Covered by His Grace: Bom Pasqua!

I hope you all had a great Easter and Conference weekend. Easter in Cabo Verde is called "Pasqua", and it's quite the production. Church bells were going off all weekend and everyone was wishing everyone a "bom Pasqua!", and the markets were a zoo - literally. Sister Friaca and I were in the market across the street buying vegetables for Cabo Verdean rice and my eyes were overwhelmed with images of women slaughtering chickens in buckets, others carrying wailing piglets by their hind legs like they were just another grocery bag, and cattle on your left and right on their way to the butcher. Cabo Verdeans like their meat fresh!

This Easter was great because I got to really focus on the teachings and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I've never had an Easter without the Easter Bunny or egg hunts - an Easter just focused on Christ. But it was great!

I had a really great personal study session Easter Morning on the resurrection of Christ as found in the four gospels. These four books are probably my favorite scriptures. As I was studying, I noted that after Christ was resurrected and appeared unto Mary, His disciples, and others, none of His closest friends recognized Him until He did something familiar to them. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Him until He broke bread with them and blessed it. Fortunately, all it took for Mary was the familiar sound of her name from the Master. But why did these people not instantly recognize the Savior?

The answer may be that His countenance had changed or that He was disguised from them initially for some reason we don't know. But what if they did not recognize Him simply because they were not looking for Him?

The scriptures say that Christ's disciples "knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead" (John 20:9). These men didn't just preach of Christ, but they preached with Christ, and walked with Him and witnessed His miracles. These men knew Christ, and yet they did not recognize Him because "they knew not the scriptures". They were not looking for Him.

And so my challenge for you this week is to know the scriptures a little bit better so you will know Christ and know who it is we look forward to. Knowing Christ and His teachings in the scriptures will help us know Christ when he comes.

Conference was good. A miracle happened and I was able to understand all of Sunday's sessions - that may be because we watched it in English :). But I've been praying for the gift of tongues and I'd like to think that had something to do with it.

I would love to hear you Conference inspirations! #LDSCONF am I right?

Have a happy week!

Love,

Sister Hanzel