Easter Sunday

Happy Easter World! Today may be one of the few Easter's (for me) that have really been focused on the Savior. It has been a wonderful day. 

For my Sacrament Meeting talk, I shared some of Elder Wirthlin's talk, "Sunday Will Come". I remember hearing it like it was yesterday. It was five days after Matthew passed away, and I was in the laundry room ironing while I listened to him speak. It was like a big, warm, comforting hug from my Heavenly Father.

He spoke very tenderly of his father, mother and sister who had all passed on. And then, he spoke of his dear wife Elisa. She had just recently passed away. You could feel of his undying love for her as he spoke.

"When President Hinckley spoke at Sister Wirthlin’s funeral, he said that it is a devastating, consuming thing to lose someone you love. It gnaws at your soul. He was right. As Elisa was my greatest joy, now her passing is my greatest sorrow."

Then he related what it was like when the Savior gave His life for us.

"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.

Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day they stood triumphant.

On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.

Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross.

On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.

I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.

But the doom of that day did not endure.

The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.

And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.

Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.

I testify to you that the Resurrection is not a fable. We have the personal testimonies of those who saw Him. Thousands in the Old and New Worlds witnessed the risen Savior. They felt the wounds in His hands, feet, and side. They shed tears of unrestrained joy as they embraced Him."

What a blessing it is to know that our Savior lived, atoned, died and was resurrected for us. What a miracle all of those things are! My testimony of the Savior grows everyday. I am far from perfect, but I know because of Him, I may repent and everyday try to become a better version of myself. He is my light and my joy! I love Him!!! May we always remember him.