Easter - Last Supper Room, Garden of Gethsemane, Crucifixion room, Empty Tomb, baptisms

Two Sundays ago, the bishop asked Sister Martin to come in to a meeting for a few minutes. They asked her if we would help with the Last Supper room for the upcoming Easter Open House, held Friday and Saturday on Easter weekend. Without being given any details she said, " yes". Later she found out it was from 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm both days, quite a time commitment when we're already full time service.

We also had no idea what they needed us to do. The young elders were mostly in charge so we started asking them. One day, I saw them looking for a resurrection picture to design a banner for inviting people to come.

The Easter Open House banner that the young elders put on the wall by the street in front of the church

They found a picture of Jesus coming out of the tomb that they liked from our church Bible videos. I asked if they needed any help designing the banner. They said, "sure". The picture they liked showed Mary Magdalene's back only. It didn't look right to them for their banner design. So, with a background in graphics design, that's now a fun hobby, I spent about an hour and removed her from the picture. Now it was just the resurrected Jesus Christ coming out of the tomb. After creating more stone wall on the left side of the picture so there was space for the text, it was ready to go.

After

Before (original)

We looked up a lot of last supper pictures and then read about what kind of table would they probably have used about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem. We found it would most likely be a table low to the ground. We grabbed the apartment rug, chair pillows and a few odds and ends and it was ready to go.

Before 1:00 pm on Friday, people began walking in off the street. The first stop was the Last Supper room.

We tried to be a historically accurate. A member brought the nice pottery plates--(actually from plates under potted plants) 

Sister Martin began by welcoming them to the upper room, pretending they had just walked through the busy streets of Jerusalem. She then explained the reason for the dinner or supper was to celebrate the Passover. She would give a few details, since very few understood what the Passover meant. One Christian mentioned that he thought it meant the time when the children of Israel "Passed-Over" the Red Sea. She then explained it was actually related to the final Plague from Moses, that the first born of every household in Egypt would die, except for those who put lamb's blood on their door frame/posts. Moses promised that those who did so, death would "Pass-Over" their homes and they would be safe.  Following this horrific event, the Pharaoh of Egypt freed the Israelites from bondage. Sister Martin concluded with her testimony that the events, His atonement and His resurrection, were symbolic of  the Passover feast they were celebrating. We also can be free from bondage, sin and death through Jesus Christ's atonement and resurrection.

Last Supper Room - Sister Martin wearing her new dress bought here in India

I would then ask them to imagine that Jesus himself and His twelve apostles were sitting at the table, pointing out the name tags. I would then talk about how Jesus introduced the sacrament to remember Him. I would then read from the Bible beginning in Matthew 26: 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Even though Jesus told them he would soon die and rise again, the disciples didn't understand that these actual events, including the resurrection, were about to begin. I then read our sacrament prayer on the bread, which helped explain more details.

We testified about Jesus Christ and that this event actually occurred and we have hope through Christ's life, atonement and sacrament. Each week we are invited to come to church and participate in the sacrament of our Lord to remember Him.

We would then walk them to the next room, The Garden of Gethsemane. This room was rarely staffed so we would explain the significance of what happened in the Garden and the atonement. There was also a video that could be shown in this room. The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane

We would them escort them to the crucifixion room where members waited to discuss what happened. Someone had made an actual crown of thorns that was on display.

They had some weights for people to lift to help understand how heavy the cross Jesus had to carry most of the way to Calvary. Finally they passed around some large nails and talked about Jesus being crucified on the cross.

The young elders would take everyone to the empty tomb, showing a table depicting where Jesus's body was once wrapped, and now only an empty sheet remained. They had taken a round table and designed it to look like a round stone, rolled away from the entrance of the tomb when Jesus Christ was resurrected.

The final presentation was a clip from the ending of a movie called "The Testaments", depicting Jesus Christ visiting people in America after he was resurrected. Link to Movie-- The Testaments

Bottom Line...The young elders reported that everyone who came, that wasn't a member of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, wanted to meet with them again and learn more.

Just before the open house began on Saturday, a man was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was wonderful, especially since his wife was a member and now they could go forward with one purpose toward Christ on the covenant path. His wife also gave the talk on baptism during the service. This year, the celebrating of Easter was all about the true meaning of his life and purpose- "To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

Then again on Sunday afternoon, there was another man baptized. We attended both and were blessed to attend these special ordinances, where we witnessed people who have made the choice to change and follow Christ.

In conclusion, Here's a Link.Children's Bible Videos They answer questions about Jesus.