The Decision that Changed My Life

By Rubén Landeros

It was 1960. Missionary Ben Peterson had come to our house one day to bring us the message of salvation. He worked a lot with my family by teaching us about sacred history and that we were descendents of a special lineage. He showed us many picture transparencies that focused on Jesus and his invitation to follow him.

The presentations also spoke of a youth who had looked for guidance by praying to God in a forest, and how he had been blessed to bring the truths of the gospel in a fresh and new way. I, too, wanted to be as that young man and ask God for guidance in my life. So when Brother Ben asked me if I wanted to be baptized, I accepted, with pleasure.

It was one of the most important experiences in my life to see Brother Ben with his hands extended to receive me into the Weslaco, Texas, baptismal font. There was a prayer mentioning my name, then water covering my body, and arms helping me leave the baptismal font. To see the loving faces of the congregation receiving me was an entirely new experience of the love of God.

That day changed the life of a twelve-year-old youth without aspirations from one of the poorest neighborhoods in Reynosa, Mexico, into a youth who desired to accept the opportunity of life with Jesus. That day marked a succession of events that have continued to form me to this day. I received responsibilities at a very young age. I became youth leader at age twelve. At fifteen, I was called to be a deacon; at nineteen, to be an elder; and at twenty-six, to be a seventy.

I don’t know where I would be now if Jesus had not come to speak to me through Brother Ben calling me to be baptized. Throughout the years of serving the Lord in ministry, I have repeatedly seen this joy in people whom I have invited to enter the waters of baptism. One testimony this year came from my niece Gisel Flores Cazares, who wanted to be baptized along with her two older sisters. Although she was just seven years old and could not be baptized until age eight, I decided to include her in the prebaptismal classes anyway. So she followed through with the classes along with her sisters, filling in her Discipleship Journal, Of Water and Spirit. When the day came for her sisters to be baptized, they received their certificates stating that they had been baptized in the Community of Christ. But Gisel received a certificate stating that she “would be baptized the day of _________.”

That day was difficult for the whole congregation, because Gisel cried the whole time, knowing she was unable to be baptized. The worst part came when, that same year, her mother requested to be baptized also, and the little girl had to be consoled by our evangelist, Fred Cole, who promised her that they would all be present the day of her baptism.

February 12 of this year was my niece’s eighth birthday. It was also the day she was baptized and participated in her first Communion service. She was radiant with joy, now receiving the treasured certificate that stated that her baptism had indeed taken place. Many fulfilled their promise to be present that day, and they came from many congregations to welcome her into the Community of Christ family. It was a great reward for her perseverance and her desire to be part of the family of God.

My great desire and hope is to see many more certificates declaring that someone else has been baptized into the Community of Christ.