Book of Mormon [EASTER] Insights and Creative lessons with Maria Eckersley

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Hey everyone, welcome back.

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This is week 13 of Our Mothers Knew It and sort of a special edition for this year.

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This will be a slightly different lesson than we see any other week of

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the year, because this is Easter week.

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And rather than giving you a traditional video all with the insights and a video

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of creative object lessons, I've decided to create a mashup that will hopefully

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bring you a little bit of light and lift and rich opportunities to study.

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As you do fun things.

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We're combining everything together this week.

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And the motivation behind that came from watching a play with

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my family just a week or two ago.

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We went to see Fiddler on the Roof and we started talking about tradition.

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So if you haven't seen that play lately, it's one of our favorites.

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I love the way they speak about tradition.

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It's this steadying force, this thing that creates belonging between

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generations and throughout neighborhoods.

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And all of that is beautiful.

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But what I also love about that play is it talks about setting traditions down

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or adapting them based on the needs of your family and your circumstances.

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And I feel like Easter is ripe for that kind of transformation.

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In fact, I feel like we've heard it a little bit lately from President Nelson

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and from Elder Stevenson, that we should take a good look at our Easters

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and see what we can do to add more.

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Not add more busyness or add more time, but add more depth.

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And that's what I hope to do here on this week's study.

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So it'll look a little different, but I promise it'll be worth it.

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I read this article on how studying tradition and what makes traditions

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last and feel like What we hope to get out of them, you know, something

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that ties our hearts together.

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And this one is from artist Whitman.

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He wrote, we must cherish our yesterdays, but never carry them

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as a burden into the future.

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Each generation must take nourishment from the other and give knowledge

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to the one that comes after.

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And so it's not the tradition of saying Stop or halt or think no more.

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It's not saying do not question, do not grow, and do not change.

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Rather tradition is saying remember.

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Think, but remember.

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Question, but remember.

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Grow and change, but remember.

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Remember who we are as humans, where we came from, and how we can

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make the knowledge and wisdom and experiences transmitted to us from

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generations afar to live a more beautiful life and more meaningful.

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I feel like that's the idea here.

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My hope Stevenson's talk.

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So last April he gave a talk about how we should look again at Easter

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and see if there's ways we can.

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Make it feel more like Christmas.

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Remember this talk?

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He spoke about things like how we read Luke 2 at Christmas, and we need an

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equivalent for Easter, and then he gave us some suggestions about it.

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So that kind of kicked off some ideas in my head that maybe we

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could use Christmas as a template for a lot of Easter traditions.

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And that's basically what we're going to do this week in this study.

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Let me read you a section of his talk.

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He said, How do we model the teaching and celebration of the resurrection

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of Jesus Christ, the Easter story, with the same balance, fullness, and

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rich religious tradition of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Christmas story?

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It seems we're all trying.

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I observe a growing effort among Latter day Saints toward

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a more Christ centered Easter.

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This includes a greater and more thoughtful recognition of Palm

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Sunday and Good Friday, as practiced by some of our Christian cousins.

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We might also adopt appropriate Christ centered Easter traditions

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found in the cultures and practices of cultures, of countries worldwide.

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So that's what we're going to do this week, you guys.

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I decided to focus my efforts, rather than creating just three

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things, and instead expand to seven.

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So in this week's study, we're going to study seven areas

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of the Saviors last week.

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And then we're going to look at how those might apply to our Easter traditions.

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And the framework I'm going to use are the Christmas traditions

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that my kids already love.

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Because there's something about pulling something that is so familiar to them that

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I already know they love and delight in, and bringing it in to this Easter holiday.

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I'm just committed to doing it without adding a lot to my plate.

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That's my goal, and my goal for you as well.

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So this week, rather than the study plan that you normally see from me

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in the Insights Notes, I'm directing you toward the Church's study plan.

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I think they did a marvelous job.

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It's this day by day study.

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You can find it at comeuntochrist.

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org or easterdaybyday.

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If you search it there, you can find a study plan that has really simple

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instruction for what you could study each day of Holy Week, those eight days.

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Sunday to Sunday.

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Follow their guidelines.

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I think they did a marvelous job.

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And then consider some of these new traditions that I'm going to toss your

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way to see what might fit or what might give you an opportunity to teach a new

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part of this Easter story to your family.

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At least to teach it in a new way.

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That's my goal.

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So if you go in the notes this week, you're going to see

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links out to those study plans.

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You'll also see links to all my old, from the last four years of

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Easter study, all those notes.

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videos, things you can watch, and then notes to seven new Easter traditions.

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Each one of those traditions will offer some printable tools.

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A lot of them are pulled from the years that we've been studying Easter

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together, and then also some scriptures you can base these on, and ideas on

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how you can apply it in your family.

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Just remember this is not a checklist.

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I'm not expecting you to do all of these.

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I don't know that we'll do all of these all every year, but I have

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found so much depth and richness in the ones we have chosen, and I want

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to teach you a little bit about them.

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Help you get creative ideas on how you can do something different this Easter

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that will delight your family and help you see the Savior's gift with a

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little more brightness and joy, I hope.

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So grab your notes.

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Get your creative brains going because it's time to get started.

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If you asked my kids about the most important part of Christmas,

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they would probably tell you it starts with decorations.

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That you wouldn't really get the Christmas spirit if you don't put up the tree.

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In fact, in our house we have this constant debate because Jack is

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what I call a defender of November.

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He has a November birthday and he will not allow us to put up Christmas

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decorations until after Thanksgiving.

