Letter #34 (July 6, 2009)

We were able to have another amazing lesson with Kathy. We taught her the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit was felt. She hasn't drank coffee in 8 days. She's set in getting baptized on July 25th. I won't be serving in Chapel Hill, but if I serve in an area not too far away, maybe I could get permission from my mission president to attend it.

Steve won't get baptized before I leave neither. Him and his sister have been smoking again. They didn't show up to church either. Hopefully all is well with them. We'll teach them this week.

We got a new mission president last week. His name is President Cotterell. We had a zone conference on Thursday less than 3 days from when he arrived to North Carolina. He also interviewed several missionaries including myself prior to zone conference starting. It was a great interview. I really felt his love for me. He has a great spirit. I'm excited to have him to be my mission president. His wife is great as well.

I had a good week. It started off slow. I've been able to recognize the Lord's blessings for me. I felt tired one day and frustrated. I was knocking on the door of one of our potential investigators. No one answered the door. I said a silent prayer to our Father in Heaven. I asked Him for a tender mercy. And sensing that I wasn't praying with faith, I asked Him for greater faith. As we were biking out of the area, I saw an older man with his grandchildren. I decided to walk my bike towards him and contact him. I was able to have a quality gospel conversation with him and teach him some principles. He didn't accept my invitation to learn more. But it was still a tender mercy. That changed my attitude throughout the day. I felt much joy! By small and simple things great things come to pass. Prayer is Powerful. God is a God of miracles!

Elder Olaya