“The Wonderful Plan,” Friend, Mar. 2026, 4–7.
The Wonderful Plan
Before we came to earth, Heavenly Father had a wonderful plan for us. We would be born and learn and grow on earth. We could follow His covenant path and make good choices.
Heavenly Father knew we would need help. He knew we would make bad choices and sin sometimes. We couldn’t return to Him if we weren’t clean.
We needed someone special to help us be clean from our sins. Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit Son of Heavenly Father. He offered to come to earth and save us from our sins.
For hundreds of years, people waited for Jesus to be born. Finally, a new star shone in the sky to tell the world the Savior had come.
When Jesus grew up, He taught people the gospel. He was kind and loving. He blessed the children.
He taught that we should follow Him and treat others as He would. He healed people who were sick. He brought people back to life who had died.
Jesus knew it was time for His greatest miracle. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed. He felt the pain of all our sins and sadness and sickness.
Some people were angry with Jesus. They didn’t like what He taught and didn’t believe He was the Son of God. Jesus was arrested and nailed to a cross, where He died.
Jesus’s friends were very sad. They laid His body in a tomb and rolled a large stone in front of the door.
Three days later, some women went to the tomb. The stone had been rolled away, and the tomb was empty! Mary Magdalene started to cry because Jesus’s body was gone. A kind man nearby asked her why she was crying. When she told him, he called her by name. She looked at Him and saw that He was Jesus! He was alive again!
At Easter we celebrate what Jesus Christ did for us. Because He suffered for us, we can repent and be clean. Because He was resurrected, we will live again too! Because of Him, we can return to our Heavenly Father and be with our families forever.
Illustrations by Matt Sweeney. May be copied for Church use only.