Thomas S. Monson offers an Easter testimony

President Thomas S. Monson (1927- ) was sustained to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1963.  He served as a counselor in the First Presidency with Presidents Benson, Hunter, and Hinckley until becoming Church president in 2008.

"No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when, on the first day of the week, they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord. Spoke the angel:

"'Why seek ye the living among the dead?
"'He is not here, but is risen.' (Luke 24:5-6.)

"Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place--the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed.

"The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job's question, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth.

"My beloved brothers and sisters, in our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: 'He is not here: for he is risen.' (Matthew 28:6.)

"'He is risen! He is risen!
'Tell it out with joyful voice.
'He has burst his three days' prison;
'Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
'Death is conquered; man is free.
'Christ has won the victory!' ('He Is Risen!' Hymns, no. 199.)

"As one of His special witnesses on earth today, this glorious Easter Sunday, I declare that this is true."

- Thomas S. Monson, "He Is Risen!", Ensign, May 2010, pp. 87-90
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For Christians, Easter is the most joyful celebration of all. While Christmas is the promise of hope, Easter is the fulfillment, the confirmation. That is why President Monson can say that the most meaningful words in all of Christendom would be, "He is not here, but is risen."

How profoundly grateful we should all be for the eternal significance of the gifts of Atonement and Resurrection.