Happy Easter!

Our family was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting for Easter Sunday. What a great time to really study our Savior and His atonement. The Bishop even wanted our girls to speak - I am pretty sure my first Sacrament talk was after I turned twelve. Honestly, I was preparing myself to give their talks for them. They wrote their talks themselves, with only a little help from us. After practicing all week they were ready, but I still wasn't sure if they would really give them in front of everyone. I was so proud of them - they both did fabulous! I love the gospel and the roadmap it gives me to teach my children about our Heavenly Father's plan.

Brynlee didn't have much to say - I tried working with her, but she just wouldn't. Actually, she has lots to say - always when it is real quiet at church. Maybe next time.

Makenna's Talk
On Monday night for Family Home Evening we had our Easter lesson. My mom hid Easter eggs that had symbols of Easter inside. One by one we opened each egg and talked about what was inside. One egg had a nail for the nail prints in Jesus’ hands. Another egg had a red cloth like the one the soldiers put around Jesus to make fun of him. Another egg had cotton for the clouds that took Jesus up to heaven. On my last egg there was nothing inside and I wondered if mom had forgotten it. She asked me why I thought it would be empty. Then I remembered it was for the empty tomb. Jesus wasn’t there. I’m grateful for Easter that we can remember what Jesus did for us. I know that Jesus died and was resurrected and that I can be with my family forever.

Whitney's Talk
When I think of Jesus and his atonement, I think of a book we have called You are Priceless. It is about a little girl names Sarah who really wanted a bike. When she asked her dad is she could get one he told her to start saving her money. She saved everything and even did extra job to get more money. After saving for awhile, she came to her dad and asked if she could get a bike now. He said they could go look. So they went and she spotted the perfect bike. She was so excited until she saw how much it cost. She only had 61 cents. She told her daddy that she would never have enough money to buy the bike. She was very upset. Then her dad wiped away her tears and said, “Give me what you have, and a hug and a kiss and I will do the rest.” She was so happy and even gave extra kisses and hugs just to be sure. This story is like the atonement. We want to live with Heavenly Father again even more than Sarah wanted the bike. But no matter how hard we try we’ll still make mistakes and like Sarah we won’t be able to do enough. So Jesus says, “You give me all you’ve got, and a hug and a kiss. I’ll do the rest.” I’m grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and that he was willing to pay the price so I can live with Him again. I know that the church is true.