The Importance of Following the Example of Our Savior Jesus Christ - Explained in deed by W. Stephen Harr!!!
Märta
Harr
RELP275 C
Wk
5 Explain It
“Why
is baptism so important?”
I love this question! I have a darling eight year old
son whose birthday was March 11th, 2020. We were waiting until March
22nd for our married family members to have a school break so they
could come home to be here, but then CoVid broke out and we were all asked to
quarantine. We cancelled the gathering, and the baptism, pending a time when
his baptism could happen. It was the
week before General Conference, and one night I was making dinner when Stephen
came in emotional, and said “Mom, I am scared.” “About what?” I asked? “I am scared because if the Savior comes for
the Second Coming and I am not baptized, then…. I am not baptized and I am
eight years old!” How precious! I dropped my cooking whatever, knelt down and
listened to his concern. I held him on my lap and explained that I was sure that
our Heavenly Father would understand that we were simply following the counsel
of the Prophet, and that right now even people wanting to get married can’t go
to the temple. We are all waiting. He pushed “Mom, isn’t there a way I can get
baptized?”
With Dad in the Stake Presidency, he was gone that
night (as often) and I knew that recently the Area Authority had even cancelled
new convert baptisms at the church building for protection against this virus.
I didn’t know what to say, or think. I told him that I would talk to Dad when
he got home later that night, and see if there was a way he could be baptized.
He enforced that he wanted it to happen before general conference because what
if the Savior comes then? That week for FHE we had read the article by
President Nelson on Preparing for the Second Coming which was in the April Ensign
(https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/04/the-future-of-the-church-preparing-the-world-for-the-saviors-second-coming?lang=eng).
My heart was touched. Why is Baptism so important? Because we Love the Lord and
want to follow Him!
2
Nephi 31 is such a beautiful chapter about Baptism and the
importance of following the Savior:
Vs
5: If the Lamb of God, he being holy,
should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all
righteousness, O then, how much more need have we(Stephen), being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!
Vs.
9 It (The
Savior’s example) showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the
path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they (Stephen) should enter, he (The
Savior) having set the example before them (Stephen).
Vs. 11 And
the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye (Stephen),
and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.
Vs. 12 And
also, the voice of the Son came unto me (Stephen’s
Mom), saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him (Stephen) will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto
me (The Savior); wherefore, follow me
(The Savior), and do the things which
ye have seen me (The Savior) do.
Oh how Grateful I am to be a Mom to a young eight year
old who understands the Doctrine of Christ! He knew that he needed to be
baptized!
That evening when my husband returned from church
meetings, our pillow talk was about the beauty and innocent desire of Stephen
to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. How could we deny him that
wish? Brad promised that the next
morning (Thursday) he would make a couple of calls and research the handbook
and recent instructions to see what we could do. We brainstormed that possibly, because the
meetinghouses were all closed, that maybe we could find a place at a local
lake, swimming pool, or even the river to baptize him. Brad promised he would
do some due diligence to learn about possibilities.
The
next morning, after reviewing Church Handbooks, and discussing it with our
local Bishop who referred to the Stake President, who gave his blessing, we
were given a green light to hold our own baptismal service at a place we
determined.
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That evening while I did my Pathway Gathering, Brad
took the kids (Stephen included) on four wheelers to the river to see if they
could find a suitable place to hold a baptismal service for him. He returned
with huge smiles, and announced that they did find a place! We started working
on details. White clothes, a musical number (Stephen and Sophia would play on
their violins), remote married brothers were invited to give the talks via
Zoom, and then we promised we would turn off technology and the Ordinances
would be performed. Our Bishop Benji Nelson agreed to come on a four wheeler to
the designated spot, and one set of Grandparents were invited (making the total
# present 10 – exactly the regulated number - CoVid Quarantine Guidelines!)
The next day, Friday afternoon at 4:00 we gathered as
a family on four-wheel drive vehicles to go to the special secluded spot on the
Virgin River where they had found. We had a beautiful baptismal service!
Indeed, again as in 2 Nephi 31:8
“After
he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a
dove.”
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The Bishop took a few minutes and testified that as he
stood in the circle with his hands on his head, and Dad (Brad) said “Receive
the Holy Ghost” the sun came out from behind the clouds, and the heat of the
sun was felt on his face. He testified that the Holy Ghost descended.
Stephen shared later that he too felt the Holy Ghost
descend. He heard the frog in the water start singing praises. I noted the
frog, as well as the ducks down the river a bit. Then some geese flew over. All
nature celebrated that W. Stephen Harr was just baptized to fulfill his part of
the command to be baptized. What a beautiful day it was!
A
day never to be forgotten!