"How Much Jesus Do We Want?"


 Dear Family,

This morning as I got ready for church I listened to Elder Stevenson's talk given in the opening session of conference held Saturday. (The Greatest Easter Story Ever Told) It made me grateful that in the last few years we have worked as a family to expand and refocus our Easter celebrations. So in response to Elder Stevenson's words I'm going to forgo the expected run-down of this weeks activities and focus on Easter week. We all know there are plenty of weeks left for the other kind of letters! 

I saw a copy of this painting by Walter Rane in the home of our ward choir directer in Sandy when we were holding choir practice in his living room. It caught my eye and has quickly become one of my favorites. The truth is that if I were not on a mission a copy of this painting would most likely have ended up in your homes as an Easter gift this year. I love this painting for how its stillness so powerfully tells the sacred story. I think I love it because of how grateful I am that in recent years my own understanding of the Savior and my own confidence in his redeeming power has sunk more completely into my heart

This year for Easter I am inviting myself to follow the council Elder Stevenson gave and to spend this week in a grand celebration of Easter! I'm a missionary right now so I don't have any excuse to not give it some good attention but I hope we can collectively all give it some expanded attention. 

When my friend Dianne passed away I had the privilege of taking her scripture study journal into the mountains where she and I loved to spend time. I sat on a bench and for several hours just poured over them.  She and I had taken religion classes together and had many conversations about doctrine and she was a wise woman who I knew had had many important things to say. The one thing from those journals that has stayed with me all these months later is a question she poses, the question that literally closes out her journal, her last entry asks this, "How much Jesus do you want?" I don't know who she was posing the question to, but it has become one of the powerful questions in my life, so I pose it to us all "How much Jesus do we want?" Think about it and let Easter motivate your thoughts.

Here are a few ideas for a bigger Easter to be done individually or as a family:

  • Read Book of Mormon passages suggested by Elder Stevenson, 3 Nephi 11:1-17, or maybe 3 Nephi 17
  • Read your favorite New Testament Easter chapter
  • Re-read the Living Christ
  • Study one of the passages of scripture where the Savior asks his heart felt question, "How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gatherers her chickens." There are at least 8 versions of it in the scriptures and all the family primary kids know this story because we studied repeatedly in our pandemic primary.  My personal favorite might be D&C 20:1-2 (Do you see the connection? Easter chicks?) 
  • Watch Easter videos @churchofjesuschrist.org 
  • Make a yummy Easter dinner that is a little more special or traditional than usual
  • Of course, eat some delicious chocolate!
What ideas do you have?

Have a wonderful week celebrating!
Sending you much love from the mission field,

Grandma and Pampa

P.S. This weeks miracle blessing. Here is a picture of Grandpa teaching his first Gospel Doctrine class in the Cantonese ward. Thank you for your prayers because I'm pleased to report that it went so well. Dad taught with confidence and lots of Cantonese. Yes, he had help from a wonderful translator but he did a surprising amount of it on his own. He worked very hard this week and combined with your prayers it not only went well, he actually had fun. It went well enough that I watched him have the clarity of the spirit to change the entire conclusion of his lesson to fit the class conversation, and he did much of it in Cantonese. 

Added to our love we send our thanks.

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