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So we're constantly just waiting for that day to roll around.

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But I feel like we don't have that same Pull at Easter, at

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least we haven't in the past.

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So this year I'm trying to take the template that we have at Christmas, this

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idea of decorating the house and making it feel unique for this time of year and

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bringing that into our Easter traditions.

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I just don't want to make it busy and complicated.

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So I thought I would take a look at what is already here.

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So if you go in the notes, you can see links to this art combo kit that my

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dear friend Amy Ferry helped create.

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She's the artist behind it.

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I got to help arrange the files, but she makes this beautiful kit

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of supplies that you can use to decorate your house at Easter.

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I don't think you have to use all of them or any of them, but my hope is that you

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can, in whatever way feels good to your family, create a day where you decorate.

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I realize that we are so close to Easter that this might seem Not worth the effort.

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You guys, I think it sets the tone for everything else that we're going to do.

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Just simple, small decorations.

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Something on your mantel.

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Something that, you know, sits on your kitchen table.

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Something that reminds your kids that Easter is coming.

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My hope is that you can pull from her artwork, or if you'd rather,

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you can look at some of the other printables I have linked.

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So for example, back in the New Testament, we made these gorgeous

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Easter lilies out of paper.

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Do you guys remember those?

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They have crosses hidden inside the petals so that you can teach different

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parts of the Savior's last week of life.

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And I just think it's remarkable to have things like that that are so meaningful

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and so beautiful around your house.

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So I'll leave those to you.

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The, the scripture that came to mind for me as I was thinking about making this

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day of decorating, this preparation day.

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Um, this comes in Matthew 21, 9.

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It says, And the multitudes that went before, that followed, cried, saying,

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Hosann to the Son of God, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

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Hosanna in the highest.

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This is the triumphal entry.

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This is when the Savior comes into Jerusalem on that holy

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week, on Palm Sunday, and they greet him with shouts of praise.

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And the reason I like that for talking about as we prepare our house for Easter.

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I think it helps you see all the preparation that went

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into place for his holy week.

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For example, the very fact that these people are shouting Hosanna is

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based on the fact that days before he raised Lazarus from the dead.

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And people have talked about it.

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Many people saw it and witnessed of it.

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And so now people, as they see him coming in on this donkey, they see the

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fulfillment of that prophecy in the Old Testament about an heir of King

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David who will come into the city.

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That's why they shout Hosanna.

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I feel like for me, that's what I hope to talk about as we decorate.

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I'm going to set up the house, not in a fancy way, but as I decorate,

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I'm going to put Easter music on instead of Christmas carols.

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I'm going to take a little time as we set up that palm garland to talk to my kids

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about the triumphal entry, help them see what preparations went into place in order

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for That holy week to begin, not just the miracle of Lazarus, but so many other

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miracles and so many other kindnesses that the Lord put in place so that as

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he entered the city, people praised him.

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It won't last, sadly, through the Holy Week, but that's what sets the stage.

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And I think creating even small, simple decorations in our house sets the stage

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for all the goodness that will come after.

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There's a beautiful talk in the notes, this is from Elder Gong in April of 2020.

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It's called Hosanna and Hallelujah.

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He says this, In celebrating the ongoing restoration of the Gospel of Jesus

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Christ, we also prepare for Easter.

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In both, we rejoice in the return of Jesus Christ.

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He lives, not only then, but now.

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Amen.

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Not just for some, but for all.

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He came and comes to heal the broken hearted, deliver the captives,

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recover sight to the blind, and set at liberty those who are bruised.

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That's each of us.

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His redeeming promises apply, no matter our past, our present,

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or our concerns for our future.

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I think when we set up a tradition to simply decorate, create an

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environment in our home that is safe, different than every other day.

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We set the stage for our kids to feel those promises a little deeper.

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And I think, I think it will make a remarkable difference.

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So I think it's worth a shot.

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Another time honored Christmas tradition is that you give neighbor gifts.

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And trust me, I do not want to bring that stress onto you at Easter.

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I don't think any of us needs that kind of intensity at Easter.

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But I do think the idea of Helping our neighbors feel loved is

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particularly indicative of the Savior's treatment of others.

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One of the ways I love seeing this within the Easter story is what

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you see right before Holy Week.

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This is when he interacts with the woman with the alabaster box.

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Do you remember this story?

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We studied it intensely in the New Testament, so if you want you can go back

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to the site and watch those videos and see some of the creative about this story.

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But it's, the one I love, the version I like is in Luke 7.

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So this is verses 37 through 39.

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Again, right before at the Savior.

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Begins this holy week we have this little vignette and behold a woman in the city

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Which was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in a Pharisee's house

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Brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at his feet behind him weeping

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and began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe them with the hairs of her

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head and kissed his feet and Anointed them with the ointment now when the

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Pharisee which had bitten him saw it He spake within himself, saying, This

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man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman it is

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that toucheth him, for she is a sinner.

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This is when Jesus intervenes and he speaks to him.

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We can go on the verses and learn more, but he gives him

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the parable of the debtors.

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Remember this?

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I mean, it's just this rich study.

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And then it ends with 47 through 50.

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Wherefore, I say unto thee, this is the Savior speaking, Her sins, which are many,

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are forgiven, for she hath loved much.

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But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

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And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

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And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who

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is this that forgiveth sins also?

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And he said unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee.

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Go in peace.

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At Christmas, I think we give gifts like this, right?

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That alabaster box of hers.

