Rubie's Baptism

Rubie was baptized on Saturday, September 3, 2016,  The baptism service was held at 10:00 a.m. at our Stake Center.  It was a beautiful service.  Bishop Fox conducted the service.  Rubie chose the primary songs to sing.  Eric said the opening prayer.  Two young Elders from the ward preparing to go on missions spoke.  Elder Michael Doxey spoke about baptism and Elder Nick Gerber spoke about the Holy Ghost.  Scott performed the baptism and the ordaining Rubie to be a member of the Church and to receive the Holy Ghost.  Eric and Rubie performed a musical number.  Eric played I Am A Child Of God on the guitar and Rubie sang the first verse, then they repeated the chorus with Eric joining her in singing.  They were so beautiful and did such a great job.  Eric's guitar teacher, Brother Wilkes came to see his performance.  We sang a closing song and then I said the closing prayer.  I wish that I could have recorded the blessing that Scott gave Rubie when she received the Holy Ghost.  It was a beautiful blessing.  Rubie looked so pretty in a white dress that she chose.  We braided her hair so it was easy after being dunked in the water.  It took her only like 5 minutes to change and get ready after being baptized.  The primary had everyone write her notes while waiting for her and Scott to get changed and come back to the room.

I had Jackson take some pictures of Rubie so I could make events with them on facebook and have the pictures of her displayed.  He went above my expectations of beautiful pictures.

I love these pictures.  I love them so much that I had Jackson do some of Eric and Sam too in the same settings so I can display all of them in the house.

So many people that love Rubie and support our family showed up for her baptism.  My parents came (even though my Dad is having terrible back pain), Joe and Tai and their boys came (they are expecting baby number 3 in the spring), Dan and Brandee and their family, Andy and Beth and their boys, Angela, Russell and Linda and Dellitt (that was a surprise, she even wore a dress).  The Harrisons came, Carlee and Reid and Link came, Ryan and Julie Williams and their 3 girls, and some of Scott's cousins came like Marty and Julie and some of their girls and a niece, Deedee and Jason and their daughter Sophia.  Some ward members like the Doxey's, the Huddleston's, Paige, a few from the primary.  The room was packed.  All these people supporting Rubie and our family.

We had a luncheon afterwards held in the pavilion on the church property.  I had some sandwiches, veggies, fruit and cheese, and cookies ordered from Walmart.  Some people brought chips and my mom made a big salad.  We had lots of leftovers which was a surprise.  People stayed for a little while to visit too.  I had Jackson take pictures of each family or group there with Rubie.  I haven't seen the pictures yet, but I'm sure they turned out really nice.

Rubie was so excited for her baptism day that she woke up early almost every day that week in anticipation of Saturday.  Scott took her to her interview with Bishop Fox and Tuesday evening.  We had been talking about it for a while and she was very excited to partake of the sacrament on Sunday.  Throughout the weekend she told me she wanted to get baptized again because it felt so good.  I'm so proud of her and her decision to be baptized and continue to grow her testimony.

Her baptism caused me to reflect on my own baptism day.  There were lots of details I can remember.  I wonder if I have a journal entry somewhere of what the day was like.  My mom gave Rubie a journal so that we can write down details of the day.  I still need to do that with her.  It also had a place for each of her grandparents to write their testimonies to her and her parents.  One of my greatest hopes for this life is that my children stay strong in the gospel and continue on the path of making and keeping covenants with our Heavenly Father.  It is something we work on daily with prayer and scripture study and discussions on topics relating to the gospel.  There is so much in the world today that takes away from building our testimonies.  I hope as parents that we are teaching our children how to seek the Spirit and seek a relationship with Father in Heaven.

I am so proud of you Rubie!  I know that Heavenly Father is proud of you too.  He has a great work for you to be involved in.  Please be a righteous covenant keeper.