“We Become Members of the Church through Baptism and Confirmation,” Friend, Jul. 2014, 42–43
Bringing Primary Home
We Become Members of the Church through Baptism and Confirmation
The author lives in Utah, USA.
Learn more about this month’s Primary theme!
Mariela came home from school with a frown on her face. “What’s wrong?” Mom asked as she planted flowers in the garden.
“Sonia promised she would play with me, and then she didn’t,” Mariela said. She plopped down in the dirt next to Mom.
“I’m so sorry,” Mom said. “It’s important to keep promises. Next week when you are baptized and confirmed, you will make some very important promises called covenants.”
“Really?” Mariela asked. She was excited to be baptized.
Mom put some yellow flowers in the ground. “You promise to obey the commandments. You also promise to take the name of Jesus Christ upon you. What does Heavenly Father promise if you do these things?”
Mariela thought about what she was learning in Primary. “That I’ll have the Holy Ghost with me.”
“That’s right,” Mom said. “You’ll also become a member of Jesus’s Church. How can you keep your promise to obey the commandments?”
“I can be kind, and I can tell the truth,” Mariela said. “What does it mean to take Jesus’s name upon me?”
“It means that you try to be like Him and do what He would want you to do,” Mom said. “What can you do to be like Jesus?”
Mariela twirled a purple flower between her fingers. “I can sit with the new girl at school. And I can try to be nice to Sonia,” she said.
“Those are great ideas,” Mom said. “And when you take the sacrament, you can remember your promises.”
Mariela smiled. “I know another promise—to water the flowers so we can have a beautiful garden!”
Song and Scripture
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“Baptism” (Children’s Songbook, 100, verses 1 and 3)
Ideas for Family Talk
Mariela thought of ways she could keep her baptismal covenant by following Jesus Christ. Your family could think of ways to be more like Jesus at home, at school, and in other places. Make a family goal to think about the baptismal covenant when you take the sacrament.