siope's baptism

i love seeing our primary kids being baptised! even more so when i've been asked to take some snaps of the day. our friends son siope was baptised on the weekend and it was such a special day for him.

i mean seriously, look at their faces. he and his dad are so stoked.

and the proudest mum in the world.

it was such a lovely service and i loved being able to be a part of it.

yay for siope!

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i was also asked to help to put together a talk for siope's nanna to give at the service. she was a little nervous about what to say - so i helped out. i'm leaving it here in case i ever need one at the last minute.

Faith & Repentance

In the scriptures we learn about Faith. Many miracles happened through faith and the actions of those that believed in Jesus.

The Fourth Article of Faith tells us about it. It begins by saying: We believe the first principles and ordinances of the Gospels are first, FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is something we know is true even though we can’t see it.

Now Siope does Nanny love you?

How do you know Nanny loves you?

Can you see love? Can you touch it? No, you can’t you just know it’s there by the actions of people who do love you and you have Faith that Nanny and Mummy and Daddy and Setita will always love you.

What about something else like the wind, can you see the wind, can you hold the wind. No, we can just see if as it blows thing like leaves along or makes the branches of the trees move. Something else like electricity is also something we can’t see but we believe or have faith that when we turn on a light it will work because there is electricity running through the wires to your house.

Faith is like these things you can’t feel it or hold it. It’s Just like love that you can only tell it’s there when you get hugs or someone does something nice for you. Or like the wind you feel on your face or the electricity that will turn on a light to brighten a dark room or recharge the iPad.

Faith is something that starts off small and grows as we study and learn more. It’s like your muscles that are only small now but as you get bigger and do exercises and move and stretch them over and over like daddy does when he goes to the gym your muscles will grow so you are stronger and can carry more weight and lift heavier things. Faith is the same. When we know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are there and we believe in them, our faith will grow and become stronger. We will have faith that they are always watching over us and will always answer our prayers and help us.

In the Fourth Article of Faith after number 1 FAITH, the second thing we believe in is REPENTANCE.

In the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 9:23 it says

“And he commandeth all men that they must repent and be baptised in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.

In the Book of Mormon, we learn about King Noah and his priests who did not keep the commandments. The Lord sent Abinadi to warn them that they needed to repent. Abinadi taught them about Jesus Christ but King Noah was not happy and told the priest to take Abinadi and put him to death. One of King Noahs priests named Alma, believed in everything that Abinadi taught.

In Mosiah 18:1 We read that Alma “repented of his sins and iniquities (bad habits), and went about privately among the people, and began to teach the words of Abinadi”

We also have the opportunity or chance to repent when we do something wrong, and to try again and again, as many times as it takes us to get it right! Heavenly Father doesn’t keep count as long as we keep trying to improve. The most important thing about repentance is to admit we did something wrong and then do our best to make it better.

It’s easy for us to remember with the ABC’s of repentance

A – Admit that we were wrong – for some people this is the hardest bit.

B – Be sorry

C – CORRECT the wrong – that means if you can fix something you broke then you do, or if you have taken something that isn’t yours that you give it back. You just have to do whatever it takes to make things better.

Then last but not least is,

D – DON’T do it again, because if you do then that means you weren’t sorry and you haven’t repented.

So, if we are willing to have Faith and repent when we do wrong, we (or you) are ready to be baptised!

 

 

a talk on repentance (and meaningful baptism gifts)

my littlest niece emma kate was baptised on sunday. it was such a lovely day, a beautiful service and awesome to be with our family on such a special occassion. we are so proud of her decision to be baptised and i took great care in choosing appropriate gifts for her day.

we bought her a gold journal, (which even had gold edging to the paper, from woolworths of all places!) a miniature leather bound hymn book to go with her new scriptures and an "always there for you" angel. i thought the angel was a perfect baptism gift, seeing as you receive the gift of the holy ghost after you are baptised and you are promised that he will always be there for you if you are true and faithful.

miss emma kate opening her presents

emma asked me to give a talk on repentance at her baptism, which i happily did... i found this amazing talk online here, which i adapted a little to suit. it was so fun and i think it's a wonderful way to teach the principle.

Hi everyone! I’m Emma’s Aunty Jade and I am here today to talk to you about a special thing called Repentance.

When we came to earth, we were pure and perfect - just like this egg. (Show a hard-boiled egg.) But all of us make mistakes. We do things that we aren’t supposed to and that makes us dirty. Maybe we disobey our parents. (Colour a scribble on the egg shell with a whiteboard marker.) Maybe we get into a fight with our brother or sister. (Colour another scribble on the shell.) We may even tell a lie (colour another scribble). All these things leave their mark. (Show them the egg) What do you think of the egg now? Would you want an ugly egg like this?

Heavenly Father wants us to live with Him again but we can’t if we are covered in sin. That is why He gave us the gift of baptism. (Using the spoon, carefully lower the egg into a jar of water with a large squirt of domestos [bleach] mixed into it.)

When we are baptized, Heavenly Father erases our sins. We come out of the water pure and perfectagain. (Wait until the marker dissolves completely then remove the egg, wipe away the water and show them the white shell again. [It’s a good idea to have baby wipes on hand in case all the maker doesn’t come off, you can remove what’s left with the baby wipe as you clean it off/dry it] Then show them the egg.) But after we are baptized, we still make mistakes, don’t we? We still do things we aren’t supposed to.

We may watch a movie we shouldn’t watch (scribble on the shell with the marker). We may say something mean or unkind to our brother or sister or maybe even to our parents (scribble on the shell again). All these things will make us dirty again.

So what can we do? We can’t get baptized again. That is so sacred and special we can only do that once. That’s why Heavenly Father also gave us the gift of repentance. He lets us repent so we can be clean again. Repentance means we stop what we are doing. (When you say the word ‘stop’, hit the hard-boiled egg on the table to crack the shell. Roll it around a few times to further crack the shell.)

Then we have to do something that is kind of hard. We have to change. We have to get rid of the bad things in our lives. (Start peeling the egg.) It takes work to remove those sins from our lives but we can do it. When we are willing to change who we are and get rid of the bad things in our lives, then we can be pure and white again. (Show them the clean and peeled egg.) That is what Heavenly Father wants. That is why He lets us repent and change. He knows repentance is good for us. He wants us to repent so we can be pure and live with Him again.

I am so thankful for the gift of repentance and being able to make myself clean again each time I do something wrong. I am so grateful you’ve chosen to be baptised Emma and that we’ve been able to share today with you.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

(side note, if you do choose to do this talk (even as a primary lesson?), it is probably best that you have a second egg that's already peeled and you know has come out clean and smooth. my egg didn't peel so well and i ended up having to hold it to show one small smooth spot. it would have been much easier and effective to reach down to "peel it into something" and quickly swapped them over)

it was a success! emma and all the other kids loved it! thank you internet!