Strong families make strong countries.
Kindness opened understanding.
He lives—not only then, but now; not just for some, but for all. He came and comes to heal the brokenhearted, deliver the captives, recover sight to the blind, and set at liberty those who are bruised.4 That’s each of us. His redeeming promises apply, no matter our past, our present, or concerns for our future.
First, resurrection includes physical restoration of our “proper and perfect frame”; “every limb and joint,” “even a hair of the head shall not be lost.”30 This promise gives hope to those who have lost limbs; those who have lost ability to see, hear, or walk; or those thought lost to relentless disease, mental illness, or other diminished capacity. He finds us. He makes us whole. A second promise of Easter and our Lord’s Atonement is that, spiritually, “all things shall be restored to their proper order.”31 This spiritual restoration reflects our works and desires. Like bread upon the water,32 it restores “that which is good,” “righteous,” “just,” and “merciful.”33 No wonder the prophet Alma uses the word restore 22 times34 as he urges us to “deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually.”
On Easter Sunday, April 3, 1836, in the early days of the Restoration, the living Jesus Christ appeared after the Kirtland Temple was dedicated. Those who saw Him there testified of Him in complementary contrasts of fire and water: “His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah.”
Said the Prophet Joseph, “Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject.”
Heavenly Father invites us everywhere to feel His love, to learn and grow through education, honorable work, self-reliant service, and patterns of goodness and happiness we find in His restored Church.
God gives us moral agency—and moral accountability. Declares the Lord, “I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore [you] are free indeed.”
A young boy in South America raises chickens and sells their eggs to help buy windows for the house his family is building. He pays his tithing first. He will literally see the windows of heaven open.
By small and simple means—in which we are each invited to participate—great things are brought to pass.
As we come to trust God, sometimes through pleading in our darkest, loneliest, most uncertain moments, we learn He knows us better and loves us more than we know or love ourselves.
Great things often begin small, but God’s miracles are manifest daily.
Truly, for those with faithful hearts and eyes to see, the Lord’s tender mercies are manifest amidst life’s challenges. Faithfully met challenges and sacrifice do bring the blessings of heaven. In this mortality, we may lose or wait for some things for a time, but in the end we will find what matters most.1 That is His promise.
Strong families make strong countries.