Empty me of me so I can be filled with you…
Even though I have gotten together with church members on a very regular basis over the past six weeks, I hadn’t been to a church meeting until Yesterday. It was my first time back at the church, other than my cleaning assignment and a nursery play date, since the birth of Charlie. I knew I missed being there, but i didn’t realize just how much I had missed it. How much I needed to be there. I arrived late, and had to sit in the very last row. Sam was quiet and well behaved even though I hadn’t anything to entertain him. He just sat there and ‘read’ his scriptures and sang random lyrics when everyone else was singing hymns. I had to go to the mother’s room once with Charlie during sacrament to nurse, but other than that the day went very (unexpectedly) smoothly. Although I had been anticipating my return to church, I had been afraid about how hard it would be to tend to two children ALONE. I would run through all the possible scenarios in my head and just couldn’t figure out how i’d carry my scriptures, the carseat/carrier, sam’s bag-o-stuff, sam’s scriptures, a blanket for the baby, ect. So, i simply didn’t. Instead of bringing all kinds of things with me to church i decided on the basics – a diaper bag and scriptures. That was it. I decided that Sam should not be entertained with toys at church and that Charlie didn’t need anything other than diapers, wipes and *me*. I didn’t even bring in the baby carrier. I, instead, chose to ‘wear’ her on my chest to make juggling everything else easier. It went more smoothly than i thought it would – although an extra set of hands would have been nice – and I’m glad I finally went back.
I wasn’t able to take the sacrament because I arrived to late, but the talks were on family. It was so great to hear the speaker’s messages! I had been going to a family history class during the second hour of church before, but having missed so many weeks i was a bit unsure of wear to go, and arrived late to that class as well (i HATE being late, by the way.) I took my time dropping Sam off at his class and eventually found my way to mine. I didn’t stay there long though, I hadn’t brought any of my family history information or my netbook/laptop with with me. (oh, but how cool is this – my dad has all of my family history information dated back to like the 1400’s on BOTH sides of my family. He also knows who has had temple work done for them, even though that information might be outdated. Apparently, I have a great aunt and uncle whom I have never met that are church members, and even though my dad isn’t, he has kept up with some of their information. I haven’t actually uploaded any of my information on familysearch yet, but will as soon as i get it all from my dad.) I wondered out to the bulletin board that I decorate – my calling – and realized how far behind on that I had gotten. There were new members whose photos weren’t posted, and it was still decorated in a winter theme. I spoke to the sister whom I assist with the board and made plans for updating it. During the 3rd hour I made it to RS where I was reminded that we have hit the half way mark in our BOM reading challenge… where I realized I was only about a quarter of the way through.
The one year anniversary of my baptism is rapidly approaching and I haven’t finished anything that I told myself I would. I haven’t read the entire Book of Mormon yet. I haven’t kept up with my calling. I haven’t always done my visiting teaching. I haven’t always let my home teachers or visiting teachers come see me in my home because of reasons i can’t always control, but none-the-less…
Someone recently told met that “if you are too busy for to read your scriptures and to do what God has called you to do then you are much more busy than he ever wanted you to be!” Although, they were kidding when they told me this, I can’t help but feel the truth in that statement. There are so many tasks that I dedicate my time to that are in NO way more important than my studies and my other responsibilities.
Tonight, while driving home late from sewing at my mom’s house and trying to update my website with new items for sale (something i didn’t finish either…) I heard a song that spoke to me.
Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you.
Oh, how I needed to hear those exact words. I am selfish. I have vein ambitions. I have a poisonous pride. I have come so far in the past year, but I’m still not done growing. I am still not done learning. I don’t think I ever will be…
Filed under Mormon, baptism, being a mother, family, quotes, temples and temple work, what i'm doing... | Comment (0)I’ve had just enough of the spotlight
When it burns bright
To see how it gets in the blood
And I’ve tasted my share
Of the sweet life
And the wild ride
And found a little is not quite enoughI know how i can stray
And how fast my heart could changeEmpty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So i can be
Filled with youIve seen just enough of the quick buys
Of the best lies
To know how prodigals can be drawn awayI know how I can stray
And how fast my heart could change
Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with youCuz everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you
Compared to you
Cuz everything is a lesser thing
Compared to you
So I surrender allEmpty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my prideEmpty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you.
