"Mom, I want to be baptized."

When the Love Magnet turned 8 years old, people asked if she was going to get baptized.  We knew she wasn't ready.  She never talked about it.  She loved to watch others get baptized but she did not think to want it for herself.  So we let her be.

Fast forward to last summer.  Out of the blue, the Love Magnet announced "I want to be baptized." I told her that was awesome and let the subject alone, thinking that it was fleeting.  But she kept talking about "When I get baptized...." and asking when that would be.  Wanting to make sure she understood the ordinance and the promises involved, we started to focus Family Home Evenings around the subject.  It is a bit difficult to put together lessons that she will understand and yet still be interesting to her older brothers.  With a 4 year spread between each of our sons, they each have a different level of understanding.  It helped when they each were in charge of lessons.

The Love Magnet was asked to give a talk on the Holy Ghost for the Primary program in September.  She was thrilled to participate.  She told me what to type:



The Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost can help me to not be scared when there is a fire drill at school because I don't like loud noises.
The Holy Ghost can help me be polite and kind.
The Holy Ghost can help me remember to be honest and tell the truth.
I can't see him.  He doesn't have a body.  But I can feel him.
I'm glad I know how to choose the right.

We spent the Saturday before at the church, practicing sitting on the bench where her class would sit, practicing walking up to the microphone and putting her paper on the stand.  We practiced how to speak in the microphone.  This went on over and over for an hour until she told me she was ready.

During the Primary program, she sat with her class.  When it came time for her turn, she walked up to the podium, put her paper on the stand, took a deep breath and said under her breath (but loud enough for the microphone to pick it up) "Okay....here we go.", and gave a Primary talk by herself.  It proved to me that she does understand, in her own way, about the Holy Ghost, about Jesus, and the promises she would make in baptism.

She was ready.