Austin’s Baptism Smiles

It seems like a long time since I visited Blogland but it has only been since last Tuesday (technically 12:00 a.m. Wednesday…. but I finished the challenge at 11:59 Tuesday so I’m say’n Tuesday) when I finished the A to Z Challenge.

It has been my custom to blog once a week but since I realized from doing the challenge that I could blog more often …. maybe I will.

Today I am in a rush …(What else is new???) because my family will be here for lunch any minute now…. But I must share with you our joy this weekend of attending our grandson Austin’s Baptism.

If you have been reading my blog for very long you know that in our LDS (Mormon) faith, children are baptized and confirmed a member of our church at age 8. This is a really big event in our Mormon culture. We have traveled 1,000s of miles to attend other grandchildren’s baptism but luckily this time we only had to drive a few miles to our Austin’s home.

We got to the church early so there would be plenty of time to give hugs and take pictures.

Claire had time to practice playing the piano. She was the accompanist for the closing song. This was the first time that she has accompanied a congregational hymn so both Mindy and I had to take a picture to document the occasion.  She and Mindy also did a beautiful musical number. Claire sang and Mindy played her flute. I could not get a picture of that because it was during the service…they did a beautiful job.

Before long it was time to start the service. Like all of my children and other grandchildren, Austin was baptized by his father who holds the priesthood and authority to do so.  It is a blessing that all the men in our family are worthy priesthood holders and can baptize and bless the members of their families and others. To learn more about our beliefs go to mormon.org

We baptize by immersion the way that Jesus showed us by example. I could not take a picture of the actual baptism and interrupt the spirit of that sacred ordinance but this picture was taken before they went into the water.

Before the service I gave Austin this CTR tie tack to wear. CTR stands for Choose The Right. I hope that Austin will always remember the baptism covenant that he made and (as one of our hymns says)always try to choose the right when a choice is put before him.

Afterwards we took time for a few more pictures and then we went out to a nice lunch together.

Austin got to choose the place… and he chose Japanese food. He takes after the rest of the family. We all love Japanese food.

Today during our Sacrament Meeting,  Austin was confirmed a member of the church. We are so happy for this sweet little boy. My heart is smiling. I am so glad that we could be apart of this special event in his life.

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The family came and we just finished lunch. I am leaving to go spend a few days with my dear friend Sil to celebrate her birthday.

She dropped everything when she heard about our accident and flew to Utah and stayed by my side for 9 days. We have been best friends for 57 years. She is the sister that I never had. She has been having some health problems. I am happy that I can go and do something nice for her now. 

I will be away from the computer for a few days but I will be back soon to catch up on reading your blogs. Have a great week.

Hugs, Grammy Lura