Emily's Baptism

Emily's baptism was something that we had been really looking forward to. It turned out to be a wonderful day and a wonderful memory for us.

Chris and I were up late the night before the baptism finishing up all the preparations. Earlier in the day, I picked up Chris' white pants from the fabric market. Luckily, they fit and looked nice. That was somewhat of a gamble waiting until the last minute to make sure Chris had something to wear for the baptism. It turned out fine.... thank heavens.

Friday I baked up a storm so we could all have something to eat afterwards. There were blueberry muffins, lemon muffins, banana bread, danishes, a huge tropical fruit salad and my friend Sung Hee made a quiche. Chris and I stayed up until 12:00am making this stuff and then got up at 5:00 to finish up getting things ready.

The smith family (the only other family in the branch that lives by us) offered their home and their pool because the pool in our compound isn't up and running yet. We headed over there to their house at about 8:30 to help set up chairs and snap a few pictures before the baptism. Emily was just beaming and looked like a little angel.

At 9:00 all the guests arrived. We had invited a couple of families that aren't members of our church to come and it was so good to have them there. About 6 families from our branch came and once everyone got situated, we got started. The branch president welcomed everyone and after the song and prayer, Chris gave a talk on baptism. When he was done we walked over to the clubhouse and downstairs to the indoor pool. The good thing about a pool is that everyone gets a front row seat. Despite it being a pool, there was such a wonderful feeling in the room. The baptism was so sweet. I was there waiting with a towel right after and got a big hug from my soaking wet little angel. Emily and I went into the locker room and got her all dry and dressed. My friend Sung Hee was also there to hold all the stuff and help get Emily ready. Once she was dressed we headed back over to house.

While Emily was getting dressed, everyone watched part of the movie, "Finding Faith in Christ."
When we got back, we continued with the meeting. Sung Hee Smith gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost in which she talked about her own conversion story. After her talk, Chris and a few brothers from the branch confirmed Emily. The Primary President and the branch president both said a few words and then the meeting ended with a song and a prayer. It was a simple yet powerful experience.

It reminded me of the first Sunday I spent in China at 19 years old. I was there with a group of about 25 other teachers teaching English. We met for church at our group leader's home. Because we didn't have sacrement trays, we just brought our own cup and the men blessed a pitcher of water. We took the sacrement bread off a plate and the sacrement water was poured into our cups. I remember feeling something so special that day as I partook of the sacrament. We didn't have the "normal" church conviences i.e. sacrement trays and a chappel but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that we had the priesthood power to perform the ordinance. Likewise with Emily's baptism. It didn't matter that we didn't have a nice church to meet in or a baptismal font in which to do the baptism. All that was nessesary was, having the water, a faithful and willing person, and those who held the priesthood.

After the meeting was over, everyone stayed and enjoyed some food. Our nonmember friends all commented on how much they enjoyed the baptism. They felt it was something special and they were glad to have been there. My friend Patricia from Brazil said that she has been to baptisms before where there is a lot of pomp and ceremony. She said that it was easier for her to feel the spirit during Emily's baptism because it was so pure and simple. It made me think of the scripture, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." The only way to describe the feeling of that day is pure joy. The smile on Emily's face is a picture set in my memory forever. The only thing that could have made the day any better would have been to have our family and friends from home there. The wonderful thing about the church though, is that no matter where you go, you have an instant ward or branch family willing to help and support you. It is something very unique and special about our church.

I am so grateful Emily made the decision to be baptized. Watching Chris baptize her was a precious sight. I will never forget it.