Woodhall Baptism
One AMAZING Day: September 13th, 2014 was the best day of my life.
A true miracle had happened. MY Nanna & Papa Woodhall were baptized into
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Can you believe that? 80 years
young and they now decide to be apart of such goodness. It has been almost 30
years since my mom joined the church and for their hearts to be soften, and to
accept the gospel into their lives. As most of you know Nanna and Papa have
been on board to get baptized ever since they walked out of the Gilbert Temple
Open House. We saw many miracles from that point on to get to the day of
baptism. It has been such a wonderful experience to be apart of the whole
conversion process. Meeting with the missionaries every week, seeing a new
principle click in their head, the excitement they had every week to learn and
understand long time questions they have had about life. It was such an
incredible journey to be apart of and I am extremely grateful I was old enough
to appreciate this experience, and I know I will be able to look back on it for
strength when needed.
The day of the baptism felt so unreal. I kind of felt like a
zombie walking around because I don’t think it really clicked yet. I had been
praying for this day to come for YEARS and the fact that it was actually
happening felt like a dream. We got to the church building and Nanna & Papa
were there nervous, anxious and excited. (Side note: Nanna is PETRIFIED of
Water, and leading up to this day we have all been nervous about how she was
going to handle being in the water. We were not allowed to talk about it in
front of her so she didn’t have to think about it). With that said, we found the elders and went
to the baptismal area and Mom, Nanna and I walked through the hall and the font
was on the left and Nanna took one look at it and had a panic attack! She ran
the other way crying and said, “I can’t do it, I’m terrified of water, I don’t
want to drown, you can’t make me get in there. I just want to join the church
another way, please don’t be mad at me”. My mom and were shocked, I had no idea
her fear of water was that BIG! My heart sunk and I began to get really nervous
as to what we were going to do, because I believed her and I didn’t think there
was any way she was going to get in that water. It broke my heart seeing her
cry about this because she kept saying, “I know the church is true, I believe,
and I want to be apart of it, but I can’t get in the water I’m petrified”. My
mom and I managed to get her in the changing room and were able to calm her
down and tell her that the water is NOT deep. You can stand in it, there is no
way to drown, Trennon will be holding onto you, and this is Satan getting in
your head, and using your fear of water to get in the way of making this
covenant with God. After calming her down she relaxed and wasn’t as afraid and
got in her jumpsuit (she looked adorable by the way). The 3 of us then held
each other as mom offered a prayer that her anxiety and fear would be taken
away, and that she would be able to enter the waters of baptism and understand
why it had to be done by fully submerging herself under water. We told her that
we both had faith that this prayer would be answered and I asked her if she did
too? Because that’s what HF wants to see. She said she did and we then
proceeded forward to the hallway. As people began to show up, my emotions were
all over the place and the tears couldn’t stop coming! I kept praying in my
heart that Nanna would be able to get in the water, and the scene of her
panicking was on repeat in my mind and I did not want to see that happen again
when it was actually time to get in the water. We took some family pictures and then it was
show time! Bryton started by singing I Am A Child of God with Blake on the
Piano. I then spoke about Baptism, then Sandy Malay sang, then Mom spoke on the
Holy Ghost. After the program the spirit was very strong in the room and I felt
confident that Nanna & Papa were both ready to get in the water and that
Heavenly Father did indeed calm my Nanna’s anxiety down. She had a whole new
countenance in her face. We got back to the water and the moment I was so
nervous about was here… would Nanna overcome her fear and get in the water.
Trennon showed her a picture of Christ before they both got in and he said “Nanna,
look at this picture of Jesus, when we are in there, close your eyes and think
of this picture when you go under. You can do it!” Next thing I know I see her
walking down the steps and in her cute British accent, “oh it’s warm, and I can
stand!” Haha she always knows how to entertain. They then opened up the doors
and there she was, in the WATER, dressed in white, looking beautiful as ever
and so clean and pure. I knelt on the ground to where she could see me, and I
had the BIGGEST grin on my face the whole time, and I kept giving her a thumbs
up letting her know she could do this and that I was SO proud. Trennon said the
prayer, she took a deep breath and under she went without resistance. When she
came up she did a little “oo hoo”, and looked at everyone all excited, running
in place and proud of herself that she DID IT! She quickly got out and you
could hear her say, “it wasn’t even that bad!!” Haha she was so funny! Then it
was Papa’s turn! Brad got to baptize him, which was really neat! When Papa got in
he looked at everyone and gave them all a wave (he loves being the funny guy)
everyone giggled and then it was his turn to go under. When he got up he let
out a “woo” in a tone as if, “alriighttt I did it”, and then waved again to
everyone. Both of them did wonderful and we got many comments saying how
awesome of a baptism that was. Mom and I went into the Bathroom with Nanna and
she was talking up a storm and saying the best things! Then mom grabbed me and
gave me a big bear hug and said, “thank you Trell, its all cause of you and
your faith!” I began to cry and said, “No mom, you were the one to join 30
years ago, its all because of YOU!” and we had a really special moment hugging
with tears of joy flooding out of our eyes. We quickly helped Nanna get ready
and she looked dynamite and Papa took his sweet time to get done changing,
Bishop Wirthlin then welcomed them to the ward and President Ballard then came
down and had them stand up and look at everyone who came to support them. Papa
felt the need to thank everyone himself and gave a little speech. He is the
best! Then he gave them a picture of Christ and they were THRILLED to get that.
We then had a little open house after at our place to eat and talk some more
and celebrate this amazing occasion for two of my favorite people! It has been
so great to see the excitement my Nanna has with her right now. She sent the
sweetest e-mail to my mom the other day saying, “thank you so much for helping
me find the TRUE church of Jesus Christ. So many questions that I have had for
years have been answered by the doctrine and I feel at peace and happy! She
then said the place she thinks she will get hired at isn’t open on Sundays so
she wont have to miss church, which she was glad about and a huge blessing! It
has been a week since this incredible day and I cannot thank my Heavenly Father
enough for listening and answering my prayers, along with many others. My
testimony has been strengthened tremendously throughout this whole process and
I am extremely grateful for this experience and to see two people who I love
dearly come unto Christ and accept HIS gospel.
Other shenanigans that have happened this month was Labor
day weekend, about 25 of us went up to the Law’s cabin in Heber AZ. It was an absolute
blast! We played volleyball, kickball, had a limbo contest, jumping contest,
hiked box canyon, ate lots of food, and just had a too much fun being out of
the heat and hanging out as friends!
I had to come home early Saturday from the hike to make it to my Grandma & Grandpa’s 60th Anniversary Party! Grandma reserved a church building and had Joe’s BBQ caterer the food and then had carnival games for the great grandkids to participate in. Then we had a dance party! Before the party I was nervous how that would work out because I never really see my aunts, uncles, and cousins dance. At most of the cousins wedding receptions I never see them dance for more than 1 or 2 songs. I was nervous the dancing portion of the night would be a bust and not many people would get out there. Wellllll… that was not the case at all. Everyone was out there having a great time and letting loose on the dance floor! We even got Grandma & Grandpa to do the cupid shuffle! The whole night was SO much fun and we all decided we need to have family dance parties more often! I am grateful for Grandma & Grandpa’s great example of being faithful to each other and to the Gospel over the years and glad we all got to celebrate this wonderful accomplishment. You can check out the video I put together of the party HERE!
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