Tag Archives: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Easter Story Cookies—A Baking Activity in Remembrance

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The Resurrected Christ by Wilson Ong

The year 2018 has not been easy for many within my social circles. I have learned about the death of someone’s loved one about every week since January and I have attended a number of funerals. It is a time of loss and separation, but it has also been a time of peace and reverence for many of my friends who are of the Christian faith, especially my Latter-day Saint friends, who trust in the promise that families can be together forever. In their minds there is comfort that, although they may be separated from that loved one for a time, the individual that has passed is being reunited with loved ones on the other side of this mortal life.

Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shared a story of one of his ancestors who had a visitation from the other side about what life was like there. He told this story during the opening session of Family Discovery Day during RootsTech 2017. [The story begins at 15:27.] It is edifying, uplifting, and reassuring to hear such testimonies during times of loss. President Nelson is also a retired cardiologist who spoke as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ at the April 1987 General Conference on this topic titled, Life after Life. [This weekend is General Conference for all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whether or not you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you are welcome to view the proceedings at churchofjesuschrist.org.]

On the eve of this Easter weekend, I am reminded of a kitchen activity for children that strives to represent the Easter story. It’s a recipe of unknown origin.

Each of the approximately 18 cookies will crack in a unique way. This is just one example.

If you would like to try it, you will need:

  • 1 cup of whole pecans or walnuts
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar (I’ve used white, apple cider, and most recently, cherry, which worked well.)
  • 3 egg whites
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • electric mixer
  • a plastic bag (A quart-sized freezer zip-lock bag works well.)
  • tape (I use painter’s tape to avoid any residue, but clear tape works as well. I haven’t known it to leave residue but I cannot guarantee it.)
  • scriptures
  1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
  2. Explain with scripture how Jesus was taken and mistreated. Place the pecans or walnuts in the plastic bag, seal it, and allow the child to break them into pieces with the wooden spoon. [The scriptures tell of the violent treatment of Jesus in Matthew 26: 67-68 & 27: 28-31; Mark 14: 65 & 15: 16-20; Luke 22: 63-65; and, John 19: 1-3]
  3. Tell how Jesus’s need for thirst on the cross was met by posting a sponge with vinegar. Allow the children to smell the vinegar and place 1 teaspoon in the mixing bowl. [Matthew 27: 46-48; Mark 15: 34-37; and John 19: 28-30]
  4. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave up his mortal life so that he could give greater life to us and hope of eternal life with Him. Add the egg whites to the vinegar. [Matthew 20: 28; Mark 10:45; John 10: 10-11]
  5. Tears were shed by many of the people. Tears are salty. Allow children to taste the salt. Add a pinch of salt to the vinegar and egg mixture. [Luke 23: 27-28]
  6. As the Psalmist said, “…weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” [Psalm 30: 5] Add 1 cup of sugar to the mixture. Share scriptures that relate the love of God, such as Psalm 34: 8—”O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”
  7. To represent the tomb, for these meringue cookies, beat the mixture at high speed until stiff peaks form, about 10-15 minutes. Fold in the nuts. Drop mixture by teaspoons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or similar. These mounds each represent the tomb cut out of rock by Joseph of Arimathaea in which Jesus was laid to rest. [Matthew 27: 57-60; Mark 15: 42-46; Luke 23: 50-56; & John 19: 38-42.]
  8. Put the baking sheet in the oven, close the door, and turn the oven off. Allow each child to seal the oven door by a piece of tape representing the sealed tomb. Leave the baking sheet in oven until morning. [Matthew 27: 65-66]
  9. On Easter morning open the oven door and find a crack in each of the cookies (hopefully, but not always). This, of course, represents the empty tomb and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. [Matthew 28: 1-7; Mark 16; Luke 24: 1-9; & John 20: 1-16] Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

Copyright © 2018. Lynn Broderick, a.k.a., the Single Leaf. All Rights Reserved.

The 45th Annual BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy: A GPS Conference

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GPS 2013 WPAs early as tomorrow afternoon from 3-5 pm, and each day this upcoming week, registrants of the 45th Annual BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy may pick up their conference materials at the BYU Conference Center in Provo, Utah. It’s going to be a GPS week!

As you know, a Global Positioning System (GPS) provides direction to get us where we want to go. While reviewing the titles for this year’s conference I realized that conference organizers have done just that with their selection of presentations.

As I mentioned in my last post, this conference has 160 classes streamlined into 24 tracks. There is a Beginner track that covers an introduction to genealogy, verification of family stories, the importance of sourcing our information, and U.S. research. There are the FamilySearch, Ancestry, and Online Research tracks to help keep up with the ever-growing databases that provide us with such ease in gathering our family information. There is a Methodology track that discusses how to track an ancestor’s migration, how to evaluate evidence, how to spot errors in original records [it happens more than we would like to acknowledge] and what to do about those errors, and the hows and whys of descendancy research.  J. Mark Lowe is presenting one lecture as part as the Methodology track. In addition to this lecture, Mark will be discussing the early Methodist church, finding Baptist ancestors in Southern manuscripts, Tennessee, and Kentucky research. These are parts of the Southern U.S. Research and Church Records tracks. Robert McLaren, Ugo Perego, and Kenny Freestone will present information for the DNA Research track. There is also a track entitled Computers & Technology discussing Mac use, iPads, and digital cameras.

If this is not enough to position a researcher on a map to success, there is more! There are tracks specifically dedicated to localities. Organizers determined the conference offerings for these specific tracks based on past interest demographics. British, English/Welsh, Irish, German, Scandinavian, Scottish and United States Research will all have their own track on specific days. Then there is the International track. On the schedule you may have noticed that under the word “International” is the word “Small” in parentheses. Although organizers anticipate that there will be fewer participants concerned with these ethnicities this year, they recognize the value of such an eclectic offering. These classes will discuss Canadian, Dutch, Estonian, French, Jewish, Russian, and Slovakian Research. Hispanic Research is also in this category. (By the way, there is good news! In September 2013 there will be a conference specifically devoted to Hispanic research! Visit Conferencia Iberoamericana de Genealogía 2013 for more information.)

BYU Conference Center SE WPAs many may know, BYU is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the same organization that provides researchers all over the world with access to records to find their ancestors by visiting the Family History Library, over 4,600 centers around the world, and the FamilySearch website. The LDS Church seeks out other organizations willing to preserve and share these records to our past. Sometimes I think we do not thank them enough for the sacrifices in time and means and their willingness to share.

In addition to the resources above, Church leaders issue “callings” to members as family history consultants, which means that these individuals are asked to give a portion of their time each week to help others find their ancestors. There is a track especially for them. The LDS Family History Callings track is designed to help new consultants understand how to assist others in their research. If you are a family history consultant you may attend this track for FREE on Friday, August 2nd. If you are a family history consultant and would like to attend the entire conference, you will receive a $50 discount on registration. You may register by calling (877) 221-6716 or visit the registration page.

The BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy positions the researcher for global success! It is the perfect companion conference to RootsTech, which provides the latest updates on technology to enhance family history and genealogical endeavors. Registration for the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy is limited, but you may register at the door if space is available. Come join us! For more information call (877) 221-6716.

[RootsTech provides family historians and genealogists with all of the latest technology that expedites research efforts. As someone who has attended each year, I commend this conference to you. It will be held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 6-8, 2014. Registration opens in August. Check out their website for more information :-)]

Copyright ©2013 Lynn Broderick and the Single Leaf. All Rights Reserved.