Lyn's Baptism

On August 2, 2008, Lyn was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). It was an exciting day for us!

Our faith teaches us that little children are pure and incapable of sin until they are eight years old or "the age of accountability." At this age, they can then decide for themselves whether this is a step they want to take.

Lyn decided that she wanted to be baptized and says, "I wanted to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ because I love to go to church and learn about the gospel. I know my Heavenly Father lives and watches over me."

The ceremony was performed at our church building with the help of some very dear friends.

Generally, children are baptized by their father, but since Dan is not a member of the church, Lyn asked our bishop, Dennis Lowe, to perform the ordinance.


The ceremony began with the congregational hymn, "I Am a Child of God," played by our friend Susan Maher and conducted by her daughter Sabrina Campbell.

Mom said the opening prayer.

A member of the Stake Primary Presidency presented Lyn with a commemorate poster which highlighted a few things from Lyn's life:

• Lyn's birthday is July 31, 2000. She loves being born on the century mark because it's easy to tell how old she is by looking at the current year.
• Her full name is Carolyn Nancy, and she was named after her two grandmas. Her parents always knew she would have a nickname because her dad didn't want to call his daughter the same name as his mother-in-law. They were planning to call her "Carrie Lyn," but when she was born, her mom held her in her arms and out came the words, "Hello, Baby Lyn." She was "Baby Lyn" for a long time, until her dad said she was growing up they had better stop calling her that. So it just became Lyn.
• She has always lived in the same house in Franconia. She has one brother, John, who is 18 months younger. Lyn was a late walker, and when her mom was pregnant with her brother, she was worried she was going to have to carry two. She kept telling her that she would NOT be carrying her and that she had better learn to walk before the baby comes! Well, she took her first step the day her brother was born. I guess she figured that she wouldn't walk until she absolutely had to.
• Lyn attended Kindergarten through 2nd grade at Franconia Elementary, but now she has been accepted into the gifted and talented program at Springfield Estates. The family is excited for this new adventure!
• Lyn's favorite thing in the whole world is reading--especially mysteries.
• Her favorite color is red.
• She has taken ballet since she was 3 and performs in a big recital every year.
• When she was two, she was in a play called "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. She played a little lamb and got a huge applause every night. Once after a matinee, she even "signed" autographs!
• Lyn has been a vegetarian since birth. Once she even won a contest and was featured on the front cover of "Vegetarian Baby & Child" magazine.

Next, our friend Sandi Cumberland gave a short talk on the meaning of Baptism (and made the cute sign Lyn is holding in the pictures), and then several members of our friends the Peterson family, performed a special musical number, a medley of "I Like to Look at Rainbows" and "Our Savior's Love."

This was followed by Lyn's baptism which, following the example of Jesus, is done by full immersion. Because, as Paul said to the Corinthians, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established," (2 Cor 13:1), Lyn asked Mark Glad, our home teacher, and Kendall Morgan, her Primary teacher, to stand as witnesses.

After Lyn got dried off and cleaned up, she prepared be confirmed a member of the church and receive The Gift of the Holy Ghost.

First, though, we heard a talk from our friend Susan Maher on what this gift means. The ordinance was then performed by Susan's husband, Dan (who changed out of his suit before we had a chance to take his picture!).


Dan was assisted by Dennis Lowe, Mark Glad, Kendall Morgan, Eric Peterson, and Lorne Campbell.

The ceremony ended with the congregational song, "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today," and a closing prayer by John.

Of her special day Lyn says, "I felt very warm and bright inside my heart, and I knew I was making the right choice."

We are so proud of her!


Click here to learn more about our beliefs concerning the ordinances of Baptism and The Gift of the Holy Ghost.