Sept.
2, 2012
Dear
Sandy,
Happy
Birthday! I’m so excited that you are turning eight years old this year because
that means that you are old enough to choose to be baptized. I’m so happy you
have made that choice.
I remember
when I was baptized. I was baptized on my eight-year-old birthday on a Saturday
night in a little white church across the street from my house in Union, Utah. My
congregation had all the children being baptized sit on small wooden chairs and
talked to us for a while. I don’t remember what they said, but I do remember
what I felt.
I felt
excited and a little scared before I was baptized. When I was baptized, the
water was warm and I felt clean. After I was baptized and put my dry clothes
back on, I walked out of the church into the cold January winter air. I
remember looking up and seeing lacy white flakes of snow falling all around me.
Even though it was cold outside, I felt warm inside. I knew God loved me and
was pleased I wanted to come home to heaven someday.
I also knew
that Jesus was my best friend and that if I tried to live like Him that I would
be happy. When I was your age, they waited until Sunday to confirm me at church
and give me the gift of the Holy Ghost. I felt protected when the men with the
priesthood made a circle around me and put their hands on my head as my father
confirmed me.
What I didn’t
know was that the man I was going to marry someday was being baptized on the very
same day, January 6th (my birthday) in a little town called Spanish
Fork, Utah. He was a little scared and excited too. Because we both wanted to
be like Jesus, we found each other many years later. We recognized that we had
the same dreams and plans for life.
When he got
back from him mission to Samoa, we got married in the Salt Lake City temple and
made some new special promises to God when we were sealed for time and
eternity. Then pretty soon your daddy was born. Then he grew up and married
your mommy in the temple and then pretty soon, you were born.
Being
baptized was the beginning of everything wonderful in my life. Being baptized is
such a special time because we are able to participate in our first saving
ordinance and make our Heavenly Father our first official promise. You are a
daughter of God, Sandy, and your Heavenly parents love you very much. They want
you to be happy so they have made you a plan of happiness to follow so you can
return to them someday.
Up until now,
you have been a child who is learning, growing and maturing. You don’t have any
sins. Now that you are eight, you are wise enough to know the difference
between right and wrong choices. Heavenly Father knows that all of us make
mistakes and some of our choices are not wise. Because He loves us, He wants us
to know how to change and not be trapped by our mistakes and bad choices. So He
invites us to make a promise to Him and then He makes a promise right back to
us. When we make a special promise to God and He makes one right back to us, it
is called a covenant. Heavenly Father never breaks a promise.
The promise
you make to God is that you will remember Jesus, follow Him and keep His
commandments. Heavenly Father promises you that He will forgive you if you make
a mistake or do something that you know is wrong if you feel sorry and repent.
He also promises you eternal life. He also gives you the gift of the Holy Ghost
to help, guide, warn and comfort you.
When you
choose to be baptized you tell Heavenly Father that:
*You take on the name of
Jesus Christ
*You will serve your
fellowmen
*You will stand as a
witness of God all the time
*You will obey the
commandments of God
God
promises you that:
*You are accepted as a member of Christ’s church
*You can be forgiven of sin if you repent
*You can have the gift of the Holy Ghost
*You can live in the kingdom of God
Everybody
makes mistakes after they are baptized so Heavenly Father gave us the sacrament
every week on Sunday. That is when we remember the covenant we made when we
were baptized. We think about our week and decide how to be better this week.
We think about our Savior Jesus Christ and how He atoned for all our sins,
pains, disappointment and grief. We also think about Christ’s resurrection and
that we can be resurrected too someday.
So
this is such a happy day! I hope you will write about how you feel in the
journal I’m giving you. Never forget that you are a child of God and that you
can inherit the eternal life God has planned for you. And never forget that
your grandma loves you with all her heart.
Love,
Grandma
Baadsgaard.
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