Monday, September 30, 2013

Preparing for Baptism & Acting Like a Seven-Year-Old


Did you have a beautiful, absolutely wonderful weekend, like we did?

I hope so!

We headed up to Palmyra to attend the temple and see some sites.

And because it was so late in the day when we went to the church historical sites, we had the place pretty much all to ourselves.


First we hit the Hill Cumorah, and my kids, of course, had it in their heads to climb up the front of the hill and roll back down.  Crazy kids.  I thought, I'll just take the path, but I realized I'd never catch them, so I ended up following them up the very steep face of the hill...in my dress shoes and Sunday clothes.  We all have sore calves this morning, but it was a fun memory.


Scarlett was actually going to try to scoot down on her bottom, but I put a stop to that.  Instead, she posed for me holding this picture of Jesus that we picked up at the Visitor's Center.


My ulterior motive in visiting the sites was to try to get a nice photo of Guy to use in his baptism invitation.  I think the kids were a little too nutty at this point to get the ideal shot, but they had an amazing time and bonded over it, I think.  They said it was an awesome trip and can we do it again next month?!!


At one point, the kids were tossing handfuls of gravel up in the air that was covering a path outside of the Sacred Grove (sigh) and after repeatedly telling them to stop, Steve finally said, "Guy, I need you to act your age!"  At which point, Guy immediately started running wildly after his sisters.

I just laughed and said, "Well, he's acting his age all right...He's acting like a seven year-old, who is about to turn eight!"


I've been thinking a lot lately about Guy getting baptized and what that means for him.  I have thought about something a friend of mine said on the day that her daughter was to be baptized.  She said, "I'm afraid that she's too young to take on such big promises."  At the time, I thought, of course she's old enough for these covenants, and I was sure she was prepared.  But now that it's Guy's turn,  I considered her comment anew.

Guy has been taught and instructed in the gospel from the day that he entered this life.  He has been well-prepared.  He has been taught how to work, how to serve others and the Lord.  He has had his own personal experiences with following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  He has prayed.  He has read The Book of Mormon.  He has a testimony of his own.
  

In fact, he shared that testimony in Sacrament meeting yesterday.  He went up to the stand while one of the missionaries was bearing his testimony.  It was funny because instead of sitting in one of the empty seats to wait his turn, Guy stood directly behind the Elder at the pulpit.  :)


When it was Guy's turn to speak, he said, "I'd like to bear my testimony that I know Heavenly Father and Jesus are real.  I know that because when I think about Jesus, I feel the Holy Ghost.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true, because when I read it, I also feel the Holy Ghost.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

What pure, simple, and powerful words, from a pure, smart, and sincere boy.

As I watched him up there, bearing his own personal testimony, I saw a future missionary and a boy who is indeed ready to be baptized and to make and keep covenants with the Lord.

Can an 8 year-old be ready to take on these life-long commitments?  I have a testimony that they can, and they can do so joyfully and knowingly, and of their own free will and choice.


I loved all of the advice given about preparing our children and ourselves to make and keep covenants (and to prepare for and understand baptismal covenants) in the Relief Society General Broadcast this weekend.  

If you haven't listened to it, you absolutely must!  And you can do it right here.  

I plan on listening to it again and making myself a checklist from their talks of things we can do to prepare our children for baptism and to make temple covenants.  


Ok, now I really must run.  I need to play with my babies, do a mountain of laundry, and think of a way to thank Killian for saving Autumn's Mousie from the lost & found!


But first, you'll never guess who started standing outside of the Sacred Grove....THIS GIRL!


18 comments:

  1. Great pics of Guy! ps..i have an old snoopy ..beat up ....but maybe killian will like him?

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  2. I so want to take my kids there someday! If we ever do we'll have to meet up. :)

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    1. IF you ever do???? You MUST!!! It is a special place for sure!! ;) lets meet at the pageant next year!!

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    2. Although its better when its not crowded!

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  3. Wow. I've never seen such green in my life! Sob sob. The desert is wearing on me a little I guess. I hope to come see that area someday. Those pictures of Guy are so cute! Gotta love the toothless grins at that age.
    How in the world has Guy already read the Book of Mormon at age 7?!!!! I thought I was doing good to have my kids read 1-2 verses a day at family scripture study! How wonderful that's he's reading from the scriptures and bearing his testimony so well.

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    1. You need to.come out here!! Well a kid doesnt need to have read it in full to know its true right! Youre doing great. ...Guys cousin Zach also read it They are just big readers I guess!

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    2. You know, I'm seriously interested in how you've gotten him to read the Book of Mormon already. I've never known a kid who could read such a difficult and long book at that age. What's the secret? Did you write about that anywhere previously and I missed it? That's really amazing. I really ought to get my girls going on reading it.
      Just today my 7 year old got in a little trouble for handling the baby too roughly. She ran off to her room to cry and later when she came out she was holding her Book of Mormon. She said she had been thinking about what she did and she tried to read her Book of Mormon a little, but she mostly just held it tight.
      How cute is that? I was blown away that she would make the connection to go to the scriptures when she was having a hard time. Kids are just amazing.

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    3. That is such an awesome and sweet story. I didn't "get" him to read it. He read it on his own. He saw his cousin Zachery reading it and knew Zach wanted to finish before he got baptized. So Guy did it too about a year ago. But we also just read together every day as well. So as a family we've also read it almost twice now.

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    4. I guess some kids just have that desire and drive in them. And Guy is a super good reader for his age. I don't expect that all my kids will do that by any means. This was all Guy's doing.

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  4. Aw, tears in my eyes! He is such a handsome little man - all your kids are just gorgeous. And every time you post pics, it makes me want to move to PA. My husband and I talk about it all the time. ;) Thanks for posting about this topic. It just hit me the other day that my boys will be 7 soon, which means I only have one short year to really make sure they are ready for baptism. Yikes! Where does the time go? I missed RS Conf this year, but from all that I've heard, I REALLY missed out! I need to make sure I catch up!

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    1. Thank you so much, Jen! Hey, mi casa is your house...come visit!!!

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    2. oh, and I'm sure you are doing great!

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  5. what a precious time you are having with your children...

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  6. I am literally laughing out loud imagining your little guy standing right behind the pulpit awaiting his turn! I can picture it so clearly! I'll never forget the time my oldest son (5 then) got up to bear his testimony but instead he said a prayer and sat down. It is a good thing I was in the mother's room because I laughed so hard I was crying!

    I really enjoyed this post. My oldest is 7 (8 next June) and I've been thinking about baptism preparations as well. (Not in the party planning sense, but preparing him rather).

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    1. hahaha...you and I need to meet up. We would have so much to laugh about together, I'm sure. Yeah, I didn't want to laugh because I didn't want him to be self-conscious, but it definitely got a few chuckles. Very cute! I'm like, why don't we all just act that way...like a child...instead, we all have to follow the "rules" of protocol...So very boring and predictable. Children are just so refreshing!

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    2. PS what I neglected to mention in my climbing Hill Cumorah story was that by the time I reached the summit, I was climbing on all fours...in my dress, with a camera around my neck and it was so awkward, because there was this lone elderly missionary guy standing at the top. He look a little incredulously at me. Yeah, I couldn't believe I was doing it either. Oh well!

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