What Is the Purpose of the Sacrament?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Exodus 7-13 and a lesson titled “Remember this Day, in Which Ye Came Out from Egypt.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

Plague after plague afflicted Egypt, but Pharaoh still refused to release the Israelites. And yet God continued to demonstrate His power and give Pharaoh opportunities to accept “that I am the Lord” and “there is none like me in all the earth” (Exodus 7:5; 9:14).

Meanwhile, Moses and the Israelites must have watched with awe at these manifestations of God’s power on their behalf. Surely these continued signs confirmed their faith in God and strengthened their willingness to follow God’s prophet. Then, after nine terrible plagues had failed to free the Israelites, it was the tenth plague – the death of the firstborn, including Pharaoh’s firstborn – that finally ended the captivity. This seems fitting because in every case of spiritual captivity, there truly is only one way to escape. It is only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Firstborn – the blood of the Lamb without blemish – that will save us.

The principles taught in this scriptures block include (1) I can choose to soften my heart (Exodus 7-11); (2) Jesus Christ can save me because of His Atonement (Exodus 12:1-42); (3) The sacrament helps me remember my deliverance through Jesus Christ (Exodus 12:14-17, 24-27; 13:1-16).

This essay will discuss principle #3 about the sacrament. This is obviously the Easter lesson, which is scheduled a week late due to General Conference being held on Easter Sunday. However, it is a good lesson for us to remember all year long.

Jehovah commanded the Israelites to observe the Passover each year to help them remember He had delivered them, even after their captivity became a distant memory. He wanted them to teach their children and children’s children about the Passover to remember “throughout your generations” (see Exodus 12:14, 26-27).

After His Resurrection, Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His atoning sacrifice. The sacrament is an ordinance in which Church members partake of bread and water in remembrance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through this ordinance, Church members renew the covenants they made with God when they were baptized. Here is a video titled “Always Remember Him” that teaches the importance of the sacrament. 

Each Sunday when we partake of the bread and water, we should do so in remembrance of the Savior’s Atonement – His time in the Garden of Gethsemane, His trials, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection.

As you participate in the sacramental services tomorrow, think of the things that you do to “always remember” Jesus Christ (Moroni 4:3; 5:2). Think of ways that you can preserve that remembrance “throughout your generations” (see Exodus 12:14, 26-27).

How Does a Higher Fertility Rate Strengthen a Nation?

States and nations benefit from a high fertility rate and strong families. Therefore, states and nations are weakened by low fertility rates, but they are strengthened by strong families. The United States and nations around the globe are experiencing a two-decades decline in fertility rates. In her article published at The Daily Signal, Mariam Sunny reported on the fertility rate. 

The U.S. fertility rate hit a record low last year, extending a nearly two-decade decline, provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Thursday.

The decline also reflects global trends, as fewer women choose to have children against a changing social backdrop. In the U.S., the general fertility rate has fallen nearly 23% since 2007, according to the agency’s data.

Shifting priorities among younger women, including “greater and more demanding job market opportunities, expanded leisure options, increased intensity of parenting … make the option to have children less desirable,” said Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College.

The number of babies born in the U.S. in 2025 declined 1% from a year earlier to roughly 3.6 million, while the general fertility rate – the number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 – also slipped 1% to 53.1, the data showed.

While fertility rates among women in their 30s and 40s have increased over the past decade, those gains have remained too modest to offset sustained declines among women under 30. Last year, the fertility rate among women aged 25 to 29 fell about 4.4%, while the rate for women aged 30 to 34 rose about 2.7% from 2024, the data showed.

Fertility rates among teenagers also declined sharply, with the rate for those aged 18 to 19 falling 7% and the rate for younger teens aged 15 5o 17 dropping 11%, both reaching record lows.

The provisional data is based on 99.95% of all birth records received and processed last year by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC, as of Feb. 3, 2026.

 

  

Why Is Democracy Necessary?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns democracy and its ability to preserve freedom. The president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Dallin H. Oaks has long discussed importance of democracy, and he chose to focus on the same message in his first address as president of the Church of Jesus Christ. His message on Easter Sunday is that “peace and democratic freedoms, especially in times of conflict, require believers to extend Christ’s love to their opponents, even across vast differences in values and beliefs.”