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Jesus wasn't her family.

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She just gave what she could.

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This incredibly expensive offering that she gives to him in preparation

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for his death and his burial.

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This is a sweet offering and Jesus sees it.

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And I think We should incorporate that into our Easter traditions.

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It could look at there's a hundred different ways that you could serve your

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neighbors around you But I'm trying to do it in a way that my kids get excited

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about the same way they would get excited about different Christmas traditions.

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So Violet and I put our heads together and we came up with something new.

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So based on what Amy Fairey created when we were on that team, we, we had

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this template of egging somebody's house and we decided to build on that.

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But it's not Egging in the traditional way, it's egging that looks like this.

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So basically the idea behind this tradition is that you will make

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your neighbors feel loved and then put that love out to others.

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It's what I see in the Savior in this story.

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He doesn't just make this woman with the alabaster box feel loved.

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What he does is gives her dignity, and then she can take

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that love and bring it to others.

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As she feels solid, especially given her history, as she feels loved by

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the Savior, then she will undoubtedly pass that love on to others.

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So, to egg someone else's house, You basically need to buy 12

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of the little plastic eggs.

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So just the standard, we went and got them at Walmart for 1.

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50 I think.

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You get the standard eggs.

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You're going to fill them with candy.

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And then you're going to create a carton.

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So for us, if you happen to be at Walmart, this is where I

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found these little cute cartons.

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I actually found them in the pet area.

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I guess it's for when people actually have chickens and they need empty cartons.

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You could also use, you know, a leftover egg carton that you have

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in your fridge already, but you want to have one that has 12 slots.

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You're actually going to take this, the eggs out of the carton and you're going

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to put in these little paper eggs instead.

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Because basically what you're going to do is you're going

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to go to a neighbor's house.

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Or somebody that you just think will delight to have this little happy

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surprise show up and you're going to hide eggs So you're creating

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almost a reverse Easter egg hunt.

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You're making a hunt for someone else to find So you take your 12 eggs that are

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filled with candy or prizes or whatever and you hide them in someone else's yard.

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For us, Violet and I did this very stealthily.

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At least we thought we were stealthy.

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And we hid them, you know, in the lampposts and in trees.

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And we tried to duck their ring doorbell to not get caught on their camera.

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But you're gonna hide the eggs all around and then you're going

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to give them this empty carton.

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And on the top of the carton you set this, you're gonna set this on

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their doorstep, ring the doorbell, and then run as fast as you can.

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You should run a lot further than Violet and I ran because we, we

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got caught in the act on this one.

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But you're gonna Let them open up the door and then see this carton.

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When they open it up, they'll see instructions that has

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little paper eggs inside.

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Those are the paper eggs that they're going to put in their door.

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They'll take one and put it in their window so that people can

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see that they've been egged.

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They collect the 12 eggs that are hidden in their yard.

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They refill them and then they go to another neighbor's

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house and egg someone else.

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That same carton gets passed from house to house throughout the neighborhood.

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My hope with this is simply that as you're doing this, as you're prepping

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the eggs, as you're thinking about which families you're going to get.

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I mean, there's something so delightful about making little kids happy.

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You know, to do this, Violet and I, she picked the house that we were going to

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go to, and there's this little girl that lives there, and to hear her delight

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when she opened the door and found her first egg, because we weren't very

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far away at the time, we didn't run fast enough, and you could hear it.

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And there's something about that that just Lifts your heart.

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That's Easter, you guys.

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Easter doesn't have to be heavy and full of study.

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I think it's great if study's in there, but service is a

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beautiful way to study the Savior.

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And this kind of fun, happy service is lifting.

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We felt lighter, even though we got caught and laughed the whole way home.

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Like, there is something, there's something rich about

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having some way to delight with your kids in these traditions.

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So that's the idea.

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So you go on the printable, you can find all the pieces that you'll need,

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the eggs that you'll hide within the carton, you'll find the top thing that

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goes on the outside of the carton, but I'm hoping it creates a new, fun

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tradition that doesn't just exist in your house, but eventually gets passed

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neighbor to neighbor throughout the, you know, throughout the week before Easter.

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Hopefully it creates that same feeling of love and connection.

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Belonging in a neighborhood that we get in family traditions as well.

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Most families have some sort of Christmas meal tradition, right?

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On ours is on Christmas Eve.

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We always have fondue.

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It's this big, long drawn out affair that takes up tons of time and it's just.

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Delightful because we never have it any other time of year and I wanted to

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create an equivalent of some kind for Easter But I didn't want the stress of

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a big dinner and also honestly most of the time we go to You know either my

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parents house or jason's parents house for easter dinner So I wanted something

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that was just ours for our little family.

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So we created maybe six seven years ago easter breakfast This is our

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version of that meal tradition.

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There's something powerful about Finding a way to feast together.

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I think this opens up a beautiful gateway to talking about what the

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Savior did, especially during Holy Week.

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Lots of times in scripture you hear about the Savior gathering with people,

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especially around a table, like he would teach as people ate and brought,

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you know, people together that wouldn't normally sit at a table together.

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He especially does this beautifully during Holy Week because that's

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when you see the Last Supper.

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So my hope with this tradition is that as you create,

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whatever meal fits your family.

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You know, it could be takeout, it could be whatever.

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For us, we love breakfast just because we make challah bread french toast.

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And one of the perfect things about that meal, first off,

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challah bread is delicious.

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amazing.

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So if you remember, if you were with us back in 2020, I shared this recipe.

