Abby's Baptism

Abby's baptism was a wonderful and important day. She was baptized today, May 2, 2009. I am so happy she has made the decision to enter the kingdom of God on the earth. I now have two children who have made sacred covenants with Heavenly Father to take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ. Baptism is just the beginning. It is the first saving ordinance of the gospel and is necessary in receiving eternal salvation through obedience. All who desire eternal life must be baptized, like the Savior was, by one who possesses authority from God. Abby was baptized by her father, my sweet husband, Rob. She received the gift of the Holy Ghost to be with her always. Baptism doesn't take very long as far as time is concerned but its effects reach through eternity. Abby is a sweet and loving girl. I love her so much. We have a lot of fun together laughing and talking about anything and everything. I am so glad Heavenly Father sent her to me. Abby was baptized on the same day as some of the other children in our ward. The other children were: Alex Huhtala, Isabel and Annika Wood (twins) and Tyra Grant. All the children who were baptized, plus the children who have already been baptized in each of the families
(Hayden LeBaron, Hannah and Hailey Huhtala, Jaren and Hannah Wood, and Dalton Grant) stood on the stand and sang the song "When I am Baptized." I led them and Kathryn LeBaron played the piano.

Amy Huhtala gave the talk on baptism. She mentioned the rain we were receiving today was a perfect object lesson for cleaning the earth and a reminder of baptism. My mom, Pauline Bastian, gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. She talked about what we must do to always have Him with us and shared a couple of her experiences.

When Abby received the Holy Ghost, Rob, Bill Routt, Matt LeBaron, Kim LeBaron, and Brother Martin were in the circle. She looked beautiful all dressed in white. Jessica made her a special necklace for the occasion.

I wrote down the words that Rob said in her confirmation the best I could. These are the things he said after giving her the gift of the Holy Ghost:

"Abby, we love you. Your Heavenly Father loves you. He is happy with the decision you have made to be baptized a member of the Church. Make those decisions in your life that are pleasing to Heavenly Father. I bless you that through prayer, scripture study, and church attendance you will become familiar with the Spirit. Live your life to have Him with you. Look to those around you for guidance, especially your mother. Conduct your life in obedience to righteousness. You are an example to your brothers and your friends. Pray often. Think and ponder the things that you learn. I bless you to have patience to feel the Spirit and understand the importance of repentance in this earthly life. Be the kind of person to live worthy of the blessings of the temple. We love you. We are thankful for you in our family. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

As you can see, the blessing was beautiful and so is she!

After the baptism we gathered at our house for lunch. We ate sandwiches made with rolls, meat and cheese prepared by BYU catering, thanks to Keith's wonderful discount. (Keith works for BYU bakery). I assigned everyone toppings for sandwiches like lettuce, and tomato. Others brought chips, and fruit. I make two Texas sheet cakes and Mike and Debbie provided loads of cookies brought by Kim and Lynne. Mike and Debbie and family were unable to attend due to two of their kids being sick.

Loved ones in attendance were: Pauline Bastian, Allison, Bill, Amanda, Rachel, and Sarah Routt, Cherisse and Annalee Jaeger, Ashlee, Ben and Gavin Mullins, Cherisse Glaus (Cherisse Glaus was there for lunch but forgot about the baptism, oops!) Kim and Lynne LeBaron, Jessica, Annebel, and Shelby Mathews, Matt, Tiffany, Libbie, Kezzie, and Tessa LeBaron, and of course Rob, Hayden, Bastian, Abby, Weston, and me.