We had the most enjoyable day celebrating Lydia's choice to be baptized. She has been anxiously waiting to be baptized for over a year. Last Thursday she had her baptism interview with Mark after her first official night of Youth Activities. All went well and she got the go ahead to be baptized. She was more than ready.
Lydia really wanted to invite some teachers from her school to her baptism which was great so in December when all the card companies were having huge sales on cards I made up a fun invitation. She invited 4 teachers at her school and 2 of them came which was really nice. She was really happy to see them. I tried hard to find the right balance between making it a special day and keeping the day about the ordinance itself not a party. We were really happy with how it turned out. Lydia and I had a fun photoshoot in December and she, Mark and I planned her program. She chose songs, people to say the prayers, who would give what talks and what else she wanted at her baptism. I made up a program using the same color scheme from the invitation and used those colors for the very minimal "decorations" in the cultural hall where we gathered for light refreshments. For refreshments we had fresh fruit, muffins and donuts stacked to make 8's.
Display in Relief Society Room. The Skittles were for the Baptism song that talks about rainbows (the lyrics were in the frame next to it) and the Kit Kats were a reminder of the Baptismal covenant.
Sue did an excellent job with the donuts! It's harder than it looks!
Cultural Hall. We added fresh strawberries and honeydew melon next to the oranges and water and Capri Suns next to the muffins. We did not have nearly enough drinks but we tried. We originally planned on pineapple, (not honeydew) Lydia's favorite fruit but we could not find ones that would ripen in time. I asked multiple friends if they had white cake stands I could borrow and really liked how they looked. It was fun to have a "vision" in my mind and see it set up. Friday night I baked double batches of applesauce muffins and banana chocolate chip muffins and the rest were from Costco. Friday night Mark and I went over to the church to set up the Relief Society room and cultural hall and were disappointed to see the cultural hall set up and people playing volleyball. I think its awesome some youth got together to play but was so irritated they were there that Friday. Oh well. We unloaded all our stuff in the clerks office and were able to set up the Relief Society room which helped make this morning much easier. Mark and I set up 55 chairs and more had to be added as people arrived. It was incredible the amount of people who came to Lydia's baptism. I bought 60 plates and there was not a single one left so at least 60 people came and ate. Mark tried to count people in the picture we made everyone take and got to 70! We felt so loved. We are so thankful for the supportive thoughtful community we have been blessed with here in Charlottesville.
While Mark and I set up the tables Sue and my Mom cut up fruit and stacked the donuts for us. They helped out so much! It was so nice of them and took a lot of pressure off me. I had asked our friend Julie if she wouldn't mind meeting us at the church a little early and taking pictures of us so we did that after finishing the set up. At Jared's baptism I had asked my sister Susanna to be our designated photographer and it helped so much. I was so grateful Julie helped us out. She is so generous and helpful.
Lydia and Marmee (Sheri Fieth)
Lydia and Grandma Sue (Sue Spencer)
We feel so blessed that my mom and Mark's mom were able to be here for the baptism and it has been so great to have them here. They both gave talks and did perfect jobs. My mom talked about Baptism and Sue talked about the Holy Ghost. Lydia asked them both via Marco Polos and gave them specific instructions. She told my Mom to please have good stories and keep it to 5 minutes! She told Mark's Mom to use lots of visual aids and they both did. My Mom started by talking about her baptism. After she was baptized she was talking to her Mom and said she wished she could do it again. Lydia felt the same way. Sue had plenty of visual aids as requested and did a great job teaching about the Holy Ghost. Jared read 2 Nephi 31: 20. He gave a great intro and later said that he was really happy he could be involved in the baptism. He said it was the 2nd best baptism he has attended. His own being the best. We also sang "I Am A Child of God" as a family which was nice. "I Am A Child of God" has long been Lydia's favorite song but for over a year now Mark has been singing it to her in Portuguese before bed when he is home so he and Lydia sang the first verse together in Portuguese then the 6 of us sang the 2nd verse and had the congregation join in on the third. It was really nice. Jared and I were able to serve as the witnesses for Lydia's baptism which was a special moment too. There were so many moments like that.
Lydia said her favorite part was receiving the Holy Ghost. She commented that often she feels these prayers are a little long but she felt so peaceful when their hands were laid upon her head that she didn't mind it at all. Some things Mark blessed her with included: Knowing she was a beloved and cherished daughter of God. To follow Jesus Christ. To know she is loved and to be a light to all around her. And that her goodness and positive attitude will lift and strengthen others. He also encouraged her to remember this day.
Sister Shelton, the wonderful Primary President said and few words and gave Lydia a bag full of reminders which she loved. She talked about how sweet and happy Lydia was. She also got a cool object lesson from the Campbell's which was so nice. They had a letter with a 5 dollar bill in it and gave instructions for what she needed to do with the money before she spent it. She was told to crumple it up, step on it, rub dirt in it and call it mean names. Then we smoothed it out and had her find the State Treasury seal which said what the note was worth, 5 dollars. The idea was to relate this to herself and understand that she is of great value. It was a fun lesson I had not seen before. When she read that she was supposed to say something mean to the money she did not want to do it! She said, "why? the money didn't do anything to me." She is a sweet girl.
It was such a lovely service. All that we hoped it would be. We are excited for Lydia and hope she remembers this day well and always has the desire to "stay in the boat!" and "go and do!"
It was nice to visit with people after and realize how blessed we are to have such great people in our lives. We are so thankful for all the love and support they give our family!
Ellsworths, Everetts, Charles, Allens, Talbots, Karl Miller, Ms Borman, Ms Shafran, Hendricks, Farnsworths, Sheltons, Shaws, Mikkelsens, Duecks, Campbells, Strubles, Kwons, Dunns and Allmans.
Extra story: Friday night we had Mark practice baptizing Lydia in the living room which proved useful. As I was helping her change she commented to me that maybe Mark kept her in the water a little too long.
Some favorite photos from our photo shoot:
