With Easter approaching, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a new video on Sunday sharing their testimonies of Jesus Christ and encouraging members to invite friends, family and neighbors to worship with them on Palm Sunday in their local chapels.
“This Easter season, we testify that Jesus Christ is risen,” said President Dallin H. Oaks in the video. “He lives. He is the Way.”
President Oaks said Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice and resurrection are the “ultimate evidence of God’s love.”
“He called us His friends and declared: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13). His Atonement is a universal gift made possible by His love and the love of the Father.”
President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, said because Jesus Christ broke the bands of death, “every one of Heavenly Father’s children will rise again in a perfected, resurrected body that will never die.”
“This sure promise can turn the sorrow of losing a loved one into hope, filling our hearts with happy anticipation of reunion. Because of His sacrifice, we will all be resurrected and can be purified in Him.”
In his video message, President D. Todd Christofferson, second counselor in the First Presidency, testified that “Heavenly Father loves us perfectly.”
“Because of this love, He ‘gave his only begotten Son that … [we might] have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). As we focus during this Easter season on the life, ministry, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us remember that he is our perfect Advocate and Redeemer. Because of his atoning sacrifice, we may experience immortality and eternal life hereafter as well as his love, peace, and joy now.”
In addition to worshipping on Palm Sunday, on March 29, President Oaks and his counselors also invited Latter-day Saints to celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ during the church’s 196th Annual General Conference the following weekend.
General conference will feature four general sessions and a solemn assembly, during which President Oaks will be sustained as the president of the church.
Following the Sept. 27, 2025, death of President Russell M. Nelson, President Oaks was announced as the church’s new president on Oct. 14, 2025. At that time he also named President Eyring and President Christofferson as his counselors. The April 2026 general conference will be the first time for the new First Presidency to be sustained in such a setting.
A solemn assembly is a special, sacred meeting held in conjunction with a variety of holy purposes, providing an elevated sense of solemnity and spirituality, according to theChurchNews.com. Such occasions include the sustaining of a new Church president, dedications of temples, special commemorations and other sacred purposes.
The Easter video follows a First Presidency Easter message, published on Feb. 22.
In the message, President Oaks, President Eyring and President Christofferson testified of the reality and resurrection of Jesus Christ and extended an invitation for all to seek him this Easter season.
“Jesus Christ is risen. He lives! The Savior of the world was crucified and, on the third day, rose from the dead,” they wrote.
“As Mary Magdalene and her companions mournfully approached the Garden Tomb, two angels appeared to them and shared the clarion call of all Christianity:
“‘Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen’ (Luke 24:5—6).
“This Easter season we also joyfully testify of this same eternal truth — Jesus Christ is risen. He lives! The Savior of the world was crucified and, on the third day, rose from the dead, ‘the firstfruits of them that slept’ (1 Corinthians 15:20). His Resurrection allows all to be resurrected, and through his grace, we can find peace ‘which passeth all understanding’ (Philippians 4:7) and ‘be perfected in him’ (Moroni 10:32).
“We invite each of you during this Easter season to ‘seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written’ (Ether 12:41). As you do so, we testify that your Easter celebrations can strengthen your own faith and testimony that ‘death is conquered; man is free. Christ has won the victory’ (’He Is Risen!,' Hymns, no. 199)."
