A New Year, Turning 8, and a Baptism!

Our Christmas break went by so quickly.  Especially since after we finished Christmas we began to prepare for Eric's eighth birthday and baptism.  Scott was sick for a lot of days right after Christmas.  Eric and Rubie were on the verge of not feeling too well either.  Thank goodness they don't seem to ever get too sick, just enough that I worry and it usually lasts 1-2 days.  What a blessing!  I know that Heavenly Father protects us with our health.  I do appreciate the blessing of good health in myself, Scott, and our children.  By New Year's Eve I was really struggling because I had not been able to do much.  With Scott sick I couldn't very well just leave him with the kids and with sick kids I couldn't take them anywhere or have others over.  I missed my last swimming class of the year and missed 1 or 2 group workouts because of it.  And then Carlee and Nate invited us over New Year's Eve.  I was going to take the kids but that didn't seem right to leave Scott here by himself.  So it made me ornery and on edge and feeling left out.  But by the time Eric's birthday rolled around on Friday everyone was doing much better.  Eric had a pile of presents and I let him open one early with breakfast and had doughnuts for breakfast.  Scott had some early meetings.  That afternoon Scott took Eric, Rubie, and two friends, Brock and Logan Fox to Jump On It for a couple hours and to get a treat.  We were glad that Logan was in town and able to come.  Camden was out of town and Noah and Max were at a Jarvis family reunion.  Eric was feeling bad until I realized we could invite Logan too.  The next day was Eric's baptism.  He was so excited leading up to it.  I'm so proud of him.  A couple weeks ago during sacrament meeting he whispered that he would soon be able to take the sacrament and he was excited about that.

His baptism was at 11:00am on Saturday, January 3, 2015.  It was at the Stake Center, the church building that we attend every Sunday.  He was the only one in our ward getting baptized that day.  His baptism service was well attended by our family and friends that could be there.  On the Jeppson side Grandma and Grandpa Jeppson came, Ben and Cassie and their kids came and Joe and Tai and their kids came.  On the Wilson side Grandma and Grandpa Wilson came (they had flown in Tuesday to be here), Dan and Brandee and their family, Andy and Beth and their boys, and cousin Deedee.  Then the Harrisons, Tulett's, and Jarvis' came.  From the ward Brother Howell conducted (he is the ward mission leader, but also the kids' dentist), the Bishop, Verlena Jackman (pianist), and Canessa Rowley (primary presidency rep) came.  The program went like this: opening song--Teach Me to Walk in the Light.  Opening prayer--Grandpa Jeppson.  Talk on baptism--Grandpa Wilson.  Musical number--I Am A Child of God by the primary children present.  Talk on Holy Ghost--Jennifer Wilson.  Baptism of Eric by Scott Wilson.  Confirmation of Eric by Scott Wilson.  Testimonies offered by Grandma Jeppson, Grandma Wilson, and Eric.  Closing prayer by Dan Wilson.  It was a great baptism service.

Eric had to be baptized twice because Scott didn't say "Amen" at the end of the prayer the first time.  The witnesses to the baptism were Uncles Joe and Dan.  In the priesthood circle to bestow Holy Ghost and confirm Eric a member of the Church were Scott, Grandpa Wilson, Grandpa Jeppson, Uncle Joe, Uncle Dan, Uncle Andy, Nate Tulett, Karl Jarvis, John Harrison, and the Bishop, and Brock and Aimee Charlton.

Somethings that Eric remembers about his baptism:

• that I got dunked under the water, twice
• that afterward I got a bloody nose
• that everyone was complimenting on it--congratulating me
• I received a special blessing after being given the Holy Ghost
• that everybody came over to our house afterwards
• I felt the Spirit and the Holy Ghost, I felt it after I got out of the water and got the blessing
• I felt the Spirit when I shared my testimony, it made me feel great, loved, and like an angel

Everyone came over to our house afterward for lunch and visiting.  I had bought a bunch of food from WinCo and others brought salads and chips.  It was a nice party.  People were so generous with gifts to Eric.  We had people write him notes and took pictures with everyone.

I kept thinking about baptisms from my mission.  Those were amazing experiences.  This was a little different.  I very much wanted Eric to be prepared for his baptism.  I wanted this to be his decision and not just him doing it because he turned 8.  I spent a couple of family home evenings teaching lessons out of Preach My Gospel and he seemed to know the basics of what he needed to in order to get baptized.  We had talks and he seemed to understand what it meant to get baptized.  I'm so proud of him.  I loved hearing him share his testimony.  He stood in front of the group confidently and spoke clearly about his beliefs and feelings.  He has a sensitive and tender heart.  I pray that he will always have good friends to help him make right choices and that he will be the kind of friend that will be strong of character to influence others to make right choices.

He started cub scouts this last week and I am so thrilled to see how excited he is about it.  He has some great leaders in Brother Simmons and Brother Ridgeway.  (Brother Simmons has been Rubie's and then Eric's primary teacher.)  Scott and I are committed to scouting so I hope that always remains a positive in his life.

Scott is still searching for a job.  He has had multiple interviews with multiple companies but has yet to receive an offer.  We are hopeful that one will come soon.  The Lord is blessing us, but I still am unsure of what we are to learn from this time.  Perhaps it is just an opposition thing that we must be required to keep faith and hope through, remain positive.  Perhaps it is simply having the experience that we may be able to draw on this and use it to relate to others in the future.  Perhaps it is to draw us closer as a family.  And perhaps it is help us recognize what is most important to us.  Perhaps it is to help us grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  And actually it is all of that. And there could also be more.  I think Scott has a lot of things that he is learning about himself and what he wants from his employment during this time.  It's hard for me to see how humbled he is and the efforts he is having to go through for interviews.  I'm so grateful that this is happening now and I pray that we don't ever have to experience unemployment again.  I can imagine how much harder this is for older couples.  I am very grateful for small things that the Lord influenced to be in place for our family during this time.  Our lifestyle really has not changed much yet.  But if the unemployment continues on into February, we may start to really feel the effects of financially.