Easter Thought

“With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again."   -Pres. Thomas S. Monson

 

The above thought is from:

www.lds.org/ensign/2012/04/he-is-risen-a-prophets-testimonyt

Creating Christ-Centered Easter Traditions

"The Atonement of Jesus Christi, including the Resurrection is at the very core of Easter. Creating Christ-centered traditions will help us focus on these gifts of our Savior."- Diane L. Mangum

"The Lord hasw not been so explicit in providing us religious customes along the order of feasts and festivals to remind us of the blessings we receive from Him today. However, the practice of having traditions to keep us close to the great hearitage which is ours to enjoy should be somthing every family should try to keep alive." - Elder L. Tom Perry

The quotes above are from the article, "Creating Christ-Centered Easter Traditions", Ensign,  March 2013, pp. 26-28. To read the entire article go to:

www.lds.org/ensign/2013/03/creating-christ-centered-easter-traditions

Happy Easter!

“My beloved brothers and sisters, in our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: ‘He is not here: for he is risen." - Pres. Thomas S. Monson.

^{This quote is from a great article in the April 2012, Ensign. There are great quotes from Pres. Monson, an Easter message for the youth and an activity for children. Here is the link:} 

^{www.lds.org/ensign/2012/04/he-is-risen-a-prophets-testimony}

FHE Idea -Easter

8th Ward Primary

This is a fun  idea the 8th Ward Primary did a few years ago that our family still enjoys. Maybe your family will too. Small visual aides along with scriptures are used to help tell the story of Easter.

You will need:

•  1 egg carton


• 12 plastic Easter eggs (the size that fits in the egg carton)


• the small visuals listed below

Make a copy of the scripture references and items below on a small piece of paper and insert the paper and the small visual in each of the numbered plastic Easter eggs. For FHE take turns reading the Easter story starting with egg #1 and finishing with egg #12. The visual aides will make it fun and memorable.

1.  Matthew 26:39 (sacrament cup)


2. Matthew 26:14-15, thus fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 11:12-14 (3 dimes)


3. Matthew 27:1-2 (knotted twine)


4. Matthew 27:24-26 (small chunk of hand soap)


5. Matthew 27:28-30 (square of red cloth and a thorn)


6. Matthew 27L31-32, and he was crucified and nailed to a cross (tooth pick cross & tiny nail)


7. Matthew 27:35-36 (small pair of dice)


8. Matthew27:46, 48 (sponge)


9. Matthew 27:57-60 (strip of white cloth)


10. Matthew 27:60-66 (stone)


11. Mark 16:1, Matthew 28:2, 5 (cloves, or a bay leaf)


12. Matthew 28:6 (empty)

Gethsemane

"I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf."

-Pres. Thomas S. Monson

Bunny & Bird Rolls

from: Christi Jardine
(8th Ward) 

-Stake Provident Living Leader

My children have loved these rolls for Easter for many years! Maybe they will make you and yours smile too! Happy Easter!

Use your favorite roll recipe or you can use the one that follows called Ida's Rolls.

Bunnies: 

• Cut dough into even 1 1/2" x 3" pieces (approximately). 
• Roll dough into long tubes or snakes.

•  Cross dough snake to make a loop at the bottom.

• Twist ends (ears) one more time. 

• Roll a small piece of dough into a ball and place in loop to form tail.

• Place on cookie sheet sprayed with vegetable spray and spray bunnies lightly with additional oil spray. Let raise 1/2 to 1 hour. Do not raise too long or bunnies will become misshapen and it will take a lot of imagination to tell they are bunnies.

• Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

 Birds:

• Cut dough into even 1 1/2" x 3" pieces (approximately). 
• Roll dough into long tubes or snakes. Make the snakes shorter and fatter than the tubes for the bunnies.

• Cross dough snake to make a loop at the bottom. Pull one end of dough snake through the loop opening. You are just tying the dough in a knot. (This is how you make knot rolls).

•  One end of the dough becomes the head and the other becomes the tail. 
• Round the head and place two small raisin pieces into the head for eyes. You could also try another raisin for the beak or just go beakless!
• Flatten the end piece for the tail and with a knife cut slits to make the tail feathers.

• Place on cookie sheet sprayed with vegetable spray and spray birds lightly with additional oil spray. Let raise 1/2 to 1 hour. Do not raise too long or birds will become misshapen and it will take a lot of imagination to tell they are birds. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

 I usually make some of each. This is a fun family recipe! Let your children or grandchildren help. It is more fun than playing with Playdough and you can enjoy eating them latter! Happy Easter!

Who Can Testify of the Resurrected Christ

Look up the following scriptures to find out who the witnesses to the resurrection are and how many total people can testify of Christ as a resurrected being.

Scripture                      Who Saw Him                   How Many Saw Him

John 20:11-18

Matthew 28:1,8-10

Luke 24:33-48

1 Cor. 15:4-6

3 Nephi 11:9-10

3 Nephi 13-14

3 Nephi 17:25

D&C 76:11-12, 22-23

Easter Cupcakes

For an Easter neighborhood or family get together make some of these fun cupcakes. Your children or grandchildren will love them or will love to help make them!

Easter Basket Cupcakes

• Make your favorite cupcake recipe or use a cake mix. 

• Make one recipe of your favorite frosting or use canned frosting.

• Frost the cupcakes with white frosting and decorate with colored coconut flakes to make the grass. Add jelly beans or your favorite Easter egg candies. Enjoy!

*To make coconut grass: place desired amount of coconut in a zip-lock bag and add a few drops of green food coloring mix and shake coconut in bag until coconut turns green. It's that easy! Give it a try!

Bunny Cupcakes

• Make cupcakes and frosting.
• Add food coloring to the frosting to make whatever color bunny you would like (pink, yellow, etc.)
• Frost cupcakes making a little design for the mouth or use cake decorating tip to make mouth. 
• Cut a small gum drop in half for the nose.
• Use two chocolate chips for the eyes.
• Two chick peeps for the ears. (I had to cut the heads off and use a tooth pick to help them stay on. They are turned upside down.) 

Have fun! and Happy Easter!