It's Great to be Eight! {Christian's Baptism}

What a special day August 2nd was for our family. Christian made the important decision to be baptized. He was eager to officially become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to make covenants with Heavenly Father. He met with the Bishop the week before his baptism and Bishop McCauley told us that Christian was well-prepared. Christian had support from many family and friends, some of which traveled several hours to be here with him. Christian asked Jonathon to baptize him and his two grandpas to be the witnesses. 

Christian was the only one from our ward being baptized, so he got to choose the songs. He chose "Baptism" from the Primary Songbook and "I Stand All Amazed" from the hymnbook. I got the privilege of leading the music for his big day. After the song and beautiful prayer by Sarah Capps (one of the people Christian helps Jonathon home teach), one of the ward missionaries, Katherine Bueno, gave a talk on Baptism. She talked about the 3 bears:  "Bear your testimony, Bear His name, and Bear Other's Burdens". She gave him a bag of gummy bears with each of the the "bears" on it to help him remember the covenants that he was making. Then Christian was baptized. It was a special moment. Christian came up out of the water clean and happy. Afterward, I found out that Christian pretty much baptized himself by going down before Jonathon was ready. He also forgot to plug his nose until the very end. I had no idea, so they covered it well!

After Christian and Jonathon got changed, we moved to the Relief Society Room where we heard a talk by another ward missionary, Mike Driggs, on the Holy Ghost. Then Jonathon was able to confirm Christian a member of the Church and give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The blessing was beautiful, and I definitely felt the Spirit in the room. Lastly, our Bishop welcomed Christian and gave some words of advice. He spoke about making our homes a fortress that will protect our families against the evils of the world. It really struck me because I had been thinking of the same things lately. There are so many evil influences everywhere, and all I want is to keep my little family safe. It seems like it is getting harder and harder, and I am grateful that he emphasized strengthening our families. When the service was over, we went outside the church and took lots of pictures.

Christian has some amazing Grandparents who are loving, supportive, and great examples. I am so thankful for them and for all that they do for our family. 

The support of family and friends on Christian's big day was so wonderful. I wanted him to feel loved and know that there were many, many people who would help him in any way that they could. (An interesting side note: There were two exchange students from China staying with Grandpa and Grandma H. that attended Christian's baptism. I hope that it was an experience that they will remember and seek to find out more about.) Then we went back to our house and had Ice Cream Sundaes, Christian's dessert of choice. It was a lovely and momentous day.