New Simplified Curriculum Based on Preaching by the Spirit

I found an interesting letter to the family of Elder Taylor T. Gull that explains how the new simplified curriculum is being adopted in the San Bernadino Mission and about its future implementation:

We (President and I) have been involved in training the zone and district leaders in the new Simplified curriculum for the past few months. They, the zone leaders and district leaders will be involved in teaching the same program to all other missionaries in their areas. We, along with members of the mission presidency and other senior missionaries will be attending those various meetings for the next few months.

This program will be taught to all new missionaries when they report to the MTC beginning in May of this year. By that time, all of the missionaries here in the mission will know the program. Preach My Gospel is the text the missionaries will continue to use, but there is an additional approach that has been prayerfully directed by the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles. We were told in the MTC this past July in the Mission President's Seminar that they have spent many, many hours on bended knee and in the temple receiving inspiration on how to make it easier for the missionaries to teach and the investigators to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The use of additional principles contained within Preach My Gospel are being used to invite the Spirit in the initial interactions with a new investigator. This process allows ample opportunity for the missionaries to ask inspired questions and then address the needs of those they teach. The principle of the Doctrine of Christ is taught first where possible, but following the Spirit is still essential for the direction of the work. The knowledge of the material in Preach My Gospel is vital to teaching by the Spirit, but not in rote fashion.

 We hope this information will be helpful to you. Some of it may may be retold to you by your missionary, but hopefully you have learned something you didn't know before.

 I have always been a firm believer in the concept of preaching by the spirit.  As a missionary I used a similar approach based on Elder Alvin R. Dyer's Challenge.  This new method will be a powerful way to get missionaries to use the Spirit in teaching future investigators.