The missionaries were over-joyed to hear the news when I called them. They perhaps saw it as their prayers being answered, I simply saw it as doing what God had instructed me to do. I requested that Addison Pennington baptize me. He and I had become close friends, and although neither of us were perfect people our obedience to God kept us on the same path toward perfection.
The final obstacle to getting baptized was getting parental consent. I was seventeen at the time so authorization from a parent was required. I recall having a lengthy discussion with my mother on the subject. She played her hand perfectly, being a cautious mother and at the same time not halting my resolve to act on something I believed was right. Could I have waited a few weeks after I turned eighteen to get baptized without consent? Sure, but why would I want to? If I could get my mom to understand what was going on and have her buy into it ate least partially, then the church may not enhance cohesion in our relationship but it certainly would've have become a divider. As she signed the paper she mentioned that she was doing so against her better judgment, and I love her for it.
On Saturday, June 20th 1993 I was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All of my close friends were there. One picture cannot capture the true and entire meaning of one event, but I think this one comes close. Addison and I are the bookends, he is the tall guy on the left and I'm the tall guy on the right. Notable features of this image include Nancy who is in the front row, left side crying. I remember clearly that she wasn't over-whelmed with emotion at me being baptized but heavily saddened because the Rand family were moving away and this would be the final time she would see them (possibly until Chris' wedding when we saw them again). The photo itself has become worn after many years of being carried around and posted, so after I scanned it I had to touch it up a bit. Unfortunately computers can only do so much, but if I had a time-traveling DeLorean I'd go back to that day and cut Daniel's hair for him. What a great picture. What a great adventure. What a wonderful part of my life...and it was still only the beginning.
6 comments:
Wow, what a great story. I'd like to mention that I'm thrilled I was too young to be in this picture because those dresses are hideous... yikes! Whatever happened to Mandy and Clint (was that his name) Raider? I remember they came to Denver in 95 to see everyone at our grandparents, but where are they now?
Wow, what a picture! Chris looks super young, my how we have changed. That was an awesome day! I have really enjoyed this blog Eric. Keep it coming. In response to Em, I saw Mandy a few times when we were at BYU. She was studying to be a social worker. They use to live in Laramie, WY, but I think I remember hearing that they had moved to UT and one of their parents was teaching at BYU. I could be way off on that one.
Great photo... if it could speak. the thousands of words, sentences, and stories would be amazing. We would laugh and cry and laugh and cry.
Seems like yesterday and then a lifetime ago.
What a great group of Youth!
I look so kewl
Why in the heck were my glasses so freakin' big?
dja: your glasses were always too big. Even after you came home from your mission, they were still slightly too big. Fortunately for you, I was blinded by teenage love.
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