It's milestones like these that make me remember how different our children's life experiences are bound to be because of where we live at the time they happen. For example, H was baptized in Houston where there was someone in the ward whose entire calling was to help coordinate baptisms. I remember it being pretty low-key, especially since he was baptized at the same time as someone else (so we were in charge of only half of the program). We had a pizza party with our family beforehand, H picked Baptism as the opening song, and Brandon's Dad gave a talk about the Holy Ghost. We sang Scripture Power as the closing song (the other boy getting baptized picked this song), and Brandon and I made little bags of Hershey Kisses with a thank you note attached for people to take as they left.
But, of course, this time was bound to be a little different.
E invited three of her friends from school and Brandon invited his team from work, we invited the ward and a few specific families in the ward, as well. All of the people we invited who belong to other faiths attended, and some of our ward friends didn't, so there ended up being more people there not of our faith than there were from our ward.
In fact, as the time to start approached, our Primary President (who I had asked to speak) and her daughters (one, of whom, was supposed to play the piano) still hadn't arrived. I messaged the mom and didn't get a reply, but the Bishop happened to call her about something else and handed me the phone. They weren't going to make it, which meant I would play the piano and the Bishop would give the closing remarks. (Luckily, I had practiced the hymns just in case.)
To summarize: We sang Lord I Would Follow Thee and H gave an opening prayer. I gave a short talk about the promises made during baptism, during which I described E's favorite scripture story, the Good Samaritan. H and I were witnesses while Brandon baptized E. She was so excited she was practically bouncing in the water! While she was getting changed, the missionaries played a more modern adaptation of the Good Samaritan story. However, when the movie ended, Brandon still wasn't back from changing his clothes. I whispered to the bishop that Brandon wasn't available yet to give a talk about the Holy Ghost. So the bishop jumped up and gave his prepared remarks, and then asked Brandon to proceed to give E the Holy Ghost, which he did. Then the bishop got up and talked some more and, at the end, asked Brandon if he had anything to add. Nope! A closing song and a prayer by CJ and that was it!
Food is a big part of any occasion here, so we knew we would have to provide a good spread. I even thought about getting it catered, which isn't as crazy as it sounds. Cratering is super cheap and really common here; I once attended a stake choir practice that was catered! But ultimately, I decided against it. If E liked pizza a little bit more, we might have bought a dozen from Dominos and called it good. But in the end we made it ourselves.
So after the service was over, we opened up the partition that led to the kitchen area where the food was waiting. We had pasta salads (Italian [the salami was exorbitant!] and Southwest), a veggie platter, sliced muskmelon and watermelon, grapes, pav rolls, soda, peanut butter cookies, brownies, and bite-size Bountys. I'd say the food was a success: I had two locals ask me whether I made the food or ordered it in, so it must have been pretty good! A brother in our ward said the southwest salad reminded him of an Indian dish that I unfortunately didn't catch the name of, which I thought was interesting. And one more thing: the bishop's 11-year old daughter pointed at the bowl of grapes and asked me what they were. They sell grapes at all the grocery stores I shop at, but definitely not at the smaller ones or the street stalls. I knew the pasta salads might not be familiar, but it hadn't occurred to me that our guests may not recognize some of the other foods on the table.
All-in-all it was a really great day!
But, of course, this time was bound to be a little different.
I totally fudged the address on the invite, btw.
Addresses here are really complicated so I also sent a link to a map.
E invited three of her friends from school and Brandon invited his team from work, we invited the ward and a few specific families in the ward, as well. All of the people we invited who belong to other faiths attended, and some of our ward friends didn't, so there ended up being more people there not of our faith than there were from our ward.
We were so happy that E's besties from school made the 1 hour drive!
We were so sorry it took them 2 hours to get home!
In fact, as the time to start approached, our Primary President (who I had asked to speak) and her daughters (one, of whom, was supposed to play the piano) still hadn't arrived. I messaged the mom and didn't get a reply, but the Bishop happened to call her about something else and handed me the phone. They weren't going to make it, which meant I would play the piano and the Bishop would give the closing remarks. (Luckily, I had practiced the hymns just in case.)
Food is a big part of any occasion here, so we knew we would have to provide a good spread. I even thought about getting it catered, which isn't as crazy as it sounds. Cratering is super cheap and really common here; I once attended a stake choir practice that was catered! But ultimately, I decided against it. If E liked pizza a little bit more, we might have bought a dozen from Dominos and called it good. But in the end we made it ourselves.
So after the service was over, we opened up the partition that led to the kitchen area where the food was waiting. We had pasta salads (Italian [the salami was exorbitant!] and Southwest), a veggie platter, sliced muskmelon and watermelon, grapes, pav rolls, soda, peanut butter cookies, brownies, and bite-size Bountys. I'd say the food was a success: I had two locals ask me whether I made the food or ordered it in, so it must have been pretty good! A brother in our ward said the southwest salad reminded him of an Indian dish that I unfortunately didn't catch the name of, which I thought was interesting. And one more thing: the bishop's 11-year old daughter pointed at the bowl of grapes and asked me what they were. They sell grapes at all the grocery stores I shop at, but definitely not at the smaller ones or the street stalls. I knew the pasta salads might not be familiar, but it hadn't occurred to me that our guests may not recognize some of the other foods on the table.
All-in-all it was a really great day!
I didn't get a picture before some of the ward members and our driver left,
but we got one with all of our other friends, neighbors, and coworkers.
We had people from the US, India, France, Thailand, Korea, and Switzerland.
I just noticed that CJ is wearing the same dress that E was wearing when H got baptized! Total coincidence! Check it out here!
