Max's Baptism Day

I don't think this weekend could have been any more perfect.

First of all, my parents came to stay with us.  It has been years since they were brave enough to do this.  They both have trouble sleeping and they get up a lot at night.  Plus my dad has a hard time getting around and sitting in low chairs with his broken shoulder and bummer hip.  It's was a a big sacrifice for them.   But they did it because they knew how excited the kids were. Any inconvenience was completely overpowered by their grandchildrens' joy.

Max and I went on a date Friday afternoon to pick out his new scriptures.  He loves them!  He loves to fit them into the case and pull them out and look at them because they are HIS!  

When Grandma and Grandpa Hinton arrived, they gave him this book.  Each page talks about something that the Holy Ghost does to help us in our lives, and has a cute illustration and a scripture to go along with it.  Max went through the whole book that night and looked up each  scripture.  He loved searching for them in the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.  All of the books belonged to him! 

Then came the big day.  The baptism was at 11:30 am and included five or six other children from our stake.  All the children sit on the front row of the chapel with the person who would baptize them to listen to talks about baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  We sat a few rows back.  The spirit spoke strongly to my heart as I looked at my sweet boy and my husband, all dressed in white, anticipating one of the most important moments of Max's life.  I knew once again that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  I knew that Max was about to become a member of His true church and that his life would be better from this day forward.  I felt incredible gratitude that Jeremy holds the priesthood of God and could be the one to perform the ordinances of baptism and confirmation.  My heart was filled to capacity.  I don't know if I was supposed to, but I snuck a quick picture.  It was such a sweet sight.

The baptism was awesome.  Both sets of grandparents were there, plus Jenny and Michelle and their families, as well as our bishop, primary presidency and Max's two primary teachers. Also his two buddies Tim and Nano came with their mom.  I think he felt honored by all the attention. He was the only child getting baptized this month in our ward, so we had a nice, personal service. 

After Jeremy baptized him, I played some soft hymns on the piano while everyone waited for them to get dressed in dry clothes and come back into the room.  We passed around paper for people to write him a note for his baptism book. 

When they came back in, Max sat in a chair and his dad, grandpas and uncles who hold the priesthood came up and stood in a circle around him and laid their hands on his head.  His dad confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gave him the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Again, the feeling was powerful, yet so sweet.  Max told me later that he felt his heart beating and he loved it.

After the confirmation, Grandpa Fillmore sang a song called "I'm Trying to be like Jesus" with his guitar.  It was perfect.  All the children in the room who were sitting on the front row listened intently to the song.  Once again, I felt God's love envelop the room.  Nothing brings peace like a primary song, sung by someone who loves the Lord.  It was perfect.  Simply perfect.

After the service ended, we came back to our home for lunch.   I wanted to get a picture of everyone, but it was too much of an undertaking gathering everyone.  I did get one of Max with his grandparents, though.  We are so grateful for them.  If our children turn into rightous, God-loving people, much of this will be because of their grandparents.  Nothing can take the place of loving grandparents.  They fill a need that no one else in the world can fill.  We love grandparents!

The day ended with hours of playing with cousins. Jen left her three here while she did a photo shoot in SLC. And Michelle left Corinne, too.  With 65 degree weather, they spent much of the afternoon outside.  They had so much fun together.  We need to do this more often. 

What a perfect day for an incredible child.  I'm always amazed at how much the Lord blesses His children when they follow His commandments.  I know He was very pleased with Max's decision to be baptized.