Letter # 19 (March 9, 2009)

What an incredible week! Remember Diane Suner? She was suppose to get baptized last month with her children, Ivan and Isabelle. Her soon to be ex opposed his children's baptism. He said that he wants to wait until the divorce is over which could take 1 year from now. Diane could get baptized but she has a lot of things going on in her life right now. Well.......

We had transfers this week. Elder Condie and I are staying in Chapel Hill. Yeah life is good. I'm having a good time. What's going on in New York? I love football and rice and beans. I like brushing my teeth with Colgate total.
OH YEAH! I was talking about Diane! :) So as I was saying, Diane is going through a lot. Last Sunday as we talked to her during church, I felt good about her. I told Elder Condie that she'll be baptized on Saturday. He told me that she leaves town on Saturday. I then said that she'll get baptized on Friday. On Monday we went to Diane's. Our intention was to set a baptismal date. When we got to her home she quickly told us that she has something to tell us. She said, "I went to get baptized tomorrow!" What!!!!! That was the best news ever! She was worried that Elder Condie was going to get transferred and that she wanted him to baptize her before she left out of town before transfers. She also didn't want to make it a big deal as before because of the disappointment of not getting baptized. So it was intended to be a low key baptism with a small attendance and no huge after party. We were pumped but cautious. We know what Satan has done in the past. We made some phone calls to get the bishop's approval and to schedule the building. Tuesday came along. It was a good turnout at her baptism. Her kids were there. It was a great service. Elder Condie gave a talk on Baptism and then he baptized her. There was a testimony bearing period. I then gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. She was then given the Holy Ghost by Brother Brown. It was such a spiritually-filled event. I'm so happy for her. And her children will be blessed because God knows their desire.

God is a God of miracles. I'm staying in Chapel Hill. Elder Condie is probably the best missionary in North Carolina. Its so humbling to see him teach and work with the Holy Ghost. He's really amazing and he's only been out for 3 months! We have such a powerhouse companionship! I will continue to pray for miracles. I know that there's a lot more to come!

Love, Elder Olaya

Ps. I'll send pictures next week