Happy Easter!

With Craig travelling so much, we've missed Easter with him for the past several years. This year was no exception. As during the previous years, we rearranged the visit from the Easter Bunny to coincide with his trip home (in this case, a week early). As I was preparing for church this Easter morning, it was so nice to relax and think about the real reason for the season. There were no chocolates. No kids hyperactive from too much candy. No broken hard boiled eggs. It was just a typical Sunday where we struggled to find shoes (matched and put aside yesterday, but somehow managed to be lost this morning) and get everyone ready to head out. Even though we had a typical Sunday-morning rush to get ready, it somehow seemed more relaxing and less stressful to not have the secular Easter celebration items to mar the morning. It was just us and a humble recognition that our lives would be in vain without Christ's willing sacrifice for us.

Sister Wendy Heder taught the Easter lesson in Relief Society this morning. I was in nursery with the twins, but she was kind enough to make sure the nursery leaders and adult attendees received the handout. I took an extra to give to a sister recovering from surgery, and I liked it well enough that I wanted to share it with you. She found the lesson on SugarDoodle. I'm going to share this with my children later today. Even if you don't get to it this Easter, I think it's a lesson that can work any time to teach the significance of Christ's sacrifice.

Easter Egg Lesson

For a unique presentation of the often heard Easter story, cut apart the following scriptures and put them correspondingly numbered plastic eggs. Add the appropriate item (in parentheses) except for the 12th egg, which should remain empty.

Serve the eggs in a decorated basket, from an egg carton, or at each place setting at the dinner table. This adds a nice touch to a church lesson, family home evening, or as a gift. Or play a game of “scrambled eggs” by having players match the scriptures to the items, or putting the story in sequence.

1. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:39; (Sacrament Cup)

2. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,, And said unto them, what will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:14-15 This fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 11: 12-14 that Jesus would be sold for 30 pieces of silver. (3 dimes)

3. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Matthew 27: 1-2; (knotted twine)

4. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Matthew 27: 24-26; Do we also wash our hands? (chunk of hand soap)

5. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews and they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. Matthew 27: 28-30 (square of red velvet)



6. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. Matthew 27: 31-32 And He was crucified… nailed to the cross. (Press this nail into your hand … feel how it must have hurt.) (toothpick cross, tiny nail)

7. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet… And sitting down they watch him there: Matthew 27: 35-36 (small pair of dice)

8. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent:. . . Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. Matthew 27: 50-51 & 54 (tiny bag of crushed rock or potting soil)

9. Then Joseph, a rich man) went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, the wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. Matthew 27: 57-60; (strip of white cloth)

10. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. Pilate said unto them (the chief priests and Pharisees), Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. Matthew 27: 60, 65-66; (a stone)

11. And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. / And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. And the angel . . . said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. Mark 16:1, Matthew 28: 2 and 5; (bay leaf, cloves or other herb)

12. Then the angels said unto the women, “Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen.” Matthew 28:6; (empty)

Drawing Near the Savior by Nadine Lovell

Today's post is a talk given by Nadine E. Lovell at a September, 2011, Stake Conference in Rock Springs, Wyoming, attended by Elder Richard G. Scott.

When I was asked to speak today, very quickly the words of Marjorie Pay Hinckley came to my mind which I would like to use today. “"How did a nice girl like me get into a mess like this?" — Marjorie Pay Hinckley I love that lady and someday I hope to meet her. I want you to know that I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to speak with an apostle and special witness of our Savior Jesus Christ. How blessed we are to have him here with us.

I was asked to speak today on how we can draw nearer to our Savior Jesus Christ. In Doctrine and Covenants verse 88:63 it gives us a prescription on how we can do that. It says, “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Brothers and sisters, this passage clearly shows us the way to feel close to our savior. It takes action on our part–there comes a time in our lives when we cannot rely on the testimony of others. WE must act in Faith. WE must be the doers. We must be the seekers. We must be the askers. We must build ourselves upon the rock of our redeemer! “and now my sons, Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” Helaman 5:12

If I could write a prescription for all to draw nearer to Christ it would say, “Take a dose of death, illness, financial distress, wayward children, or injury. Add to these, sins of the world and be sure to include depression and loneliness.” In Helaman, the people of Nephi were given trials because “the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them.” For those who have faith in a loving Savior–we experience trials to increase our stature in faith and our love for the Savior whom we lean on during these times. Christ tells us that “they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” (Matthew 9:12) None of us want a prescription for those things and none would ask for trials, but I testify to you that it is through the trials we experience in this life that our testimony of the Savior will increase. He will comfort us and be a sure foundation that you will be able to lean on. In those moments of despair, you will understand his promise, “I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.” John 14:18.

