More M and M’s

I couldn't end my elementary school years without including several more memorable events.

• My baptism on July 25, 1942. I was baptized in the font located in the basement of the Salt Lake Tabernacle (I bet most of you didn't even know that there was a baptismal font there) by my father, John Barend Bernards. There were not too many fonts, if any, located in church buildings like there are today, so most baptisms in Salt Lake City took place in the Tabernacle. I was the third one to be baptized in the newly renovated font. Don't ask me why that statistic is so important, but my mother told me never to forget it. And since I was an obedient child, I still remember it. This special spiritual day was a welcome respite from constant reminders of a world at war.

• An incident which occurred when I was about six years old could have been a real disaster had it not been for what I now feel was divine intervention. A friend from church had invited me to spend Sunday afternoon at her house. My parents agreed to let me go and Dad dropped me off in front of her house and left. He didn't wait to see that I got in. I knocked on the door and no one answered. I don't know if I didn't knock loud enough or if plans changed for the family and they had to leave. Either way I decided to walk home. When I was about half way there a car with a male driver stopped and asked if I wanted a ride. Not knowing any better I said yes. (No, my parents had never told me not to accept rides from strangers.) I guess I was just a trusting little girl. Anyway, when I realized he was passing up my street, and he didn't stop when I told him so, I began getting really frightened. He kept on driving up east toward the mountains where there were only fields...no homes. Then he stopped. He said he would give me a quarter if I would show him "you know what". Then I really panicked. I grabbed the handle of the door, opened it, jumped out, and began running as fast as I could. I didn't run in the street, but on the hills. I knew which direction was home, but not how far. I just kept running on those hills thinking: "Maybe these are the hills where my home is supposed to be, and this bad man has made all the houses disappear." You can tell how upset I was by the things that went through my mind. Then my surroundings began to look familiar and I soon recognized my street. My parents were surprised to see me, and once they had heard what had happened it was like an inquisition. Once they were satisfied that nothing more had happened other than what I had told them, the lecture that should have been given earlier in my life ensued. This incident came back to my mind years later when I received my patriarchal bless which said that I would be protected throughout my life from "evil designing men and women". That blessing has certainly been fulfilled, and I am so grateful.