I had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting today. I had a month to prepare, which was AWESOME. Several people told me that they heard most of it or some of it (because of kids) so, they’re in luck, I am posting it so they can enjoy the WHOLE thing. Hahaha. I’m not patting myself on the back here. I just learned so much and was so strengthened by all my studying that I wanted to share. So, here it is as I prepared it. I know my delivery was a little different. But, I can’t remember what I did differently, so you get the original plan. :) I cannot just speak with an outline, I have to have the WHOLE thing written out - even my jokes. Sad, huh? It is all sincere though.
What not everyone knows is that my whole family came down with a stomach bug and I spent Saturday trying to refuse to catch it. I prayed SO HARD. You have no idea. I just wanted to be able to deliver this message. And I was blessed to feel totally well all morning - of course until sacrament meeting was over. I’m still refusing to be sick. But now I don’t have the same reason to call in help from above. While preparing this over the past month I really and truly had some quiet moments where I knew I was receiving inspiration. I felt funny saying ”Thank you” to any congratulations because I didn’t do it alone. I had help - truly!
This is more of a comment for myself/something I’d write in my journal. But, it just hit me now and I don’t want to forget it because I probably won’t get to my journal tonight: A choir from a High School Utah was visiting and one young man took the time to come and firmly shake my hand and say thank you. It was really interesting. There was something very nice to see in his eyes. I know it was the light of Christ. But, to know it so surely about someone I’ve never met before was a really interesting experience. And for him, a TEENAGER, to take the time to come to me, and old lady and mother of 5, means he has got a great testimony!! At least, that’s what it means to me. It was a wonderful thing for me to see.
Anyway, here it is:
I’m very grateful for this opportunity. The amount of time I’ve been able to spend studying, fasting & praying has been such a blessing to me and I know I’ve gained so much from it. I hope to be able to share some of what I’ve FELT because it’s been very spirit strengthening. It has forced me to grow closer to the spirit, for which I am SO thankful! I wish I could take you on my entire journey of this past month. But, sacrament meeting doesn’t last that long. So, I’m going to do my best to condense.
I LOVE EASTER (minus the Bunny part) and Christmas time. In December I love the feeling in the air. The Christian radio station my alarm clock is set to plays nothing but Christmas music all of December. I LOVE it! I am sad when that comes to an end and we have to put away the tree and take down the lights. And after Elder Bednar’s visit/message to us about the symbolism of it all, I really am sad when I have to take the tree down. [I wish I could say that was the reason I don’t get it put away until February (or even March one year).]
But the sadness doesn’t last long because there soon follows that excitement in the air when everyone knows Spring is near. Here where we live, the changes in seasons are more subtle. They are there, but you have to watch for them and really pay attention. The changes are quite evident when beautiful, but ever browning, snow and ice have covered everything and as it melts away you see little patches of green grass and bulbs blooming. (It’s even humorous when you discover that big puffy white mound in the neighbors yard turns out to be a soggy sofa.) That was my first Spring in Utah. It was like I’d never experienced Spring before. Totally Amazing!
Just a couple of weeks ago, during the last weekend in March, my family and I witnessed a mother duck and her TEN little ducklings waddling down Raymond. We were (or at least I was) squealing with excitement. I don’t know where she was headed, ‘cause we don’t have a lake within walking distance (maybe to someone’s swimming pool?), but it was the cutest thing to watch. It left me with such a feeling of delight….spring is here! Later 4 of my 5 kids and Daddy went and caught some tadpoles. So now in this tiny cesspool in my kitchen we have tadpoles and other little swimming things growing and HATCHING. We even have a pet mosquito. Watching these tiny living things grow has become more exciting than television (for a while.)
While spring is exciting and feeling and watching things come alive…the new births and the rebirths of dormant plantlife, nothing is MORE exciting than the message of Christ’s resurrection. EASTER. [Could it be more perfect?: the timing of Spring, Passover and Easter?!]