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This is probably of all the recipes I have.

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The one that I get asked for the very most because it's phenomenal.

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So it's this beautiful Jewish braided bread that's not very hard to make.

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And I shared it with you back in December.

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So you're going to see a link to that in the notes this week.

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But at Easter, we take that bread and we turn it into French toast.

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So I'll be sharing that recipe with you.

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What I like about it is you can make it the night before, or even

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a day or two before, and keep it in the fridge and then just warm it up

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on Easter morning, or whatever day you decide to do your breakfast.

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But my hope is that as you eat and feast, that you can talk about

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what we see in this Last Supper.

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This, Jesus Christ, uh, that holy week happens during Passover.

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Those last few days of his mortal life happen during Passover when there are

Maria: 00:18:50

huge feasting traditions taking place.

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So if you go on the notes, you can see some of the parallels between what the

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Savior's atoning sacrifice was and how it mirrors what what the Jews had been

Maria: 00:19:00

doing for centuries with Passover.

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The very fact that there's a lamb that is unblemished and no bones

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are broken and how that relates to the Savior and his crucifixion.

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I lay all those out for you in the notes, but my hope is that you can kind of talk

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through that as you feast, as you enjoy breakfast together or dinner together,

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talk through that Last Supper and what it involved, that it involved the service

Maria: 00:19:21

of the Savior as he washed the feet.

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It involved a sacrament where the very ending Passover meal happened

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that night, because from this point forward, there is a sacrament ordinance

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in place, and you'll partake of bread and water to remember his sacrifice.

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sacrifice.

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That's what I'm hoping to help my kids understand.

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It's not just a feast for our bellies, it's a feast for our spirits as we

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talk about what the Savior offered us.

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The scriptures I love, and there's a few that you could apply here, but I

Maria: 00:19:48

really love what you find in John 1 29.

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The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God,

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which taketh away the sins of the world.

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Or something similar in Luke 20.

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He took bread, and gave thanks, and break it, and gave it unto them, saying,

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This is my body, which is given for you.

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This do in remembrance of me.

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Likewise, also the cup after saying this cup is the New Testament in

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my blood which is shed for you.

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The Savior was instituting something new at this gathering around a table.

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And I think that's what we want our kids to grasp and to understand.

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And I think doing that around a table that's full of good food

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and happy memories with each other makes that even richer.

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Ready for this next connecting tradition?

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So at Christmas time, most of us find some way to serve, right?

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It almost comes automatically, because Christmas lights go up, trees go up,

Maria: 00:20:45

and you have this opening of your heart that makes you want to lift

Maria: 00:20:49

up the hands that hang down and find ways to strengthen the feeble knees.

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It's just part of the Christmas spirit.

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I really feel like it should be part of the Easter spirit as well, so I'm trying

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to find some way to simply serve, but since we don't have much time, I thought,

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what's a good way that we can serve?

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And have that same feel that we do at Christmas, but in a simpler way.

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And the solution that came to mind as Jason and I were talking

Maria: 00:21:10

is serving in the temple.

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So since the Savior spent so much time of his last week teaching at

Maria: 00:21:15

the temple and performing miracles at the temple, this seems like a

Maria: 00:21:18

perfect place to honor his ministry.

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that resurrection weekend.

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So, I thought it would be great if we take some time to serve.

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The verse that I based this off of is in John 11.

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This is 25 and 26.

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Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.

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He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

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And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

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Believest thou this?

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That, to me, sets the stage for all of our temple work.

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The whole reason we go to the temple to perform any kind of proxy work is

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because we believe in the resurrection.

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We believe that these sealing powers were given for a reason.

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In fact, I love that the sealing powers were restored on a Passover

Maria: 00:21:59

Easter Sunday in the Kirtland Temple.

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Like this is a, there's a powerful connecting line between all of

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these things and I just think we want our kids to understand it.

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So my tradition for you this time to consider is simply to create it.

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a temple experience for your family.

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Set an appointment if you have teenagers, go and do baptisms together.

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Or if you don't have kids who are able to get to the temple or there's

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not a temple close enough to you, then find a way to study the temple.

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Or better yet, do some family history work.

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There's, I give you links in the notes if you want to go into the

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family histories activities page so that you can at least get connected.

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The same way I feel like at Christmas time when we choose to serve, we go to a soup

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kitchen, we offer our time and our talents somehow, it connects us to people that we.

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don't know but want to love.

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And I feel like that's what the temple does it as well.

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It connects us to people that we will know and want to love.

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And those ordinances help that happen.

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The printables that are included with this tradition come from

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many of our lessons in the past.

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The first one that I give you is this one that we created for temple name cards.

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Do you guys remember this?

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I created a way that you could hold all One of the things that's hard is in the

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temple, you carry these name cards with you, but they tend to get kind of rumpled

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in a pocket, and so I'm giving you the one that I made that's really simple and

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fast, and it's for teenagers who want to take baptism names to the temple.

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It's a way to kind of slip it into your pocket and have it

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just stay a little bit protected.

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I'm also giving you links to this one that we created.

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So this is if you want to store a lot of family name cards.

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This has some dividers in it so that you can keep track of, you

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know, male and female, ceilings to spouses, all the different areas.

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In fact, this is what I take to the temple with me every time I go.

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I had to pull it out of my temple bag to hold it up today because inside

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it, you'll find these little sleeves.

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They're these sleeves that say things like ceilings, parents, ordinance cards.

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female.

