Baptism Day

Today was Baptism Sunday at our Church. I'm not positive, but I think it's a once a year type thing. (We're still really new to the church). It was definitely different than any baptism service I've ever been to. The three Sunday services were combined into one at a nearby park. In past years, the pond at the park was used for the baptism. I think it was a little too dirty this year so they used the pool on the premises. There was singing, testimonies, food and lots of fun. We usually go to the 5:30pm service on Sundays which is the smallest service, so all of the church being together in a small park was crazy! There were 85 people baptized! We had a nice time and on the way back to our car Orin told me, "That was really fun. I had a lot of fun." We finally had a beautiful day here! Unfortunately I wasn't thinking and got a little sunburned. It was worth it though.

My attempt at a panoramic of the people across the pond from us. There were people all of the way around. They look far away but the pond was probably only 50 feet across. Needless to say, it was LOTS of people.
The kids sitting by pond while we listen to one of the testimonies. (the guy in the blue shirt on the platform) Usually they go right into the water and baptize in it, but you can see how dirty it looks. The kids enjoyed putting their feet into the water while we sat there.

Since there wasn't time for all 85 people to give their testimonies to the body as a whole, they split them into two groups. One group when to the pool first. Can you see the blue squares with number on them in the picture? The rest of the church could go to one of the numbers and hear people giving their testimonies. All over the park were people with circles around them. It was pretty cool. Me and Caiah hanging out.
The testimony and baptism time went on for about an hour. The kids had fun playing on the playground while we waited until it was done. I was able to listen to a few of the testimonies.

For the baptisms there were four or five groups of people in the pool at a time. It was really neat. People couldn't really hear what was being said, but anytime they would see someone be baptized, everyone would clap. I only went in to look for a second. They had asked that mostly family and friends of those being baptized come in because, as you can see, there wasn't room around the pool for everyone.

There were SO many people around the pool.The many tables the food would be served on.
Enjoying our lunch of hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and water.

After lunch they had a few of those bounce house things. Orin was excited while we waited in line.
Caiah looking cute while we waited in line.