Baptism Announcement

As Andrew prepares to turn 8 years old and be baptized I am amazed at how fast the time has flown since he was a baby. Becoming 8 years old is a great milestone because it is the age of accountibility where a young boy or girl can be baptized into our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After Andrew is baptized he will have to account for his own actions and ask for forgiveness when he makes a wrong choice. We believe that those under the age of 8 years old are still in an innocent stage. This is one reason why we do not baptize our children when they are babies. We believe that children are born innocent in the eyes of God. Andrew will also be given the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide him as he strives to make the right choices. Anyone can feel the prescense of the spirit but only those that are baptized have the gift of the Spirit which means they always have access to the Spirit when they are worthy of it. We don't take being baptized lightly. Ultimately this decision was Andrew's and he made the choice on his own to be baptized. We are so proud of his decision as we know that this will be something that benefits him throughout his life.

As with most things in life we are constantly preparing ourselves for something. As parents we are always striving to teach our children good values. We are also trying to teach them to make good choices and to learn as much as they can of their Savior, Jesus Christ. From the time our children are young we are preparing them to serve missions when they turn 19 years old. Although our focus tends to be on our boys serving missions it is also available to the girls when they turn 21 years old. As a way to remind Andrew of his efforts to be worthy to serve a mission we took some pictures of Andrew in Mike's white shirt and tie and Mike's old missionary tag. This will hang in Andrew's room as a reminder to always make good choices so that he can serve a mission when he is 19 years old. We love you Andrew and are so proud of all that you have accomplished!