Nola’s Baptism

No matter where we have lived in the world, our families always have made the effort to be with us for baptisms. We were so lucky to have Matt’s mom, Sheri, and Aunt Cyndi arrive just days after we returned from Italy.

Baptism is such a special ordinance for us. Our beliefs about baptism can be found here. Nola was excited and nervous. Because it was over Easter holidays, many local friends and teachers were out of town or unavailable to come, so it was just our immediate family there, plus family in the states that joined us over zoom.

Nola wore the dress that my mom had made for me for my baptism day back in 1987. The same one that Emme wore for her baptism in 2015. Did I get a picture of that? Nope. It had been so cold and rainy that I made Nola promise me that when the weather is right, we will go out and take an amazing picture in her dress.

I will never forget meeting Nola back in the changing room after she was baptized. I hugged her in her warm towel and held her face. She was beaming and said, “Mom, I am just so happy!”

At such a young age, I often wonder how a child can truly understand the covenant of baptism. I’ve learned that we cannot understand it all then but that isn’t a qualifier at all. The blessings from making a covenant with God to be a disciple of Christ, to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, to keep the commandments, is truly such an added strength and blessing to life. We don’t understand it all, but we need those blessings as we learn and grow. I am happy for her to have that added gift to her life and to keep learning with her.

My parents gave her her very own set of scriptures with her name engraved on them. She was so happy!

It was a perfect day.