Blythe is Baptized

There are wonderfully sweet moments in life that you hold in your heart forever.  Today, we had one of those moments.  Blythe was baptized today, and it was richly sweet, like chocolate raspberry cheesecake, but not in your mouth, in your heart.  Blythe has been unsure about whether or not she should be baptized, and over the last year we've had many discussions about the importance of baptism.  We've prayed with her and read scriptures and talked about why we should be baptized.  She's talked to Mikayla and her Primary teachers and really made it a matter of thoughtful reflection.  I worried that she didn't want to be baptized because sometimes she likes to be contrary.  But I came to see that she just really wanted an answer about whether or not it was the right thing to do.  She needed her own testimony.

Today Blythe took the step, chose the right, and was baptized.  The whole experience, beginning to end, couldn't have been better.  Blythe was so excited to be the center of attention and to have so many people there to celebrate with her.  She was the only child in our ward being baptized this month, so we got to do the whole program.  I gave the talk on baptism, Grandma Sue gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, Monica and Mikayla did the music, Grandma Dawn and Grandpa George prayed, and Kent did the baptism and confirmation (of course!).  In the middle of the service, we had all the children get up and sing "I Know That My Savior Loves Me," and while we did have a good sized group of a dozen or more children, really only Blythe, Makenna, and Abbie Drake actually sang.  The music brought the spirit, however, as it always does.

Blythe was happy about being baptized.  The water was warm, she didn't need to be dunked a second time, and she said she felt very peaceful when it was all done.  Per Brandt's instruction, she shook everyone's hand after the confirmation, and generally looked fairly pleased with herself.  I was certainly pleased.  In fact, as I looked at her and everyone in the room, I was overcome with gratitude and joy, real joy in the goodness of our girl.  We have rough spots, especially between her and I, but Blythe is wonderful and strong.  Kent said in the blessing after the confirmation that Blythe was born at the right time.  She is strong and will be an example for good as she grows.  He promised her that the Holy Ghost will whisper peace to her heart and direction throughout her life.  He blessed her with a happy life and said she is an ancient spirit who teaches us much and can do much good.  These are such powerful expressions of Blythe's potential, and evidence of Kent's fierce love for her.  We are so blessed to have her in our home.

Joining us to share in the happy moment were Grandma Sue, Eugene and Sharae and their crew, Christopher and Tysen and their kids, Bryan and Missy and their three, though they left early and didn't join us for lunch, Guy and Mikayla and Brick and Cora, Grandpa George, who fortunately happened to be in Utah this weekend and was able to come (Yeah!!!), Craig and Monica and Monica's mom Mary, Lee, Cammie, and Aaron, Grandma Dawn and Papa Scott with McKenna and Grayson and cousins Gracie and Cameron who were also visiting when Brandt was baptized, and Alisa and Myles.  From our ward we had our faithful home teacher Dan Passmore, RoseMary and Dennis Lindberg and their granddaughter Annika, Gregg, Linda, and Taylor Pugmire, Blythe's Primary teachers Mary Atkinson and Melany Wilkins and her classmate Bryce Moreland, Mike, McKenzie, and Abbie Drake (Mike conducted), and Charleen Doman the Primary president.

After the service we returned to our house for lunch.  We had sandwiches, fruit, salads, seven layer dip, 8 shaped sugar cookies and popcorn for dessert, and cherry 7-Up to drink.  It was a beautiful day so we were outside and inside and sat around and talked and ate together.  I really can't think of how the day could have been any better.  As I said, richly sweet and full of joyful rejoicing.  And while I wanted a group shot of everyone who was there, it didn't happen.  Oh well.

And because I spoke, I'm going to include my talk here, on the blog, for posterity.  I will admit that it is very much like the talk I gave at Brandt's baptism because I was running out of time trying to get everything prepared.  

 About a year ago, Blythe said, "I'm not sure if I should be baptized."  This was sort of troubling to me and initially I thought Blythe was just being contrary and trying to get a rise out of us, which sometimes happens.  But it wasn't really that at all.  Blythe is thoughtful and ponders things in her mind, and I came to see that she just really wanted to know what she should do.  She talked to us and others about it and asked Heavenly Father, too.  I am grateful for lots of references to baptism in the Book of Mormon (50) that provided us with opportunities to talk about what Heavenly Father expects of us, and we are so pleased that she decided to be baptized today. 

We've been planning and preparing for this day.  We invited people to come in advance, and asked some family members to participate in the program, I asked Blythe what she wanted to eat at the after baptism party, and yesterday, we cleaned the house, we went shopping for a new dress, and we bought groceries.  But preparation for baptism really starts well before.  Kent and I have been trying to teach Blythe about the covenant she's going to make today, and we have been encouraging her to choose the right all through her life.  We've taken her to church, taught her to pray, counseled her to behave kindly towards others, and to take care of her body.  

But today it is you, Blythe, who is making the covenant and who will now be responsible for your own choices.  At our house, being the boss carries a lot of weight, and we have lots of bosses--three mainly.  Poor Kent gets bossed around by the rest of us.  But today Blythe largely becomes the boss of herself because she's the one making the promise to Heavenly Father, and making that sort of commitment is a serious matter.

So what are we promising when are get baptized?  We promise three things, and we hear about these three things each week when we take the sacrament.  You promise to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ, to keep His commandments, and to serve Him to the end of your life. 

What do these three things mean?  When you promise to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ, you see yourself as His.  Our names represent where we come from.  When someone asks what Blythe means and you tell them it means happy and cheerful, they're going to expect you to be happy and cheerful. And if you tell them your last name is Barrus, if they know me and Kent or other Barri, that tells them something about you.  They know where you came from.  When we take the name of Christ, that lets others know what we believe, and how we should act.  We put Jesus and his work first in our lives, we try to do what he wants rather than what others might want us to do or even what we might want to do ourselves. 

This helps us keep his commandments, the second thing we promise to do.  We work hard to remember Jesus and his example and do what he did.  We promise to keep our thoughts and actions pure.  We participate in activities that are uplifting and bring the spirit into our lives.  We choose good friends and we treat others kindly, even if they aren’t kind to us.  We go to church and we serve and avoid things that are harmful to our bodies.  We pray and read our scriptures and do everything Heavenly Father has asked us to do. 

The last thing we promise to do is to serve the Lord.  How do we do that?  We serve others.  We bear one another’s burdens which means we help them out.  We mourn with those that mourn, which means when someone is sad, we feel sad with them and we do our best to comfort them.  We show Heavenly Father our willingness to serve Him as we serve his children. 

Baptism isn’t just about what we promise to do.  Heavenly Father promises us some things too.  When you are baptized, your sins are all washed away.  Blythe, I know you haven't done anything that's really, really bad and the sins getting washed away today aren't huge.  I was baptized when I was eight and I felt clean and pure and perfect, and I was, for a short time.  Then I did things that weren’t right, we all do, and I wasn't clean anymore.  Was that it for me?  No.  When we repent and promise to do better, each time we take the sacrament it's like being baptized again.  We renew, or promise again, to keep Heavenly Father’s commandments and then we're washed clean again.  And we get to keep doing that every week.  

Heavenly Father has also promised us the gift of the Holy Ghost, but Grandma Sue is going to talk about that, so I'm not going to say anything more about that.

I know that being baptized is the right thing to do.  I know this is Christ's church.  I know Heavenly Father and Jesus know us and love us and are pleased with the decision Blythe has made.  I want to be obedient and do good things, and I'm grateful that we can repent when we mess up because I mess up all the time.  I know the Church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.