Kiah's Baptism

Yes, it's taken me 2 months to get my act together. I am mailing this thank you letter out personally, but wanted to post this thank you letter, as well, since most of you who read this also were a part of Kiah's baptism in some way. We love you all so much.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

I am so sorry that it’s taken this long to get a thank you letter to you. I kept waiting for Kiah to be able to finish them all herself (with my help), but her schedule has been so crazy because of tutoring and testing at school, and we have put it off for so long that now is the time to repent. I am writing a letter to all of you wonderful people who supported Kiah in her baptism.

The day was a very special day for her. She wore an incredible dress made with such care and love by her aunt Jeanie. She also wore white pearly earrings, necklace and bracelet from her Mike Hoffman cousins, and a gorgeous silver heart bracelet from the Lyle Hoffman cousins. Her grandma and grandpa were able to come and be a part of the day. Kiah was so lucky to have her grandmother talk to her about the Holy Ghost, and then give Kiah a literal comforter that is beautiful (and silky and sassy with Tinkerbelle on it!!) made with love. Grandpa performed the ordination of administering the gift of the Holy Ghost, and gave her a beautiful blessing. We had a good number of friends who attended to show their support for our little girl and we couldn’t have been more pleased. The Spirit was very strong there, and one of the highlights of the program was when Kiah and Samara sang the Baptism song together, both doing solos in front of everyone. They are so brave and have such beautiful voices.

We had a get together afterwards, and experienced even more kindness. The Harper family, and our favorite babysitters and dear family friends, the Creal/Madison family, made cookies and brownies and gave up some pretty important plans just to make sure they could be there for Kiah, and help us out with the treats. That meant so much to us. We also had most of our wonderful neighbors attend either the baptism, or the barbeque after, and their support for Kiah is priceless. Some of our neighbors don’t know much about our religion, but showed such support for Kiah, sending her cards and money, and love. That is incredible to me. We got a package from the Gordons, and we also got a package from the Bradley’s with a very special reminder of their love and support for Kiah…..her favorite cowboy boots she wore at their ranch while riding their horses! She was so excited about that. And Amity and her endless support of our family was right there, helping me every step of the way, cooking things, helping set up, bringing the Spirit to the baptism by offering a beautiful prayer, I can’t count the many ways that she serves me. The cards and well wishes from our friends from the ward meant so much to Kiah and really did help her feel special.

One of the most precious things that I wanted to share was how her baptism has affected her since that special day. She was struggling with some behavior issues, and was working hard to control them before her baptism. These feelings led her to wonder if she should get baptized, or if she should wait until she was able to act better. We encouraged her to pray about it and find out what Heavenly Father wanted. She did pray, very hard, to know what would be best for her. The next day she told us that she felt like God wanted her to go ahead with getting baptized and that He would help her keep her commitments after baptism. So, she did and how she has been blessed!!! She has since made so much progress in her personal growth, and is very humble and more willing to apologize, and has made some phenomenal choices, regarding school and friends, and her siblings. We can see, and more importantly, she can see the difference having the gift of the Holy Ghost with her has made. She has taken her commitments very seriously. We have all been blessed with a lot of peace. The Grace of God has been seen and felt in such a real way in our home, and we are so grateful for the promises and blessings that come from obedience to our Heavenly Father.

Thank you, again, for your unending support of our family. We benefit and learn so much from all of you.

With Love,

The Hoffman Family