Justin's Baptism
Reilly's boyfriend, Justin, got baptized on Saturday. This was a very special experience for our family. Missionary work isn't exactly our family's forte...we aren't huge inviters or sharers. We get asked a lot of questions about our religion from various people at work and in social situations, which we are happy to answer, but we aren't exactly inviting people over for Family Home Evening on Monday nights. You know what I mean? So this experience has been pretty unique and exciting.
As you know, Reilly has been dating a kid named Justin for over 6 months now. You will also know that we like him...enough to let him hang out with us a lot. I call that "the first miracle". No joke.
From the first time Justin started coming around we liked how respectful he was, and nice, thoughtful, and helpful. Not just to Reilly but to our family...and my entire family. He has done all kinds of things for my extended family. He works at a car dealership and makes sure my mom's avalanche gets primo care. He helped my sister, Kelley, move. He is just super nice and pitches right in to help others.
Did we wish he was LDS? Yes. It just makes life easier in so many ways. But he is a great kid and we were happy that Reilly had such a nice boyfriend. The fact that he is a professional motocross racer and on VERY strict training regimen was also nice. Absolutely no drinking and no drugs. He can't even really eat sugar. He has to maintain his racing weight. Hmmm...that was a definite plus. We also liked the fact that he had a lot going on in his life...busy with racing, school, and working full time at a car dealership. Plus, plus, plus. Most of the other non-lds boys that Reilly has dated have had absolutely nothing going on. They don't have to work and pretty much spend all their free time playing video games and smoking pot. They didn't understand her super busy schedule and lifestyle.
Justin, on the other hand, was raised Catholic and now (I believe) had been attending some kind of nondenominational church. He had a strong faith in God and had been trying to draw closer to the Lord over the last two years. His best friend was killed racing motocross two years ago and it devastated him.
When he and Reilly first started dating, Justin was racing a lot. He had his first pro-race and was competing on a professional level with many sponsors. But then at one of his races, his bike broke. It literally blew up. Justin was fine...thank goodness....but his bike was toast. As these bikes cost over $100,000 financing and sponsors had to be consulted and dealt with...it has taken a suspiciously long time to do this and get a replacement bike for him. Like WAY LONGER than it probably should have. So, what has Justin done with all his free time? Hang out with Reilly and go to church. If you want to hang out with Reilly then you have to go the places she goes and do the things that she does especially as her free time is limited. So, if you want to see Reilly on Sundays you need to go to church. If you want to see Reilly on Wednesday nights she's at mutual.
Justin started to going to church with us quite early on. The first Sunday that he came to church he surprised the heck out of us. He stayed for all three hours!! One of which he wasn't even with Reilly. Tyler accompanied Justin to Priest Quorum for two Sundays in a row until Justin felt comfortable and then Justin has just been doing his thing ever since. He has come every single Sunday and stayed for all three hours. He has attended mutual regularly, gone to all the firesides, participated in multiple service projects, watched both days and all sessions of General Conference (only falling asleep once...not even I can say that!) and even attended mission prep with Reilly. Pretty remarkable. He has been there when Kameron was set apart as 1st counselor in the Deacon's Quorum, ordained as a Teacher, and set apart as President of the Teachers Quorum. Also, if he was at our house on Monday nights he joined in on FHE. He came over for many Sunday dinners, and weeknight dinners, joined us in family prayer multiple times, and scripture study...he even fasted on Fast Sunday for my uncle and his family. One thing that is really cool about Reilly is she just thinks "Why wouldn't he want to join in?" and just invites him to do so. He has never seemed uncomfortable or weirded out. Pretty much the opposite. The LDS youth of today are so bold, so confident, and so comfortable with who they are. Our children are such an example to me.
