Jack's Baptism

Jack was excited to have his baptism on his 8th birthday, as Cat's was.  To make it even more special, his cousin was baptized that evening too.  He had three grandparents attending from the east coast, and lots of sweet friends from our ward, including both of his Primary teachers, our home teacher, friends from the ward and school, neighbors, extended family, and others.  My sister-in-law and I tried hard to make it special while keeping it simple, and I think it worked out pretty well.  But Jack's feelings on the subject are more important than mine.  Here are his words, which I considered editing, but I didn't.  (Though some of these things required a bit of prodding, I admit.)

Before I got baptized, I was really, really excited because I couldn't wait to feel what the water felt like and because I wanted to be baptized.  My Dad let me play five minutes of basketball in the gym at the church.  

I remember getting baptized and Cat playing "I Am a Child of God" on the piano and Grammy giving a talk about baptism.  She gave me a Kit Kat bar because the KAT stood for Keep His commandments, Always remember Him, Take His name upon you.

I remember Bro. C talking about Star Wars.  He said, "You know about the good guys in Star Wars and the bad guys?  We want to be like the good guys." We can use the Holy Ghost as our power.

Mema gave a talk about the Holy Ghost.  She said that when she was driving up a hill a voice said, "Slow down" and she kept speeding up 'cause she didn't know who that crazy voice was.  And the voice said, again, "Slow down" and so finally she slowed down and she saw construction up ahead with pipes spilled all over the edge of the road and she said, "If I wouldn't have slowed down, I would have crashed and fallen off."

At the end of my baptism, my aunt and uncle and Mom and Dad sang for me.  They sang, "I Like to Look For Rainbows Whenever There is Rain."  We wanted that song at our baptism because we thought it was a sweet song.

When I was baptized, I felt happy, comfortable, and a little sad.  Because I felt the Holy Ghost.  I felt happy because I was happy to feel warm inside.  I felt comfortable because I felt as if I was wrapped around a blanket.  I felt a little sad because the water felt kind of cold.

When I went to church on Sunday, the Sacrament was really good.  I liked the bread mostly.  The bread represents the body of Jesus and the water represents the blood.

My baptism day was special because I got a ton of birthday presents.

Bye!

We talked a lot about baptism in the months leading up to Jack's birthday: Family Home Evening lessons, discussions in the car and at the dinner table.  We explained to Jack what was involved when someone was baptized, what they were committing to do, and what the blessings were.  We talked about following Christ's example by getting baptized, and becoming a part of His church.  We made sure to help Jack understand that this was a serious decision, and that it had to be his decision.  About a month before Jack's birthday, I had the kids in the car and we were talking.  I said, "If Jack decides to get baptized..." and Jack jumped in with, "I want to get baptized!"  It was the most excited he'd been, and I knew that he had made his decision.  He never hesitated, and I'm thankful that he has now taken this important step toward our Heavenly Father.