I remember a Sunday, about eight years ago, when I sang the primary song, "I hope they call me on a mission," to my newborn baby son as I sponge bathed him and then dressed him in his tiny little white satin tuxedo for his special blessing day, his first ordinance, thinking about the all the special milestones and ordinances that my little babe, with his thick, dark hair and full pink lips and floppy ears would someday experience. And then I blinked and that little babe was putting on his own white button-down shirt under his black pressed suit on his special baptism day, just as sweet and smiling and pure as he was on that Sunday eight years earlier.
Hank was ready to be baptized. No nerves, no reservations, no questions. In the past few months, we've attended several baptisms of friends and family members, so Hank was familiar with the process. Hank and I read articles from the Friend magazine each night before bed in the weeks preceding his baptism to help him understand the covenants that he would be making. He was interviewed by the bishop to determine his worthiness to be baptized and he met with the primary president to discuss some of the practicalities and logistics. We held a special Family Home Evening on the Monday night before his special day to talk about Hank's accountability for his sins after his baptism and the role of the Atonement as he continues to make mistakes in life, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and did a dry run of the actual immersion process. On the morning of Hank's baptism, he and I read a special book together and shared our testimonies. When the time finally came to change into his white jumpsuit and enter the waters in the font, Hank was sure.
As Hank begins to prepare now for his next special day four years from now (when he will receive the priesthood), I hope that Hank will always remember his baptism and the feelings he felt on his special day. I hope Hank will remember all of the family members that gathered with him around the font to support him in his decision to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, especially the faces of his four little brothers who peered over the edge of the font, with admiration and adoration, as their big brother set a righteous example for them to follow. I hope he remembers the testimony shared by his Nana Grover that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers and the counsel given by his Papa Z to be a follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I hope that Hank remembers that, through the Atonement, he can always feel as pure and clean as he felt when he came up out of the water. I hope Hank will always have the same confidence and firm knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel as he felt when he shared his own testimony after his baptism and at church the following day. I hope Hank will always know that he is loved immeasurably and unconditionally by his earthly parents and by his Heavenly parents.
I am brimming with pride in the incredible young man that my little babe is growing into and I'm so blessed to have nurtured and guided him through his journey from blessing to baptism. Well done, my son.