When we were all up at my mom's house over the holidays Justin approached us and asked us if he could take the missionary discussions. Tyler and I both were like "REALLY?? ARE YOU SURE??" Truth be told, we kind of even tried to discourage him a bit and have him wait and make sure that that was something that he really wanted to do. But he was serious and contacted the missionaries and asked to get started. He said that he just really loves coming to church, he wakes up excited on Sundays (can't relate!), things make sense for him, he feels so welcome and like he belongs there. He also told us that he had been reading the Book of Mormon for a few months and had been praying to find out if it was true and if it was the path that he should take. He told us that he had been feeling like yes, it was true and that yes, it was the right path for him to take. It was pretty incredible. He then told us about an experience that he had that sealed the deal for him. He said that one morning he had really been praying to know if he should join the church and he went into work at the car dealership. An older man came in and was talking to him about his car etc. Something the man said struck a chord with Justin and he asked the man if he was LDS. The man grinned and said that Yes, he was! and he wanted to know if Justin was too. Justin told him that no he wasn't but that he had been coming to church for several months now and reading the Book of Mormon. The man then proceeded to bear a powerful testimony of Jesus Christ and the gospel to Justin in that car dealership. He told him how much the gospel and Jesus Christ meant to him and how he was a convert to the church and that it was the best decision that he had ever made. He told Justin that if he decided to get baptized to let him know. Then he handed him one of the
He is the Gift cards with his phone # on it. Justin felt that to be a powerful answer to his prayers. He came up to my mom's house the next day and asked us if he could take the discussions.
After New Years Justin began meeting with the missionaries a couple of times a week in our home. He was eager to learn all that he could. He told them that he wanted to be baptized. The missionaries then asked him to pray about when that should happen and he did and got a very distinct answer. That date was Saturday. What a day that was!! Justin asked Tyler if he would baptize and confirm him which Tyler was very happy to do. We really do have such a loving and supportive ward. They have taken Justin in and extended friendship and fellowship to him and he has been blown away by it. He has had wonderful Sunday school teachers and he just loves his Young Mens leaders. The YM President is a former motocross racer and has been able to really connect with him. Many people showed up for Justin's baptism and he was overwhelmed by the love and support that he received.
Remember the older gentlemen that bore his testimony to Justin at the car dealership? Well, the first night Justin started taking the discussions, one of our missionaries got transferred, and we got a new missionary...an Elder Johnson who transferred in from another stake. Justin was telling the elders about the answer to his prayer and telling them about the older gentlemen. Elder Johnson became visibly excited...he kept saying "WAIT!! WAIT!! What does this guy look like?" He was literally bouncing up and down on our couch with excitement. Justin described what the man looked like and his manner of speech etc. Elder Johnson was FREAKING OUT!! He yelled, "I know that guy!!" I have been serving in his ward for the last 7 months!! He's Brother Oiler!!" Justin pulled out the
He is the Gift card that the man had given him and they compared phone numbers. Sure enough it was the same guy. Elder Johnson was so excited he was yelling and bouncing all over the place saying, "NO WAY!! NO WAY!! I am calling him tonight!!" Let me point out that the car dealership that Justin works at isn't even in the city we live in. It's in Post Falls, Idaho...20 minutes away.
Look who came to the baptism?
Brother Oiler!!
The joy on both of their faces when they saw one another had me in tears. They were both in tears as they hugged and hugged one another. You would have thought they were family...and now they are. It was amazing. We just never know what effect a few words in a car dealership might have on others and how important it is to let our light shine and be confident in who we are and in our faith in the Lord. I doubt Brother Oiler will ever know how much it meant to Justin and our family that he attended the baptism of a boy from a car dealership. It was awesome to say the least. It was a powerful witness to me that the Lord knows us all individually and that he places people in our paths for a reason.
Elder Sterling, Justin, and Elder Johnson
The baptism was so nice. One of my young women played the piano and another one of my young women lead the music. The old YM president who had worked with Justin for about half the time before he was released said the opening prayer, Reilly spoke on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, Tyler baptized and confirmed him, Reilly, Taylor (one of our YW), Ailey, and Bryn sang a musical number, Kameron bore his testimony, as did one of the young men from our ward, and one of the YM leaders, and both of the elders. Our bishop spoke and one of the YM from our ward gave the closing prayer. It really was a beautiful day.
