i couldn't get him to really talk much, plus he's been feeling sick with a cold almost the whole time we've been here. But today and yesterday has been a ton better and he's starting to feel a lot more comfortable around me which is nice for communication. He's actually a really smart guy so im fortunate. I've been able to see Elder Green(britton) EVERYWHERE! I swear that kid follows me or something cause i seriously see him like 5 times a day haha, we just laugh when we see each other and act like our normal selves around each other. we are goofy kids when we're together. I've been able to eat meals with him and talk to him about a ton of things quite a few times. He's doing great and i can tell he loves it. He heads out to baltimore in the morning i think so its crazy he's already getting out of here. he's going to be a great missionary!! My favorite time of the week is gym time because MTC basketball is one of the greatest times ever. For some reason Jesucristo must have given me super powers cause i've been balling kids up here, every game i've played in i've won haha, its so fun. But then again because of all the luck i've been having with basketball, Jescucristo wanted me to be humble so he sprained my ankle this morning. haha my ankle is swollen and i look like a gangsta when i walk around with my limp. but this has happened a gazillion times before so i'll be around, just kind of frustrating. Yesterday was a great sunday because we got to walk up to the temple for a little and take pictures and stuff which was nice to great a break from the MTC. I saw so many elders and hermanas there and took a ton of pictures! my friend Christian adams showed up at the exact time i was walking up there and it was so crazy to see him, i just yelled CHRISTY!! haha i love seeing people i know. Heres a list of people i've seen so far Elder Brad Hauk, Elder Conner Jensen, Hermana Lewis, Sister Kaytlen Davies, Kyle Davies was there visiting her, a lot of my SUU football buddies, me and Elder Doman met all the other elders going to Monterrey with us, and again i see Elder Green everywhere so i chilled with him while i was up there haha. In my district only me and elder doman are going to Monterrey, many others are going to D.C. and two hermanas are going to L.A. Thank you for the Dear Elder letters and the birthday gifts!! Especially Pete, Mele & Matt, Julie, Joshua, Kris Harris(porter is a great missionary, i know he's doing great out there) Mom and Dad, and all the family! Overall things are going great, but it does take a lot of work! To all you future missionaries, PREPARE NOW!! its a slap in the face when you get here, but its such an amazing experience!!  Make sure Carson writes me when he gets his call, im supposing he didnt get it this week again hahahaha..im sorry dude! but let me know!!  Love you all and write me cause it makes the week a ton better when we get letters! Im trying to figure out how to upload pictures so ill try and do it next week!! if theres any other questions you want me to answer just let me know, its hard to remember everything people have asked haha.  PEACE Y'ALL