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So inside this, when I go to do sealings, I've already got a stockpile of female

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names that I need to take to the temple.

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And again, when I go and I change in the locker room, I just slide this whole

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sleeve into my pocket, whether I'm doing initiatories or endowment or sealings,

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this little sleeve is in my pocket and it helps me keep things top of mind.

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Not only does it protect the card, but it has covenants on it.

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Oftentimes there are scriptures on the back that I can review as I sit

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and think on these names and it just makes the experience richer for me.

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But I'm hoping this experience, this tradition will help your family find

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some connecting lines between where, who they can see now around that kitchen

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table or around in their home and who, who is beyond, you know, I think.

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It's one of the beautiful things that the Savior offered.

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I think it's part of the reason why he endured what he endured.

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Because he could see the joy that was set before him, that families that had

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been separated will now be reunited.

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I can't think of a more joyous occasion to celebrate than when a

Maria: 00:24:46

family is brought together again.

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In fact, I love, this is President Nelson's favorite quote.

Maria: 00:24:51

Message from 2016.

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He says joy is powerful and focusing on joy brings God's power into our lives.

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As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar who for the joy that

Maria: 00:25:01

was set before him endured the cross.

Maria: 00:25:03

Think of that.

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In order for him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured

Maria: 00:25:08

on earth, our Savior focused on joy.

Maria: 00:25:11

And what was the joy that was set before him?

Maria: 00:25:13

Surely it included the joy of cleansing, healing, and strengthening us.

Maria: 00:25:17

The joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent.

Maria: 00:25:20

The joy of making it possible for you and me to return home,

Maria: 00:25:22

clean and worthy, to live with our heavenly parents and families.

Maria: 00:25:28

The very fact that the Savior endured what He endured is this gift so that we can

Maria: 00:25:34

reunite, not just with our own families, but reunite with our heavenly parents.

Maria: 00:25:38

That's the joy that was set before Him.

Maria: 00:25:40

I imagine picturing those reunions brought Him comfort in hard times.

Maria: 00:25:46

And I think it can do that for us as well.

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That's why this is going to be a new tradition in our house.

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I hate to say it, but I think one of the reasons my kids enjoy Christmas maybe more

Maria: 00:26:04

than Easter is because gifts are involved.

Maria: 00:26:07

We exchange gifts at least.

Maria: 00:26:09

You probably have something similar in your family, but in our family

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we trade names at Christmas time.

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And then you have to come up with some small, inexpensive gift that then,

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you know, you pass on on Christmas Eve and everybody opens them.

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I wanted to create that feel in Easter without creating

Maria: 00:26:21

any stress on top of things.

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So I thought instead of a gift exchange, we would do an egg exchange.

Maria: 00:26:27

And let me explain.

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So basically, a few years ago Maybe five years ago when the Halloween campaign

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first came out, I got a chance to work on that campaign and it totally

Maria: 00:26:35

changed my mindset about Easter.

Maria: 00:26:37

We stopped doing Easter baskets altogether at our house.

Maria: 00:26:40

And instead I changed to a more Christ centered Easter.

Maria: 00:26:43

My kids have never forgiven me for this by the way, but I have loved

Maria: 00:26:47

Easter ever since because I don't have the same stress and strain.

Maria: 00:26:51

I'm not spending a whole bunch of money on stuff that I think will end

Maria: 00:26:54

up in the garbage in a couple of days.

Maria: 00:26:56

Instead, we have something small.

Maria: 00:26:58

So my friend Melissa Esplin created these, they're egg shaped little tiny boxes.

Maria: 00:27:03

And basically what I've done in the years past is when they come down for

Maria: 00:27:06

that Easter breakfast, they have one of these set in front of their plate

Maria: 00:27:09

and they know that there's going to be.

Maria: 00:27:11

A little gift inside.

Maria: 00:27:13

Not to be an expensive, fancy gift.

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It has to be something that will fit inside here.

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And that's kind of what we do as our Easter basket.

Maria: 00:27:19

So like it's a fidget spinner or maybe a cheap necklace or something.

Maria: 00:27:23

I thought it would be cool to do that but in an exchange kind of way.

Maria: 00:27:26

So instead of me being the one who gives out all these gifts, I decided

Maria: 00:27:29

I'm going to make it so they swap.

Maria: 00:27:31

So this year, we're switching things up and we're going to do an egg exchange.

Maria: 00:27:34

Now there's two basic ways you could do this.

Maria: 00:27:36

First, you could just make it simply an egg decorating basket.

Maria: 00:27:39

Not contest, but exchange.

Maria: 00:27:41

Meaning, you give each person a plain, blank egg.

Maria: 00:27:44

For us, I really like those ones that look like a real egg, but they're plastic.

Maria: 00:27:48

You know, they don't separate, they're just this really pretty white mat.

Maria: 00:27:51

I get them at Target or Walmart.

Maria: 00:27:53

Um, if you don't have those handy, you could use wooden eggs, or

Maria: 00:27:55

you could just get the, you know, you know, cheap plastic eggs.

Maria: 00:27:58

And you can do it two different ways.

Maria: 00:27:59

First, you could draw names and then give each person a blank egg and say, by Easter

Maria: 00:28:03

Sunday, I want you to come with your egg decorated in the style of that person.

Maria: 00:28:08

What would make you think of that person?

Maria: 00:28:10

What things would they like?

Maria: 00:28:11

You know, just give them a chance to kind of tap into another person in the

Maria: 00:28:14

family and make an egg to represent them.

