Holy Week

For Easter this year Jared and I took a different approach.  We wanted to emphasize more on the real meaning of Easter - which is Jesus Christ, the Atonement and the Resurrection.  So with some planning ahead Jared and I decided to talk each night the week before Easter about Holy Week - about all the things Jesus did the days before he suffered and was resurrected. 

Jared did a lot of the referencing and had all the video links ready.  We used a lot from this website from the LDS church. Each day we had a title and put it inside an egg that the kids had to find each night.  Then we talked about the topic for 10-30 min.

Sunday: The Triumphal Entry

We talked about Christ entering Jerusalem on a humble donkey and read the scripture passage.  We compared donkeys to Clydesdales jut to show the kids the difference in transportation.  We also had them act it out. And then watched the bible video of it.

Monday: Cleansing the Temple

We read the scripture and had them act it out.  The boys had fun tossing things and dumping a bunch of pennies on the floor.  We then watched the bible video and talked about unclean things in the temple and compared them to the home and body.

Tuesday: Teachings and Ministry of Christ

We watched the video of Christ ministering and teaching and talked about loving others including your enemies.

Wednesday: Personal Time with Family and Friends

We decided to dye our eggs this night and hang out as a family. 

 (the only picture from the whole week)

Thursday: The Last Supper and the First Sacrament

We tried to make a last supper meal, with what I had on hand, since I didn't get a chance to get to the store.  We had fish, olives, tortillas with honey, olive oil & balsamic vinegar bread dip, grape juice and I threw some rice in there for the boys to eat at least. We ate by candle light and talked about the last supper and the sacrament. We then watched the bible video. We talked a little about the Garden of Gethsemane but left more discussing for the next day.

Friday: The Suffering, Trial and Death

We watched most of Lamb of God because we felt that was the "cleanest" version for all ages of our kids.  We talked about the Atonement, Christ being tried and killed. 

Saturday: The Prisoners Go Free

We watched the last part of Lamb of God showing Christ up in the Spirit World and talked about him setting up the work there.  We showed the boys some family history and why we do it.  And talked about others that have passed on before us like our niece and nephew & great grandparents.  And talked a little about temple work.  

Sunday: The Resurrection 

We talked about the Easter Story with 12 eggs that had scriptures and things inside to symbolize the story.  We watched Faith in Christ that went through the life of Christ and we talked about the importance of the Resurrection.  

We really enjoyed doing this in preparation for Easter.  Our boys got into it and we all learned a lot.  I felt the spirit every night leading up to Easter as we taught the kids.  

Darin ate it up and asked tons of questions.  I guess it paid off because in Sharing Time they taught this and he was the only one raising his hand and answering everything.  I guess they asked him to come up and talk about it and he said "My dad didn't want us to focus on the Easter Bunny so we talked about Jesus this week."  So many people from primary came to tell us about it.  The older boys got to share some too in their Sharing Time.  The night before I said something about cleaning up for the Easter Bunny and Rees said, "I totally forgot about the Easter Bunny."  Mission complete. 

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the Atonement and Resurrection.  I am so grateful for my Savior for his suffering and sacrifice for us all.  He is RISEN!