Preparing for Easter Sunday

Tonight for Family Home Evening we would like to tell a story from the last week of our Savior's life and have an activity to teach our kids the true importance of Easter. We would like to do this every night this week until Easter morning. Elder Holland gave a great talk yesterday about Palm Sunday, and the significance of this week. I have found some more excellent talks given about this topic:

"Jesus, the very thought of thee"

"Relections on the Savior's Last week"

"The Greatest week in History"

So, tonight we will start with the Triumphant entry of Christ in Jerusalem- Palm Sunday. The scriptural account found in John 12: 12-15. The prophecy of Zechariah fulfilled from the Old Testament. The talks above give great insights to Palm Sunday and of the days leading to the glorious morning of Easter Sunday.

This week I want to show the kids and discuss the pictures of the Last Supper, Christ in Gethsemane, Christ on the Cross and Christ at the tomb.

There are several songs that you can sing together as a family for this Easter time -

LDS Children song book

I especially love the songs: 'On a Golden Springtime' 'I feel my Saviors Love' 'Families can be together forever' 'Did Jesus Really Live Again?'

One of the days in the history of Christ's last week he talks about the importance of being clean to enter the Temples. It would be neat to take the kids to the temple grounds and talk to them of how we can be together forever as a family and how our Savior has made that possible. Death is not the end!

One day we can go for a walk and look for all the signs of spring that remind us that Jesus rose from the dead and new flowers that rise from the earth in spring remind us that we, too, shall live again. We will probably do this on Saturday and first we will have the Easter Bunny come and leave them a few surprises in the back yard and then discuss the miracles of Spring time. I bought a bonnet for Penny to decorate with real flowers for Easter.

Easter morning we can go watch the Sunrise and read of the account of Easter morning in the New testament John 20: 1-18 and read the "The Living Christ"

Well, these are the ideas in my mind for now! I believe Easter should be celebrated as much as Christmas. I hope we can make this a special week and remember how blessed we are to have the knowledge of our Savior.