Grandma DeVore's Baptism

Last Saturday, on April 12, my dad's mom got baptized. I was not able to go since I am due in a week, but here are some thoughts from Greg and my mom who were there. It sounded like such a wonderful event!

Greg:
Everyone arrived at the house Saturday around noon. People attending from our family were my father, mother, Trevor, Nathan and Henry, Jonathan, Devin, Darin and Rachel. Uncle Steve, Uncle Jim, Aunt Patty and Nickie and her husband Evans were also there.

We just hung out and visited for awhile. My dad went over how the baptism would work with Grandma, showing her how he would hold her hand, how to grab her nose, etc. It was very sweet to watch.

She spent some time talking with Brigham, showing him old pictures of Grandpa and talking about World War II.

Trevor, Nathan, Henry and Brigham practiced the song they were going to sing while Mom and Rachel prepared some food platters for after the baptism.

On the way to the baptism

At the baptism the primary room was about a third full. There were some people from the ward there - the mission leader, former home teachers and some others. Dennis Peterson, the man who originally invited my Dad to a church dance at age 16 was also there (he lives in Pennsylvania but just happened to be in town that weekend). He had been their next door neighbor since he was 9 years old and he and my dad had been best of friends.

To begin with my father gave a talk on baptism. He talked about Dennis introducing him to the Church, about his brothers joining the church and about his mother finally agreeing to listen to the missionaries. My father had heard a General Conference talk where one of the apostles had spoken about his parents being inactive and then eventually coming back to activity in the Church. My dad decided he would try one last time and called my Grandma up, asking her if she would listen to the missionaries. She said that she had already heard everything that they had to say. My dad assured her there were things she didn't know and she agreed to have them come over.

Several weeks later my parents were visiting her and she announced that she wanted to be baptized. My dad couldn't believe it. He asked her what had made her want to do this. She pulled out a booklet the missionaries had given. It was titled, "Eternal Families." She told my dad that that was what she wanted - an eternal family.

My dad also talked about his good friend who had introduced him to the church and thanked him for doing that.

After his talk Brigham, Nathan and Henry sang "When I am Baptized," while Trevor accompanied.
After the song it was time for the baptism. Grandma hasn't been able to stand on her own for quite some time so we had thought a lot about how to get her into the font. Our plan was to put her on a chair and carry the chair down, but when we got her there she said she wanted to try to walk with our help.

My dad waited in the water while Nathan and I helped her in. Once she got into the font she sat in a chair in the water so she could rest. When my father performed the baptism he helped her up, we pulled out the chair, he baptized her and then we quickly slid the chair back in so that she could sit down. It all went off without a hitch. We then helped her back up the stairs into her wheelchair. As she went into the Women's room to change she exclaimed, "That was great!"

It took awhile to get everyone changed but everyone waited patiently. After she was back in the Primary room, Uncle Steve spoke about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He told several wonderful stories. One was about discovering that Grandpa was actually a member of the Church. He had taken a family history class at BYU and gone to the library to look up family records on microfiche. He discovered his father's baptismal record, called his father up and said, "Hello Brother DeVore." He and Jim discovered that my father wasn't the first member of the Church in their family. They actually had ancestors who had joined the Church in England in the 1800's but my grandfather's generation had completely left the Church.

When my grandfather was 14 his mother had died. She had land up in Idaho that was supposed to be for my grandfather and his brother when they got older. But someone took the land from them and sold it to the Church. Grandpa had always felt that "conniving" Mormons had swindled his family out of their inheritance.

Several years ago Jim and Steve took Grandpa to a family reunion in Idaho. My grandfather had never had contact with his relatives after he left Utah at the age of 14. He saw people he hadn't seen in 60 years. And he discovered that the people who had taken his land weren't Mormon at all. He wept as he asked Steve and Jim for forgiveness for all the awful things he had said about the Church over the years.Steve said that the process had now come full circle with Grandma's baptism.

We all gathered in the circle as Uncle Jim confirmed her and gave her the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He talked about her preparing to go to the temple and to be sealed to her family.

After the confirmation Grandma was welcomed to the ward by the 1st Counselor. He talked about how he too was a convert who had parents who had never joined the Church. He said that seeing her gave him hope that his father would one day listen to the message of the restored gospel.

Grandma then said a few words. She talked about how happy she felt, how grateful she was for her sons who were so kind to her. She also mentioned her wonderful daughter-in-laws, especially Dorothy who had taken such good care of her. It was a short and very sweet testimony. I looked at her and thought, for the first time in my life I can say my grandmother is truly a sweet, kind, loving, beautiful person.

The time was then opened up for testimonies. Dennis Peterson hopped right up and talked about introducing my Dad to the Church. He said it hadn't happened just at 16 but that my father had been in his house many times from the time he was 9. That was when my father was really introduced to the Church. He also talked about their youth group that helped bring Dad into the Church and make him feel welcome. He talked about the conversion of Jim and Steve and how shocked and  thrilled he was when he heard that Helen was getting baptized.

