He Is Risen!

What a beautiful thing Easter is, a celebration of Jesus and His glorious Resurrection. Oh what hope this gives us! It is proof that this life is not the end. It is proof that we too shall live again after we die. It is a deep source of comfort that when death separates us and our loved ones, that we shall see them again.

Here are these beautiful words from David O McKay:

"At some time or other every human being faces that which we call death. When i was but a boy, I sensed this deeply in the cry of a mother who sat by the side of the casket that contained her little boy. Several of us boys had been playing with firecrackers on Twenty-eighth street in Ogden. We did not know then that one of our playmates had powder in his pocket...Unfortunately, in a moment of thoughtlessness, this young boy broke what we called a "lighter," and while it still had sparks in it, he put it in his pocket where the powder lay, and an explosion occurred. His clothes were set on fire, which we, his associates, tried to extinguish as best we could; but he was very severely and fatally burned.

"Two or three days later his playmates sat in the funeral services. I chanced to be near enough to the mother to hear President Charles F. Middleton say: "Don't cry, Ann! Don't cry! You'll meet your boy again." And then...a cry came from that mother's soul in these words: "Oh, if I only knew!" That is all. I did not know its significance then. I could just respond to the cry. But since, I have read in that cry the answer to the longing of the human heart.


"No parent can lay aside a child without longing, without wishing, that the child might come again, or that the parent might speak with the child again...No husband can kneel at the side of a departed wife; o wife can kneel at the side of a departed husband; no child can part with a loving parent without being filled with an ardent desire to meet that loved one again somewhere in a better world where the pangs of parting are unknown...

"Living in posterity is not immortality...; living in deeds, living in writings, living in monuments, living in the memory of friends is not immortality; neither is living in the lives of our children and our grandchildren to the latest generation...the immortality that Jesus had in mind when he said: "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (John 11:26.)...

"To sincere believers in Christianity, to all who accept Christ as their Savior, his resurrection is not a symbolism but a reality.

"As Christ lived after death, so shall all men, each taking his place in the next world for which he has best fitted himself...

"He is not here: but is risen." (Luke 24:6.) Because our Redeemer lives, so shall we."

We too testify that He lives. He lived and He died for us. He paid the ultimate price to free us from the bonds of sin and death, so that we could become clean and live with He and Father for eternity.

Let us follow Him each day of our lives, and find comfort in His sacrifice and promise that we all may live together forever someday, never to be parted again...

General Conference

It is Conference weekend! What a wonderful opportunity we have to listen to the inspired words of those called to lead this Church. It is a perfect time for us to receive answers and guidance.

Consider these words of Wendy Watson Nelson as she spoke of a time in her mid-twenties when she was pondering the question of whether or not to marry the man she was engaged to:

"In preparation for April general conference, which was just two weeks away, my Bishop taught me a truth I had never known before. Although I hadn't spoken to him about my engagement or my concerns, when my Bishop offered this truth over the pulpit, he was speaking to me. He didn't use my name-but I knew-he was talking directly to me. He even let others listen in. But clearly, he was speaking to me.

"Here's the truth my Bishop spoke: "If you have a question that you need answered, if you will prayerfully and humbly listen to general conference, you will get it answered every time. Perhaps at the time, perhaps over time, but you WILL get your question answered every time!""

(Click here to read the entire talk from her March 2002 BYU-I Devotional)

It is our prayer that each of you may feel the Spirit of the Lord as you watch and listen to Conference this weekend, and that you may receive the answers, comfort, and guidance you are in need of.