Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Elder Ronald A. Rasband · Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles · Sunday Morning Session
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Because Christ is literally risen, every person who has ever lived will be resurrected, including those we grieve, and that changes how we face loss right now.
Skip the review of every scriptural appearance of the resurrected Christ; pick one (the Nephite multitude or Mary at the tomb) and stay there, trying to cover all of them will crowd out discussion.
Before Sunday
Sunday's lesson: He Is Risen, and what that means for someone you love
This Sunday we're discussing Elder Ronald A. Rasband's April 2025 general conference talk 'He Is Risen.' He teaches that Christ's Resurrection secured salvation from physical death for every person who has ever lived, the just and the unjust alike. Elder Rasband shares a tender personal story about his grandson Paxton to illustrate what that promise means in real grief. Before Sunday, consider: Is there someone in your life, living or gone, whose resurrection you are personally counting on?
Pick one opening
Think of someone you love who has died, or think of your own aging body, or a health struggle you're carrying. When Elder Rasband says the Resurrection means that person, or you, will be 'reunited again in perfect form,' what does that stir in you? Take just a moment before we answer out loud.
Think of someone you love who has died, or think of your own aging body, or a health struggle you're carrying. When Elder Rasband says the Resurrection means that person, or you, will be 'reunited again in perfect form,' what does that stir in you? Take just a moment before we answer out loud.
Elder Rasband's grandson Paxton was born with a rare chromosomal deletion. He never spoke, crawled, or ran after his brothers. But Elder Rasband describes how Paxton stretched out his hands to his family and to the Savior with love. Paxton lived three years. His grandfather then says quietly: 'Then God reached out and took him home.' That grief is the ground Elder Rasband is standing on when he testifies of the Resurrection.
Teach this first
Elder Rasband teaches that when Christ broke the bands of death, He secured resurrection for all of God's children, every person who has ever lived, just and unjust alike. This isn't an abstract theological point. It means specific people we love and mourn will rise in bodies that are whole and perfect. The psalmist's words Elder Rasband quotes say it plainly: 'Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.'
Elder Rasband testifies that those who come unto Christ 'will feel joy beyond any earthly expression as we reunite, resurrected, with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ and with our parents, grandparents, siblings … and ancestors.'
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If time remains
Throughout the talk, Elder Rasband returns again and again to the image of Christ stretching forth His hand, to Peter sinking in waves, to the crippled man, to the Nephite multitude, to little children. He draws a direct line from those hands once nailed to a cross to the promise given to Isaiah: 'I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.' That image is meant to be personal.
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Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
This week, find one moment to say out loud, to yourself, to God, or to someone who is grieving, 'Because He lives, you will live also.' Let that be a real declaration, not just a song title.
Elder Rasband quotes the Savior's own promise: 'Where I am, there ye may be also', reunion with God, with Christ, and with family is the direct and personal outcome of the Resurrection for those who come unto Him.
Your witness: Close with what the Resurrection of Jesus Christ means to you about someone specific, someone you're waiting to see again, or a fear about death that this doctrine actually answers for you personally.