My grandfather’s favorite mission story was baptizing a man in the ocean in England. Just as he completed the prayer, a large wave came in and immersed both men completely. (Decades later he met the man again in Utah. Neither remembered the other, but after hearing my grandfather tell the story, the next day the other man came back with his baptismal certificate in hand, with my grandfather’s signature on it.)

The first baptism I saw in Japan was in a church that had been converted from a regular building of some sort. The font was in a glassed-in penthouse on the sixth floor, looking out on the crush of downtown Tokyo. The font heater was broken, so we tried to warm the water a bit by heating large potfuls on the kitchen stove in the basement, then hauling them to the roof in the tiny elevator. We succeeded in getting the top six inches or so warm.

The only things remarkable about my own baptism were that 1) it was the first baptismal session in the font of a newly-build building, and 2) therefore they hadn’t figured out how to work the heater yet, so it was rather chilly.

A member in my mission said that they didn’t have enough water in the font to baptize his daughter, so a lot of people sat in the water to make the level go up enough to do it.

I think he was relieved when I told him that last letter was pronounced like an “s”. I suspect that Bruder Fuchß was likewise relieved.

As to the original post, Charles Ora Card took notes on the October 7, 1900 Sunday School Conference associate with General Conference:

Question. Prest J.F. Smith. In our stake we only have one baptizing day in each year. We Recommend Baptism day in every month.

Being a collector of what now might be obscure baptism accounts, I love all of this. Multi-use temple fonts date back to the first font of the Restoration in the Nauvoo Temple. On the first official day of baptism, people were baptized for the dead, for their health, and for the remission of sins.

Ardis’ comment about old handbooks made me think of The Missionary’s Hand Book, which was used from the mid 1930s to the 1950s, and has some fun instruction regarding method: “It is improper for those who are appointed to perform baptisms to use waders or hip boots to avoid wetting the clothing or to keep water from coming in contact with the body. If there are a number to be baptized and the water is cold, several may be appointed to officiate so that none will be unnecessarily chilled.” (pg 137) Also: “The wearing of bathing caps by women who are baptized should not be permitted.” (pg. 138) I don’t have access to General Handbooks during this time.

My old chapel in Kansas was built around the same time as the Heidelberg chapel. It also had a “pit” type font that was covered by a couple of plywood panels. I had numerous classes over the years in the baptismal room and sat in chairs directly over the font. That’s the way it was. So I naturally didn’t find anything unusual about the Heidelberg chapel’s font.

My favorite baptism experience is from Dec 1997, when I baptized my nephew in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. We had scoped out a nice little tidal pool carved out of the rocks which was full. However, by later in the afternoon, the tide had dropped and the pool was subject to filling, and then draining as the waves came in and out. On top of that, a storm was coming in, which added a violent effect to the ebb and flow of the waves in the pool. We got in the basin and I said the prayer. Then I had to wait for enough of a wave to come in so the pool could fill and I could dunk him. The problem was that by the time we recovered from getting bashed by the incoming waves, any water in the pool had run out. After a few minutes of this, I laid him out flat on the sand, held him down while the waves completely washed over him. Poor kid thought he was going to drown.