Easter 2012

We had two Super Saturday practices.

Practice on St Patrick's day. Lots of people wore green.

The first night in our costumes.

How lucky are we! Maybe this will be our Christmas card.

Ryan was a Manger Shepherd in this scene. He's kneeling right behind the boy holding the sheep.

The kids love Grandma Slack!

Madison came down from Seattle to visit & watched us preform :)

Easter this year can be summed up in two words...Easter Pageant! We were in the Mesa Easter Pageant! It was a beautiful experience. We've been incredibly spiritually fed for the past three weeks. My personal testimony of the Savior grew from this experience. Being able to feel like I was actually there with Jesus when he walked on the earth, thinking, "What if I was there when this was happening?!" and the witness of the Savior's love for us is something I will never forget.

Even during the practices before we were given our costumes, there were moments when I'd get caught up in the spirit of trying to place myself at the scene and tear up. What a blessing it was to experience this. When else do you get to be a part of something so edifying? Seeing our children being touched by the spirit was another great blessing. Adam would say, "Mom, I started to get tears at that."

We were in four scenes, 'Healing and Teaching', 'The Rock- Parable of the 10 Virgins', 'Triumphal Entry' and  the 'Finale'. Ryan was also a Manger Shepherd and in the Mob.

'Healing and Teaching' was a powerful scene to be in. We witnessed over and over again each night the miracles Christ preformed & his tremendous love for each one of us individually. We knelt in reverence and awe at the wonders we saw him preform. If I can testify of anything right now, it is that Jesus loves you beyond what you can even comprehend, that is how great his love is for us. He knows you, he knows your name and everything about you, good and not so good and he LOVES you. He is our friend and our Savior! Trust in him!

After the 'Healing and Teaching' scene we were the family that sat on the rock with Jesus during The Parable of the 10 Virgins. What a great scene to be in! Love that parable and we were practically sitting side by side with "Jesus". Tyler or David, who played Jesus (there were two different men for this scene depending what night it was) would say hi and talk to us for a second before the scene started.  It was a little mind blowing to be so close and have them say hi and ask how we were doing  because they looked so much like Jesus. Adam was one of the two boys who sat on each side of Jesus. Adam just beamed and lovingly looked up at him. He loved it when "Jesus" would call him by name. Then the scene starts and Jesus would intro the 10 Virgins parable. We had the best seat in the house for the fabulous dance the 10 Virgins do. Faith was the closest one of us to the dancers. During the first few rehearsals the narrators were blocking her view but then the directors moved them back and she was so happy to be able to see the dancers and their beautiful costumes. Faith had another special thing happen on the last night of this scene. Every night she sat at the very bottom of the rock and didn't really get "attention" from Jesus like those of us closer to the top where the actor playing Jesus sat. As a mom I felt kind of sad that she was way down there but on the last night as "Jesus" was getting ready to head up to the top of the rock he paused and touched Faith on the shoulder and said with a warm smile on his face, "I keep missing you and I'm sorry about that." It made her feel so special that he took time out to talk to her. To me it was so Christlike, concerned with even the one. Our Savior knows the name of every sparrow that falls from the tree and he knows us.

For 'Triumphal Entry' we watched Jesus glorious entry into Jerusalem.  We were the followers of Christ and there to welcome him with shouts of "Hosanna" over and over. This song comes to mind:



As Christ walked by us we would kneel and reach out to him, then rise and give one final "Hosanna" before the soldiers would come and chase us out of there.

Our last scene was the 'Finale'. There are really no words to describe what an honor it was to testify, "I know He lives" every night, especially thru song. Song is a magnificent conduit to the Spirit. Many a night I had goosebumps proclaiming, "I know He lives!" to the audience.

Not only did we have the performances but we had two straight weeks of amazing devotionals as well. Hearing from wonderful speakers and special musical numbers, we were formidably uplifted in both word and song.

The last night of the Pageant was an especially emotional one. The devotional was excellent and Rob Gardner directed the Spire Music Choir in singing, I Am the Resurrection, from The Lamb of God. WOW! Way beyond AWESOME! If you haven't heard that song before click the link and listen! Needless to say, from then on the flood gates were opened for me. I was in tears for all of our scenes that night. Tears of awe, tears of joy, tears of thankfulness, tears of love, tears of humility for all that my Savior has done for me.

If you ever get the opportunity to be in the Easter Pageant, I say go for it! Is it a big time commitment? Yes, but it is beyond worth it. Was it always easy? No, but I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Thank you to my family for participating and to Ryan for wanting us all to do it. I'm so glad we did it! Thanks to all the marvelous directors, crew & fellow cast who work fearlessly to put the whole pageant together. What a blessing you all are to our community, that we can have this wonderful Easter Pageant right here in Mesa. Thank you for allowing us the pleasure of associating with you these past few weeks. It was a sacred experience that we will always hold dear.