WSB

(Baptized in June 2008 in Utah, USA)

WSB II wanted to be baptized on his birthday. He also wanted to be baptized in Lake Mary, in Brighton, Utah, which was named by his namesake. It's an alpine lake, but with a birthday in June, we thought it should be doable.

So we gathered the family and made the hike.

Lake Mary 6/15/08.
The ice on the lake was two feet thick, and this little bit at the edge was the only unfrozen part

W contemplates

Opening remarks from dad

Dad and Uncle J make plans--Dad will climb in and J will lift W out to him to reduce W's time in the freezing water.

W is too cold

We remind him that Jesus was baptized outside in a river.
Alma and Joseph Smith were baptized outside.
We tell him this is the coolest baptism ever.
Mom points out that WSB I was baptized outside in Scotland in February, and that was surely colder than Utah in June!

Second (and third) tries: Dad freezes, W won't go in past his toes
So we go home

The not-freezing alternative: Aunt S's hot tub back home

Little brother looks on
(and tests out the water for himself...hmm, 99 vs 39 degrees)

A freshly baptized (and much happier) W

Baptism can happen anywhere, so long as the right authority is present.

Felipe (in Brazil)

Felipe (baptized August 22, 2004, Sao Paulo, Brazil--from the journal of the sister missionary who taught him)

The baptism was scheduled for right after the church meetings, so we started the font before our meeting in the morning. We checked it before Relief Society (and it was filling fine) and then in the middle of Relief Society we went to turn it off. We arrived in the hallway to find a few people saying “oh my! Look! There’s water in the hall and filling the bathroom! Where are the Sisters?!” Whatever happened to trying to fix the problem, folks?!

We arrived on the scene and started action. Sister B turned off the font (nope, they hadn’t done that) and I got some buckets and squeegees and rags. I started emptying the font with buckets into the bathroom sinks, and Sister B started mopping the floor. Nobody helped us, they just watched and made comments like how dangerous it is to leave the door to the font open because a child could fall in and drown. [Omitted here are a few choice comments about Brazilian culture.] We got frustrated, but we cleaned the bathroom and everything, and the rest of the church meetings went well. Then Felipe was baptized, and that is what was most important.

Mom--JRB

(Mom, JRB, baptized July 1989, Bonney Lake, Washington, USA)

I was the oldest child, and we did not live near any extended family, so I had never seen a family members baptism. I knew that getting baptized was the right thing to do, but I was nervous about it because I knew it was a big commitment and responsibility. I was a little bit scared. Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to get baptized--they all just assumed that I would. I DID want to, but I remember being very upset that nobody ASKED.
The bishop had to interview me first to make sure that I was worthy and ready to be baptized. Our ward had a softball team, and the bishop was on his way to a game when he stopped by our house to interview me. I didn't know he was coming--I guess my parents arranged the interview. The bishop was in his softball uniform! He said he had never done an interview in his softball uniform before! He went with me into my daddy's den and he sat on the desk and I sat on the office chair and he asked me some questions and I answered them, and then he filled out a little piece of paper and said I could get baptized.
A few days before my baptism, I climbed up to the high platform of our playground--it was about 20 feet up and I was always a little bit scared up there, but I wanted some privacy. My dad came up there after me and we talked for a while about baptism. He told me that I would be the very first person he baptized (he never actually performed a baptism on his mission). He was really excited about it. He told me about his baptism and how it was really big and impersonal, and that he was glad that mine would not be like that.
I remember that I really wanted Grandma and Grandpa M to come, and they were planning on doing so, but then just a week or so before my baptism Grandpa had some kind of surgery, and was not able to sit in a car for the 6-hour drive to come. I was really sad about that.
My mom was in the Young Womens program, and she was helping her girls work on their personal progress goals. One project they worked on was helping a child prepare for baptism by creating a story for them--mom made a little book for me about a little girl who wanted to be a bunch of different animals--a fish to breathe under the water, an elephant so the confirming hands wouldn't be too heavy, and so on. I don't remember all of the story, but I do remember my mothers very cute drawings.
I was baptized on August 5, 1989. I was baptized with one other person--a boy named Trevor. We each picked one song, one person to pray, and one person to give a talk. I chose "Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice" which was my favorite hymn at the time. I asked my dad to give a talk about the Holy Ghost, and I remember that he told everyone that he was there to talk to me and Trevor, and that everyone else could listen if they wanted but really he was just talking to us two. I don't know who the person was that Trevor chose to speak about baptism, but I thought she was really boring.
Trevor was baptized first. When he was done, I walked down the steps into the water. It was warm, like a bathtub, and it felt really weird to be in warm water with clothes on. My dad tucked my long braid inside my shirt so that it would not float up in the water, and he put his foot over my toes so that they would not float up when he dunked me. When I was under the water, it felt like a really really long time. I know it was only a couple of seconds, but when I came back up the first thing I thought was just that I was really glad to be out! I was also glad to be done because I didn't have to be nervous anymore.
My mom had made me a pretty dress with white eyelet and little pink flowers to wear after my baptism. I had picked out the pattern and the fabrics. I remember mom helping me get my clothes changed and that my long curly hair was all tangled up from being wet and it was really hard to try to comb it out to put the bow in. I thought everybody must have been waiting a really long time for me to come back out.
Trevor was confirmed first as well, then it was my turn. Some of the men from his circle stayed to be in my circle too (men from the ward). One guy I did not know started to go back to his chair, but then dad invited him to come back up. He was one of Trevor's uncles, and my dad knew him and I guess he thought I knew him too, but I didn't, and I felt very weird about him being in the circle. Now when I try to remember who was in the circle, the only people I remember are my dad and that guy I didn't know!
The confirmation blessing is a special chance for God to give you messages about what you should do or how you should live. I remember one line from my blessing--it stood out to me at the time and I have never forgotten it: "Remember that self control is very important." So I have always tried to follow that.
On the way home we all stopped and got ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I had never been there and thought it was so neat that they had so many flavors. I got berry cheesecake, which is still one of my favorite flavors.

Scottish Converts

(verbatim from Grandpa TBB, concerning his mission in Scotland 1961-63)

When I was a young missionary in Scotland his first area was a small rural coal mining village. Our small branch met in a rented public hall. There were not places to baptize anyone very close. We had to rent a public swimming pool for late Saturday afternoons and drive 50 miles. Unfortunately most of the people being baptized could not swim and were terrified of water. Consequently they were nervous even standing in waist deep water. One woman I baptized had to be immersed in the water 6 times to get all of her, including her hair, under water. She was not too happy.