I mentioned earlier that I don’t like the Easter Bunny. I’m sure I’ve put many kids into shock. So, I’ll explain. It’s not because I’m not a fun person. For those that know me really well, you know it would be out of character for me to not say something silly or funny at some point EVERY day, even today. It’s actually DIFFICULT for me to remain serious – even at a funeral. So, if there’s no laughter here today, either I am not being myself or you have no sense of humor. I do have to tell my husband all the time “I am funny!” But that’s because my best humor is TOO silly or “punny” for him to give me the satisfaction of laughing. So, I am fun, but I’m not fond of the Easter Bunny because of what it’s done to the MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENT OF ALL TIME.
Our Bible Dictionary says “the resurrection of Jesus is the most glorious of all messages to mankind.”
I don’t like that the most glorious message to mankind gets clouded over by eggs, a bunny, and baskets of candy. My mother wasn’t all that fond of the Easter Bunny either, and I didn’t understand why at the time. I thought it was just because she hated cleaning up Easter grass. Of course, I feel the same way now that I have children and I don’t even allow Easter grass. I do have a couple of childhood memories of the baskets and candy. But thankfully I also have a memory of getting a picture of Jesus in my basket and remembering, “Oh yeah, that’s what this is about.” I try very hard to keep my kids from forgetting what Easter is all about. But, if they do, I hope they also have an “Oh yeah” moment when they remember the true purpose. I got an idea from the Ensign last year about finding an empty egg. So now we hunt for the MOST important egg: the empty one. In it was a message, “He is not here, for He is risen.” (I’m a visual learner and do much better at internalizing things when I have something to SEE – thus a prop.)
I cannot contemplate those words without a warm feeling entering my heart.
He is Risen.
I would like to suggest that everyone take a look at their April Ensign. Pages 40-45 have such amazing paintings depicting all of the aspects of the resurrection that I won’t have enough time to fully discuss. If you have it with you, great, you can look at it now. If not, please go home and look at them. My favorite is on page 41—the picture of Peter and John running to the Sepulchre. Look at the expressions on the faces.
In the words of President Hinckley, who spoke so plainly in conference a decade ago:
“Only a God could do what [Christ] did. He broke the bonds of death. He too had to die, but on the third day, following his burial, He rose from the grave, “the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Cor. 15:20), and in so doing brought the blessing of the Resurrection to every one of us.
“He taught with Parables. He performed miracles the like of which were never performed before or since. He healed those whose sickness was of long standing. He caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk. He raised the dead, and they lived to speak His praises. Surely no man had ever done such before. …
“A few followed Him, but most hated Him. … [The scribes and Pharisees…plotted against Him. …]
“He was betrayed, arrested, condemned to death, to die in awful agony by crucifixion. His living body was nailed to a cross of wood. In unspeakable pain, His life slowly ebbed away. While yet He breathed, He cried out, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
“The earth shook as His spirit passed. The centurion who had seen it all declared in solemnity, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54).
“Those who loved Him took His body from the cross. They dressed it and placed it in a new tomb offered by Joseph of Arimathaea. The tomb was sealed with a great stone at its opening, and a guard was set.
“His friends must have wept. The Apostles He loved and whom He had called as witnesses of His divinity wept. The women who loved Him wept. None had understood what He had said about rising the third day. How could they understand? This had never happened before. It was totally unprecedented. It was unbelievable, even for them.
“There must have been a terrible sense of dejection and hopelessness and misery as they thought of their Lord taken from them in death.
“But that was not the end. On the morning of the third day, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary returned to the tomb. To their utter amazement, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was open. They peered inside. Two beings in white sat at either end of the burial site. An angel appeared to them and said, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?
“He is not here, but is risen.” (Luke 24:5)
The Savior appeared to Mary; and other women; to two followers in Emmaus; to the 10 Apostles and later to Thomas, who had doubted. For 40 days He ministered to his Apostles and others. He was “seen above five hundred brethren at once…And last of all he was seen of [Paul].” 1 Cor. 15:6-8.
