It still amazes me to see how the gospel is able to change people.

  We had another awesome week! We had a baptism this week! It was the most amazing service I have ever been to. We had a musical number and then I gave a talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost. Then C got baptized! Then we had another musical number and then it was over. Short and sweet. Very simple and the spirit was very strong.

  C has one of the coolest stories. I haven't said anything about him yet so I will start at the very
beginning. C works here in Palo Alto. He was working one weekend and he came up from San Jose a little bit early and decided that he wanted to have a bit more to his life. He didn't know anything about church or the gospel but he knew that religion would help bring him closer to God so he started to search that day. He did what any person would do when looking for something. He got on Yelp and looked up churches in the area. Our YSA congregation showed up and had pretty good reviews so he decided to check it out. He walks into church one day and is met by the missionaries. He enjoys it enough the first time to come back again. He has come every Sunday since! I love what he said about why he came back. He said that the feeling of warmth and the love that was showed by the members was what got him to come back. It just goes to show that people can be brought into the
fold in any way and once they feel the spirit they know that it is true and that is the feeling that will keep them coming back for more. He is such an awesome guy and he is very happy that he decided to get baptized.

   We also had another outgoing fireside last night. That is where all of the missionaries that will be going home get to give a quick two minute testimony about whatever they feel inspired to say. They are really cool firesides and there are always a lot of missionaries at them and the best part is that all of the missionaries bring investigators. A really good missionary opportunity. I know several people who have benefited from going to these firesides. We got to go with one of our recent converts named S. S is super awesome and he was asked to speak at the fireside. He spoke about how he joined the church. He started with absolutely no religious background so it was a lot of learning for him. He went from not believing in God at all to trusting fully in Him. It still amazes me to see how the gospel is able to change people. No matter who you are or what you do. No matter how good or how bad. There is always something in the gospel that can help you.

    I don't have a lot of time today! My companion is 21 today! Because it is his birthday, we have a lot of fun things planned! We went on a Sunrise hike this morning and it was amazing! Pictures attached. We also went golfing today. My companion loves, loves, loves golf. And I sent a
picture of the baptism!

Love you all! I will keep praying for you all!

Love, Elder Maxwell!