Good Afternoon Sisters! I know, I am late again. I have had several things come up in the past few days and I am getting my first opportunity to sit down and write to you. Our lesson was by Michelle Gawley this past Sunday and was about one of the basic principles of the gospel, that is BAPTISM. I loved that she invited her husband who is a convert of a year and a half to come share his feelings with us. It really brought in the spirit and I could sense his enthusiasm and testimony of the gospel.
Baptism is the gateway by which we inherit the Celestial Kingdom. Jesus Christ was without sin, yet He was baptized. He said His baptism was necessary “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). The prophet Nephi explained that the Lord told him, “Follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do … with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism” (2 Nephi 31:12–13).
Each of us whether at 8 yrs old or later in our life had a choice to make. We had to first gain a testimony of the Priesthood. If we knew that it was the only authority by which to baptize. We also had to gain a testimony of repentance. Lucky for us that we aren’t just cleansed one time at baptism and then expected from there on out to be perfect or we would all be in trouble. Be have the opportunity every time we make mistakes or sin to correct them and repent of those mistakes and be worthy again of those baptismal covenants that we took upon ourselves. The sacrament each Sunday is one of those times that we can be reminded and renewed in our covenants.
While Michelle was teaching I was reminded of a story that President Faust gave in 2001 called “Born Again”. In this conference talk he told of a Samoan man who used his faith to get his crippled legs into the baptismal font. Here is the story that he recounted:
“Some years ago Albert Peters told of the experience he and his companion had of a man being born again. One day they went to the hut of Atiati in the village of Sasina in Samoa. There they found an unshaven, unkempt, misshapen man lying on a bed. He asked them to come in and introduce themselves. He was pleased to know they were missionaries and wanted to hear their message. They presented the first discussion, bore witness to him, and then left. As they walked away, they discussed Atiati’s condition; he had had polio 22 years before that had left him without the use of his arms or legs, so how could he ever be baptized, being so completely disabled?
When they visited their new friend the next day, they were unprepared for the change in Atiati. He was bright and clean-shaven; even his bedding had been changed. “Today,” he said, “I begin to live again, because yesterday my prayers were answered and you [came] to me. … I have waited for more than twenty years for someone to come and tell me that they have the true gospel of Christ.”
For several weeks the two missionaries taught this sincere, intelligent man the principles of the gospel, and he received a strong witness of the truth and the need for baptism. He asked them to fast with him so that he would have the strength to go down into the water and be baptized. The nearest baptismal font was eight miles away. So they carried him to their car, drove him to the chapel, and set him on a bench. Their district leader opened the service by bearing a strong testimony about the sacred ordinance of baptism. Then Elder Peters and his companion picked up Atiati and carried him to the font. As they did so, Atiati said, “Please, put me down.” They hesitated, and he said again, “Put me down.”
As they stood in some confusion, Atiati smiled and exclaimed: “This is the most important event in my life. I know without a doubt in my mind that this is the only way to eternal salvation. I will not be carried to my salvation!” So they lowered Atiati to the ground. After a huge effort, he managed to pull himself up. The man who had lain 20 years without moving was now standing. Slowly, one shaky step at a time, Atiati went down the steps and into the water, where the astonished missionary took him by the hand and baptized him. He then asked to be carried from the font to the chapel, where he was confirmed a member of the Church.
Atiati continued to progress so that he gained the ability to walk only by a cane. He told Elder Peters that he knew that he would be able to walk on the morning of his baptism. He said, “Since faith can move a stubborn mountain, I had no doubt in my mind that it would mend these limbs of mine.” I believe we can say that Atiati was truly born again!
Like Atiati, when we are baptized, we are spiritually born of God and are entitled to receive His image in our countenances. We should experience a mighty change of heart so that we can “become new creatures” and exercise faith in the redemption of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in order to maintain our standards of worthiness. The personal standards of worthiness to be baptized into this Church are plain:
“All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.”
Baptism by immersion in water is “the introductory ordinance of the gospel, and must be followed by baptism of the Spirit in order to be complete.”
As the Prophet Joseph Smith once said: “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.”
I love those words, “today I begin to live again!” Sisters how many of us are going through the motions of life? How many of us are just getting through the day?! How would our lives be different if we used our Baptismal covenants, accepted the Atonement for whatever is ailing us and BEGAN TO LIVE AGAIN?! My challenge is to each of us to take inventory! What is there in our lives that is stopping us from LIVING it?! How can we better utilize the blessings of our baptism.
May you live each day to the fullest and enjoy more fully the sunlight! I love you! I am thinking of you! Keep pushing those handcarts for the reward ahead is sweet!
Meg
