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Easter is the apex holiday of Christian worship. It’s a hopeful time when followers of Christ around the world — including members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — remember and celebrate Jesus Christ’s suffering for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane, His crucifixion on Calvary’s cross and His glorious Resurrection from death. Church founder Joseph Smith called the testimonies of the life of Jesus Christ, including His Resurrection and ascension into heaven, the “fundamental principles of our religion,” and “all other things are only appendages” to it.
With Easter and the Sunday sessions of the Church’s April 2018 general conference coinciding, each of the three members of the faith’s First Presidency shared important Easter messages at the conference’s Sunday morning gathering.
President Russell M. Nelson
Without our Redeemer’s infinite Atonement, not one of us would have hope of ever returning to our Heavenly Father. Without His Resurrection, death would be the end. Our Savior’s Atonement made eternal life a possibility and immortality a reality for all.
President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor
Today we join other Christians in celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a pillar of our faith. Because we believe the accounts in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon about the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we also believe the numerous scriptural teachings that a similar resurrection will come to all mortals who have ever lived upon this earth. That resurrection gives us what the Apostle Peter called “a lively hope” (1 Peter 1:3). That lively hope is our conviction that death is not the conclusion of our identity but merely a necessary step in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan for the salvation of His children. That plan calls for a transition from mortality to immortality. Central to that transition is the sunset of death and the glorious morning made possible by the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior that we celebrate on this Easter Sunday.
President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor
I thank our Heavenly Father for the gift of His Beloved Son, who came voluntarily to earth to be our Redeemer. I am grateful to know that He atoned for our sins and rose in the Resurrection. Every day I am blessed to know that, because of His Atonement, I may someday be resurrected to live forever in a loving family.