More about the Pagent

At about 6:00pm or so some protestors showed up carring signs about "baby-killing women" (because the church does allow a baby to be aborted with rape or incest if it would be too tramatic for the woman to carry it full term and place it for adoption.) And one man had a sign on the front of his T-shirt that Mormons weren't Christians and something about hell on the back. (Téa later observed on the way home that if they could stand their and watch that whole pagent and still think we weren't Christians, then they were not very bright. I agreed.) The pagent people started playing music, songs by the tabernacle choir, etc around 7:00. We were very glad about that because the music was loud enough that it drowned out the protestors. They had a megaphone but a police went over and talked to them and I guess told them they couldn't use it because they didn't. The pagent started at 8:00 just at sundown. It did get cool after sundown so I was glad that I wore knee-high stockings and had a sweater with me. Téa had brought extra clothing for the children too. So we were all toasty warm. The first scene was angels up on the roof blowing long trumpets, it was dark everywhere else. It was very impressive. Then it was a street scene in Jerusalem with a lot o people and noise. A Roman sholdier came out and told the people that it was curfew and they had to go home. So everyone had left except for a man and two or three women. The sholdier walked up to them and said, "You are followers of the Nazarene that was crucified?" And they proudly responded that they were altho' you could tell that they didn't really know what to expect from this soldier. He told them that he had been there when he was crucified and could tell that he was a just man and didn't deserve to die and that he was interested in learning more about him and his teachings. One of the women then said, "Come over here with me and we'll tell you of Jesus. We'll start at the beginning." I pictured their going back to his birth. But like Ammon when he started teaching King Lamonhi in the Book of Mormon, they started with Adam and Eve. They told of Enoch and Isaih who had prophesied ofHis coming. Then they told of His birth and why Mary and Joseph were in Bethleham when they were actually residents of Nazareth. The stage was down in front of the Visitors Center there by the temple. The angels were up on the roof again singing their glad tidings. The shephereds were off to the side herding their sheep. Then the wise men came from the East. The next scene was the boy Jesus teaching in the temple there at Jurusalem during the Feast of the Passover. It depicted John the Baptist teaching the people about the Messiah and how Jesus came to him and was bapitzed. Then it told how he called the twelve apostles who would be with him continuously from that time forth. It had a dance of the ten virgins and how the five foolish had to leave to get more oil and how the bridegroom came while they were gone and only the five wise virgins were able to enter in with him. It depicted how the Sunday before the Feast of the Passover was to start He told one of His deciples to go to a man and find a yound white ass that had never been riden and bring it to him and how he made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem with all of the people cheering him and putting down palm fronds for the donkey to walk on as He entered the city. As this was happening the tho't occured to me that the Saducees and Pharacees really did stir up the people against Him just a few days later. If they would have let things be, He would never have been crucified. I also remembered how Nephi learned in one of his visions that the people over there were the only people on the face of the earth to be wicked enough to kill their own God.

The next scene was the feast of the Passover and how Jesus knew that Judas Ischariot would betray him. How he washed their feet and told Judas to leave and go do what he had to do. And how then he institued the sacrament to the other Apostles. He took Peter, James and John with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane and how He suffered as He prayed that the Father would remove the cup from Him. Then came Judas and the Roman sholdiers and He was betrayed with a kiss. As they were taking Him to Ciaphus and then Pontius Pilate, the people on stage where shouting and making a lot of noise. Three-year-old Elena turned to me and said, "What are they doing, Grandma." I said "They are trying to kill Jesus." She said, "They are trying to kill Jesus." After I said, "Yes they are" she said, "Oh, no, Oh no!" I told her to watch closely and he would come alive again. She was very attentive after that. It depicted the women coming to anoint His body with oil, explaining that they didn't have time to do it the day he was crucified because of the beginning of the Sabbath; of how they found the stone rolled away and no one in the tomb; of Peter and John running to the tomb and also finding it empty; of Jesus apearring to Mary. The last scene was up on the roof again with all of the angels and Jesus as He ascended into Heaven. Everything else was dark and he literally rose up above the angels by quite a ways. It was very impressive. When we went to the Black Hills with my in-laws when Richard was seven or eight and he and Kim stayed with Karen & Kent while we were gone, we saw a pagent that depicted the life of Christ. It had real horses, camels and donkeys with beautiful costumes. But there seemed to be something missing. For me anyway. A while later I realized that I couldn't feel the Spirit and that was what was missing. Well, I definitely felt the Spirit that night at the Mesa Temple Easter Pagent. And I was glad that I couldn.

The pagent ended at 9:15pm. We took our time getting back to the car because we knew we would be blocked by all of the other cars leaving since we were parked up by the temple. But that was OK. As the other cars were leaving, Emma, who is five, exclaimed, "Oh, look, Grandma at all the cars leaving and no one is driving them." I chuckled and explained that there was someone driving them for sure but we couldn't see them because it was dark and that kept us from seeing inside the cars. Even after waiting, we were home about an hour after the pagent ended. Téa and I had a very nice gospel discussion of the way home. All of the children, especially Ephraim were so good while we were waiting for the pagent to start and during the pagent. There were thousands of people there.

The next morning, Easter Sunday, we awoke to find that Ephraim and Elena both had fevers and were quite miserable. Téa and Ephraim stayed home from church but the rest of us went. Their meetings don't start until 1:00pm so Elena was feeling better and was able to go. Their ward is sooo large that you have to get there early or not find a seat. We were on the very last row of metal chairs in the overflow. Richard was substituting in Elena's primary class so Karl and I attended Sunday School just the two of us. The teacher reminded me of Brittany. Both the way she looks and her mannerisms. She had asked a young man to read a scripture and told him which one to read. He started reading and she stopped him and repeated the scriture she wanted him to read. He replied, "That's where I'm reading." She got a little flusterd and said, "Oh, it's me that's on the wrong page." That just sounded so Brittany! The teacher was a cute young woman who had been home from her mission only a month or two.

After church I helped Richard fix dinner; Elena and I sliced the strawberries (a new way with the egg slicer that worked great) and Richard and I had a very nice visit just the two of us. The others were either resting or outside jumping on the trampoline. We had ham, scalloed potatoes, veggies (carrots, cucumbers and olives) and then strawberry shortcake. It was all deliscious. When we first got home the TV was on and there was a show on the History Channel that depicted the life of Christ and His crucifixion and resurrection. It had big name stars in it. We saw the last hour of it. We watched other Easter videos too. It added to the day.

Monday was just a relaxing day. We were going to go to the Science Museum but with Epraim and Elena still sick we just stayed home. That night we, Richard, Téa, Karl and Duncan and I all playled the Great Dalmuti with Téa starting in the middle. The girls watched the Ugly Duckling and the Princess and the Pea DVD's while we played.