Leavitt Family Notes: important events

Saturday, September 14, 2013

I may never ever get this sweet little blog of mine caught up! But that's ok. I have one event that I want to record. It was an special one for our family,and I don't want another day to go by before I write about it. So, even if the summer has gone by and I haven't written anything and birthdays and first days of school have come and gone; this day, this one day is what I want to remember. It is the day Riley got baptized. He made such a special choice to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so proud of him.

Riley was baptized September 7th at 9:00 AM at the LDS Church building that he was blessed at. Pretty amazing, since we have changed wards and stakes since that time. He and his dad had to be at the church at 8:30. A long time ago, that would have seemed so early! Everyone was up by 7, so we had no problem getting there in time.

Riley was really nervous. He was scared about making promises that he couldn't keep. The night before we had gone to Grandpa Leavitt's pool. I had expressed to Richard that Riley was really worried about getting baptized. Richard then gave me the best advice, he said: "Tell Riley that he has made these promises before. He promised that he would follow Christ, before he was born" This is pretty much what I told Riley. I tried to let him know that he already chose to follow the Savior once in the preexistence, and that he was just remaking those promises. I also told him that we all make mistakes, and that's ok. We just have to keep trying. This seemed to make him feel better, at least it got him to get up and get dressed.

By the time the other kids and I got to the chapel, Riley and his dad were all dressed in white. There were so many people there, and most of them were there to see Riley. It was so nice to see all those friends and family there.

There was only one other boy getting baptized. This was really nice. With stake baptisms sometimes there are so many kids that it can feel like the day isn't as special. But this day was very special, and we could really focus on our family and friends.

We were the first group to go to the font. Riley and his dad went into the water. There was a sweet spirit in the room. Riley said that water was a little warm. Riley was still feeling nervous, you could tell by look on his face. It should be noted that Riley's toe came up out of the water, and he had to be baptized a second time. The second time around, he kept his foot down on the ground.

We returned to the chapel to wait for Riley and Allen to get dressed. While we waited the missionaries bore the testimonies. Then Sarah Prince (who is the primary presidency) got up and said some sweet things about Riley. She said that Riley is so exited about everything. That he LOVES to help out in primary. Then she told about how for his birthday week he was also the spot light. She thought it was wonderful how his little face just beamed!

Riley was confirmed by his daddy. Other people in the circle were: Richard Leavitt, Mark Peterson, Brigham Leavitt, Jim Peterson, Bill Leavitt, TJ Delvin, David Kenndy, and Dan Perry. We were so blessed to have 2 great uncles there that day.

After the baptism everyone was invited back to Grandma Peterson's home for a brunch. It was an amazing turn out. I am so proud of Riley!

My dearest Riley,
I know you are still unsure about things. We all have those times. It can be hard to make big choices! But you were very brave.

Sometimes we have to make a step into the darkness before we can see the light that shows us the way to go. You are such an amazing young man. You can do hard things.

The Lord loves you! You have such a warm ability to love! I am so proud of all the work you have done to learn how to control yourself, to control your excitement and make that energy do what you want it to do! We love you sooo much!