My sweet Hyrum is such a good, good boy. He has a kind heart toward everyone around him, and he is always looking for the good in the world. He especially tries hard to do what is right in all cases. If he ever makes a mistake and needs to be corrected, all that I have to say is that I am disappointed in his choice. I explain that I know that he can do better. And he does. That is all it takes. He tries so, so hard to make good decisions. He has a love for his Father in Heaven that is evident in the way that he lives. Hyrum gives the most beautiful and detailed testimonies during our testimony meetings in church. He is able to take everyday experiences that he has and see the hand of God in all of it. I love to hear him speak about his feelings about such things.
Today Hyrum had the chance to go to his very first missionary discussion. There is a large family in our ward who are taking the discussions. One of the little boys in this family is in Hyrum's 3rd grade class, so the sister missionaries thought that it would be nice if Hyrum came along and shared his feelings about baptism before the sisters challenged this boy to be baptized. It was an interesting lesson. There are a lot of kids in this family, and they were very active while we were talking to this little boy. It is hard to feel the Spirit when there is so much chaos going on around us, but we did our best. The boy listened to the sisters as they asked him lots of questions about the things that they have taught him in the past. He said that he was having a hard time reading his scriptures, so Hyrum shared with him his favorite Book of Mormon story. He said that he liked the story of Nephi and his brothers because Nephi was always strong and did what was right even when his brothers were mean to him. Then Hyrum related it to this boy who was struggling with his brothers fighting with him. I thought that that was brilliant ... especially for a nine year-old.
When it came time for this boy to commit to being baptized, he said that he was scared of the water. That is understandable. Hyrum talked a bit about what it is like going under, and we gave a short little demonstration to show the mechanics of it so that he could see that you aren't under water for very long and a guy will be guiding you the whole time. After that the sisters asked Hyrum to talk about his baptism in China. Hyrum talked about it a bit, and then the sisters asked him how he felt after he was baptized. Hyrum said, "I felt light as air because I knew that my sins were washed away. I knew that it was a new day." I could really feel the Spirit as he spoke, and I know that this little boy did too. That was a precious moment to be part of.
At the end of the discussion the sisters gathered all the family together and asked if anyone had any questions. No one said anything at first. Then Hyrum raised his hand. I thought he was going to ask the sisters some doctrinal question, but instead he turned to the family and said, "What did you learn today?" I thought that that was a classic missionary question. Hyrum just seemed so grown up to me at that moment. I could really see him as a missionary in nine short years. I loved having the chance to see him in this role. I can't wait until he is a bit older and can start going on splits with the elders. He'll be amazing, I'm sure.
I wish I could have videod him leaving the family at the end of the discussion because he walked right up to them and gave them a nice firm handshake to say goodbye. He is definitely a little man with a big heart. As we were driving home he turned to me and told me that he was grateful to be part of our family. I am grateful that he is part of our family too. He makes me want to be better each day. And today ... he made me smile. Life is good.
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