(Note: This is NOT to "cheapen" baptism, it's only my experience, and my friends totally agreed with everything I said. It's a fact of baptism. However traumatizing it may have been, I'm very glad I made the decision. )

It was horrifying. But only because (well, mostly because) I am extremely claustrophobic person and have always panicked when I put my head under water. Hey, I take after my mom, I can't help it, it's genetic. I was just nervous about everything. Plus, it's kind of weird getting baptized by somebody that you haven't grown up with. I wouldn't have been as nervous with the River Brethren bishop (since I've know him my whole life) but I didn't even know who was going to baptize me up until maybe 15 minutes beforehand. It's just not the "bishop" (that's not what they call the "head person", but I can't remember what they do call them) that baptizes in this church. They actually take turns. It wasn't like I was worried they were going to let me drown or something, it's just.....I don't know, a little different. Or I thought it was going to be a lot more than it was.

I was just almost shaking I was so scared. Neil (the minister) firmly took me by the arm and led me in, thank goodness. I might have bolted if he hadn't. Lol, j/k!

When you sit down they ask you the vows, and then they dunk you three times--in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The first time it was just a total shock because I wasn't expecting it. The water wasn't really cold, but it was cold for my head. Plus, they put a scarf thingie over your head so that you hair and covering stay a little cleaner and drier, and water just poured off of it. I was gasping and spluttering and trying to wipe water off my face, and Neil is already asking me if I'm ready to be dunked again. I shook my head and wiped a bit more water off and then I made myself nod. This time I plugged my nose but forgot to hold my breath until the last minute ended up inhaling a little water and came up coughing. I was just sure I was going to be the first person to die being baptized. I guess I didn't think about whether Neil knew CPR or not, but I was pretty sure he was going to have to resuscitate me. The third time I was still a little flustered and ended up breathing in a little more water, but it was better than the second time. Then they put their hands on your head and pray and then you can go out. While he was praying I felt my hands tingling. I guess I kind of started to hyperventilate.

I knew right away there was no way I could stand up. I'm not sure why, maybe it was just because I was so waterlogged. And they put this apron on you that has probably three ties all the way down so that you dress doesn't go up when you go in and out of the water. It kind of binds your legs some. I was just hoping that Neil would help me up because I couldn't get up. Thankfully he did.

After that you go up and the deacons wives take the scarf and apron off, and you hug your family. Then they start singing a song (which never fails to be started extremely high and it's really hard to sing when it's that high) while everybody goes through the line and shakes your hand.....

Well, if you're a girl, the women greet you, which is also what we call the Holy Kiss. Which is exactly that--a kiss! I know, it probably sounds totally weird, but all the women go and shake hands and kiss each other, and the men do the same. It's taken from several verses from the Bible--Romans 16:16, I Corinthians 16:20, II Corinthians 13:12, and I Thessalonians 5:26. Only the members do it, though. It just seems so normal to me. All Plain churches do it, as far as I know.

I was really scared that I was going to accidentally try to greet a guy. THAT would have been really bad. It's happened before, too. Maybe not at baptisms, but there have been times that a guy and a girl accidentally greeted each other. AWFUL! Thankfully I made SURE I didn't accidentally try to greet a guy.

After everybody went through the line (which was a ton of people, plus there were visitors, too) then I got to go take off all my soggy clothes and take a shower. Thankfully the scarf kept my hair really dry. It might have gotten a tad bit wet, but by the time everybody went through the line, it was blown dry. It felt so good to get in the shower and out of those wet clothes, though.

But then I had to put on my Old Brethren dress and covering and go to church and have everybody watch me since I was wearing different clothes. I felt like hiding. I didn't really notice anybody looking too much. Most of the girls just said that I looked really nice (which boosted my confidence a tad, anyway ), but I didn't notice anybody really staring.

And now I'm home and recovered from everything.

Oh, and the canoe trip was CANCELED. Actually, it was postponed. It was raining where we usually canoe and the guy who rents out the canoes said that the water level rose a foot and a half and he didn't think it was safe. So I can totally de-stress about it until Thursday or Friday, or whenever it happens to be.

Ariel