Girls' Room Day 13

Chelsea painted Chinese characters on Jorja's wall before she went back to Idaho.

qing wa = frog

 chao zhi ya = Jorja

Matt and Sam came over today.  Mike and Matt worked most of the day putting shingles on the shed.  It is looking really good.

This evening was Lincoln's baptism.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures!  Especially since all of Bubs' kids looked adorable.  Jorja played the opening song.  "When I Am Baptized" (the rainbow song) She had been working on it since July.  She was so nervous.  She had it pretty good, but still struggled in parts.  Jorja played the first couple of lines of the song great, then kind of lost her place and could never really catch up.  It was fine though.  Jorja was so upset.  She was in tears at the piano.  I was so proud of her.  It was something really hard and she was brave enough to try, even though she was so scared.  Even though she wasn't flawless I was so proud of her for giving it her best effort. Ella did the conducting of all the songs and did a fantastic job.  She was really cute up there and seemed to love being the center of attention. Abby then gave the opening prayer.  Adorable.

Stockton gave a talk on baptism.  This was it: Hello, everyone.  My name is Stockton Smith, and I am one of Lincoln's cousins.  I was asked to give a talk on baptism.  The fourth article of faith says, "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: First, Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Second: Repentance.  Third: Baptism by immersion for the remission of sin.  Fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

When we are baptized, it is important that we are submerged completely under the water.  This is because baptism is a symbol of Christ being buried and then being resurrected again.  When my sister, Jorja, was baptized, she had to go under the water a second time to be fully immersed.

The second half of baptism is confirmation.  When we are baptized, we make a covenant, which is a two-way promise.  We agree to always remember Jesus and to keep his commandments.  When we are confirmed, we officially become a member of the Church and take Christ's name upon us.  We renew this promise each week when we take the sacrament at church.

We can only be baptized when we are old enough to understand the difference between right and wrong.  I am proud of Lincoln for making the choice to follow Jesus and become a member of His church.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

My dad also gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  I don't have a copy of his talk though.  The stake primary presidency was there.  They did the coolest thing.  When Lincoln was getting changed they handed out index cards to everyone to write their thoughts about the day and about Lincoln.  They gathered them up and put them together into a baptism book. (The cards were hole punched in the corner, then they put a ring through the holes.)  They were able to give Lincoln this book after his confirmation.  I thought that was a great way to pass the time.

Pretty awesome day.  Congratulations Lincoln!