Maria: 00:28:17

And then I can kind of picture.

Maria: 00:28:18

Setting them on a mantel and letting everybody on Easter morning try and

Maria: 00:28:21

figure out which egg was made for them.

Maria: 00:28:24

The other way you could do this and what we'll probably do in our family

Maria: 00:28:26

is give them an egg that separates and then say your job is to give a gift

Maria: 00:28:32

by Easter morning that can fit inside this egg for your particular person.

Maria: 00:28:37

We probably will set a budget on this because I'm not looking to recreate

Maria: 00:28:41

Christmas by any stretch but I do think it's fun to take the time to Think about

Maria: 00:28:46

who you have and what tiny gift you could give them to make them feel loved.

Maria: 00:28:51

Something that gives them comfort, even though it comes in a really small package.

Maria: 00:28:56

The reason I like this when it comes to Easter is I feel like this

Maria: 00:28:58

is what the Savior essentially is.

Maria: 00:29:01

He is something, a gift of love that comes in a very meek and lowly package.

Maria: 00:29:08

He lived humbly.

Maria: 00:29:10

He stood meekly when those who spit on him or judged him or condemned him, he,

Maria: 00:29:17

he stood with patience and meekness and I don't, I wouldn't say small, but he is

Maria: 00:29:25

mighty love in a humble package and that's what I'm hoping to help my kids see.

Maria: 00:29:30

When we do finally exchange eggs and we give our gifts to each other, I hope

Maria: 00:29:34

to be able to testify of who he is and why he chose to come the way he did

Maria: 00:29:39

and be the kind of man he was and live the kind of life he lived so that he

Maria: 00:29:43

could exude love in his particular way.

Maria: 00:29:47

The verses that comfort me in these areas, one of them is included in Melissa's

Maria: 00:29:51

printable with her beautiful egg box.

Maria: 00:29:53

You can find this print as well.

Maria: 00:29:54

It's John 3, 16 and 17.

Maria: 00:29:57

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that

Maria: 00:30:00

whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Maria: 00:30:03

For God sent his son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that

Maria: 00:30:07

the world through him might be saved.

Maria: 00:30:09

I also love Matthew 11, 29.

Maria: 00:30:12

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and

Maria: 00:30:16

you shall find rest unto your souls.

Maria: 00:30:18

As your kids open this gift of love in a very tiny, humble package, my

Maria: 00:30:23

hope is that they can feel that.

Maria: 00:30:25

What it means for the Savior to be of the utmost power and

Maria: 00:30:30

choose to be meek and lowly.

Maria: 00:30:32

When you think of the Savior, especially in those hours between Gethsemane

Maria: 00:30:37

and the crucifixion, he is choosing to be meek, have all this power kept

Maria: 00:30:42

under perfect control so that he can be perfectly obedient to the Father.

Maria: 00:30:46

I just think there's a lot of potential for teaching beautiful,

Maria: 00:30:49

rich doctrines with a fun family tradition right alongside it.

Maria: 00:31:00

As Elder Stevenson noted, most of us act out the nativity and read Luke 2

Maria: 00:31:05

on Christmas Eve, but we don't really have an equivalent tradition for Easter.

Maria: 00:31:09

And in our house, we sort of do.

Maria: 00:31:11

So I wanted to share what we do and why we do it.

Maria: 00:31:14

So if you ask Violet what her favorite Easter tradition is, it's

Maria: 00:31:18

not one we do perfectly every year.

Maria: 00:31:19

It's a little dependent on the weather.

Maria: 00:31:21

but we love doing a sunrise hike.

Maria: 00:31:24

This year I wanted to make that sunrise hike even more meaningful

Maria: 00:31:28

by talking about the story of the women who come to the tomb.

Maria: 00:31:32

So I love, deeply love, the part about the women.

Maria: 00:31:36

I just think there is so much to gain from studying what their

Maria: 00:31:40

experience is as disciples of Christ.

Maria: 00:31:43

In fact, if you haven't had a chance to listen to last

Maria: 00:31:45

year's BYU Easter conference.

Maria: 00:31:47

It's one of my favorite things to listen to.

Maria: 00:31:49

There's a talk from Gay Strathern that's in the notes if you want

Maria: 00:31:52

to go listen to it, but she talks about the witnesses of the women.

Maria: 00:31:55

And I thought since we already do this morning side hike, basically what we

Maria: 00:31:59

do is on Easter morning before the sun comes up, like deliberately before the

Maria: 00:32:03

sun comes up, we head out on a hike.

Maria: 00:32:06

We live in a place where there's a lot of trails nearby, so this is a little easier

Maria: 00:32:09

for us, but it's something where you head out in the dark and then you find a

Maria: 00:32:13

spot where you can watch the sun come up.

Maria: 00:32:15

And what's sort of magical about it, first, everybody's groggy and

Maria: 00:32:19

tired and sometimes even grumpy.

Maria: 00:32:21

But there is something about once you get to that location, and you

Maria: 00:32:25

sit, you wrap up in blankets, you know, you got your headlamps on,

Maria: 00:32:29

you're waiting for that sun to rise.

Maria: 00:32:31

There's this sweet, Waiting period like that, you know, you're you

Maria: 00:32:35

can tell on your phone the exact minute the Sun's gonna actually

Maria: 00:32:38

break that skyline But what I love is that little holding place for us.

