Gary Hutton - A Family Blog: Celebration

34 years ago, today [it was a Friday], I went to visit my brother Duane in Davis. I had a very important question to ask of him. Then my life changed. It became better, it became new. I was new. I was born again.

Remember how Jesus explained this: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

And again how Peter explained this: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

I celebrate this historical event. You too can celebrate with me and you can become new. This is a celebration for everyone. Tomorrow I am 34 years old.

Let me tell you what I wrote about those days never to be forgotten. From my Book of Remembrance:

My baptismal preparation began when I was very small.
Dad told us never to smoke. He set a good example for us and quit. He also told us to never go with a girl that smoked.

My whole life is probably a preparation for the gospel, but there must have been that time when I was especially sensitive to accept the teaching of Joseph Smith.

This preparation began to quicken in the fall of 1971. Some events that stand our are: Duane telling me to always read, my not knowing why I was in collage, and no job. It was during this time I took hours and hours to evaluate my self, and asked myself those important questions.

Now I will write of this baptism. I have shared this story to others. To me it is a sacred story.

I had been working for a couple of months when this first contact was made. I had a doctors appointment in the morning. So I wasn't going to [go] to work [until] noon. I was going to take my Honda into the shop for repairs. While I was loading the bike into the pick-up, these two young men started to visit with me.

They told me they were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and they wanted to come by sometime and tell me a little about their church. I thought that sounded fair enough. If they got out of hand or told me to many things I disagreed with I would tell them to leave and not come back.

It took a couple of weeks for them to call on me again. It made me feel unimportant, they they waited so long to return their visit. They called on a Sat. morning just as I was going somewhere. They wanted to come by on Tues. Evening. That was just fine with me.

They came for a couple of weeks on tues and then there was a transfer. The new missionary was an Elder too. They explained that it was only a title for them. Then there was another transfer. Elder Thomas A. Daniels, had three fingers on his left hand. After his mission I was not able to contact Elder Loucks.

These two elders didn't know which discussions I had, so they just started over. They gave me a Book of Mormon and kept challenging me to read it. They also tried to help me remember that Peter, James and John came to Joseph Smith.

Every time they came, they asked me, who gave the priesthood to Joseph Smith. This was a struggle for me probably because I didn't realize the importance of the priesthood.

From the very first meeting they set a baptismal date, and kept on saying, "If you knew that this church was true would you be baptized?" That seemed logical to me.

They were also patient on inviting me to church. Until one time they insisted I come. Well that just didn't set with me very well. I was a little mad at them telling me what I must do. I'd show them by going to church anyway.

I attended the chapel closest to home, but the wrong ward. It was a Testimony Meeting. I remember people standing and telling of their feelings. I sure thought that was pretty corny, but I felt a similar spirit as I had when the elders came by.

The elders came by on tues. and began to tell of their disappointment, but when I explained to them my efforts they were pleased.

I was still not ready for baptism yet. I attended church a couple of more times, and another baptismal service. The date they set was getting closer all the time. Elder Daniels was to baptize me and Dean Lambert was to confirm me. The date was for Saturday. I told them that I would call them on Fri. to let them know. On Fri. afternoon I went up to see Duane in Davis and to spend the night.

Duane had a Jewish girl friend at the time. She showed concern and didn't think that baptism was the correct thing for me to do. I was ready and willing to know why, but she never explained. Then I called the elders and told them I would be there.

I had felt the missionary's concern, and that was similar to what I felt while attending church. I also realized that I wanted to rub shoulders with these people. They had something I wanted.