The Baptism and Confirmation of April Johnson

This is a report of the baptism and confirmation of April Johnson, wife of Eric Leslie Johnson

We just left Holden and are on our way to the baptism of April Johnson. It was snowing some this morning and still is as we leave town. Roads are mainly wet now but still pretty good. The snow is blowing across the frontage in some places as we approach the entrance of I-15 north of Holden. Some Snow was sticking to road as we went up and over Scipio pass, but once north of Scipio the road was only wet with visibility of a mile or so, due mostly to fog. The road is barely wet between Scipio and Nephi with a few areas of heavy cross winds. As we pass through Nephi, the roads are damp and in some place look dry. There seems to be thirty mile visibility. Coming into Payson. it is windy with falling snow.

North of Payson the roads are wet and in some places slippery. One car slid off the road to the right. A Utah trooper had stopped where slid off the right shoulder. Cars splash a dirty mist through the periods of falling snow. The road now is wet enough for the passing cars to keep our windshield dirty. Good that we had our wash tank full of windshield solution.

We arrived in Eric's neighborhood a little after two. We drove back and forth on 13 east several times until we finally found his street. The road past his house was the worst for snow than any road that we have driven all day. We had a nice visit with Eric and April. We were plenty early at the church. I got my jump suit on and was ready for the service to begin. But we needed to wait until four. When four came, there were some people that hadn't arrived yet. Robert and Jeanne and Hallie were late.  They had so much snow this morning that they drive out of their driveway let down the steep road.  I talked to Robert on my cell phone.  They had left and were in Orem.  I suggested that they keep coming and would be here in time for the the lunch. Brother Stevens, the ward mission leader, announced that there would be a fifteen minute delay to accommodate those that had not arrived. I called Robert again and informed him that they would wait. Robert and family arrived during the opening hymn. The room was full of friends and family.

The meeting went well. The opening him was "How Great Thou Art". Carol gave the opening prayer. The first speaker was Berta Webb, the relief society President, who spoke on faith, repentance, and baptism. Her talk was inspiring and invited the spirit. April and Susie, her sister, and others shed a lot of tears.  TJ Brown, Susie’s boyfriend, was also in attendance.

I entered the fount from the left and April came in from the right. I positioned her close the right end of the water facing the right wall. I positioned our hands, brought my right hand to the square, called her by name, repeated the words of the ordinance, and laid her down in the water. After she came up from the water, she gave me a hug.

As I called her by name, she looked over at me, I repeated the words, and she watched me as laid her into the water. That really made it personal. I was talking to her, which made it extra special.

I removed the jump suit and put on my suit.  While I was doing this, three different videos were  being shown to those that witnessed the baptism. When April came back, Melissa, a good friend, spoke on the Holy Ghost and how important it was.  She invited those there that were not members of the church to accept a copy of the Book of Mormon.  She did a good job. When she finished there hardly was a dry eye in the congregation.  After hugs and congratulations, we went into a multipurpose room where a lunch was served. The buffet of croissants, funeral potatoes, salads, and deserts were waiting for our enjoyment.  There was plenty of food for everyone. 

Early Sunday afternoon I had the opportunity to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and give the Holy Ghost.  After sacrament meeting we said our good byes and drove home.  The roads were dry all of the way home.

We stopped at Roberts house in Woodland Hills on the way home.  Finding his house was a little bit difficult we had the address, Utah that was all. We found the street okay, but could not find their house number.  The large houses were not close together with a lot of snow in the yards.  We went past it once and made a big loop and found it the next time. The sign was really small and difficult to see. Their house is large with many rooms on three or four different levels.

Merrill & Carol Johnson

The phone has been ringing much of the day.  Richard called.  He has been having back problems.  He had an MRI trying to determine the cause of his back pain.  He may get a job in Colorado.  Lisa called wanting to know how her mother was doing.  Carol has been sick with a bad cold for a week now.  She went to the clinic just before lunch.  She has a bad cold and the only thing that will help her is more time.  She did get a prescription that will help prevent complications in the case that she another cold on top of the that she has.  Melissa called.  She is moving into her own apartment.  She has been on a waiting list for nearly a year.  She is pretty excited about it.  She had a sist removed from her left wrist.  The surgary went well and there were no feelers from the sist.

Eric, our son called.  I answered the phone and turned on the speaker.  The first thing out of his mouth was,"I want to borrow $10,000."  Of course we said that we would loan it to him.  Just kidding.  Then he said that April is going to be baptized on February 23, and she wanted me to baptize her.  Our response was, "your kidding."  He wasn't.  We are really excited about that.  Eric wanted us to invite the rest of the family to be there.

The last call of the evening so far was from Holden.  His birthday is tomorrow and Carol sent him a card with $25 in it.  He called to thanks us.