Mariya Manzhos reported on President Oaks’ message in her article at the Deseret News. 

President Oaks also continued the theme of his predecessor, President Russell M. Nelson, calling believers to be peacemakers – those who “seek to reduce human suffering” and those who “work to promote understanding among different peoples.”

President Oaks described the current climate as “toxic” and “a time of contempt or hostility toward adversaries.” This kind of “hostility,” he said, is spreading across society, and involves “many whose Christian beliefs should orient them otherwise.”

Christ’s teaching, which the church’s leader described as “revolutionary,” is to extend love not only to the neighbors, but also to the enemies, whom President Oaks identified as “military foes” and those in direct conflict with one another. “Today we might say that we are commanded to love our adversaries,” he said.

The church’s leader has himself demonstrated a way of finding common ground in Utah politics. He played a key role in shaping the Utah Compromise in 2015, helping broker an agreement between religious groups and LGBTQ advocates, and supported a framework that paired protections for same-sex couples in housing and employment with safeguards for religious liberty – an agreement that became a national model for balancing competing rights.

In his Sunday address, he said: “As followers of Christ, we should seek to live peaceably and lovingly with other children of God who do not share our values and do not have the covenant obligations we have assumed. In a democratic government we should seek ‘fairness for all.’ In countless circumstances, strangers’ suspicion or even hostility gradually give way to friendship when personal contacts produce mutual respect.” …

In a new leadership position, Oaks is showing that there is no distinction between being Christ-like in personal life and being Christ-like in civic life, Rauch said.

President Oaks acknowledged just how hard reconciling the requirements of the church and civic life can be. “We balance our various responsibilities, this balancing is not easy,” Oaks said….

In President Oaks’ view, by contrast, the Constitution guarantees a shared civic space.

 

Will the Truce between US, Israel, and Iran Hold?

Over a period of several days, President Donald Trump sent out over Truth Social. The idea behind all the messages was that Iran either opened the Strait of Hormuz to let oil tankers and other sea-going traffic to pass, or Trump would order bombing over Iran enough to destroy a “whole civilization,” or at least destroy all the bridges and power plants in the country.

According to Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell at The Daily Signal, Trump set a firm deadline of 8:00 P.M EDT on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Either Iran opened Hormuz, or destruction would rain down on Iran. However, negotiators continued to work for a compromise. Iran understood that Trump had said and done “crazy” things before and that terrible things would happen if something did not change by the deadline. 

“We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World,” Trump wrote. “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!” …

Iran says it would retaliate against U.S. allies in the Gulf, whose desert cities would be uninhabitable without power or water. It claimed to have carried out fresh strikes on a ship in the Gulf and a huge Saudi petrochemical complex.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Tehran would “deprive America and its allies in the region of oil and gas for years.”

“Up to today we have shown great restraint for the sake of good neighbourliness and have had some consideration in choosing targets for retaliation,” it said. “But all these restraints have since been removed.”

However, things changed. Just prior to the arrival of the deadline, Trump announced that a deal had been made. Tyler O’Neil at The Daily Signal reported the news as follows. 

Iran has agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz and the United States and Israel will engage in a two-week ceasefire, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday.

President Trump said that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir helped him orchestrate the deal.

“Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshall Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” the president wrote. “This will be a double-sided CEASEFIRE!”

“The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” he added.

President Trump said the U.S. received a “10 point proposal from Iran” and he said it represents “a workable basis on which to negotiate.”

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two-week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” he added….

As the deadline approached, both the U.S. and Israel carried out strikes. The U.S. targeted Kharg Island, and Israel struck eight bridge segments that the Israel Defense Force claimed have been used “for transporting weapons & military equipment.”

Kharg Island, a coral outcrop off Iran’s coast, handles roughly 90% of the country’s crude oil exports, since much of the coastline lacks deep-water ports.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway for the global oil trade. About 25% of world seaborn oil trade transits the straight, according to the International Energy Agency, 80% of it destined for Asia. About 19% of the world’s liquefied natural gas transits the strait, as well.

Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan imported almost two-thirds of their LNG supplies via the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, making them particularly vulnerable to Iran’s actions.

