Baptism #9

My ninth child was baptized last month. She shares a birthday with her older sister so we had a big celebration. Child #9 was baptized by her older brother who was ordained a priest in November. I love these "parent paydays" when I can watch an older child honor his priesthood and then use it to bless the life of his sibling. The brother who baptized my daughter was baptized by his older brother about 8 years ago. It is such a blessing  to see my children baptized, especially by a sibling.

Life whirs by me so fast I can hardly catch my breath, I can't believe I have 9 children now baptized as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It seems as though I was just holding #9 in my arms a few days ago. Children grow so fast.

She was so excited about her baptism that she made invitations to it last summer and couldn't wait to invite everyone to her special day. She was a little disappointed that friends from school didn't come, but we had lots of family and ward members that supported her. She was doubly excited that she'd lost a couple of teeth before her baptism. Life can be so exciting when you're 8.

I'm so proud of her and feel so blessed!

An Outpouring of the Spirit

My oldest daughter has been friends with a young man since they began high school. He's become friends with my other kids (my 5-year-old plans to marry him at some point and tells everyone that they're "dating") and has spent time at our home. He's also friends with other LDS kids and the director of the performing arts group that he and my kids are in is a member of our ward.

We've been waiting for him to commit to baptism and I think he went through at least 13 missionaries before finally decided to get baptized. He made the decision after he heard the talks in sacrament meeting a few weeks ago (my oldest daughter was one of the speakers).

Sunday he was baptized. It was amazing. The Spirit was so strong. The director of the performing arts group (who is also one of our seminary teachers) spoke with such power and the Spirit bore witness of her words. My oldest daughter sang, "When I am Baptized," and I don't think I've ever heard her sing so sweetly and so full of the Spirit. Another young woman in the ward who he's dated also gave an incredible talk about the Holy Ghost and then the Primary kids in the audience were asked, spur of the moment, to sing, "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus," and one of my younger daughters was asked to sing the second verse as a solo. She did an excellent job.

At the end of the service, unbeknownst to him, all of his friends from the performing arts group, most of whom are not LDS, sang, "I Heard Him Come." It sounded as if angels were singing in a heavenly choir. I can hardly describe the way those kids sang and the feelings that welled up inside of me as I listened to them. Most of these kids live very different lives and most aren't religious, but they came together to support this young man and to show their love for him. We'd be lucky to have friends like these kids.

It was an emotional service and one that will stay with all of us who attended. The Spirit testified that it was right. All whose hearts were open felt that witness. The only word I can think to describe this baptism is: glorious.

Attending this service and witnessing the outpouring of the Spirit reminded me that we are all God's children and how He must rejoice when we come unto Him. How He loves each of us. How He wants all of us to experience the joy that comes from the gospel. And, most importantly, we never know who we might influence. If we stand in judgment of others and their lifestyle choices, we will not be able to influence them or show them the light of the gospel. We never know who is searching for the truth or when we can be an instrument in the Lord's hands unless we learn to listen to the Spirit and love those around us.

I'm truly thankful for this experience. It changed me and will ever be part of me.

Through Small and Simple Means

Last weekend we baptized our eighth child. He was so excited for his baptism.

We planned the baptism and included most members of our family. Our youngest son wasn’t formally on the program, but we knew he’d be loud enough to participate in his own way . One of my daughters spoke on baptism. I was very proud of her. She brought some visual aids to complement her talk, including a tube of diaper rash cream to symbolize the pain relief that repentance brings. She also showed a white paper that represented no sins, a paper that had lots of squiggles on it to represent mistakes we make, and then told us that after baptism our sins are washed away and through repentance we can have the white paper represent our lives. She also showed a fuzzy white blanket and likened it to how the Holy Ghost feels—warm and soft. It was an excellent talk.

Another son spoke on the Holy Ghost and how it can help us in so many ways, including protecting us and teaching us the truth. He shared some quotes. I was proud of him for preparing his talk, too.

Two of our daughters sang, Scripture Power, and other daughters gave the prayers. My son was baptized by his oldest brother, who returned from his mission to Italy last summer. My husband then confirmed my son and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was such a spiritual meeting. The bishop was choked up a bit when he asked my son to stand and bear his testimony. My son said, “Being baptized feels great. I’m so happy I could be baptized.” It was such a sweet experience.

Unbeknownst to me, my son had invited his elementary school teacher. She is not a member of the Church, but she really likes my son and decided to attend because it was important to him. She actually arrived an hour early because we’d miscommunicated the time (she lives more than 30 miles away from us). As she entered the building, my children and their cousins accosted her because she’d taught some of them last year. They all snuggled up to her during the service.
My son was thrilled to see his teacher and gave her lots of hugs to prove it. I’m sure he will always remember she attended his baptism. I was impressed that she made such an effort to come. After the service, we were visiting in the foyer about the baptism. I thanked her for coming and she said, “I was glad to. You could just feel something in there.” Then it clicked. She’d felt the Holy Ghost witness to her the truth. She’d felt his presence. From a simple child’s invitation to his baptism, she experienced the Holy Ghost. What will happen from here? I don’t know, but I do know she felt the Spirit. Attending my son’s baptism was a good experience and, perhaps, it will ignite a desire in her to learn more about the gospel. At the very least, she will remember this experience with a warm feeling.

Through small and simple means, like an invitation to a baptism, great and powerful things can happen. Of course, I hope she’ll want to know more and discover the pure joy and happiness that only the gospel can provide, but for now I’m thankful she felt the Spirit. Even more, I’m so grateful my young son was inspired enough to invite her.

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Baptism: A Fundamental Ordinance

A fundamental gospel ordinance is baptism. We believe that those who perform the baptism must have the authority to do so. Many people, when investigating the church, say they have already been baptized and don’t need another baptism. We believe that in order for a baptism to be recognized by God, it must be done under his direction using the priesthood.

In the LDS Church we do not practice infant baptism. Children are baptized when they are eight years old because that’s when they are accountable to the Lord for their actions. (Doctrine and Covenants 68:27).

We believe in baptism by immersion as demonstrated by the Savior himself when he was baptized by John the Baptist. Baptism by immersion is symbolic. It is as if laying down your old life into the grave, and then coming up into a new life, a new birth.

Baptism is so important that the Savior, though he was perfect and did not need baptism, was baptized. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17). Heavenly Father was pleased that his son, the Savior of the world, was baptized. Isn’t he then pleased when each of us is baptized?

The Savior set the example because this ordinance is integral to our eternal salvation. We must be baptized. This is why we perform baptisms for the dead. In Corinthians 15:29 it reads, “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?” Since many people have died before having the opportunity to hear the gospel or be baptized with the proper authority, members of the LDS Church do baptisms vicariously for those who have gone to the other side of the veil. We want all of Heavenly Father’s children to have the blessings of the gospel, even if they have already died.

When a baptism is performed, it is done in an orderly fashion with the same words offered for each baptism. It’s also mandatory that two priesthood holders witness the baptism to make sure that the person, or proxy for someone who has died, is completely immersed.

Baptism is the start of a new life as all the old sins are washed away. I’ve often wished that I could be baptized everyday just to feel that clean, pure feeling and have a fresh start. We are very blessed to now have the authority to perform baptisms and I’m certain that Heavenly Father is pleased each time one of his sons or daughters is baptized.

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