The planning that has been this day! The preparation! Fiona has taken the choice to be baptized very differently than her sisters. Both Kate and Alice entered the waters of baptism without hesitation. Fiona was full of hesitation and doubt throughout the whole process, and that wasn't entirely different today.
Last year after the lockdown started in March I kept thinking of the words that the mission president said in the special area meeting that I went to in February of 2020, "missionaries need to teach". The sister missionaries in our ward were just the sweetest. We started having weekly zoom appointments with the missionaries. We talked about the Old Testament, we talked about gospel ideas, we talked about a lot. Fiona and I were also reading Book of Mormon stories and other books and resources. Fiona was very unsure about getting baptized until she wasn't. The choice to be baptized was hers. She was not forced into the waters of baptism, but the nervousness and apprehension didn't completely go away. I hope that she will continue to learn and grow in the gospel and that it will give her more peace and comfort as she grows.
Planning anything in covid-land is a challenge. We got word that as of July things were going to open up a little, which meant we could invite a few friends to Fiona's baptism as well as family! So we did!
We took some cute pics of Fiona in the dress that Kate and Alice also wore to their baptism ceremonies, but it wasn't the dress they were actually baptized in.
For her baptism we had the service in the gym and then we had an ice cream sundae bar outside. Grab your ice cream and then head out to the parking lot where we could hang out under the trees and not worry about being over capacity. Fiona was very anxious about who would be there watching her. She wasn't interested in opening it up to the whole ward. I had to convince her to invite everyone that we invited. It felt like we hardly invited anyone but we still had 28 people and our family of five on top of that.
For the program, Kate and Alice sang My Baptism Promise. Holden gave the opening prayer. Kate spoke about baptism. Alice spoke about the Holy Ghost. Then Fiona was baptized by her Dad, Kate and Alice standing as witnesses. During the time Fiona changed her clothing, everyone wrote her notes. Fiona was then confirmed by Ken. (Ken McCartney - her grandpa, Ken Peck, Joaquin Molina, Brendan Peck and William Radcliffe were all in the circle) Sis Brady welcomed her officially to primary, and Bro Penney to the ward. Then Hazel and Emily sang When I am Baptized, and Auntie Laura Molina gave the closing prayer.
It was a lovely service. It was a lovely day. Fiona was still a bit unsettled. She cried after she was baptized. It was a lot and I think she was still feeling overwhelmed by the seriousness of what she was doing.
.JPG)
