“He Calmed the Waters,” Friend, February 2019
He Calmed the Waters
Illustration by Bradley Clark
I live in Vanuatu, a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. I was excited to turn eight and be baptized and confirmed.
But I was worried about getting baptized in the ocean. The waves are fun to play in, but I wasn’t sure about being baptized in them. My mom and I went in the ocean by our house to see what it would be like, and I knew it would be OK.
We chose the day when I was to be baptized, and I was so excited. But then a cyclone came close to our island. We had to call the branch president and cancel my baptism.
Even though there was a little flooding from the cyclone, we were able to go to church that Sunday. The branch president announced that I would be baptized the next Saturday.
On Saturday morning, the waves were really big, so I was kind of scared. We had a meeting at my house, and then we all walked down to the beach. I had asked my cousin Josh to baptize me.
Josh lifted me over the waves as we walked in, but as I was getting baptized, the waves were calm. I think that while Josh said the baptism prayer, Jesus calmed the water for me.
As we walked out of the ocean, the waters got rough again, but I didn’t mind because I was already soaked completely. I’m so glad that I could follow Jesus’s example by being baptized. I know that Heavenly Father hears my prayers.