"Will you please come to a couple of baptisms on Saturday? I know you will find it very uplifting. Besides, it's going to be my first one's. I got to have a fellow Kansan witness it." A few months ago I met a Mormon missionary from Kansas - Wichita to be exact. His name is Elder Wilkes. I still find it a bit strange addressing someone who I am twice as old - Elder. Anyways, a couple of other young missionaries and he have been counseling me the past few months. It has been very nice to have a young friend from Kansas in Las Vegas to talk with. Wichita State basketball is a big topic of our conversation. He completed a year of school there before leaving for his mission. Saturday was a big day for him and I have never actually witnessed a live baptism - "I wouldn't miss it for the world," I tell him.
"Wearing all white makes me look like a painter or like a work in an institution." As I am sitting at the temple waiting for the baptism's to begin, Elder Wilkes walks out of a room wearing what I would refer to as a onesie. In all seriousness, they are required to wear a traditional white frock for the ceremony. "Please tell me that you are not going to wear that when you go on dates," I jokingly state. He then tells me has a pink one for dates. A few minutes pass and the family of five he was scheduled to baptize walk into the room wearing garb similar to his. "It is almost time. Wish me luck," he then enters the baptismal water.
One by one they parade into the water and Elder Wilkes washes their sins away. It was a very moving moment for everyone in the room - me included. After the ceremony I am chatting with him and he politely says this to me - "Rob, one of these days it is going to be your turn. Once you are baptized and except the gospel into your life, all your transgressions will be washed away. And all those dreams you tell me about will begin to come true." A religious man I am not or never have been, but this kid and his buddies are beginning to sway me. I still have trepidations about things and told him such, "Elder Wilkes, I am proud of you for your work. And I know your parents and everyone else is proud of you as well." The youth of the Mormon church are truly uplifting to be around. "But the problem buddy," I add right before I am leaving, "I am seriously concerned the serene baptismal waters will begin to boil if I dare set foot in them."
