Celebrating Easter

When I was a child, Christmas was a huge celebration. From decorating the house to picking out the perfect tree to shopping for just the right gifts, Christmas was something we looked forward to every year.

I love all the traditions and when I got married and established my own family, I carried on with the big celebration. I included a 24 Days of Christmas book we read each night with scriptures and songs and stories, looked for community members we could be “Secret Santas” for, baked cookies and treats, made sure we chopped down the perfect tree up in the mountains, and tried to turn my house into a Christmas wonderland.

Part of our Christmas celebration always centers on the Savior, Jesus Christ. We have collected nativity sets and our living room is dedicated to decorations that celebrate His birth.

I go all out for Christmas, but I’ve never done the same for Easter.

It began to bother me that I had never made our Easter celebration big. Sure, we dyed eggs, had an Easter egg hunt with all the cousins, and got together with family for a special dinner, but it was never on the same level as Christmas.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson’s Talk

In the April 2023 general conference, Elder Stevenson spoke on this topic: The Greatest Easter Story Ever Told. In this talk, he expresses some of the same feelings I’d had. As I listened to it for the first time, I felt like he was speaking directly to me.

Elder Stevenson encouraged us to embrace the letter by the First Presidency asking us to make our Easter celebrations more meaningful.

Some Ideas to Celebrate Easter

Life is busy and I’m not as creative as I once was, but I’ve been trying to come up with some ideas to make our Easter celebration more meaningful this year.

I created a printable (that I’ll share) of candles (because Jesus is the light of the world) surrounding a drawing of Jesus. I also created a printable of candles. From now until Easter, I plan to find a name/role of Jesus each day and write it on a candle with my family. I will then hang the candles on the wall so we can see the different names of Jesus until Easter.

We will also each have a printout of the candles surrounding Jesus to individually write the name/role and a corresponding scripture.

Today, the name will be Messiah, which means anointed one, one anointed with oil who will be a future savior figure, a king or leader prophesied in the Bible who would bring peace and redemption to Israel and the world. Scripture references: Matthew 16:16, John 1:41, 2 Nephi 2:8, John 4:25-26.

Message from Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Elder Dallin H. Oaks has created a video to encourage us to celebrate Easter.

Without Easter, We Have Nothing

A famous scholar, N.T. Wright, said, “…we should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity.”

Easter is just as important as Christmas. Without the promise of life after death, we’d have no hope. Mortality would be it. All the heartache, trials, sadness, and grief would be so much deeper because after death, we’d stay buried n the earth.

But He is risen!! Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And because He rose, so shall we. And all those we’ve loved and lost. Easter gives us hope. Easter is the brighter tomorrow. Easter offers us peace in knowing that mortality is simply part of our eternal lives.