Maria: 00:32:43

Usually what we do is we record a memory So we'll open up the memories app from

Maria: 00:32:47

family search and we'll record our testimonies of the Savior this year What

Maria: 00:32:51

I decided to do in addition to that or maybe instead of Is we're gonna talk

Maria: 00:32:55

through Mary's experience and the other woman who came to anoint the body of Jesus

Maria: 00:32:59

how they came Early in the morning, they would have come while it was still dark

Maria: 00:33:04

In fact, a lot of the paintings you see they have lanterns in their hands They're

Maria: 00:33:06

coming while it's still dark and what they experienced when they saw this empty

Maria: 00:33:11

tomb and then hopefully as the Sun rises to talk to them about What happened next?

Maria: 00:33:18

If you go in the verses, you can see links to John.

Maria: 00:33:20

This is my favorite account, at least.

Maria: 00:33:21

They're a little different based on the different Gospels.

Maria: 00:33:24

John's is the one that speaks specifically about Mary at the tomb.

Maria: 00:33:28

It doesn't mention spices.

Maria: 00:33:29

It doesn't mention any of those extras.

Maria: 00:33:31

It just talks about her experience.

Maria: 00:33:33

The grief that she feels when she sees he is no longer there, and the

Maria: 00:33:37

utter shock and relief that comes when she realizes he indeed is there.

Maria: 00:33:43

So this is John 20, 11 through 16.

Maria: 00:33:45

But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping, and as she wept she stooped

Maria: 00:33:49

down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the

Maria: 00:33:52

one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

Maria: 00:33:56

And they said unto her, Woman, Why weep is thou and she sent unto them because

Maria: 00:34:00

they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

Maria: 00:34:04

And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing

Maria: 00:34:07

and knew not that it was Jesus.

Maria: 00:34:09

And Jesus said unto her, woman, why wees thou whom seekest thou, she

Maria: 00:34:14

supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, sir, if thou has born him.

Maria: 00:34:18

Tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Maria: 00:34:21

Jesus saith unto her, Mary.

Maria: 00:34:23

She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master.

Maria: 00:34:29

I think this, acting out this piece of the story, Going somewhere in

Maria: 00:34:33

the dark, uh, not knowing, needing artificial light to illuminate your path.

Maria: 00:34:38

And then the contrast of our walk home.

Maria: 00:34:41

When we come home from that Easter hike, there's no headlamps anymore.

Maria: 00:34:45

You don't even need the blanket anymore because the sun that is up is so full.

Maria: 00:34:50

Even though it's just barely up.

Maria: 00:34:52

It illuminates our entire path.

Maria: 00:34:54

It warms the sky enough that we don't need a blanket.

Maria: 00:34:57

You can walk back to the car.

Maria: 00:35:00

Peace and joy.

Maria: 00:35:01

That's Easter morning.

Maria: 00:35:03

To me, that is kind of a microcosm of what Easter is all about.

Maria: 00:35:07

Because he lives, we don't need artificial light anymore.

Maria: 00:35:10

There is, there will be a time when there will be no more grief and

Maria: 00:35:13

no more death and no more loss.

Maria: 00:35:15

Like, there is, there is light in the world and warmth in the

Maria: 00:35:18

world and it cannot be Pushed out.

Maria: 00:35:22

I just, to me, that's what the Easter hike is all about.

Maria: 00:35:26

To give you a printable to go with this, I thought if, if you don't want

Maria: 00:35:29

to act out this story or talk through the story of Mary, another thing

Maria: 00:35:32

you might consider is recording your family speaking the living Christ.

Maria: 00:35:37

So if you remember, a couple years ago, I think it was in the Doctrine and

Maria: 00:35:39

Covenants, I created a printable that actually helps you memorize the Living

Maria: 00:35:42

Christ and breaks it down into parts so that as a family, you can read a

Maria: 00:35:46

little cue card and record your family.

Maria: 00:35:49

It doesn't even have to be a video recording, maybe just an audio

Maria: 00:35:51

recording of your family reciting the Living Christ on Easter morning

Maria: 00:35:55

as you wait for that sun to come up.

Maria: 00:35:57

And then hopefully year after year, as you can listen to those

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recorded memories, you can feel that.

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Witness.

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You can, like Mary, be a witness that then carries that beautiful

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message to everybody else.

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The message that he is risen.

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That you can feel a change in the in your surroundings because he lives.

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I hope this tradition creates that for your family as well as it has for mine.

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Time for our seventh of our potential connecting traditions.

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So Christmas has a very definite culmination, right?

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You finally get to Christmas day, you open gifts, you rejoice together,

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there's a very clear connection.

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And Easter is a little bit different.

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We don't really have that same experience.

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And I wanted to create that feel, something that we do all as a family

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to celebrate and rejoice on Easter day.

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So for me, I've decided we're going to do tights just because it's easy and fast.

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I could order some on Amazon and have them shipped in time.

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Like we're not doing anything super fancy here, but I do think

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there's beauty in the imagery.

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It's actually not that uncommon, right?

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Especially in a lot of other Christian faiths, you see people flying kites

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to represent the ascension of the Savior, which is a beautiful visual.

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But I actually like it for another reason.

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So for me, one of the most powerful parts of the Easter story is that after

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he is indeed resurrected and has this beautiful glorified body, he allows people

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to see him, not just Mary at the tomb, but the apostles when he comes to them.

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Like in John 20, you see this in 19 and 20.

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Then the same day, at evening, being the first day of the week, when the

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doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews,

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came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

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And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side.

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And then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.

