Week of January 11, 2016

Dear family and friends,

I can't believe how fast the time is going by! It seems like I just emailed yesterday! 

I once again had an enjoyable, and busy week. Yesterday were once again able to go on splits, which afforded us the ability of teaching more individuals. Better yet, the priests have enjoyed going on splits with us so much, they said they want to continue to teach with us every Sunday! Elder Vicente and I were a little happy to hear that to say the least.

This last week I was able to meet with my mission president and have an interview with him. I never thought I would look forward to interviews, but I certainly did for that one. President Rahlf basically just talked to me to get to know me better, and the interview lacked any of the intimidating aspects that most interviews include. I will be sad to see him go this year. However, I am excited to meet my new mission president, C. Russell Hiatt. I have a member in my ward, the CES coordinator, who served with Brother Hiatt in a mission presidency here in the Philippines. According to my ward member, he is a very kind, and "simple" man, just the kind of person I like!

 Finally, I want to share a small miracle with you that occurred this last week. Although this miracle was so small, it meant so much to me. For Christmas, my family gave me a shutterfly calendar with pictures of my family and such. I was so excited to receive it, and all the other missionaries were jealous. I just had one problem. I had no thumb tack to place it on my wall in front of my desk. Thumb tacks are not very common here as most homes have concrete walls, and I didn't know where I could buy some. Knowing that I would probably have to wait another week until P-day, when I go into the city, made me feel a little disappointed. However, soon after this realization, I noticed a small green thing underneath some other items on our coffee table as I was eating. After further inspection, I concluded that it was a thumb tack! I was so excited and immediately put down my food and went to go put my calendar on the wall! It now makes a great addition to my study area. There is no logical reason why the thumb tack would have been there. I have cleared that coffee table off many times, and I never saw it, and it did not belong to any of the other missionaries. I believe the Lord placed that thumb tack on the coffee table for me as one blessing for my service to Him. This small miracle reminded me of how aware the Lord is of me, and ultimately how aware he is of each one of us. I know if we look intently, we will find miracles in each of our lives as we dedicate ourselves to His service.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Pulley