The Firstborn

April 19, 2022

The Firstborn

I love Easter so much. This year I didn't really feel like I prepared as much for it as I usually like to but it ended up still being such a sweet and sunshiney day. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel and testimony of my Savior. He lives!

I think the primary put it best at church when they sang the song "He Sent His Son," the spirit was so strong in the room. When I hear that song I think of my friend Maisie and her family. Maisie was a year younger than me in school but we became friends my senior year of high school when some of my friends and I would often hang out and go to lunch with her and her friends. Maisie is an incredible example of strength and goodness, she and her family have been through a lot. Her older sister Sadie was killed in a car accident while she was serving as a missionary here in Pittsburgh in 2014. Sadie was a friend and light to so many and I remember hearing about how there literally was no room to seat all the people that attended her funeral.

I never really knew Sadie, Jaden did really well because they were in the same grade and hung out with a lot of the same people. However, I will always think of her and her family when I hear this song because I remember someone saying that at the end of every email she sent home on her mission she would quote this specific line from this song, "Have faith, Have hope, live like His Son, help others on their way."

Such a sweet testimony and such a lasting legacy. That is what Sadie did and continues to do: inspire faith and hope, be like the Savior and help others on their way. That is the message she left behind for us reflect on and follow. And what a beautiful reminder Easter is for everyone that knew and loved Sadie that she will live again because of our Savior and His atonement and resurrection. He died so that all might live. Such comforting knowledge I wonder if I take for granted but am so grateful for the poignant reminder of Easter and the opportunity it gives me to reflect on my knowledge of my Savior and testimony of the resurrection.

The church released a video that Jaden and I both loved and talked a lot about. It is a different depiction of the resurrection because it focuses on Mary Magdalene and shows her running to tell the news that, "He lives!" The moment she says that you just get chills as you watch the video. Jaden shared a thought I absolutely love and want to have written down,"it is hard to imagine what Mary felt in that moment. From the beginning, people have wished that they could see the ones they loved again. Mary was the first one to actually have that wish come true. Someday we will all get to have that experience!" What a glorious and hopeful promise. We will see those that we have loved and have lost again. We will get to see our Savior again. It truly is the most sweet and special assurance.

After church we came home and hung out, I wrote a paper and then we got ready to head over to Zach and Jenna's for dinner. I decided to bring my Immanuel Wreath my mom sent to me for Easter. It is a ring that has different names of Christ carved into the sides. The purpose is that you light a candle and talk about the different names of Christ leading up to every Christmas and Easter each year. I love this new tradition and decided to bring it with us to our "family dinner." After sharing a meal together we set it up on the table and all took a minute to choose a name that we loved. We went around the table and shared which name we chose, why we chose it and then lit the candle that sat above the name. I can't remember which one of us chose Light but I loved that the flame on that candle was extra tall and bright. Jaden chose Redeemer and I chose Firstborn.

I love the name Firstborn because as a firstborn child I often wished I had an older sibling that could be the guinea pig instead of me and who I could turn to for help and advice. It was a special moment when I realized that I did have an older sibling, there was someone who was a firstborn before I ever was. And He understands and can help and give me advice unlike anyone else. It's my Savior. The firstborn Son who came to save us from our sins and physical death. He is my Savior and my older brother and I love Him and want to show my love and gratitude for Him by doing what many young siblings do, try to follow Him and be like Him.