Letter # 18 (March 2, 2009)

I woke up this morning and I saw snow. Lots of Snow! This week had its ups and downs. We dropped a couple of investigators. They weren't keeping their commitments. One of the investigators we dropped was Charles. We had fasted with him, but then we couldn't get in contact with him. We called him and left him messages. We finally caught him on Friday. At first he let his girlfriend get the door and she told us that the kids are sick and that we should come back another day. We told her that we're going to talk to Charles for a little bit. She let us enter. Charles expressed how he hasn't been really thinking about the church lately. Oh yeah, he started fasting but he started to get dissy so he discontinued. He has been investigating the Church on and off for about a year. We told him that if he's not feeling us right now then its best if we stop seeing him for now. He shared how he feels bad because he loves listening to our message.

That's what I've been noticing. The people we teach, feel the Spirit. They can't deny that they feel good when listening to our message. But when we leave their homes, the Spirit leaves also, unless they nourish that Spirit. You nourish the Spirit by keeping the commitments you've been given. When I was investigating the Church, I kept the commitments the missionaries had left me. The Spirit never left me. As I continue to follow the commandments, I was able to always have His Spirit to be with me.

We still have some solid investigators. The Suners (Diane, Ivan, and Isabel), Sam Cooper, Corey Sims, Iantha Mcdonald, and Anna(she's probably not in our area so we're going to have to transfer her to the zone leaders (Chapel Hill 2nd ward). We are meeting up with them and teaching them. Sam Cooper is a 16 year-old from Liberia. He's our most solid investigator. He's been investigating for more than 6 months. Him and his mom are separated because of disagreements between the 2. But he lives with the 2nd Counselor and his family. He's amazing. His baptismal date is set for April 10th. He's solid as can be. He's given a talk in church before.

Well life is good. I fasted for an added measure of the Spirit and that's what i received. God is a God of miracles.
Love Elder Olaya