Stories for a Baptism

Wyatt asked us as his grandparents to speak at his baptism. We both felt that family stories to illustrate principles would be appropriate, and I wanted to record the stories so others can remember them as well.

We should try to emulate Jesus Christ.

When Weston was a young boy he recorded some Primary songs to send to his grandmother, including "Nephi's Courage" and "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus." Included on the cassette tape was his comment, "Sometimes when you hear these songs you may feel like busting out crying." His grandmother wrote back a beautiful letter saying that, yes, listening to the songs did make her cry, but they were happy tears. She was grateful to him for sharing his testimony with her.

It's important to obey our parents quickly. 

One nice summer evening when I was about nine years old, I was outside playing with friends when Mom came out to tell me it was time to come inside. I was having too much fun and didn't want to do that, so asked if I could stay outside for five more minutes. She agreed, and in that five minutes, someone swung a broom and hit my finger, causing the wire wrapping to slice off a good chunk of my skin. As you can imagine, I went inside quickly and with much crying and commotion. Mom compassionately bandaged up my finger and everything was okay. However, I learned a great lesson: obey your parents immediately!

The Holy Ghost can be a guide and help us remember.

One day Jeff told me, "I know the Holy Ghost is real, because I'm praying to remember to pray, and I'm remembering!"

Wayne’s least favorite class in high school was Spanish. One afternoon as he was studying for a test the next day, the Holy Ghost told him to stop studying and go to Mutual that evening, so he did. It turns out that the only “A” he received in that class was on that test, which showed him the importance of following the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and also gave him a testimony that the Holy Ghost can bring things to our remembrance.

Wayne also shared the story of Heavenly Father’s sense of humor in sending him a mission call to a Spanish speaking country! They reviewed everything he had learned in high school on the very first day in the Missionary Training Center. However, he studied hard and felt like he had the basics down, until he stepped off the plane in Chile and wondered if they had taught him the wrong language. He continued to struggle until one day he saw a dog doing tricks in somebody’s yard. He decided if a dog could learn Spanish, he could, too. And he did!