March was an extra-special month for Katia because she turned 8 and was baptized a few days later on March 29, 2013, which was Good Friday.
I took these baptism pictures of Katia in our back yard a few days before her baptism. The snow around the weeds on the big pile of topsoil that we still haven't spread around yet made a nice backdrop!
Our Bishop told us that he'd had an incredible baptism interview with Katia. When we asked her about it, Katia told us that it was really nice. That she felt the Spirit and felt really good and happy, and even cried - happy tears of course!
Katia worked out her program and did all the asking to all those who would participate in the program. Then she printed out her program and we photocopied it, added a few stamps, folded them and attached her baptism picture to the front. The only change to the program was that Uncle Greg was a witness because Uncle Kevin couldn't make it.
So, our ward mission leader told us previously that he cleans out the baptism font and starts filling it up with water about 2 1/2 hours before the baptism. Then he stays around and sets up chairs and things, and if we could show up sometime in the hour before to pick out Katia's white dress and get her ready, that would be perfect. So we went to the Stake Center about 45 minutes early. There was a car in the parking lot, but the doors were locked and no one was responding to our knocking and buzzing. So Rich went to his parents house because they have a key. By the time we got in, it was about half an hour before the baptism was scheduled to begin. Everything was dark, no chairs were set up, and there was not a drop of water in the font! So, Rich went to the controls to see if he could figure out how to get the water running. I ran to the foyer to call someone, but the phones were disconnected as the building had been getting its phone/internet lines worked on that week. Neither Rich or I had our cell phones - didn't think we'd need them for a baptism!!! Our stake president was in the gym playing basketball with his son and he tried to help Rich figure out the taps, but neither of them had done it before. Luckily, Jas and the rest of our girls showed up then and Jas had her phone. And luckily one of the few phone numbers I have memorized was the bishopric counsellor who would be attending the baptism. I called him and he came right over and we got the water going. But it takes two hours to fill the font and our baptism was supposed to start in 20 minutes! Anyway, everyone was happy and family was arriving, including people who travelled far like Uncle David's family, Auntie Denyse's family and Auntie Rebecca's family. We got Katia dressed and decided to start half an hour later than originally planned. When we went to take pictures, my camera wouldn't work because I had forgotten to put the memory card back in after printing her baptism pictures. Jas ran home and got that for us. But it was okay - we had lots of time to spare while the font was filling!
My favourite - Katia and her daddy.
We always line our girls up in order for baptism pictures, and in the past they've made pretty good stairs.
But now we have five that are almost the same size, and then the two littlies.
So they crouched or tippy-toed in the appropriate manner so we could get a good stair picture!
The whole family!!!
So by 4:30 we decided to begin Katia's baptism. By this time, the water was just reaching the top of the bottom step. Richelle gave a wonderful talk on baptism with an excellent reminder of how we can remember our baptism covenants. She gave Katia a KitKat candy bar with a new wrapper on it that explained that the KAT part stood for:
K - Keep the commandments
A - Always remember Him
T - Take His name upon you
Since it's also the first three letters of her name, it should be pretty easy for her to remember!
One of my favourite parts was the musical number by Katia and her sisters, accompanied by Grampa. They sang "I Come to the Water" by Janice Kapp Perry. They all sang it together until the very last phrase, which Katia sang by herself:
"Dear Father please help me remember this day -
I cov'nant thy will to obey."
It was absolutely beautiful, especially as you could see Katia (and her sisters) feel the meaning of the words she was singing. I think everyone in the room could feel the Spirit.
Then it was time for Katia to go to the water. The water level was almost to the second step so it was about a foot and a half deep and almost reached Richard's knees. But Katia is a petite little thing and Rich was confident that he could get her fully immersed in the water. He said the prayer and then pushed her all the way to the bottom of the font, checking her up and down to make sure her dress and hair were all immersed at the same time. I've never seen any one in the water for so long, but Katia did great and gave her daddy a huge hug. Then she came up the stairs to me and I wrapped her in a towel and my arms!
While I was helping Katia get changed, everyone else wrote little messages for Katia to treasure.
I especially like the one on top from her friend Keagan, who noticed the bumps on the bottom of the font! I guess when the font is filled all the way, you don't notice the bumps!!!
Continuing on with the rest of the program, we had Jasmine giving the talk on the Holy Ghost. She talked about some of the roles of the Holy Ghost, including being a Comforter. Then she wrapped Katia in a new fuzzy blue blanket and compared that to how the Holy Ghost can make you feel - warm, good, comforted.
Then Katia was confirmed by her daddy and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I've been to a ton of baptisms over the years, and I've never seen an 8 year old child be so touched by this as Katia was. She was very emotional as she shook hands and hugged the men in the circle. She assured me that they were happy tears and that she just felt so good!
After the baptism was over, we all came back to our house for Taco-in-a-Bag. Time for visiting with family and for cousins to enjoy each other again.
At the end of the day, we have Katia snuggled under her new fuzzy comforter, sharing a futon with cousins. It was a very special day for our special Katia!
The next morning, our ward mission leader phoned and said, "Are we all ready for a baptism today?" When I told him that we had actually done it yesterday, he felt awful, and so did his wife - she was practically crying. He just had it in his mind that the baptism was Saturday the 29th - instead of Friday the 29th. They were so sorry and sad that they missed it because they know Katia well and wanted to be there. And it turns out, that even if the phone lines had been working and I'd been able to get through, they were on the phone for about an hour then, dealing with a family problem.
When I think back on Katia's baptism, all I remember is that it was one of the most spiritual baptisms I've ever attended. The Spirit was there in great abundance. I remember that we had lots of little problems on the way to her baptism, but I have to think really hard to remember them now: scheduling, photo problems, photocopy problems, song practice glitches and the glitches of the baptism day. The greatness of the day made everything else seem minute.
Katia had an incredibly spiritual baptism and she also has the story that she was baptized in 30 inches of water!!!
