Week 51 – Maxi’s Baptism – Elder Tate Cannon

Wow, this week has been CRAZY. We had 4 splits, fasted 3 times in 5 days, and had an amazing baptism! It was super special and I’ve learned more this week than any other week of my mission. We saw some amazing miracles this week.

We fasted as a district for some of the people we are teaching, and saw direct answers. We were fasting for Maria Paz and her boyfriend, Juan David, so that his heart could soften and that he could support her in the church. They sat down and had a serious conversation and Juan David now wants to read the Book of Mormon and pray as a family! It was such a miracle and we are super excited for them to keep progressing. Maria Paz is amazing, with such a strong testimony. This week, she read from Helaman to 3 Nephi 8 in two days (24 chapters).

We had a crazy week of splits, and we have three more crazy weeks ahead of us. This week, I had splits with Elder Backus, Elder Packer, Elder Mayer, and Elder Hansen. It was super busy, and kinda hard working in an area that I don’t know to well, but we saw some miracles and worked hard. Elder Maco came with Elder Packer, so that was super fun to see him.

We had a long week of work with Gimena. After having previously received her mom’s permission, we went to her house with the baptismal registry and she wouldn’t sign it. She had doubts about some of the things in the Church and we tried helping her and fasted several times, but Gimena sadly wasn’t able to get baptized. But, we are hoping that it can happen this next week! And we will be able to work with her mom so that’ll be good. This week, I taught the Siaira family, a young family that´s progressing that came to General Conference a few weeks ago. During the lesson, Brisa, who is 9, was drawing a picture. We always leave stuff to read with the family, and she is always the first one to do it and praying that she´ll be able to go to church. We were teaching about the Priesthood, and her dad had a question about something, and I started answering it, but Brisa cut me off and explained it better than I was going to haha she’s awesome. At the end of the lesson, she gave me such a cute amazing drawing of Jesus. We are very hopeful with her family.

On Saturday, Maxi was baptized! It was such a special day, and it was his birthday! He was so excited and so was his family, who had just gotten baptized earlier this year. There was so much happiness and it was such an awesome experience. One of the sisters in the ward played “Nearer My God to Thee” on the flute, and the Spirit was so strong. And Maxi had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. It was such an awesome experience.

To talk a bit more about Maxi, I´m gonna tell a bit of the story of his conversion. His kids were baptized in June, and his wife got baptized in August. He didn’t want ANYTHING to do with the Church, and was very closed to learning more. His wife Vanesa kept insisting to have Family Home Evening, and he started to cave. One day, they were playing a game where they each said a prayer with a question and then opened up to a random page in the Book of Mormon and read the first verse they saw as their answer. Maxi said in his prayer “Should I be baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?”, which was a very surprising question for his family. He opened up to 2 Nephi 31, and read verse 11, which says “And the Father said, Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.” And since that moment, he’s had a huge change. He’s read up until 3 Nephi in just a few months, and has such a strong testimony of it. He’s changed completely, and is always so happy and positive. I love that guy, and it’s been so awesome to get to know his family and to be able to baptize Maxi.

I love the mission! It´s been the hardest, busiest, most tiring week of my mission, but I’m loving it and learning so much. I know that Christ is our Savior, and that he suffered and died for every one of us. I love Him. Thank you guys for everything! Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for any one of you! I love you guys!

This is a video that Tate and his companion made for the Zone Conferences, where they interview several of their investigators about their experiences with the Book of Mormon. Tate has talked about Maria Paz (and her boyfriend), Gimena,  & Maxi, so it awesome to see them tell their own stories and testimonies. If you don't speak Spanish, it is still fun to see the reality of the people who are accepting the invitation to "Come and See."