Testimony - Superhero Julia

Once a month at church the main Sacrament meeting is open for individuals from the congregation to go to the pulpit and share their testimonies instead of having planned talks. I was planning on going up and sharing my testimony as well as sharing how proud I was of Julia for deciding to be baptized. However, as I was about to get up, Rebecca nudged me and pointed to Julia (who had been sitting by Grandma Little) who was walking to the stand to share her own testimony. She shared her beliefs about the church and the feelings she had when she was baptized. I was very impressed.

Julia is my superhero today for being brave enough to share her testimony with others.

Uno - Superhero Christian

Our kids have sometimes had trouble playing board games. They all just want to win so bad that someone almost always ends up crying when the game doesn't go his or her way. At first it was games like Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders; however, with some practice they got pretty good at being good sports. Recently, we have started to teach Julia, Ethan, and Christian a few more grown up games like checkers and Uno. Unfortunately the tears have returned so we haven't played those games all that much. When Grandma and Grandpa Little were here this last week some of those games came back out. As a result, a few "time outs" ended up being issued. Since then, Rebecca and I have been trying to play more of these games with them to help them learn to be okay with losing with them as well.

Today, Rebecca was playing Uno with Christian and Ethan while I was playing checkers with Julia. A few times I heard Ethan start to complain, but overall everyone was doing much better than previous times. When Julia and I finished up, I started watching their game. I noticed that Christian had a bunch of draw twos and other really good cards. After a few turns, Christian had to play a draw two on Ethan, but instead he reached for a new card from the pile. Julia called him out on it, but he refused to play the card on Ethan - he didn't want to make his brother sad.

Christian (4) is my superhero today for placing the feelings of Ethan above his own interest in winning the game.

Baptism - Superhero Julia

In our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints) when a child turns eight years old they can choose to be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and official become a member of the Church. More information on our beliefs about baptism can be found here or here.

Julia turned 8 in November and so she had the opportunity to be baptized today. She was a little nervous, but super excited. There were five other children her age from this area who were also getting baptized at the same time, so there were actually a lot of people there for the program. It was a wonderful evening. Our family sang a song, Grandma Little gave a short talk, there were a couple other talks and songs, and then the ordinances. I was very proud of the decision Julia had made to be baptized and become a member of the church.

Julia (8) is my superhero today for setting a good example for her younger brothers and sister.