We had a wonderful Easter this year. Traditionally, Italians make lamb (agnello impenata) during Easter time, and I've prepared it twice in my life for the holiday. I like traditions, and so I wanted to hold to that one this year. From my side of the country (Davey and Maura, two of our blog readers and RMs from the Milano mission may beg to differ... I don't know how they do things in the north...) but in Sicily, angello impenata is either fried, baked in bread, or made in a pastry. This year I made it in a pastry, but the last time I made lamb was in the mission (Ragusa) and I had baked it in bread. Both were delicious.
Disclaimer: I apologize that the only pictures you'll see below are of food, which seems to be a trend with our blog posts, haha.
This year the History Channel also did a mini-series called "The Bible" which we followed, and the conclusion of the series fell on Easter Sunday with the Crucifixion, Resurrection and the ministry of the original 12 apostles. We were pleased with the series as a whole; of course, in order to cater to a more mainstream audience there were aspects of the series that we felt were a bit of an imaginative stretch, but in general we felt like we were able to gain a better understanding of the historical biblical points, and see things from a fresh perspective as far as some of the events that occurred to the Bible's most prominent figures.
Another tradition that we decided we wanted to begin, and even take into our future years together as parents, is review the Narnia Chronicles every year. This year we went the easy route and watched all three of the Narnia movies that have come out, but next year we'd like to start reading the series at the beginning of the new year and finish them by Easter. It was fun! It's been so long since either of us had seen those movies, and I had forgotten how wonderful they were. These are stories that take on a more significant meaning for me as life progresses.
We also enjoyed sharing an Easter message with our 13 little nursery children at church. It is often challenging to help them be calm for 5 minutes of actual lesson time, but they were more attentive to the pictures and stories about Jesus than we've ever seen them in the couple of months that we've been their teachers. Many of them pointed out who Jesus was, and they especially liked the pictures of Jesus blessing the children. We often come home after church exhausted from our two hours of nursery each Sunday, but Easter Sunday provided those special moments that reminded us of how great our calling really is. These are our future leaders, who will guide us through increasingly challenging times; and while they are still in such tiny bodies, they are great spirits whom the Lord loves very much.
To conclude the Easter post, we just want to share with our family and friends, our own witness to how much we sincerely love the Savior, and acknowledge His hand in our lives. The Atonement was perfect because Christ lived the perfect life, and had a perfect love and eternal perspective on the future of all of His Father's children. The most remarkable truth to be shared with the world is that He rose again three days after His imminent death, all to bring forth our Heavenly Father's perfect Plan of Salvation. It is through this perfect plan as revealed to us through modern revelation, and this perfect plan alone that we can have hope in brighter day when we'll be gathered eternally with Them, and with our families. We know that Savior and our Heavenly Father love us, and that they love you.