[paraphrased words of James E. Faust.] We Latter-day Saints have additional witnesses of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. One of these is in the Book of Mormon. The Savior said in John: “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd”? (John 10:16). So, In 3 Nephi we read of His ministry upon the American continent (to his other sheep) which took place after His death and resurrection in Jerusalem.
Another witness Latter-day Saints have is the testimony of modern witnesses recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon testified:
“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—That by him, and through him and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” (D&C 76:22-24)
I think it is only natural that this also becomes a time when we think of loved ones who have gone on before us.
In October my paternal grandmother passed away. It was not a peaceful and quickly-in-your-sleep kind of passing that my grandfather had had a few years before. Her passing helped paint a picture in my mind of the reality of the crucifixion and how his loved ones must have felt when watching him on the cross.
In a popular children’s book series the main character goes away to school each year and after getting off the train, is whisked up to the school by carriages which seem to draw themselves. One year he returns and wonders what the creatures are which are now pulling the carriages. He soon finds out that the creatures were always there and it is because of an experience he had that he was now able to see them. Before he had only known of a loved one’s death. Now he had actually witnessed a friend dying and his vision was forever changed. I think this is similar to the change in me since my grandmother’s passing.
I wasn’t there in her final moment. But I was there only hours before and prayed for death to come and ease her suffering sooner. I have the assurance that I will be with her again. I am sealed to my parents and my parents are sealed to their parents. So saying goodbye was not the most difficult thing about her passing. At the time I had wondered why death can’t always be more peaceful. Why is it sometimes like torture for families to watch? I now understand it a bit better. Without that experience I know I would not be able to have this deeper appreciation for what the Savior went through for ME and for you…as well as having a stronger testimony of Christ’s resurrection and the resurrection of us all.
I am so grateful for the knowledge we receive from 1 Cor 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” And from D&C 130:18 we know that “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” And from Alma, (chapter 11:42-44) we know “that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit…”
Easter time is a wonderful time then for us to recall these important truths, and it is a challenge as well.
President Ezra T. Benson reminds us that “The literal resurrection of every soul who has lived and died on earth is a certainty, and surely one should make careful preparation for this event. A glorious resurrection should be the goal of every man and woman…” How do we have a glorious resurrection? In addition to necessary saving ordinances, the primary hymn “He Sent His Son” tells us simply what we must do:
How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent His Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.
How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent His Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.
How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent His Son to die for us and rise with living breath.
What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.
What does he ask? Live like his Son.
In the few quiet moments I had to ponder what I should say today, a few phrases jumped into my mind. One of them was “That he lives” …from the testimony of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in D&C. Another was “As in Adam all die” from 1 Cor 15. And the final one was “Lest we Forget.” I had NO IDEA where that thought came from or where to find it. So, I Googled it. It turns out to be from Rudyard Kipling’s “Recessional.” It’s a good reminder for us when appreciating veterans, or slavery, and is read at many memorials. It’s quoted often in General Conference also. I feel that it is appropriate to remember at Easter as well.
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart.
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget.
I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to add my testimony this day: that I know this gospel is true. I know we have a loving Heavenly Father, that he sent his Son, a separate and distinct individual, to die for our sins and break the bonds of death. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and he restored the full gospel to the earth. And that we are led by a prophet today.
In 1981 the man who is now our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, said: “As the least of His disciples, I declare my personal witness that death has been conquered, victory over the tomb has been won. May the words made sacred by Him who fulfilled them become actual knowledge to all. Remember them. Cherish them. Honor them. He is risen.”
I hope that we will remember THAT HE LIVES and that we will also, so we should work harder & take the challenge to strive for a glorious resurrection and LIVE LIKE HIS SON…Lest we forget.
“Such is my fervent prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”
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