5/2/2010: Ye Must Repent, and Be Baptized In My Name

Aidan Si-bing Li was baptized and confirmed as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints today.  Special guests included my parents, Ginger's mom and Ginger's adopted family, the Eckerts.

Here is how Aidan's special day unfolded, in his own words:

May 2, 2010.  I had my baptism.  It was at the church in Chicago Heights.  My dad baptized me.  I got water in my ears.  In the dressing room, I asked my dad, "am I supposed to be wet?"  He answered, "yes."  Other people took pictures of me when I was in my white suit.  When I got out of the water, I was cold.  After the baptism, my dad confirmed me a member of the church and gave me the gift of the holy ghost.  I felt good.  After we left church, there was a party.  The party was fun.

We were honored to have Rex Eckert talk about baptism.  He was a good showman.  At the beginning of the talk, he brought out a horn.  Members of the audience gasped; the bishop looked frightened.  For Rex, mission accomplished.  Oh, and he gave a wonderful talk that was simple and direct.

Gina Eckert talked about the Holy Ghost, complete with visual aids.  She also gave Aidan a beautiful cigar box filled with gospel goodies, including colored pencils for marking scriptures, a beautiful bookmark, Book of Mormon timeline and more.  We use the gifts every Sabbath Day when Aidan studies his scriptures and are filled with gratitude to have such good framily (friends/family).

We were also blessed to listen a special Musical Number by Holly Belzowski, Allison Drapeau, Melanie Hernandez, Abby Trytko and Ginger Li called "I'm a Child of God."  This was the first ever performance by the HAMAGs, and I expect at least 5 more encores.

Here was Aidan's baptismal program:

And a slideshow that walks through the day in pictures: