My baptism

So, as promised, here's how my baptism went :) Be warned, this post got kinda long...

(I apologize for throwing all of the names around, but there were a lot of people there and I feel like hopefully it'll be less confusing to use names than to describe who each person is every time. Also, as always, all names have been changed)

I got there at like noon with my family (parents and one sister; the other sister had to work). My friend Heather was already there (I know her from one of my classes; she's not a member). She'd taken the bus and I was super proud of her, cuz the bus can be super confusing.

Anywho, so I had no idea what to do right away, and there were people there for another baptism that had been at 11am. After a couple minutes awkwardly standing in the entryway, I saw Rose (who I asked to give the baptism talk) and the sister missionaries (who are the best) and then stuff started happening. It was rather overwhelming, actually. We looked through the white jumpsuit dealios and there weren't any that would fit me right, so we grabbed the closest we could find and headed for the restroom. AND SISTER LOPEZ WAS THERE.

I don't know if you remember, but I've mentioned my friend Francesca before. She's one of my friends from home who also didn't go to BYU, and her school is actually like 3-4 hours away from mine. So I asked her to come speak on the Holy Ghost.

Anywho, so when I saw Francesca's mom, Sister Lopez, in the restroom, I attack hugged her. I was SUPER excited to see them :D

Back to the story.....

The one jumpsuit dealio was just a little small, to the point where I wouldn't be able to sit down in it. Bummer. The other one.... you could have fit two of me in it. I'm pretty tiny. So I had to go with the bigger one. We then proceeded to take pictures:

My missionaries, with Michael and me

And then sat down in the Relief Society room. Brother Miller, who I'd asked to confirm me, wasn't quite there yet. I never saw him walk in, but he must have gotten there cuz all of a sudden the Bishop stood up and started things going. I think that was one of the points where I was the most nervous. I didn't have a program, so I kept reading off of Rose's. We sang "Come Follow Me" in case you wondered (#116). I only know that cuz someone thought to give me a program to take home, thank goodness.

Suddenly, Rose was speaking, and suddenly, she was done, and then we were walking over to the baptismal font. That was fast. Michael explained how to grab his wrist and then they opened the divider thing and there were a TON of people in the room. Holy smokes, I hadn't realized how many people came. Also, totally didn't think to take off my glasses. The missionaries tried to tell me, but I didn't hear them. My glasses didn't fall off, though, so we got that goin for us! Also, the water was warm (YAY) and that's pretty much the extent of what was going through my head at that point. As I said earlier, everything was just a little overwhelming, and I just went with the flow.

It was FREEZING in the restroom when I changed back into dry clothes. I do remember saying a little prayer and feeling warmer for a minute. Then when I walked back to the Relief Society room, Brother Miller and a couple other guys were standing in the hallway, so I talked with them for a minute, and then they were like "the sister missionaries are just stalling till you get back!" and I was like oh yeah, maybe I should go in there. So then Francesca spoke on the Holy Ghost, and it seemed really short, but maybe that was just me.

Brother Miller and I went up front, and they grabbed me a chair, and the Bishop was like "anyone else who has been asked to participate, please come forward" and I was like SHOOT I was supposed to ask people?? That was awkward... So he basically asked for volunteers, at which point most of my YSA guys stood up. They're like, uhhh, now we have too many.... But apparently it all worked out, cuz I didn't notice anyone sit back down.

Brother Miller spoke really fast, so I didn't catch everything he said, and of that, I only clearly remember two things. But they're two things that I've worried about in the past, and he only kind of knew about one. So that was amazing :) Also, I didn't feel the Spirit in the way I expected. Usually, I get a tingly, shivery feeling, like a chill running up your spine or down your arms or whatever. This time, I just felt warm. Warmer than I had been a minute ago. Later, I think it was at stake conference that night, someone said something about the Holy Ghost and "baptism by fire," so I think that makes sense now :)

My Relief Society president was actually in my hometown that day for her nephew's baptism (what are the chances??), so another woman did the "welcome to Relief Society" dealio, and the Bishop welcomed me to the ward, and I barely remember any of it. It all went so fast! I know the Bishop referenced a scripture or something, and it seemed like a mini-talk to me, but I couldn't tell you what it was about. We sang "I am a child of God" (#301) to close, and James gave the prayer.

And then there was pie! Michael makes pies. A lot. And he made 3 for my baptism: chocolate raspberry, pecan, and apple. They were super good :) There was lots of socializing and people congratulating me, and I stood around talking with Francesca and Heather and my sister and Alexa (another nonmember friend from one of my classes). Aaand then it started snowing, so my family and Francesca and Sister Lopez had to leave, cuz they had to drive a while to get home.

Overall, it was super amazing! It just went REALLY FAST! And also I went to stake conference that night (but missed the Sunday morning one cuz I got sick :P ), and I have an interview with my Bishop on Friday because Temple recommend! *kind of in shock* Also, because Thanksgiving, I probably get to go to church at home this coming weekend and I'm SO EXCITED.

<3 Marie-Rose