And there was CAKE!!
Brynnie and her friend Brooklyn. How cute are they??
Then after all of the festivities were said and done we went out to lunch!!
What up man in the back ground? You've never seen the light of the Holy Ghost before? Ha ha!!
So onto questions that I have been asked:
1.) How is Justin's family with all of this?
-His parents are divorced. His relationship with his dad is strained for other reasons and so he isn't thrilled about much these days. Justin's mom was okay and then right before the baptism she kind of got worried that it would change their family dynamic and had some concerns. As of last night, when we had Justin and the missionaries over for his first new member discussion, Justin told us that his mom said that she would like to come to church with him sometime.
2.) Do I think Justin got baptized for Reilly?
-No. Neither Reilly nor our family put any pressure whatsoever or even really made any missionary overtures to him. That's just not who we are. He simply hung out with us a lot and accompanied us where we went. He talked to Reilly about religion a lot and she answered questions and explained things but she never said nor implied that if he wanted to date her that he would need to be baptized. He approached us all on his own. Truth be told we might have even kind of discouraged him at times...wanting him to make sure that this was really what he wanted and not doing it for just those reasons. The missionaries spent quite a lot of time talking to him about this very thing and what would he do if he and Reilly broke up. But Justin was very persistent and so we prayed about it. I don't know about you but sometimes the Lord answers me very bluntly and in a way that very clearly reminds me who is in charge...and it sure isn't me. My answer was very clear...it wasn't my job to worry about why Justin was making this decision or if it would stick. That was Justin's job. My job was to bring him to the Lord. End. Of. Story. Okay...message received. Once that happened...coincidence upon coincidence... answered prayer upon answered prayer...experience upon experience were shown to me and I just got on board with it.
3.) Do I think this means Justin and Reilly will be getting married?
-No. They both are smart kids with big dreams and they have things they want to accomplish in life. Getting married as teenagers isn't one of them. Can I see them getting married someday? Who knows. Maybe. We would be supportive of that down the line if that is what they end up doing. Even better now that he is a member of the church.
4.) Has having the missionaries in your home made a big difference?
-Yes! I think we have all had our testimonies strengthened by this experience. I think I even more so know that it isn't these young elders doing this work...it is the Lord working through them. The elders are goofy and immature...yet lovable. They will be messing around and then all of a sudden boom! They bear this powerful witness and you know that it didn't come from them personally. They will suddenly say something powerful and prompted and will even tell you "I don't know why I just said that!" and it will be just the thing that someone needs to hear. I also love what amazing examples they are to Kameron. As the only boy in our family, they have really taken him under their wing and taken an interest in him. They have invited him to sit in on discussions...to join in....to bear his testimony. They are like amazing big brothers and he wants to be just like them. They have really lit a fire in him and he is so excited for his own mission in four short years. Gulp. I am so grateful for their example to our daughters as well. They have been wonderful in inspiring our girls to serve missions.
5.) Should kid's serve mini-missions?
-YES!! Reilly's two mini-missions have been game changers. I don't think Justin would be baptized today if she hadn't had those experiences. She knows Preach My Gospel front and back...she has a strong testimony of the gospel and of her Savior, Jesus Christ. She is bold and fearless and we are all the better for it.
6.) Is Justin still going to race motocross?
-Funny thing. Right after he set the date for his baptism Yamaha called with four bikes for him. The no bike problem was solved. So, yes...but joining the church has opened up all kinds of new opportunities and horizons for him.
7.) Who leads this Church?
-Jesus Christ. Every single thing about this whole experience has shown me that. My testimony has grown tremendously in my knowledge of how well the Lord knows us and loves us. He knows just who, where, and when to put in our path to help us come unto Him. I am grateful for that knowledge. I saw it first hand in my own life and now with this experience. It's a beautiful thing.
