On Saturday the 2nd of April this handsome boy went & turned 8 & to say that he was super excited to be getting baptised was an understatement!! I have to admit that as his mum I was really surprised about how much he was looking forward to this day - I actually feel a bit stink because I totally underestimated how much the gospel already means to him & how excited he was to become a member of the church xxx
I shared in my talk about how just after Christmas had come & gone the next big thing on the agenda for our family was Mac’s baptism in April – so in January I thought I’d better start talking to him about things & recapping what it’s all about so that he could be well prepared for his big day, and the very first thing that I wanted to do as part of that preparation was to ask him if he’d like to be baptised.
Obviously it’d always been our hope & plan for him ever since he was a baby, but with agency also being such an important part of the gospel, I really wanted to make sure that it was a choice he got to make all on his own. And then if one day anyone ever tries to say to him 'well you're just a member because all your family are members!' that he can turn around & say 'no I chose to join the church all on my own :)'
So
one Monday night a few months back, I started our FHE by telling Mac that I had
a very important question to ask him. His ears immediately pricked up with
anticipation of what it could be & so I went on with “Mac you know how
you’re turning 8 this year, well I was just wondering if you’d like to be baptised???"
Now
I have to admit that as soon as those words left my mouth I started to panic at
the sudden realisation that he might actually say no & so in that split second
I was desperately trying to think of all the reasons I could think of to convince him that
it really was the best choice to make and would bring him the most happiness in
life…. But I needn’t have worried cause he just replied with a bit of a puzzled
look on his face & matter of fact “of course I do!”
And
in fact that excitement stayed with him all along...The night before his baptism when he was getting changed after
his shower he was putting on a pair of red undies from the new 10 pack I'd bought him (cause it had 2 pairs of white undies in it) when he all of a sudden burst
out “White undies here I come! This is gonna be one of my best days ever!” lol
….it was so awesome & heart warming as a Mumma to see him so excited & happy to follow in the Saviour's footsteps to be baptised. And even
though it was his birthday on the same day, his total focus was just on his baptism. I
don’t think I ever heard him talk about his party that afternoon or what presents he
might get!
So after sharing those experiences in my talk this is the rest of what I spoke about....
"Mac
this is the first big important step you’re taking on your journey back to
Heavenly Father & the first covenant or special promise that you are making with him.
Now
you know the story of Goldilocks & the 3 bears but I want to tell you about
the 3 bears of Baptism.
The
first promise or the first BEAR is that we promise that we are willing to bear,
or be known by his name and we will be His children and belong to Him. ….Just the
same as you bear your Dad’s name Stanley, and you belong to him. ….When we bear
Jesus’ name we’re called Christians or Latter Day Saints. And that will be you
from today onwards.
The second BEAR of baptism is to bear testimony, to
offer or to bear witness that we know Jesus is the Son of God. That we know He
is our Savior and we know His gospel is true. This is one way we show our love
for Jesus and our Heavenly Father.
Our third BEAR of baptism is that we promise to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light. That means we help each other with the work that needs to be done and also we help others when they have trouble and sorrow so they won’t suffer alone. This is one way we can follow the Savior’s commandment to love one another, the same way He loves us.
These
are the promises that we make & in return Heavenly Father promises that He
will pour out His spirit upon us, I can think of nothing better than to always
have his spirit with us.
Mac
sweetheart, you look so handsome sitting there all in white today & I just
want to say again how much Dad, Spencer & I & your whole family love
you & what a strength & example you are to me. You’ve been through a
lot in your 1st 8 years & yet your faith is strong & you never
question Heavenly Father even when things don’t turn out exactly the way you’d
prayed for. I’m eternally grateful I get to be your Mum & I say these
things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
This was the rest of the program...
So special that my little boy got to be baptised & confirmed
by Grandie (his 2nd main man - Grandie always asks him "whose your main man?"
& Mac says Dad & then he asks "whose your 2nd main man??!!" to which Mac has to say Grandie lol) xxx
The service was short & sweet & then afterwards Mac handed out CTR cookies to everyone as they were leaving (the Jesus picture next to Spencer was one that Mac had made at faith in God a couple of days before)
The 3 amigos xxx
This was Bishop Stone's last day as our Bishop. The next day he was released & Bishop Hall was called
This was also the last day of Uncle Don's beard as the next day he got called as 2nd cousellor lol. He did such an awesome job of conducting since Uncle Jo couldn't be there.
Love my studmuffins & am so happy that my big Mac has taken the 1st important step on his journey home to Heavenly Father. Mum & Dad are so super proud of you our precious boy. Love you forever xxxx
