Spiritual Giant

About two years ago, Jamie started asking questions about our church/religion. He and Maggie were best friends at the time and he wanted to know what she believed and why. 

We answered those questions as he asked them knowing that he has a real interest in learning about all religions. We were very careful to make sure we respected his religion in the process - we knew religion was very important to him.  He is one of those guys who reads really deep books about God while relaxing on the beach (that isn't just a hypothetical scenario - I've actually witnessed him reading God books on a Florida beach - weirdo!)

The next thing we knew - he had gotten himself a Book of Mormon and was reading it on his own! The more he read, the deeper his questions got. I suggested that he might want to ask those questions to our missionaries. He liked that idea and began meeting with them weekly.

This went on for a very long time - he also began attending church with us every Sunday. 

This was kind of funny to us because he actually attended SVU for a semester and was literally surrounded by Mormons every single day and never learned about the church while he was there!

This summer, Jamie came to Tommy and I needing to talk - 

He had evidently been praying about what he had learned and how it made him feel. He let us know that he had decided to get baptized! This was very exciting because we knew that after two years of researching Mormonism, we knew he was sure about his choice. 

Jamie is a guy who loves his Heavenly Father. He loves Jesus Christ. He loves his family and he has a big strong faith! We also knew this would probably not be a popular choice amongst many people who loved him - so we were obviously concerned about that - but in the end, we knew that Jamie is not a kid who takes religion lightly and we could see his certainty. 

We know that he will do his best to share his knowledge of the gospel with those who love him, who may not have had a chance to learn the truth of it.

 We have been so blessed to know Jamie. We love him for so many reasons. He certainly was raised to be a strong, moral, righteous young man. 

He and Maggie are no longer dating, but remain best friends. We are so happy that they are still close, because we have come to think of him as family!

Elder Petersen - one of the missionaries who taught Jamie

Tommy and Jamie before baptism

Jamie and Matt - my whole family drove up from San Antonio to support Jamie on this day! Nana and Pa actually drove all the way here, attended the baptism, and drove all the way back in one day!

Elder Brown, Jamie and Elder Petersen - such great missionaries / friends to Jamie!

These were his main missionaries. Missionaries transfer to different areas very often - these guys were all already gone when Jamie decided to take the plunge - they each drove in for the day! Elder Transier (far right) was supposed to be transferred to Brazil but was on hold somewhere in North Texas - Elder Brown drove in from Oklahoma and Petersen came from McKinney! This was actually a really big deal!

the last elders to teach Jamie

Tommy and Jamie just before Tommy baptized him!

Maggie was so lucky to be able to fly home for the occasion!

Jamie and his Elders - and his Sunday school teacher, Ben Hardy, on the end

We wanted a nice family plus jamie photo - but everyone had already started changing clothes - so we just snapped a quick pic outside

 The run down - Jamie asked Maggie and Elder Brown to say the opening and closing prayers, me to speak on the Holy Spirit, Ben Hardy to speak on Baptism and his baptism song was 'If I could Hie to Kolob" because it was one of the only songs he knows from the hymn book! It was a spiritual day - I cried while giving my talk of'course - Jamie was asked by the Bishop to bear his testimony and he cried  - Nana and Stephanie cried before it really even started! There were enough people there to support him that it was moved to a different, bigger room! The Bishop noted all of the elders that had come from far and wide and called them the Army of Heleman on the back row! All in all - I'd say it was awesome and Jamie felt great about his choice!

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