Easter Message from President and Sister Mutombo

Dear Elders and Sisters,

Happy Easter to our dear and beloved companions.

Sister Mutombo and I, have been pondering this morning about Paul's teaching found in 1 Corinthians 15:14, he said: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

This simple truth confirms that Jesus Christ is the reason why you and we, have been called to serve  at this special time of our lives and that His Resurrection is at the core of our beliefs as His Disciples. Without it, our faith is meaningless.

I would like to invite you in this Easter Sabbath to remember the events that preceded His Death and His Resurrection and this is not a fable.

Think about how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.

Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were crying and their hearts were filled with grief and despair.

On that day the Apostles and Disciples of Jesus Christ were devastated, knowing not what to expect. Asking themselves, "What shall we do now."  That Friday was the darkest in the history of the world.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, each of us have also his own dark Fridays. When we feel alone, despair and can't find the purpose in what we are doing and feel lost. Dark Fridays filled with anxiety and depression.

To those that feel so, I want to raise my voice in this special day and testify to you that God is aware of your situation and feelings. Please ponder on these words:

Join 20: 15 - 17
15. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?...  
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews. They Heard Him, saying:
"Peace be unto you"

John 20:20-22
20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: To the Apostles .

And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.

After this glorious and Divine experience, the disciples became renewed. They traveled throughout the world proclaiming the glorious news of the gospel.

They had chosen, they could have disappeared and returned to their former lives and occupations.

They could have denied the divinity of Christ. Yet they did not. In the face of danger, ridicule, and threat of death, they entered palaces, temples, and synagogues boldly proclaiming Jesus the Christ, the resurrected Son of the living God.

Many of them offered as a final testimony their own precious lives. They died as martyrs, the testimony of the risen Christ on their lips as they perished.

The Understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection transformed their lives

Do we feel likewise? Do we feel transformed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection?

May God bless you all our dear companions in this wonderful Easter sabbath. Let us find joy in Christ and testify to the world of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice.

We love you,
President and Sister Mutombo