Elder Tanner Daines: Mexico Culiacán Mission: Week 16: Feliz Navidad!

¡Feliz Navidad!

It’s been a great week! We had all the missionaries from the entire Baja California Sur get together this Tuesday and we had a great time together! We went out to a restaurant together, watched some videos about Christmas, and played some games! It was a lot of fun. Got me even more excited for this week!!

This week absolutely flew by. But it’s so great because people are giving us so much food and treats and stuff, and everyone is just so happy! I don’t have too much time to write this week, but I’d just like to share a really great experience we had this past Saturday.

We had a baptism of the daughter of a recent convert to the church. She just turned 8! And she was so happy and excited. It was a great baptismal service. What made it even greater was that a young man that the other Elders have been teaching, came to the baptism. He got there early and told us all that he had received an answer to his prayer. He had already learned everything, but was unsure about being baptized because he was not sure if this which Christ´s Church. But on Friday night, he got on his knees humbly, and prayed to God, and told us he received a feeling that he was doing the right thing. He saw that Valeria was getting baptized, and he asked us," Are you allowed to do two baptisms in one service?" And we looked at him and asked, "Yes (with tons of excitement in our voices!), why?" And he said, "I want to be baptized."It was so so so cool!! He hadn’t had a baptismal date, and we weren’t sure what was going to happen with him. But this was such a strong spiritual experience for me.

I know that God is our Heavenly Father. And that He wants to hear from us. I know that He is really there, and He hears and answers our prayers. I can feel it when I pray. I know that He loves us, so, so much, and because of that He sent His Only Begotten Son. Because of God´s love, we have a Savior. Because of His love, we can always not only be happy, but be joyful, every single day!!

Love you all and hope you all have such a wonderful Christmas with your families!!

Elder Daines