Then Devin got up to bear his testimony. He turned to Dennis Peterson and thanked him for being willing to open his mouth. As soon as Devin said this I lost any sense of composure and just sobbed. How can he possibly know how what he did means to us? The gospel is the most valuable thing I have in my life. Everything wonderful I have in my life, my parents, my siblings, my wife, my children are all because of the gospel. What if he had kept his mouth shut? What if he had decided that Greg DeVore wasn't the type of kid that would be interested in religion?

Devin thanked him and read the scripture, D&C 18:15:

15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! (D&C 18:15)

There were very few dry eyes. Trevor shared his testimony after Devin, and mentioned how beautiful Grandma looked, and that our parents greatest gift to us was the gospel and loving the Savior, which is because of Dennis speaking to Dad. Darin then shared his testimony and so did my mother. It was a beautiful, surreal experience.

We took some photos afterwards and returned to Grandma's house. 

The sons

The daughters in-law

The grandchildren and great-grandchildren

With the man who started it all

Brigham and Henry played "brickball," a game that Jim and Steve had played as kids in their front yard. They eventually had us all playing.

I showed Grandma pictures of the day and she loved them. I showed her that I had mentioned she was getting baptized on Facebook and then almost 100 people had "liked" that. I then read her some of the comments. She asked, why would these people who don't even know me be so excited that I am getting baptized? I explained to her that the Gospel is the greatest joy we have in our lives and then when we hear of someone else making the choice to receive the Gospel and to be baptized we can't help but feel joy for them as well.

She talked about how invigorated and full of energy she felt. She hadn't been able to be out of bed for more than an hour for a very long time. She was up all day, visiting with people and having a wonderful time. She held our hands, she thanked us for being their. She kissed our heads and she radiated love, gratitude, humility and peace.

It was good to see that she was still Grandma though. I showed her a photo I took of her after the baptism and she said, "Oh my hair looks like hell!" We told her she looked beautiful and she couldn't understand how we could think that. We explained that it was the joy in her face that made her so beautiful, more beautiful than she had ever been before.

It was a wonderful, wonderful weekend, a blessing that I never believed would come. As my father, Nathan and I were changing I told him something that Grandma had said that I never thought I would hear from her. We said it was the weekend of a 100 things we never thought we would say. He told me that he didn't believe it would ever happen. He had lost hope that she would ever accept the gospel. So had everyone else, except for one person, my mother. She would never give up on her. No matter what happened, no matter what my grandmother did, my mother continued to love and serve her. I really believe that no one could withstand love like that, especially when applied consistently over 51 years. In the end the more stubborn one was Dorothy. She would not bend, she would not yield and her Christlike love truly changed hearts.

My mom in her testimony recounted how my grandmother would ask why she was still alive. She was so sick and so incapacitated. Why couldn't she just die? My mom would always reply, "Because you haven't been baptized yet." And that was the truth.

Mom:
What a beautiful, unforgettable experience.  Grandma was still very happy today and was amazingly up and energetic again today.  Last night she went into her room and went to bed for a while, but when she heard everyone talking she got up and came out again.  We couldn't believe she was able to stay up so long.  Dad, Nathan, Henry, Darin, Rachel and I went to Sacrament meeting and Dad was able to bear his testimony and thank the ward for welcoming him over 50 years ago and talking a little about the miracle of Grandma's baptism.  He has spoken often of the very special youth in his ward who were a great influence.  

I appreciate your thoughts on my part in this, but it's interesting as we look back on events over the last 10 years.  We all remember that Grandma was a chain smoker, yet after a 9-day stay in the hospital recovering from sepsis, in a state so sick she doesn't even remember much, she woke up and never wanted a cigarette again.  She thinks Dad or Steve gave her a blessing that she would lose her desire to smoke, but neither are admitting they did.  It would have been very difficult to face the smoking issue if it hadn't happened this way.  She had tried many times to stop, but when it came time for her baptism, it wasn't the slightest issue.  Then a year ago Christmas when Grandma was so sick and Dad thought she had cancer, Steve went to stay with her for Christmas and discovered she was over-dosing on pain medication.  She was so angry at his suggestion and there was a huge fight, but she decided to go off the medication completely (we have no idea why she didn't go through serious withdrawal pain), but she said Steve told her about a great drug and it worked well for her:    A - d- v - i - l.  She suddenly had her appetite back, was up a lot more during the day, and about 8 months later is when Dad sent the missionaries.  It has been a very slow process but in the end great result.  

We are grateful for those who were able to attend and thank those who stayed behind and made it possible.  Grandma originally said she really didn't want people to come, but it turned out she was so happy she could share the day with family.  I think she was worried it would be a difficult thing to arrange and a lot of travel, but it was very worth having those there who could come.  Nicki said Evans really enjoyed it and enjoyed being with our family.  Nicki had a great time as well and they were able to see some of Patti's siblings and spouses they hadn't seen in many years. 

You were all so helpful with working out all the details and it seemed like I just kept asking for help, so I am very appreciative of all you did.