I would like to share my own and my family’s personal storm that beat upon us and brought not physical pain, but a very real and deep emotional pain. We had wanted more children and decided to become foster parents. I have two sisters in Utah who were able to adopt children through the Utah foster program and I, having faith and knowing this was a righteous desire, thought that we would be granted the same if it was what the Lord wanted in His goodness and mercy. I also went into being a foster mom knowing that this would require a miracle in Wyoming as the laws here are less geared towards children advocacy but I figured at least we could have small children in our home again.

Soon after becoming foster parents, we got sisters–a 3 year old sassy little brown eyed girl and an 8 month old blue eyed little baby girl. The love we felt for these babies was immediate. The babies loved us as we did. Our family grew closer over this time than perhaps we had ever been. They brought joy to our lives. The time we were to have them was not long–only a few months we were told. Because of situations in the case, a few months turned into 6 which turned into a year which turned into 15 months. I began to think that if I had enough Faith that these little girls could be our miracles that I had hoped for. I began to plead with the Lord that we could keep them. I felt like it was a righteous desire knowing we could provide for the girls’ temporal and spiritual welfare. Knowing they would be raised in the gospel and would be able to be sealed to us. We fasted, we prayed and we served faithfully in our callings. Keeping them was not meant to be–the healthy bonds that we had created over that time were to be broken. When they went home to their mom and dad, it was a complete loss for our family.  

As a mother, I missed them immensely, but more than anything I agonized over their welfare. We were able to visit them a couple of times after they went home and forever etched in my heart is the last memory we have of them. Gavin was holding the baby, now 2, and when she knew she couldn’t go with us, she wrapped her little arms around his neck and began crying. Not a sobbing cry like small children do, but a soft tears streaming down her cheeks cry as she plead with us, “I want to go home.” Gavin began crying too as did the rest of us.

This was our last memory of our little baby girls. This was our storm that beat us relentlessly for months trying to have Faith that our Father in Heaven knew what was right for them and us. It was my personal shaft in the whirlwind that I had to totally rely on my Savior Jesus Christ to be there for me when I was going through something that most others could not understand and even I could not understand. But, because our family was built upon the rock, we came through that experience all of us more sure of who we are and who the Savior Is. I would not ever want to experience that pain and suffering that I felt, but I would not change a bit of that experience for the closeness that I and my family felt to our Savior.

Again, as doers of the word, feeling my Savior’s love for me took action on my part to overcome the trial that I faced. It was on my knees that I felt the tender comfort and strength that I needed. It was reading my scriptures that I felt the peace and found the answers that I needed. Brothers and sisters, the scriptures are the best mental health manual you can buy…and the missionaries can give you a copy for free!! It was serving in the church and attending my meetings that helped me to forget about me. Charitable friends and family having the love of Christ reached out to us and offered us words of encouragement and sympathy.

As I think of that little baby girl clinging to my husband’s neck, I think of us before we came to this Earth life wanting to come back home. Our Father in Heaven loves each one of us and wants us to come back home. He loved those baby girls before I loved them, and He needed them to be with their mom. He provided for us a Savior, Christ the Lord and “he shall go forth suffering pains and afflictions of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people.” (Alma 7:11-12). He is sent to redeem us…each of us.  There is no respecter of persons with this promise.

Mortal life will bring us the raging tempests and storms–in a literal sense we have seen the storms plaguing our country since last general conference. Brothers and sisters, we must be followers of Christ. We must build our foundations so that we will not fall. I know my Savior lives and loves me personally. I know He understands my pains and shortcomings because he suffered for them. I know the scriptures are true and will give us direction and answers we need. I know that we are led by a living Prophet. I know that Elder Richard G. Scott has been called of God to be here today to testify to us of things that each of us needs to hear. I know that God lives and He loves us. I leave this testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.