Magandang Buhay everybody!

This week was another great week with lots of learning experiences.

My companion and I have been focusing a lot on "teaching people, not lessons" method in our teaching... which requires to rely on the spirit. If you don't rely on the spirit for those inspired questions or to know what to say, your lesson turns into a mess. But focusing on this method has brought out a lot of really neat experiences this week. We have gone into lessons with one topic/ lesson planned and then ended up teaching a completely different topic. It is amazing how the spirit works.

One investigator in particular has been an investigator for a while now. He goes to church and he knows its true, but he wants to know EVERYTHING and be sinless before he gets baptized. I am not sure how many times we have taught him about how baptism is not a final step but rather a stepping stone and that we cannot obtain perfection here on earth and won't ever be able to unless we are first baptized. Yesterday, we went to teach him again, and instead of pulling out the scriptures and finding a verse, or thinking of how the lesson should be applied to him, we just listened. He expressed his feelings, he opened up more than he ever has in the past, and we were able to share with him the exact thing he was supposed to hear. It wasn't from me, it wasn't from Sister Cortez, it was obvious who it was from. After we shared, it was like a lightbulb went off. Brother said the exact thing I feel like we have been telling him all this time, he said, "Oh so in order for me to truly be clean I must be baptized by someone holding the authority of God. and only here in the church of Jesus Christ is that right authority..." (obviously those arent his exact words but you get it.) I am not saying that he automatically accepted a baptismal date, and he is getting baptized next week... but for me, that was a miracle that occurred...that he finally understands the purpose of baptism. No matter how many times, we have taught him, no matter how many times we have explained it with analogies, with scriptures, it wasn't until we listened to him and listened to the spirit, that the enlightenment came.

Sometimes we try to figure out things on our own, with our own wisdom and knowledge, but there is really no comparision to the enlightenment that comes from the spirit. Enlightenment that not only enters into your mind but into your heart. Spiritual enlightenment is wisdom beyond comparison because it doesnt require you to know all things, in fact, it requires that you dont know all things so that you must rely on your faith. You must fully trust in your Lord and your Heavenly Father, having not only faith that they are there, but that they also know all things in the eternal perspective and have a better path for us.

That was one of the many lessons that I learned this week.

Everything else was good. My companion and I are surviving the HEAT.

General Conference was really great and I look forward to reading the talks again to fully understand the messages. And that's about it...although, I hit my 9 month mark on Friday. It was a bit emotional for me, because time is going by way faster than I would hope.

LOVE YOU all and MISS you all. I will send some pictures to make dad happy.