Clayton's Baptism 8 is Great!

Yesterday was a pretty memorable day for our family. Clayton got baptized!  

This day meant so much to all of us. Lisa and Andrew spent a long time wondering if Clayton should/could get baptized. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormons), children can be baptized when they reach the age of accountability, which is eight years old. But baptism is not necessary for individuals whose intellectual development prevents them from understanding right and wrong. Church policy says: 

Q: What are the guidelines as to whether or not a child with an intellectual disability may be baptized?

A: This is a matter between parents, the child, and local priesthood leaders. If the child has a basic understanding of gospel principles and wishes to be baptized, then baptism may be possible.

As with most things with Clayton- school placement, discipline, etc, we felt like he was on the borderline in terms of understanding and readiness. It is so hard to categorize Clayton! He has some amazing intelligence and abilities, but also some severe challenges and limitations. We didn't want him to get baptized unless he could make the decision for himself.

Up until the time he turned seven, Lisa and Andrew had been teaching and talking about baptism as normal. But Lisa didn't want to continue planning on it and talking it up to Clayton if it wasn't going to happen when he turned eight. So several months ago they emailed their bishop  and asked for his guidance about whether Clayton should get baptized at age eight, or at a later age, or not at all. They were completely fine with any of those possibilities.

Lisa  was expecting to hear a short and sweet reply of "Sure, go ahead and baptize him!" or "Nope, don't worry about it yet, wait a few years and revisit the question." Which would have been completely fine. But their wonderful bishop wrote such a thoughtful response- he asked some questions about Clayton, and spent the next week in Primary observing and talking to Clayton. He also spent time praying about their situation. Lisa writes: "I can't tell you how much his love and care meant to our family. He has an extensive plateful being a bishop- and to have him spend so much time and attention on our little guy was such a blessing. He later responded that he felt we should proceed with preparations to baptize Clayton when he turned eight. So we did. Even though Clayton still has his tough times and I occasionally wondered if we should still move forward, we continually felt like he was ready to make this choice. We did our best this year to help him feel ready, and he did such a great job yesterday!"

Here he is with his Great-grandpa!

And with Papa and Mor Mor:

And with Grandma and Grandpa:

The Staffords all attended the baptism too! 

Lisa writes: "We had a WONDERFUL surprise at the baptism- we were in the foyer taking these snapshots, and Brian's friend Hunter (in the orange tie below) came walking down the hall!! The Shult's were in our ward in South Dakota and we haven't seen them in two years. They surprised us and drove up from Nevada for the baptism!! Seeing Melanie and this AWESOME family was just the cherry on top of our wonderful day. I can't explain how loved and happy I felt. Melanie is one of those friends you can say anything to, and she gets it. She and I were together through a lot in SD, and I love her. Everyone in the world should be so lucky to have a friend like Melanie in their life."

Here is our wonderful family! We finally got to meet James and Chelsea's son Ezra, and he is even cuter than his pictures. It was so much fun to spend time with all of us together.

My four wonderful children! 

One last picture of Brian and Dory with Aunt Mary Anne's friend Mr. Bones. They thought he was pretty cool :-)

 

Clayton, you are definitely a choice young boy. We love you so much and we couldn't be prouder.