Filled with you
Empty me
Baptisms…. For the living & the dead
I was raised in a mixed-christian-denomination household where the subject of baptism was looked at differently by each of my parents. My mother’s church, the Missouri Synod branch of the Lutheran Church, believed in baptizing infants and other very young children. They taught that without being baptized you could not enter the gates of heaven . As a result I was baptized as an infant, and when I had my first born I choose to have him baptized as well. I mean, what kind of mother would I be to let my son go to hell if he were to pass away as before being old enough to make that decision for himself. I felt like it was my responsibility to have him baptized, not to mention it was a tradition in my family. I asked the same pastor who baptized me as a baby (and also my siblings) to preform the ceremony and I made the 600 mile round trip drive to see it happen. Although, I don’t regret doing it, I now realize that I was doubting the mercy Christ by baptizing my son before he reached the age of accountability. As for my own infant baptism, I am not angry with the choice my parents made either. I am happy that they loved me enough to do what they felt was right. Without being raised in the churches I was raised in while growing up I might not have had the desire to pray and to be led to the Church I now am a member of.
Making the decision to get baptized as an adult was a big deal for me. It was something I never thought I would commit to doing – afterall, I thought it was something only babies had done or “strange born again” Christians who attended “Hollywood” churches did. I remember when the missionaries first asked me if I would be baptized. I smiled and told Elder Cluff “Yes, probably. But today is not the day.” It would be a few weeks later until I received my spiritual confirmation. I was sitting on my couch during one of my lessons, happy as always to be hearing the message the elders had prepared for me. When the Elder Cluff asked if August 29th would work for me I just KNEW it was the right time. It was the right day and I didn’t care anymore that I was an adult or that people would see me get baptized or that my friends and family might think I was weird for joing the church. I was so happy… so excited.. so ready. It was the right time, and I finally knew it.
As I prepared for my baptism I grew to be more excited. I studied more about the ordinance and readied myself for the commitment I was making. I thought about having been baptized before and how I never felt “saved” in all those 23 years that followed. I thought about how I wanted everyone to be as happy as I was and this brought me to think about people who were not allowed to study the restored gospel because of their living situations or because of the laws the governments forced them to follow in their own counties. There have been billions of people who have passed away without having the ability to learn about Jesus Christ. People who have never seen a bible, and people who have never been introduced to any Christian denomination. Babies who are stillborn. Toddlers and young children who pass away in accidents or from illness. People who’s governments control their religious exposure. Why would a loving savior punish them for something that they really had no control over? I had learned about baptisms for the dead, also known as baptisms by proxy, in my studies before joining the church. I had been asked over and over if I had questions on the ordinance, because I can only assume most investigators and new comers to the church must have questions when hearing about something that, to my knowledge, no other christian denomination preforms. I had no questions. It made sense to me. If you aren’t given the opportunity to learn about the gospel here, why wouldn’t you be given another chance after your earth life? Why would you be sent to hell, or simply refused entrance into heaven’s gates if you lost your life before you even had the opportunity to be introduced to it?
Baptisms for the dead was one of my favorite topics to study as an investigator to the church and my interest continued to grow even after I joined. I looked forward to the day when I would be able to preform the saving ordinance for someone who was waiting on the otherside of the veil. Waiting, watching, and rejoicing that their opportunity to accept the work that I was preforming for them was finally coming.