Oil prices fell sharply in late trading as Trump announced the ceasefire. West Texas Intermediate crude, the domestic benchmark, fell by more than 9% to around $102 per barrel, The New York Times reported.

Also earlier Tuesday, Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah announced that it had released Shelly Kittleson, a 49-year-old American journalist who had been kidnapped in Baghdad.

According to staff at the Jerusalem Post, the truce lasted only hours before Iran fired missiles at Israel. 

Iran launched missiles toward Israel early Wednesday morning, hours after US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire involving the US, Israel, and Iran. Air raid alerts continued in Israel after the truce was announced, raising immediate doubts about whether the arrangement would hold.

Later on Wednesday, the Bahrain Interior Ministry said that air raid sirens were activated across the country following an Iranian attack on its territory.

“The alarm siren has bene activated. Citizens and residents are requested to remain calm, head to the nearest safe place, and follow updates through official channels,” the Bahrain ministry said in a statement.

Later on Wednesday, Bahrain confirmed the attack was carried out by Iran, with the missile causing a fire without leaving anyone wounded.

“Trust but verify” is the watchword. Iran has been deceitful in the past, and no one fully trusts that they are honest currently. It is possible that they asked for the ceasefire to give them an opportunity to rebuild their missile supply. However, it is possible that the currents “leaders” in Iran understand that Trump will bomb Iran into the Dark Ages. 

Are You Proud to Be an American?

Americans – at least most of us – are celebrating two extra-ordinary happenings. First, is the Artimis II flying around the moon and further into space than any previous rocket. Second, is the miraculous – an Easter miracle – rescue of an Air Force officer who evading capture for 48 hours after his fighter jet was shot down over Iran. Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell reported on the rescue in her article published at The Daily Signal. 

“Despite incoming fire and unforgiving conditions, our troops brought every American home,” Secretary of War Pet Hegseth said during a press briefing Monday. “No American lives were lost.”

After the officer’s fighter jet was shot down, the injured officer survived by climbing to higher ground, treating his own wounds, and contacting American forces to request rescue.

“We immediately mobilized a massive operation to retrieve him from the mountain holdout, and he kept going higher and higher,” Trump said. “The mountain kept getting rougher and rougher and really, verry, very hard to find.”

Because thousands of Iranians were searching for the pilot, the United States “executed a deception campaign to confuse the Iranians who were desperately hunting for our airman,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said.

On Saturday morning, the U.S. confirmed the airman was alive and hidden in a mountain crevice, “still invisible to the enemy, but not to the CIA,” Ratcliffe said.

The United States deployed three helicopters to extract the American pilot. He was rescued at midnight Eastern time on Easter Sunday. An air armada protected the rescue team, including tactical drones, strike aircraft, and more.

“God was watching us,” Trump said. “Well, it was Easter. We were in Easter territory.” Trump praised the military for carrying out the operation without any casualties. He said he will “never forget the extraordinary risk taken by the warriors that we send into battle.”

“In a breathtaking show of skill and precision, lethality and force, America’s military descended on the area, the real area, engaged the enemy, rescued the stranded officer, destroyed all threats, and exited Iranian territory while taking no casualties.”

Ratcliffe said he was honored to serve under a president who lives out the motto, “No man left behind.”

“We’ve seen it against the cartels in the Western Hemisphere, and we’re seeing it every day in Operation Epic Fury, including this mission to rescue an aviator buried deep behind enemy lines,” Ratcliffe said, “because it is the unique tradition of the U.S. armed forces that we leave no man or woman behind.”

“Peace through strength” is not a slogan, Hegseth said, but “a doctrine that saves American lives.”

“His unwavering commitment to rebuilding our military and restoring the warrior spirit has paid dividends in missions just like this one,” Hegseth said. “Under this command, America progresses power with confidence and brings our people home with victory. And that continues today.”

All Americans should be proud of their country and their country’s heroes – whether it be their President who makes the difficult decisions, the astronauts circling the moon and preparing for further space travel, the CIA who works in secret, or the military men and women who willingly stand between the enemy and Americans. God bless America! 

Who Is Jesus Christ?