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And then, much later, when Thomas wants his own experience with the Lord

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and gets it, this is in 27 through 29 of the same chapter, Then saith he

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to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither

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thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.

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And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

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Jesus sayeth unto him, Thomas.

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'cause Thou has seen me, thou has believed, blessed are they that

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have not seen and have yet believed.

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I love those verses, not just because they testify of the savior and

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invite me to have that kind of faith.

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Faith that I don't need tangible evidence that he is real and that he lives, but

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it can be built on something richer.

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I also love them because.

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This is part of the Easter story.

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He allows witnesses to see him.

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He chooses to stay tethered to this earth, at least for a period of 40 days,

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and then at these beautiful flashes of light moments throughout time.

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That's part of the Easter story.

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He isn't just resurrected.

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He's a resurrected God who loves his children.

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And He finds ways to stay.

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So when I picture a kite, that's what I picture.

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Not just that he ascends into heaven, but that he chooses to stay tethered.

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That's the line to me.

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That he provides all these witnesses that show that he is close.

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He is high and divine, but he is tethered to me and to my family and to my children.

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My worries and my fears, He is tethered.

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And that's why I love that tradition of kites.

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I'm hoping to take that opportunity when we fly them.

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If the weather's terrible that day, we'll do it a different day.

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But I'm hoping to take a chance to testify of the many witnesses of the Savior.

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There's a bunch in the New Testament.

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I lay them out for you in the notes.

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There's also some in the Restoration.

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But some of the most powerful for me come in in the Book of Mormon.

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So this is the block of scriptures that Elder Stevenson referenced

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as a companion to Luke 2.

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He recommended we study the first 17 verses of 3rd Nephi 11.

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Let me just give you a little snippet of those.

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This is 14 through 17.

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Arise and come forth unto me.

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This is the savior Approaching the Nephites as he's come

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down to be with them.

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Remember, he's tethered to them.

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He makes a point to stay close.

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Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and

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also that ye might feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that

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ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have

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been slain for the sins of the world.

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And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into

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his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet.

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And this they did do, going forth one by one, until they had all gone

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forth, and did see with their eyes, and did feel with their hands, and did

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know of a surety, and did bear record that it was he of whom it was written

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by the prophets that should come.

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And when they had all gone forth, and had witnessed for themselves, they did

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cry with one accord, saying, Hosanna!

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Blessed be the name of the Most High God.

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And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus and did worship him.

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I love that you see this powerful symmetry in the Holy Week story when you

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have the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

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That Hosanna shout that people offered as he came riding into Jerusalem is

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echoed by those in Third Nephi who see him come in his resurrected glory and

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minister to them and witness to them.

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There is something so powerful about understanding how many

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people can witness of the Savior.

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And for me, I'm hoping that as we fly these kites and as we think about the

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ways He is tethered to us personally, how we can witness for ourselves,

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I think it's just an invitation to Give your own witness, if it's just a

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testimony meeting that you have within your own little family that day or

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maybe as you get back in the car after flying kites, you just share your own.

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But my hope is that we can add our witness, that that is something

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that we each create on Easter.

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That is our culminating event, this opportunity to testify and to

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witness of how we know that he lives.

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I hope I can do that better.

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I hope my kids can feel it, not just in the tradition, but in hearing

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my words and Jason's words and feel their own closeness to him.

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I hope that's what this tradition creates.

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Thank you for being here you guys.

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That's it for Easter week.

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Okay.

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I told you simplified study My my hope is that you will find ways to help connect

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these beautiful doctrines With things your kids already will love and that it

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will create these joyful experiences in this Easter week But just remember this

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is just a smattering of ideas So pick and choose, or iterate on something,

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but do something that will help bring the love that you have about Christmas

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and that joy that you feel in your heart when Christmas comes, and bring

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it into this last week before Easter.

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I think you'll find a lot of happiness in it as you try.

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I would tell you that I think, above all things, the goal of every

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tradition that we do should probably align with what Nephi taught us.

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This is 2 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice of Christ, we preach of Christ,

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we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our

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children may know to what source they may look for a remission of sins.

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That's my intent with every one of these traditions, that they will come to trust

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the character of God, that they'll trust that they can come boldly to the throne

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of grace because they know him, and they know his compassion, and they know his

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grace, and they know his justice, and they can, they can look to that source for.

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That's what Easter is for me.

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It is a season of hope.

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It is a season of promise.

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It is a season of knowing that there are witnesses out there that know that

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he lives and I get to be one of them.

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So I bear that witness to you that he does indeed live and can lift our

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hearts in small and big ways right now as we stay tethered to him.

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And I hope that happens for you this week.

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Remember in the notes, you can find all the links to the

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printables that I mentioned here.

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If you're not part of the course and you don't have access to the notes,

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a lot of those will be available for you on Um, my Etsy shop, but

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some of them are free already.

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So you can find them if you go to gather.

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mcmom.

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com.

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That's also where you can go.

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If you want to RSVP for the live that we do on Monday to kind of talk through these

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traditions and troubleshoot, it's also a great place to share some of your ideas.

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So whether you're in the course and you can post it on the lesson, or if you just

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come join the site and share your ideas on the community chat, I hope you share

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some of the Easter traditions that you have in your family that might be add lift

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and light to the lives of your family.

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I just think there's a lot of good out there and I hope we can find a

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place to come together and share it.

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So come to gather.

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macmom.

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com and add your light there.

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Okay, I think that's it for this week you guys.

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Enjoy your week of study and I will see you on Monday.