When I was first able to preform baptisms for the dead I wanted to go with someone else from my church. I didn’t want to go alone for several reasons, and on the night of my first opportunity to go with a group of people from my church my sister went into labor and had some very serious complications that almost resulted in the loss of her and her babies life. Needless to say I went with my parents on a very long overnight road trip to get to her hospital as fast as I could and missed my opportunity to do baptisms. When the next opportunity came the person I was supposed to go with fell ill, then her child fell ill, then mine and then I eventually became ill myself. Shortly after we all recovered we had conflicting plans because of the thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and before I knew it January was here. My friend approached me in the hall at church on Sunday afternoon after Sunday school class had let out. She told me that she was available that Saturday, if I was. I thought about it briefly and told her I could go. I didn’t know for sure if I would actually have any conflicts that day or not, but decided that unless a life or death emergency occurred I would cancel any other plans that might have come up so that I could go do what I knew needed to be done.
The next Saturday came and my friend picked me up at my house early in the morning. My husband and son were still sleeping. I queitly left my house and rode with her to the Houston Temple. We listened to a talk on family work on our way there, all the while talking about other church things also. She is also a convert to the church – I believe this year will mark her 10th anniversary – and I always love hearing her conversion stories. When we arrived she asked me if I was nervous. I honestly hadn’t been up until that point, but I was nervous. I was also happy and excited as well.
I can’t really explain how I felt while preforming these ordinances, baptisms and confirmations, for deceased persons I had never met. Honestly,It was different than I had expected, but it was still an awesome and spirit filled experience. I have hopes of returning to do more work for people on the other side of the veil – including my own ancestors once I am able to complete some research on them.
Several biblical references to read on this topic:
1 Peter 4:6 – Where the gospel was preached to the dead
Malachi 4:5-6 – Missions of Elijah
1 Corinthians 15:29 – Work preformed for the dead
There are other references from the bible I can send any of you who might be interested, and additional references from The Book of Mormon as well.
Here is a general photo of a baptismal font where baptisms for the dead are preformed in a temple.
When emailing my good friend Carter recently on this topic he wrote me back a list of scriptures and thoughts on the topic of baptisms for the dead. It was a very long, well worded and informative email. I would like to share this little quote with you:
Filed under Mormon, baptism, family, temples and temple work, what i'm doing... | Tags: baptisms for the dead | Comment (0)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church that fulfills the Biblical ordinance of baptism for the dead that is required to save those who Christ, Paul and Peter all affirmed either had not heard the word of the Lord in this life, but would hear and accept it in the next life and be saved after death; or had heard The Word but had not yet had the opportunity to receive the ordinance of baptism to seal the promise. This ordinance, as with all ordinances of the gospel, is done through the power of the priesthood keys (Melchizedek) that Christ gave to Peter:
Matthew 16:18-19 (Christ speaking again): “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
These “keys of the kingdom of heaven” that bind in heaven whatever those who righteously hold the priesthood bind on earth, are used to perform ordinances of salvation—among them baptisms for the dead—in today’s temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; in the same way that the ordinances of the Mosiac law (blood and other preparatory sacrifices) were practiced in the tabernacle and later in the temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel and Herod.
In fact, this is all in fulfillment of a command given through prophecy by Malachi at the end of the Old Testament. It seems tellingly important to me that the very last thing the Lord had written in the Old Testament is this:
Malachi 4:5-6: “Behold I will send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
A study of Elijah’s life in the Old Testament (too lengthy to go into here) shows that Elijah held the priesthood sealing power Christ later passed on to Peter. Therefore the crux of Malachi’s statement is this:
If those sealing powers had not been passed on from Elijah, through Christ, to Peter—if the priesthood wasn’t available for the children of men to perform baptisms for their dead forefathers, as Paul had argued—then all those billions of Heavenly Father’s children who had not heard the gospel, all those people in Asia and elsewhere who for millennia had not even heard of Jesus Christ, much less had a chance to receive His Word—could not be saved.
Is it a fair and loving Heavenly Father who for most of the history of earth only loved and saved Caucasians? Would a loving Father in Heaven condemn the other billions of His children when they haven’t even had a chance to hear His Word? Such a spiritual carnage truly would be a curse upon the earth, as Malachi had described. But Heavenly Father loves His children—every one—and He has made a way for all to hear His Word and have the opportunity to be saved: even those who during their lifetime had no idea the gospel existed.