A Missionary's Perspective on... Easter

       Last night I was asked to give a 10-15 minute this morning. Normally in the Church we're given 7 days to prepare, not 17 hours, but Missionaries are constantly called on to do impromptu talks and lessons. This is what I wrote, it took me about 3 hours.

       Gok wae hing dai dzi mui jo san. Welcome, brothers and sisters, and good morning. I’m Jonathan O’Gara, and I’ve lived in the Clark Ward for about ten months. I lived in Tacoma for 13 years, and went to high school in the Boise area. It’s good to be back where sunshine is a myth. On my 19th birthday I was called to serve in the China Hong Kong Mission, Cantonese speaking. I report to the Provo Missionary Training Center in 3 days, and I’ll be there for 13 weeks. I’ve come to love this ward, but I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited to leave you all behind for better things. 

       I was asked to speak on Easter from a Missionary’s perspective. In China, Christianity does not yet have a strong presence, which gives a unique opportunity for missionaries there. While the average person does not have any preconceived notions about the Church, they also don’t have much, if any, of a foundation in Christ. Because of that, it’s best for me to start at the very beginning; which is a very good place to start (even in an audience of dedicated Christians such as this). Easter takes places on the first sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. The symbols of Easter are all related to spring and rebirth. It is a holiday commemorating and celebrating the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ. We need the Atonement of Christ in our lives to enable us to return to our Heavenly Father. The Resurrection of Christ gives us hope that we too can be resurrected if we follow our Savior’s example. 

       The time that Easter takes place is no accident. It has an obvious correlation to the time of year when Christ was crucified, but the celebration of Easter was chosen to take place at this time for more subtle and symbolic reasons. 

       The nights, during the winter, are longer than the days. To everyone except night skiers, the winter tends to bog us down and be a bit depressing. In the darkest part of Winter, we celebrate Christmas, which reminds us of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Christmas, a celebration of light, gift giving, and general merriment; always falls less than a week after the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day and longest night of the year. This placing makes it an even more effective reminder of the light that Christ brought into our dark and fallen world. 

       Each day after Christmas is a bit longer and brighter than the last, and each night a bit shorter and less cold than the one before. This transition becomes most obvious at the Spring or Vernal Equinox, when the night and day are of equal length. From that day on, the days continue to grow in length (and the nights to become shorter) until the Summer Solstice. After a month of this symbolic and gradual return of hope and light, when people have all but shaken the depression and loneliness that comes with winter, we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, the ultimate dispeller of doubt, grief, and fear. 

       Because we have so recently been plunged into the bitter cold and dark of winter, the gentle sun (or as it is here, the sunlit rainclouds) of spring seem brighter to us, the singing of birds is sweeter, the appearance of all sorts of baby animals brings a smile to our faces, and in our area we have the blooming of seemingly random patches of daffodils, the bright white or yellow flower that we treasure so much in the Pacific Northwest. 

       All of these things work together to lift our moods, rejuvenate our spirits, and to turn our minds to the Savior. The sunshine is warm, bright, and inviting, and is a symbol of the love of Christ. As we are drawn outside to begin planning garden plots, we are also drawn to our Savior. Basking in the warm glow of the sun while caring for the tiny lives inside of seeds, we become like Christ, who cares for us while under the watchful eye and guiding hand of our Heavenly Father. The love that Christ has for us illuminates our minds, allowing us to better understand His teachings and the teachings of His servants. Around this time of year, the sweet songs of birds herald the return of life to a once cold and dead world. After the harshness of winter they unceasingly sing out, proclaiming the return of light and life. By their songs we are turned to sing our own songs of praise to our Lord, who brought Eternal Life and Light to us, as long as we will strive to be worthy to obtain it. The spiritual darkness of the world is not the only thing cast out by His return, but also any darkness that we may have inside can be washed away by our Savior. As flowers rise from the cold tomb of the recently-frozen earth, we remember how our Savior rose triumphantly from His tomb, thus enabling us to come unto Him and and dwell with Him in the presence of our Father. The brightness of these flowers are like the brightness of our Savior, bringing life and light to all those who will put forth their hands and take it. We need only to put ourselves in the right places, and live worthily so that we can reach out when the time comes and obtain Eternal Life. 

       The Atonement of Christ is often viewed as taking place on the Cross at Calvary, where the Savior died to redeem us from the hands of Satan. While the events on Calvary’s Hill are the culminating moments of our Savior’s Atonement; the pain and suffering that occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Christ bled from every pore to Atone for our sins, is the true keystone of the Atonement. His travails in the Garden and then willingly giving up His life created a perfect and infinite atonement between us and God the Father. Because Christ possessed infinite perfection, we are able to erase our sins in the eyes of the Father if we will apply the Atonement to our lives by repenting. 

       To many of us Repentance may seem like a chore, but as Elder D. Todd Christofferson said in Conference last October, Repentance is a divine gift from our loving Heavenly Father. Because we are all born into a fallen world in a carnal state, we will all sin. It is a part of this mortal life, but it is not part of how our Father lives. To approach Him, we must be clean and unspotted from the world. This cannot be done by any means invented by man, it can only be done by Repenting. The steps of repentance are to recognize we have done something wrong, to feel genuine remorse that we have caused the Savior and those around us pain, to reveal our transgression to the proper authority, be it our Father in Heaven, our parents, our Bishop, or civil authorities, to make an honest restitution (or repayment) to balance out the evil we have done, and to totally and completely forsake that sin, to eradicate it from our lives. This is not easy to do, especially with deeply ingrained addictions, but repentance is always better than living with sin and guilt. 

     After Christ gave up His life on the cross His body was laid to rest in the garden tomb. During this time He was hard at work in the Spirit world, organizing the Missionary efforts there. After three days, he took back his body in it’s new and glorified state, and taught his Disciples one last time in person before returning to the Father. His body was free from pain and sickness, and He shone with a visible light and a feeling of love and peace. 

       As His life was restored to Him, our life can be given back to us after we have passed on, if we lived worthily. We can also be rewarded with perfected bodies if we are righteous. 

       We need the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit to guide us through this life and back to our Father in Heaven. Without the guidance of the Holy Ghost, we would be quickly lost in the mists of darkness that exist in this world to distract and mislead us. However, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have been given the Gift of the Holy Ghost and the Book of Mormon to help us along the way. Both are blessings from the Lord, and to make each a part of us is necessary to obtain Eternal Life. We have been promised this blessing, and we can obtain it as long as we are worthy and fulfill the requirements the Lord has placed upon us. 

       I know these things are true, and I am extremely excited that I have the opportunity to teach them to others. In three days I will be embarking on the greatest adventure of my life, and I couldn't be more excited. I know it'll be hard, I know it'll be a ton of work, but I've been prepared for this, and I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I love all of you, and I'm so glad that I've had the opportunity to go 5 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 3 high schools, and meet so many awesome people. I guess it's time to have my mom change all my passwords, see y'all in a couple!