Why I am Mormon part IX

So the 19th of October 2002 arrived. I had called my mother about four days before and told her that I was going to get baptized. I was really worried about telling my family that I was going to join the Mormon church. I didn't want them to be mad at me or disappointed or anything of that kind. It was the sisters who finally convinced me that I should tell my parents at least that I was getting baptized. So I decided to tell my mother first because mothers in general are always more understanding of their children and my mother is perhaps the most understanding and loving of all. So I called my mother up and when she answered I told her I had some good news to tell her. She then asked what it was. "Well mom," I said, "I'm getting baptized." She then replied, "One second, Nana (my grandmother) is here and I am gonna put you on speaker phone because this will make her so happy." (If only they knew what I was going to tell them) "Hey guys," I said. "well I am getting baptized this Saturday up here in Utah." Well I heard my Nana break into hallelujahs that would make an Angel feel like a slacker. "What church are you getting baptized in," my mother asked. "Well.... I am joining the Mormon Church." Talk about a deafening silence for about thirty seconds. "Son, we will be up there on Friday," my mother said. I was excited that my mom and Nana were coming up. Little did I know that the only reason they were coming was so that they could come and rescue me from the cult that had brainwashed me.



The next call I had to make was far more scary for me. I needed to call my father and tell him. Now the relationship between a son and father is different that between a son and a mother. I was far more afraid of disappointing my father or making him angry then when I talked to my mother. I decided to metaphorically attack my father on two fronts so he wouldn't know what to do.



Unknown to anyone except myself and my recruiter I had joined the United States Marine Corps on the 29th of September. I had neglected to tell anyone about this because I knew that almost everyone would be upset with me so I had decided to keep it to myself.



So with regards to this I had decided that I would tell my father both that I was becoming a Mormon and that I had already joined the Marine Corps and in so doing this he wouldn't know which thing to be more upset about. So I called my father the Friday night before I was baptized.



The conversation went something like this, "Hi dad, its JD." "Hows it going son?" "Good I told him. I have something I need to talk about with you dad." The things that go through a parents mind when one of their children utter something like that is something I don't understand but I am sure that it isn't a pleasant thing. "So son, are you in trouble, do you need money or something?" "Well dad, I have something to tell you." "Nothings wrong is it Son?" "No dad . . . Well . . . I have joined the Marine Corps," and I quickly added, "and I am joining the Mormon Church tomorrow morning." Well this time the silence lasted for about a minute. Finally I asked, "Dad, are you still there?" I thought he might have hung up on me in anger. "Son," he said "It seems like you are making grown up choices and you are going to have to deal with the consequences of them." Then he hung up.



Well that went a lot a better than I thought it would.



So like I was saying earlier before I digressed it was Saturday the 19th. My baptism was at 10:00 in the morning. The sister told me I had to pick two people to talk at my baptism. I had to have someone talk about the Holy Ghost and someone talk about baptism. For the talk on Baptism I decided to ask someone who never would have guessed I would pick them. First off the person I picked was not even baptized yet. His name was Jeff Spears. He had been on the debate team the year before with me and had investigated the church and while he was investigating the church myself and others consistently told him why he was stupid to waste his time with the missionaries and how it was all wrong. He finally stopped meeting with the missionaries that year but when I started to take the discussion he started again to. We constantly were talking to each other about what we thought about the Book Of Mormon and other things and also bounced questions off each other. Jeff gave an amazing talk about baptism and why it was important. Jeff went on to be baptized two weeks later. Well I decided to pick Amber to speak on the Holy Ghost. She is one of the ladies who I had given the hardest time concerning the church my freshman year. She gave an awesome talk after I was dunked that compared the Holy Ghost to a radio station and she admonished me to always stay tuned into the right frequency.



I had asked President Clark to baptize me since Sister Glancy or Niu couldn't because they didn't have the priesthood. (that was another concern I had when I learned that women couldn't hold the priesthood. I wanted to know what kind of sexist crap that was. I really wanted one of the Sisters to baptize me. They finally got it threw my thick head why they couldn't.) President Clark had been a stud answering all my hard to answer question and taking time out of his busy schedule to help me.



I got dressed in a white jump suit and stood at the edge of the baptismal font. President Clark was already in the water and he stretched out his hand toward me asking me to come into the water. I stepped into the water and very quickly I wanted to step out. Now this isn't as some people might have assumed because the year before I had been an anti Christ and by entering the water it might start to boil rather it kind of hit me what I was doing. However a feeling of calm came over me and I enter the water.



The curtain opened and standing there were all my friends and family who had come. President Clark raised his right hand to the square and called me by name and by the power and authority of the priesthood baptized me in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. It all happened so quick one second I was dry and the most vile of sinners and the next I was soaking wet from head to toe and as clean and sinless as a newborn babe.



I had never felt so happy in my entire life. I knew that I had made the right choice. Such happiness that I felt then I had never before known. I knew then that I had made my Father in Havana proud of me and that he was well pleased with my choice. I felt so clean and pure, I never wanted to even think a bad or dirty thought in my life. I remember just smiling and smiling a ten mile wide grin from ear to ear. It is an amazing feeling to know that you have made your Heavenly Father proud of you.



As I sat down and listened to Amber's talk I just kept smiling because I was just plain happy. After Amber finished Bishop Donaldson welcomed me to the ward which was kind of weird since I had been going there for two months but whatever I was happy. And now a funny thing happened Bishop D asked me to stand up at the front with him and I did. He then asked my Nana to come and stand with us. (Now remember Nana wasn't a member of the church and had been convinced I had been brainwashed by a cult and got my mother and aunt to come with her to come and rescue me and take me back home far away from these crazy Mormons.) He asked Nana how she felt. Now I was scared, I was ready for Nana to read the riot act to everyone present and grab me and make a break for the border. However Nana said this, "All the angels in heaven are singing and saying hallelujahs and I am just so proud of the choice JD has made to give his life to the Lord."



Wow I thought, apparently when I was baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost she decided it was all okay and I am sure that having pictures of Jesus all over the church didn't hurt either.



The next day I was to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and this only served to open a new can or worms and provide me with new questions.