Cheanna Talk in Primary 4/26/2009 
Most of us already know the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den.  Right? [chorus of affirmative responses from crowd]
Daniel was put into a den of lions.  He had some choice before he was put into the lion’s den.  He made a right choice, but, still he was put in with the lions.  Daniel was saved because he believed in God until the very end.   
Well, I thought of it because we are like Daniel.  We had some choice to come down here on Earth.  Earth is full of many dangers like the lions that Daniel faced.  We need God’s help to get out safely and to live with Heavenly Father again.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
God sent the Gospel.  He sent us the Prophets.  He sent his own begotten son.  Jesus fulfilled the prophecies made by the prophets before Him: that He would come.  He made it so that we could be resurrected.  He sacrificed himself so that He could be resurrected and so that we can be resurrected, too.  Daniel is one of the prophets who testified of the resurrection. 
Jesus suffered for our sins, too.  In Doctrine and Covenants Section 19, verse 16, Jesus tells us, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all that they might not suffer if they would repent.”  Jesus suffered for us because he wants us to return to live with him and with Heavenly Father.  We need to repent and put our faith in God like Daniel did. 

Wish I could have said that to the woman sitting behind us in the overflow this morning, in a nicer tone of voice than the seething in brain would allow. Ephraim’s wiggles and sacrament commentary (”there’s the water, huh?”) or random comments (”Mommy all done glasses, okay?”) had absolutely no connection with eating candy this morning!

It’s entirely possible, though, that had we given him some Easter treats, he would have behaved much better  =)

The Holy Week, as touched upon in Elder Jeffrey Holland’s magnificent conference talk last week, has so much to it for us that we bumped all the eggs & candy to Easter Monday, or “Celebration Monday” around here. In addition to the spiritual benefits, there are many practical ones as well:

  ~Cheaper goodies from post-Easter markdowns.

  ~It’s a ready-made Family Home Evening.

  ~More friends can join us because it doesn’t conflict with their own festivities 

It’s not one that affects our family so much, but those who have children attending school outside of the home also report more time to prepare hunts and such with fewer interuptions (or waking up at 4am to “greet the Easter Bunny”).

So, no, you can’t blame “the left” for attacking all things Godly (a post about today’s Relief Society for another time) and you can’t say that my Sunbeam was spreading his special glow all over the chapel because he was hopped up on bunny ears.

Happy Easter and a blessed Resurrection Sunday, almost everyone*!

*special note for my nontheist readers, I hope you had a great first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. And I believe with all my heart that the Easter Bunny can visit anyone, regardless of religious preference  ;)

I’m at a loss for words this afternoon, so I will steal borrow birthday thoughts from loved ones.

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