An Easter tradition to enjoy with loved ones who live far away

When you have a friendship like the one that my friend Bethany and I do, it’s something you treasure. It’s a relationship that not only spans decades but that connects both cultural and physical distances with a strength that surpasses even the most securely engineered bridges.

As Christians in Sri Lanka gathered on Easter Sunday to worship together, explosions devastated three churches filled with worshippers, and additional explosions ripped through four hotels. These attacks have killed more than 200 and left more than 450 people injured. In the wake of this terrible tragedy, the Asia Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement Sunday, April 21, 2019:

Book of Mormon Central released the following video—"I Stand All Amazed" by Tyler Perry—to celebrate our Savior's life, death, and resurrection. With the video, they shared this message: "This Easter season, let us remember the marvelous sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. Oh, it is wonderful! Wonderful to me!"

Each spring, the Lord teaches us that life and warmth follow the fall and the winter. The “fortunate fall” of man brought about spiritual and physical death (Daniel K Judd, The Fortunate Fall: Understanding the Blessings and Burdens of Adversity). These deaths, crucial to the Lord’s plan of salvation, were meant to be overcome. With the budding of the trees and flowers, God teaches us each year that life overpowers death, warmth replaces cold, and light banishes darkness. Martin Luther is credited with saying, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time” (Watchwords for the Warfare of Life from Dr. Martin Luther (New York: M. W. Dodd, 1869), 317).

The following modern stories from the lives of real people show how intimately the Lord knows us and watches over His children, even those who do not hold high position in the Church. Some of these examples are really quite remarkable. Others show that the Lord intervenes even in things some might not consider worthy of an earthly parent’s attention, let alone a Divine One’s. Yet, they truly show “that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen” (1 Nephi 1:20).

The Salt Lake Temple is an iconic building for members of the Church. Here are some fun facts you might not know about it.

In the 20 years since the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999, the United States and the world at large has mourned lives lost in that and subsequent school shootings, including Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and Parkland.

For Holy Week, LDS Living has been preparing for Easter in two simple ways: 1) by focusing on the events leading up to Easter on our Instagram account @brightly.beams and 2) by releasing a video a day focusing on the perspective of those who witnessed the life and resurrection of our Savior. Here is our seventh and final video (watch the others here), featuring Emily Belle Freeman and David Butler of Don't Miss This as they testify of the significance of the empty tomb and that the Savior intervenes in our own lives, meeting us where we are at and helping us to become more.

For Holy Week, LDS Living is preparing for Easter in two simple ways: 1) by focusing on the events leading up to Easter on our Instagram account @brightly.beams and 2) by releasing a video a day focusing on the perspective of those who witnessed the life and resurrection of our Savior. Here is the sixth video (watch the first five here), featuring Emily Belle Freeman and David Butler of Don't Miss This as they explain what we can learn about Easter and our Savior from Thomas. While many focus on Thomas's doubt following the Savior's resurrection, what is even more beautiful is our Savior's reaction to Thomas's questions.