I am Mormon....part 2.....

I was baptized on November 19, 2005…just 4 weeks after Cole and I were married.

It was a beautiful day. I spent the majority of the day at home looking forward to that evening. It was a Saturday. I remember it being pretty warm…Erin and Joseph came down with their kids. We were living on the farm at the time so we were able to spend the day with Cole’s family. I remember going across the street to a craft bizarre while Damien, Cole, Bruce, Joseph and the kids were playing football. We had dinner as a family. I had to be at the church thirty minutes early…so Cole and went together and his family joined us a little later. Lots of friends from Jacksonville ward joined us. President Wright was there with some of his family and Julie Doll with her family.

It was a great evening. Caleb, Jared, Hunter and Harmony all sang “I am a Child of God” and Erin and Heidi sang “Learn of me”. My father-in-law, Bruce, baptized and confirmed me. Lorie played the piano. Cole said the opening prayer and Joseph said the closing prayer. Heidi gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and Damien gave a talk on baptism.

The joy I felt the night of my baptism is indescribable. I look back and am so grateful for the choice I made to be baptized. In the Mormon Church, we are baptized by immersion; meaning, we enter the waters of baptism and our whole body has to go under, just like Jesus Christ did so many years ago. I remember feeling clean renewed and inspired after coming out of the water. I knew that through repentance and faith any sin I had committed, big or little, was now in the hand of my father in heaven and that I was clean.

After being baptized, I was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was also given the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. It was comforting to know, then and now, that as long as I listen to the still small voice and keep the commandments that I will have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion.

For several months after I was baptized I was attending church by myself with Cole’s family. Cole was working Sundays and still hadn’t decided that he was ready to return to church. I went faithfully and diligently. I enjoyed my new friends at church. I was struggling, not because of the church but because my husband was not joining me on this journey. The first few months after my baptism were very trying. I sometimes questioned the choice I had made. I turned all of my attention to the things I was learning and tried so hard to focus on the blessings I would receive if I stayed focused. For strength, I turned to my friends at church and my family (although most of them don’t know how hard this time for me really was). I am grateful for my new member missionaries; two ladies that helped guide me through the rough times and gave me hope.

Just a couple months after our marriage and my baptism, while I was feeling alone, I found out I was pregnant. I had gone to the doctor because of some problems I was having; after some lab work, tests and an ultrasound, not to mention a long couple of weeks, I was told that I was pregnant (this story is rather long and will be told in a separate post down the road). Along with all of the other emotions a woman has when she finds out she is pregnant, I felt blessed to be given the opportunity to bring one of Heavenly Fathers spirit children to this earth, especially after being told that I may never being able to get pregnant. As the primary song “I am a Child of God” goes:

“I am a Child of God; He has sent me here, given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear. Lead me, Guide me, Walk beside me, Help me find the way, Teach me all that I must do to live with him someday.” Children’s Song Book #2

My life had new meaning, I had a little one on the way to lead and guide. I had a little one on the way to teach and in return, learn from.

In July of 2006, Cole made his decision. I will always remember the moment. We were driving home from church and Cole told me that he was ready. He was ready to come back to church full-force and do what he needed to do to lead our family. He said that he knew the church to be true and he did have a testimony. He wanted to be able to take me to the temple when the time came. So he met with the bishop and continued coming to church. It helped that he was no longer working Sundays. After a couple of long hard months, on our first anniversary, Cole was ordained to the office of an elder.

A couple of weeks later, on November 2, 2006, I gave birth to our first child, Cameron Jay Cole Henderson.

To be continued……..