Kennedy's Baptism

Last Saturday, my sweet Kennedy was baptized. She was nervous, but determined and sticking to her plan in typical Kennedy style. At the baptism, Kennedy's Grandma Cheryl spoke first. I loved watching Kennedy tucked in next to her dad, watching her Grandma Cheryl give the opening talk. My mom made sure that Kennedy knew how many people were there to support her. Kennedy had little tears spilling out of her eyes and I knew that even though eight sometimes seems so young,  Kennedy knew the commitment she was making to be like Jesus Christ. Brooklynn played the violin next and while she played my tears started rolling.

We then went to the baptismal font and I gave my girl a big hug and told her how important her decision was to be baptized. She looked at me with such emotion. She knew. I knew. This was big. She then went into the font and I stood on the stairs and looked in to her eyes as she got settled in the font. She then looked back and forth from Dave to me with such trust in her eyes. The font only had about a foot and a half of water in it, but one try was all it took. After Kennedy came out of the water she said she felt warm every where. The Holy Ghost was so strong.

McKee played some piano medleys while Kennedy was changing and then we re-entered the room. Linda then spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She gave lots of examples from the Thatcher family where people chose to follow the promptings of the Spirit. Following Grandma Linda, my almost 101-year-old Grandma Beth bore her testimony. She started off by saying that she has seen the Savior on the beaches of Galilee, she has seen him reviving the dead, she has seen his accompanying her ancestors as they crossed the plains headed to Utah. I could really imagine her tucked into those scenes, an eye witness to Christ. Her testimony was strong and real.

Dave then gave Kennedy the gift of the Holy Ghost. Mark, Brent, Grandfather Ron, Grandpa Sid and Bishop McRae were in the circle. Dave said that the thing that stood out to him most is that Kennedy should use the Holy Ghost as a tool to figure out who she is. Dave said that he knows that she is a thinker and that he really felt like the the Lord wanted her to learn to use the Spirit to understand her own complex thoughts.

Since her baptism, I really feel like Kennedy has grown up. She has been trying so hard to be a good helper, a good example and a leader. She was asked to speak in Primary on Sunday about her baptism. She got up early five days before and wrote her own talk without being asked to. It was perfect. She said how she had decided to be baptized after praying about it to know that it was the right decision for her. She also said that She felt the Holy Ghost like she had never felt it before.