A Hot Tub Baptism

I haven't blogged for the past two years!  That's a lot of fun stuff I've neglected to document.  Fortunately, I have posted things on Facebook and Instagram, but I miss doing blogs.  It's time to get back to it.  So I'll start with a great event that took place on June 27, 2020!

Brooke turned eight on June 22, so her baptism was scheduled for the following Saturday, June 27.  The kids were all in a swim meet that morning.  (That reminded me that Gabe and Soren had a flag football game the morning of Gabe's baptism, and we were in a rush to get ready for that event, as well. Sports and baptisms are great Saturday events!)  Grandma and Grandpa came to town the night before, so they were able to go to the meet.  It was fun to have them there cheering the kids on.  As usual, it ran a little longer than we had hoped, so after our last event, we hurried home to get ready. Mormor made it to town just as we were heading home from the pool.  Caitlin came to our house so she could do Brooke's hair.  Thank goodness for cousins who know how to do hair!  

With maybe about 10 minutes to spare, we all headed over to the Stake Center.  Jane notified me they were on their way, but were running behind, so they were hoping they wouldn't miss it.  We got to the stake center where we met up with Bishop and RaDene Pickett.  The room hadn't been set up yet, so as we were greeting each other, Bishop looked to see if the font was full and it was totally empty.  Oh no!  He tried to turn on the water, but it was dry.  We tried a few other faucets around the building to find out all the water was shut off.  Bishop made a call to find out that there had been a water main break that morning, which explained why there had been such a dirty, muddy mess in the parking lot.  This was definitely a kink in the plan!  We didn't want to reschedule because Grandma and Grandpa were there from St. George, Mormor from Salt Lake, and Jane and Tres were on their way from Provo.  The Haws family wasn't going to make it because Taco had been diagnosed with Covid-19, so they were quarantined.  I'll have to write about that dang Covid-19 virus in another post, later.  We joked a little about using the river/creek by our house, but we were pretty sure it wasn't deep enough for a baptism.  I asked kind of joking but kind of serious if we could use our hot tub.  Bishop called the Stake President who said that would be just fine!  Brooke wasn't sure she wanted to do that.  She said she just wanted a "normal baptism."  It took some convincing to get her to realize that a hot tub baptism would be a different and memorable experience for her.  She paced in the empty font and was kind of laughing but kind of pouting about it.  She just didn't know how to feel about all of this!  Gabe told her the water was cold when he was baptized, and at least she would have warm water in the hot tub.  Then I saw some spiders in the corner of the font and showed them to her and all of a sudden, the hot tub didn't seem so bad!  So we decided to have the program part there at the church, and then go over to the house for the baptism and confirmation.  Jane and Tres and Coleman made it just as we were getting started, so the delay with the water was actually a good thing, giving them time to make it!

Pondering what to do

Frank Pike from our ward conducted the baptism because our mission leader, Kent Dyreng, was out of town.  Mormor took care of the prelude and accompaniment on the piano and did a great job calming the uncertainty of the situation with her music.  I surprised David and Jane and their kids by having them perform "The Covenant Path" for the opening song.  My kids and I joined them, and for not having a rehearsal, I think it sounded really nice!  Gabe said the opening prayer, and then I gave a talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost, and combined it with a congratulations/greeting from the Primary, which is one of the responsibilities I have as a member of the Primary Presidency. I don't like to ask other people to speak, so I just did it myself.  I need to be better at delegating! The bishop said a few words, and then we sang "I Am A Child of God."  We took several pictures while we were there, and then headed home for the hot tub!

Gabe, Maddie, Emily, Brooke, Sean, Soren

Brooke and her buddy, Bishop Pickett

Brooke with RaDene and Bishop Pickett
They are the best neighbors!!!

 

  

We had to quickly clear off the hot tub on our messy patio, but while Brooke and Sean changed clothes, we were able to get it ready.  Sean and Brooke got in the water and figured out Brooke would have to get on her knees and then lean back to get fully submerged.  Some of us watched from the sunroom, others from the window in the living room, but we were all able to see it.  Soren and Grandma Peggy were able to serve as the official witnesses, and the baptism in the hot tub was a success!

After the baptism, Sean and Brooke got changed, and then Brooke was confirmed by Sean.  The others in the circle were Bishop Pickett, Grandpa Jim Jensen, Uncle David, and Uncle Tres.  Then Bishop and RaDene presented Brooke with her baptismal blanket that RaDene had made for her, and talked a little bit about The Comforter, and how the blanket can remind her of the warmth of the Holy Ghost. That's another reason we couldn't reschedule the baptism, because RaDene had already stitched in the date on the blanket!  She said she could change it, but I was glad she didn't have to.  We closed by singing "Families Can Be Together Forever" and Jack gave us a closing prayer.  The whole event turned out to be better than we could have planned, and I hope it will all be memorable for Brooke.  Not just the hot tub part, but the love and support she had from friends and family.  It was a beautiful day!

Brooke with her sweet Primary teacher, Nedra Bowles.
Nedra and RaDene are sisters!

The traditional baptismal blanket from the Picketts

Brooke with Grandpa and Grandma Jensen

Mormor and Brooke

Brooke with Coleman, Aunt Jane, and Uncle Tres Shropshire

Brooke and Caitlin

Cute braid by Caitlin!

Uncle David, Caitlin, Jack, and Ryan Watkins with Brooke

Later on that evening...  Bishop Pickett told us the man who was in charge of letting people know about the water main break drove by during the baptism and saw all our cars at the church and wondered what was going on.  He had notified all the bishops who meet in that building about the break, but didn't notify our bishop because we meet in the Centerfield building and he didn't even think to check the baptismal schedules.  Bishop said he was very apologetic about the whole thing.  He told him at first it was a little frustrating to not have been notified, but when it turned out so well, it ended up not being a problem. 

That night, the kids decided to have a cousin sleepover, so we were all at David's and Karin's house.  It started to lightning and thunder and the girls decided they would sleep inside instead of out in the playhouse.  The boys moved from the trampoline to the playhouse and the girls were in the living room.  Brooke gets kind of nervous about lightning and thunder, but she had her new blanket from the Picketts with her and I reminded her about how it represented the comfort of the Holy Ghost.  I told her to say a prayer and wrap up in the warmth of that blanket.  She gave me a big smile and said, "Oh yeah!" and within a few minutes, she was snuggled up and sleeping soundly.  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day!