Letter #16 (February 16, 2009) - 4 months completed!

It was a good week for me. We were able to teach so many people about the gospel. We contacted 172 people and taught 86 lessons. We met up with Diane Suner and her 2 children this week. It looks like the father wants his kids to wait a year before they get baptized. Diane wants to get baptized anyways. We're going to set another date with her. They're still going to church and activities. Ivan, the 13 year-old son is amazing. He's going to be a stud in the gospel. He was asked to give a summary during Priesthood meeting about a youth activity they participated. He's awesome. He has the faith to get baptized soon.

We taught this guy named Corey the 1st lesson. He's a member referral. He went to an activity 2 Saturdays ago and to church the next day. He met with Elder Condie briefly in Church and we gave him our number. He called us up last week and set up an appointment for us to teach him. The lesson went well. He was very receptive. He kinda looks like Dennis Quaid, the actor. We taught this guy named Charles. He's been investigating the church for a year. He hasn't been keeping the commitments and he hasn't gone to church since he's been investigating. He likes our message, but he 's been gathering info on all religions and doing a lot of reading. He said that he doesn't need religion in his life to be spiritual. But his Grandma recently passed away. He admired more than anyone on this earth. She was very religious. He feels that he owes it to her to find a church. We invited him to fast and that we'll fast with him so he could get his answer. He accepted. We fasted with him on Wednesday til Thursday night. We haven't heard from him yet, but he did leave us a message saying that he started his fast. Hopefully we get to hear from his this week.

Life is good down here in NC. I've been on my mission for 4 months now. The weeks are flying past. I'm learning so much about myself. As I ride my bike and catch some wind, I often reflect on my life. I think of the time when I was an investigator and how I was feeling as I was getting taught by missionaries. Imagine if I taught myself. Oscar, the investigator would've probably dropped Elder Olaya. JK! I love this work. The Lord doesn't forget His covenant people.

Love, Elder Olaya