Baptisms in the Sea

Beautiful baptisms in the sea at Rosignol, Guyana – March 8, 2008

It was Saturday am and I was just so tired, I was wishing we could go home and sleep because I had been awake several hours during the previous night that we had spent in Georgetown. But... we had promised the 4 elders in Rosignol we’d come to the wedding, baptisms and activity they had planned for Saturday. And I hated to let down the elders. We found them in their apartment, and knelt together with them for prayer before we all left together for the chapel. One of them threw me a rubber flip flop to kneel on and I noticed each elder had one to cushion their knee against the hard tile floor as we prayed. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

The minute we entered the Rosignol chapel doors, my sleepiness vanished and I knew we were in for a very special day. I noticed an Amerindian couple, seated off in the far corner of the hall facing a small table. A little girl cuddled with the woman as she and her partner talked seriously with the man seated across the table from them. I guessed that this was the wedding and it was already quietly in progress. The man across from them would be the protestant minister, who had been hired by the elders for $25, to perform the wedding. Apparently, he earns this marriage fee regularly from the weddings he performs for those wanting to be baptized. The elders generally pay the fee from their own allotment of money. The mother and daughter were dressed in new pink satin dresses and the father was all dressed up in a suit and bowtie. There was no audience, no fanfare, no wedding cake or other signs of celebration. Their wedding celebration would be held later that day when they would be able to be baptized into God’s true church.
The group for the baptism were gathering at the chapel and I found a spot in the middle of them. There are just so many children in the church, many without their parents.

Meanwhile, a group of young boys played an exuberant and noisy game of dominoes on a table in another corner of the same room. I loved watching them slam the dominoes down when it was their turn. I can hardly wait to slam my dominoes the next time I play! On a third table was a large stack of mud stained, very off-white baptism jumpsuits waiting to be put to good use. When the wedding ended, I rushed over to hug the mother, and to be introduced to her family, which included a total of four children. The oldest daughter was also dressed in a beautiful new pink satin dress and there was happiness in everyone’s eyes. I snapped their family picture and they looked beautiful and radiant. All of those who were to be baptized had come dressed to the church in their very best clothes. When all were accounted for, the 4 elders, dressed in their mud-stained baptism clothes, began doling out the baptism suits to those who were going to be baptized that day…all except one little girl. She would have to share some else’s wet jumpsuit . There were only 8 jumpsuits but there were to be 9 baptisms.

When all were dressed in their baptism clothing, the elders called for a taxi bus. We all crammed in the bus and we began our ride to the muddy waters at the Guyana beach. Three carloads later, we were all there. A delay occurred before the baptisms could begin. Three of the children didn’t know their last name. These were the 3 that didn't know their last name. The little girl is their little sister. The elders ran to find their parents so they would have their complete names for the records.

Here you see the 4 elders with the nine to be baptized. The little girl with the green sash and white dress will later change into one of the wet jumpsuits in the bushes so she can be baptized, too. Here is the rest of our group all ready for the service. Notice the handsome man with the white hair in the middle of them. He's my companion!

The service finally began as the tide was quickly rising. We sang a quick song, a prayer was given and I began my short talk on baptism. As the waves lapped at my feet, I realized I’d better talk fast or we’d all be standing in the surf. The talk on the Holy Ghost was short, also, and soon the group, 4 elders plus 8 to be baptized, began its way through the cool chocolate tide until they found a spot deep enough to immerse everyone completely. They formed a circle in the sea and I watched as the elders took each person one by one and baptized them in the muddy seawater. Parts of three families were baptized that day, including two sets of 3 siblings and the newly-wedded parents with their 13 year old daughter. They all looked pretty muddy and bedraggled as they walked back from the sea. Who threw that elder a football?

Their spiffy Sunday-go-to-meeting look was gone, but as dirty as they looked on the outside, I knew they were sparkling clean on the inside. In fact, they were probably cleaner than they would ever be again, all through the ordinance of their baptism. I wondered how they felt inside. Could they even imagine a small portion of what joy and happiness lay ahead of them if they will only stay true to the covenants they had made this day.

I hugged and kissed the little girls and boys and told them how much Heavenly Father loved them and how proud He was of them. I was proud of them, too. They were all very quiet and subdued after their baptisms and I sensed that they knew and felt that something of great value had just happened in their lives. Aren't they darling. These are the 3 that didn't know their name with their little sister. The older girl is the one I helped change in the bushes. They almost didn't get to be baptized because they didn't know their names. They were so sweet. I just kissed them all.
How about this little girl? Isn't she just a doll? I just kept taking her photo until she finally smiled at me. She was part of our group.

I remember my baptism. It surely was different…in a lovely clean font in a beautiful chapel in Los Angeles with warm, clean water. But, I knew my baptism had no more merit than theirs that had taken place in the cool, brown waters of the sea at Guyana.

How thankful and privileged I felt to be able to attend that special baptism day. “Please invite us again”, we begged the elders. The elders kept asking us, “Was everything ok?” “Did we do it all right?” Dad gave them each a big hug and we reassured them what a great job they had done. I was wishing I could hug them, too.

Four precious angel elders had made this beautiful day possible and blessed the lives of these 9 new members. How thrilled I was that we had been there to witness it! Later that day, we learned that in our zone a total of 23 had been baptized and 22 the week before.