happy Easter

I had a wonderful Easter. Marc and I returned on Saturday afternoon, and his parents had made an Easter supper for all of us. Michelle and her girls were here, and the kids all had their egg hunt. It felt strange not to have done any of the preparations -- strange and delightful. After everyone left, Marc and I were both painfully tired and we went to bed early.

Yesterday was an unusual Easter Sunday for me. I had been too tired to go to the grocery store, so I didn't have a holiday dinner planned. (Fortunately, we had leftovers from Saturday.) I didn't do any cooking, I didn't even take very many pictures (not for lack of trying, but Eva with no nap for several days was just not cooperating).

I feel like I had more time to ponder than I normally would. Elder Oaks came to our ward yesterday (one of his daughters is our Young Women's president), so that was a special treat. The sacrament meeting talks were about the Resurrection and the plan of salvation -- so appropriate for Easter. An older woman spoke about how much more the Resurrection means to her since her husband died 18 months ago. We even had beautiful music, magically provided by a choir that is less than 2 weeks old, and a touching solo sung by a man in our ward who is in the Tabernacle Choir.

Elder Oaks stayed for the whole block, visiting each auxiliary for a short while. He sat next to me in Gospel Doctrine class, and even though he was only there for about 10 minutes, he made a great comment and just filled the room with his presence. His wife came to our Laurel class.

In the afternoon, I read Jill's post about the young boy in their ward who died the night before Easter. I was saddened for his family, for their whole congregation, and I thought more about the Atonement. Last night in bed, I was reading in the special Easter issue of the Ensign. I imagine the article by President Hinckley was probably the last he wrote. This part stood out to me: "The suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary, just a few hundred meters from Gethsemane, included both physical and spiritual 'temptations, . . . pain, . . . hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer,' said King Benjamin, 'except it be unto death' (Mosiah 3:7)."

Of course I've thought many times on the Savior's suffering, and taken comfort in the fact that He experienced all of the trials I face, all of the loneliness, all of the pain -- but for some reason I never before realized that, for all the times I've been fatigued beyond measure, he was more fatigued; for all the pain I have felt, he endured more pain; more temptations, even more hunger and thirst than any man or woman could experience and still live.

And this passage from President Packer's talk: "How the Atonement was wrought we do not know. No mortal watched as evil turned away and hid in shame before the Light of that pure being. All wickedness could not quench that Light. When what was done was done, the ransom had been paid. Both death and hell forsook their claim on all who would repent. Men at last were free. Then every soul who ever lived could choose to touch that Light and be redeemed."

I found these passages to be such beautiful representations of both His humanness and His divine nature. In my prayers last night, I just felt so grateful for so many blessings, for healthy, happy children, for a family with so much love, for great friendships, for the ability to work hard, for the plan of salvation, for the Savior. And even though the flowers aren't blooming here yet, Spring is starting to edge out Fall as my favorite time of year.