With Easter being on Sunday, it is only natural that my VIP for the week should be Jesus Christ. Nearly two thousand years ago, He was resurrected. His spirit and His body came together never to be separated again. By overcoming death by resurrection, He made it possible for all mankind to also be resurrected and live forever. By His atoning sacrifice, He also made it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins and live with Heavenly Father for all eternity.

Tyler O’Neil, a senior editor at The Daily Signal, shared his thoughts about Jesus Christ and the Easter message. 

History is chock-full of pivotal moments, from Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon to Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler deciding to invade Russia, to George Washington turning down power. One moment eclipses them all—and most people at the time had no idea this moment would change the world forever.

Mankind has a virtually guaranteed 100% death rate, but one obscure carpenter-turned-rabbi defied the odds. He set off a chain reaction that didn’t just offer eternal salvation, but also inspired movements of compassion and invention that made life better for billions in the here and now.

I know I’m biased—I worship Jesus Christ as the Son of God and believe he will come again. But I also honestly think his Resurrection is the pivotal moment in human history, and not just because it offers eternal salvation to those of us who believe.

It’s hard for us to grasp just how painful most of human existence in the past truly was. Not only did people live for thousands of years without modern conveniences like refrigerators, microwaves, and washing machines, but high infant and child mortality was a fact of life—for the poorest of the poor as well as for the wealthiest and most powerful.

In Ancient Rome, when a plague began spreading, the wealthy quickly departed and the poor secluded themselves. Christianity spread, by contrast, in part because Christians started risking their lives to care for the sick; with a little help, many of the sick recovered.

Rodney Stark, a now-deceased social sciences professor at Baylor University and author of the book “The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success,” told PJ Media that without the Resurrection, “we would still be in a world of mystery and probably in a world of repressive empires.”

He argued that Christianity has been the driving force behind limited government, science, capitalism, the abolition of slavery, medicine, organized charities, and more—and Christianity would have been impossible without the Resurrection. In fact, the Gospels record that Jesus’ disciples scattered—and Peter even denied Jesus three times—but the Resurrection brought them together. According to church tradition, all but one of the apostles died painful deaths under torture, refusing to reject the faith.

There is more information in O’Neil’s article, which you can access here. Jesus Christ had greater influence on mankind than anyone else. His gospel teaches a better way to live. His atoning sacrifice makes it possible to live forever. 

How Should Americans Act During King Charles’ Visit to Washington?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is a visit from the King and Queen of Great Britain. Two hundred and fifty years declared independence from Great Britain. Now Congress has invited King Charles III to address a joint meeting. Members of Congress were not aware of the visit or did not care that the Monarch was coming. Pedro Rodriguez shared the following information in his article published at The Daily Signal. 

The king’s visit will be the first time a British royal addresses Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, delivered an address to Congress in 1991.

In response to Punchbowl News scooping the king’s speech, Re. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., told The Daily Signal that he had “no idea” Charles was scheduled to visit until The Daily Signal asked. “I didn’t even know he’s coming. I don’t know what he could talk about.”

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told The Daily Signal he thought the visit was “interesting,” given how rarely British monarchs address Congress. The king “could talk about the relationship between England and America,” Van Drew said with an indifferent shrug. When asked by The Daily Signal whether the king should discuss other conflicts, like the wars in Iran and Ukraine, Van Drew said, “I think he should, I don’t know if he will or not, but I think he should.”

The sentiment is bipartisan. Ranking Member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., told The Daily Signal that he “honestly doesn’t know” what the British monarch could possibly speak about during his joint address.

Another Republican member of the House told The Daily Signal they are not very invested in what the king will have to say.

“I’m just a commoner, I’m not royalty,” the Republican House member said. “That’s why I’m in the House and not the Senate.”

“I think there’s value and traditions and all those things, and I think that if we ignore those, it could be bad,” the member added.

Congress sent an official invitation on Wednesday for Charles to speak: “The United States Congress would be honored to host Your Majesty for this historic event, which will celebrate the shared heritage and enduring friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X: “it is my distinct honor and great privilege to invite His Majesty King Charles III, The King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland, to address a Joint Meeting of Congress.”

King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Washington, April 27-30, and will attend a state dinner at the White House while in Washington.