In our church, children are baptized at 8. We believe that is the age of accountability...when they are able to discern between wrong and right. It is at that age that they can make covenants with Heavenly Father and decide to join His church. Blurbles took this assignment very seriously. He decided he was not going to be baptized unless he knew that it was the right thing to do. He read the Book of Mormon (not completely, but quite a bit), and then decided to pray about it. He was having a hard time getting an answer (and starting to feel discouraged, until one night, he had "The Big Miracle" (his words). This is what he wrote in his journal:
I was praying to know if I should be a member of the church
and get baptized. But, I was confused
about how to get an answer. I asked my
mom to be with me when I prayed. I was
so excited to know if Heavenly Father wanted me to be a member of the church or
not and know if the Book of Mormon was true.
When my brother’s prayer was done, it was my turn to say my night
prayer. My mom told me to stop and feel
in my prayer. She told me that if you
feel the same, you should keep praying.
If you feel bad, the answer is no.
And, if you feel happy, then the answer is yes. That night, I prayed and said, “Heavenly
Father, thank you for my day, please tell me the if the Book of Mormon is true
and I want to be a member of the church, and is that what I should do?” I waited and felt excited and I felt
joy. I said, “Thank you for answering
me. Amen” Heavenly Father said yes, and
I know that Heavenly Father loves me.
He submitted it to the Friend Magazine and they said it would be published in March 2014...so, keep an eye out for it.
Squeakers and Lil' N both did the same thing...but, James was the one that made it his mission to know God's will in the situation.
The big day was filled with excitement...my dear friend came into town (who I never get to see) and helped me so much to prepare (thank you Amy!) And, both sets of grandparents came into town (and Aunt Tay!):
This is how they described their day:
Squeakers: We walked into church and saw grandma and granddad. I felt so excited. We all liked our baptism and I felt extra happy!
Lil' N: Yesterday, all of my brothers and me had a baptism. While we had the baptism, I felt warm and happy inside. I was glad my siblings came to celebrate because those are my most special siblings. I really try to stay close to my parents because they take really good care of me. I am glad my two brothers and me had a baptism.
Blurbles: Today was our baptism day and it was fun. We got dressed in the men's dressing room. (RANDOM!)
When we came out, I saw Grandma and Granddad were waiting for us. We hugged them and while mom and the kids came in, I got baptized and received the Holy Ghost. I felt great!!
I am proud of the choice my boys made. They shared their thoughts and feeling in church the next day. Lil' N cried as he expressed his happiness at the decision he made. Blurbles said he knew that it was right to be baptized, and Squeakers said that he knew "Jesus loves my heart" and that "I am so happy that my friends could come to see me be baptized". It was all so special and I am so very proud of the little men they are turning into....