Kamusta po kayo,

Another week down that flew by for me. We were busy all week teaching people and getting ready for a baptism of one our investigators. On Saturday, we were able to see Melanie get baptized which was great. We had been teaching her for a few months, but she was having trouble gaining a strong enough testimony to be baptized. Of course we can't give her a testimony, so we really focused on prayer and reading the scriptures so she could know for herself.

We decided to do a review lesson about Joseph Smith to help her. When we finished the lesson, we asked her if she had any questions. We were a little surprised with the questions she asked us. She asked us how many times she would need to go to church so she could get baptized. We were shocked so we asked her if she wanted to get baptized and she said yes. She had already heard all the doctrine and been to church four times so we just had to get her interviewed. She hasn’t been confirmed yet because of Stake Conference, but she was really excited to get baptized. It amazes me how quickly the Lord will bless our investigators with a testimony if they are willing to ask sincerely.

We had one day this week that didn't go too well. No one was home for our appointments, and we felt like we had just walked around all day without getting a lot accomplished. Both of us felt completely drained of energy so we were heading home for the night, but still had about 15 minutes before the end of the day. So I tried to keep working just a little longer.

I tried talking to a few people on the street but they didn't want to hear anything which is always very discouraging. I tried a group of people as a last attempt before going home. To my surprise, they invited us to come back in a few days. They didn't seem too excited, but we went to our appointment with them and to our surprise again, one of the men had read everything we gave him and he basically taught us the restoration. I also take it as a good sign when they can explain the two types of priesthood to you. We have only taught him three times but he wants to be baptized if he receives a testimony. He is definitely someone whom the Lord has prepared.

Love, Elder Smith