Baptism and Barbeque

So, Dane and I got baptised into the Mormon Church Saturday evening. Alot of people showed up, much more than I had thought would. Dane's old girlfriend Jen came, too. Didn't really expect her to come, but I think she was moved at how Dane has matured and become more of an adult.My mom came too. I have noticed that he is happier and doing more to help me and trying to make me happy. I saw him put a t-shirt in the dirty-clothes hamper the other day and almost fainted! I didn't say anything because I didn't want want him to think I was making a big deal of it. I did say thank you later when we were going to sleep.

Ok, back to the baptism. I got to go first, and I didn't drown. I thought my jumpsuit was waterproof at first, but no such luck...I was soaked from tip to tail. Then Dane went and Elder Johnson almost smacked his head on the step, but Dane didn't find out til after it was over. Then we changed and went back to the meeting room. They were giving testimony at the time that we came back, and after Nathan sat down, nobody was going up. I took that as an opportunity to make Dane go up and speak...he he. He did well. He thanked everyone for coming and thanked Alex for introducing us to the Church. Then Alex gave his talk on baptism and Brother Cox gave a very eloquent (and very long!) talk on the Hold Ghost. I have never met a man that could talk for so long and so well as Brother Cox!

After Brother Cox's 3-hour talk (just kidding!), we heard from Bishop Michaelson, and the closing prayer was given by Brother Tyler. After the talks and closing prayer, we had food! I love to eat, so that was a very welcome surprise. I got to meet a bunch of people I had not yet met. We now have 3 Rebecca's in 1st ward. Me (Rebecca), Sister Cox (Becky) and Sister Fire (Becca)! I'm sure there are more, But I haven't met them yet. The Elders made me a little pink blanket and they gave Dane a tie. I guess one tie wasn't enough for Dane, because by the end of the evening, he had collected ties from alot of the men. He even took Elder Johnson's sweet blue tie! I love it, it is so cool. Dane is all about cool ties now. I know what he is getting for Chrismas!! Sister Cox had ordered us some quad scriptures when she was in Boise, Idaho. She got them personalized with our full names, and they are sooo pretty. Dane got Blue, and I chose Black. He was very surprised to see that I had come up with such a thoughful gift. We finally rolled out of there about 9pm, a very well spent evening behind us. But not much could have prepared me for what was coming on Sunday...


Sunday morning came uneventfully. I got up at 7:45am to get grandma up and dressed, Dane followed at 8am. Grandma had her usual breakfast of grits and toast with a Glucerna shake and a heaping handful of medicines. Dane and I had fruity pebbles (when you are an adult, you caneat whatever...so back off!), mine dry, Dane's with milk and Pringles on the side (what did I say?). We meandered to the car and got fully loaded up by 9:15. Grandma decided she only wanted her walker...NOT the wheelchair, I obliged beacuse, well, lets face it, it's much easier to walk beside her than to push her in a heavy wheelchair up ramps and over speed humps and parking lots. We got inside and were once again congratulated by people on our baptism. Met even more people... Word started spreading about the BBQ we were having later that evening, but we will get back to that in a few more paragraphs! The Sacramnet Meeting started with the blessing of Brother and Sister Weidrich's baby girl Jolie. I always get a little teary-eyed when they give baby blessings. It has just got to be the best feeling in the world. Having this little one and being able to present her to the world and the congregation.

Next, it was Dane's turn to recieve the Holy Ghost. He sat in a chair and the men laid their hands on his head and gave him his blessing. Then it was my turn. I had Brother Cox give me the Holy Ghost. I tell you one thing, I don't think he ever has to struggle to find words. Unlike dane, who is a man of very few words, Brother Cox could talk the ears off of deaf people, which isn't a bad thing, Sister Cox is very lucky to have a man that likes to communicate. After my blessing, I went bak to my seat and the Bishop had us stand and gave the church a chance to recognize us a new members. It was a very good day, and it only got better...

The word spread fast that we were having a cookout after church. We had invited many, but only expected 5 or 6. Well, about 4:30, Brother and Sister Tipping and Brother and Sister Cox showed up and the ladies strated helping me to cook. Sister Cox and I made deviled eggs, while Sister Tipping made hamburgers and turkey burgers. More people started showing up, first Fred, then Nathan, then Elders Kofford and Johnson. And somwhere in the middles of it, Alex snuck in under the radar. Before I knew it, there were 25 in the house, and not much place to sit down. The boys grabbed some chairs from the dining room and garage, and that helped with the overflow. The single men retreated outside with Dane to mess with the burgers, and about 30 minutes later, he came back in to see how people were enjoying the food. I had told him to say the blessing about 45 minutes earlier and he just shrugged it off. Well, people were hungry and Dane put 2 and 2 together and realized they weren't eating because he had not blessed the food. After a quick apology about not knowing the "rules" yet, and laughs from everyone, he gave a quick blessing and everyone was soon eating.

Things began to dwindle down about 7-ish, and most people had gone home by 8. The Elders stayed and had Dane and I write in in Elder Koffords journal (it is NOT a diary, he pointed out). I wrote a quick paragraph, and Dane wrote his novel. It was a long, but very good day.