Dwelling on the past? Here’s the key to moving forward

This week’s Come, Follow Me lesson focuses on Easter. Below is a family home evening plan that can be used along with the suggestions in the Come, Follow Me manual to help families focus on the message of Christ’s resurrection. Also, don't miss a great week of Easter videos from our friends Emily Freeman and David Butler! The videos will be posted on LDS Living every day leading up to Easter. You can find them here.

When helping to identify images for a last-minute piece of artwork for the new Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple, Elder Dale G. Renlund and his wife, Sister Ruth L. Renlund, recommended something representing the Congo River — second only to the Nile as the longest river on the continent, second only to the Amazon as the world’s largest in discharge volume, and tops as the world’s deepest and the only river to cross the equator twice.

In preparation for Easter, this week’s All In podcast is an interview with my dear friend, Latter-day Saint composer and arranger Rob Gardner, whose sacred music oratorio Lamb of God is performed by choirs and orchestras throughout the world each year. Rob sat down with me to discuss what he learned by studying and writing music about the last week of the Savior’s mortal ministry through the eyes of those who walked with Him—those who loved Him personally. In the episode, Rob shares what he felt as he attempted to write a song about Peter’s feeling after the denial and explains what he recently felt about the Savior’s question to Mary at the tomb, “Woman, why weepest thou?” Rob also talks about choosing the right song for the apostle Thomas and why he believes Thomas didn’t really doubt.

Elder Wallace D. Montague reported that he and two other missionaries were walking down a street in Dresden when they were arrested by the police. They were taken to a nearby precinct and questioned for two hours. When they asked for permission to tell other missionaries where they were, one officer sneered and said, “You are political prisoners. You are going no place.”

The following comes from the April 2019 Ensign.

"I’m grateful that female lives provide at least some of the images Christ draws on in explaining the mighty realities behind some of our most important symbols for who He is."

From a successful career as a world-renown heart surgeon to a life as a loving and supportive husband and father, there is no doubt President Russell M. Nelson is an incredible person, but how well do you know this modern-day prophet?

If you expect your patriarchal blessing to make wild or unusual promises and predictions, you may be misunderstanding what a patriarchal blessing is. Your patriarchal blessing isn’t a fortune cookie, and the patriarch isn’t a fortuneteller.[1] The patriarch is a prophet, called to convey God’s words and will to you. He is only authorized to pronounce the promises he is prompted by the Holy Ghost to give. Patriarchs are counseled by their leaders to avoid making sensational or extravagant promises in the blessings they pronounce, even if the Spirit shows them rather remarkable things about the blessing’s recipient. President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972), tenth President of the Church, explained, “I know of one or two cases … where a brother has been blessed by the patriarch and told that he would become a member of the Council of the Twelve [Apostles]. Usually [the patriarchs] don’t say that … even if the patriarch felt that the chances are [very good] that a man will be called to the leading councils of the Church.” President Smith added, “Patriarchs should be very careful in giving their blessings not to make extravagant expressions and to be conservative in what they say.”[2] Thus, you should not expect extravagant things to be mentioned in your blessing. Patriarchs generally avoid, for example, talking about things like the timing of the Second Coming when they give a blessing. While the young man or young woman being blessed may live to see the second coming of Christ, most patriarchs simply wouldn’t mention that in the blessing. President Smith further explained:

My husband and I are infertility survivors. After learning that our mortal bodies were not able to create children, our hearts began to turn toward adoption. This decision came with serious prayer, contemplation, and faith. For me, there was even some healthy mourning for the dream of being able to physically carry and deliver a child.