Easter Walk returns
The Easter walk had the help of many people, including Young Women's groups.
Stake President Rich Evans of the Soda Springs stake was excited to bring the Easter Walk event back for its second year. The event, which allows visitors to walk through a series of rooms devoted to presenting thoughtful examinations of the days of Easter story, was a big success last year, bringing in visitors from around the area as well as surrounding areas.
“We have had about five hundred people a day or so,” Evans said. “We’ve made a few adjustments to smooth the flow out a little bit. We’ve gotten a lot of visitors from all over, whether Bancroft and Grace, or Montpelier area, or even farther out.”
“It’s been really wonderful, and peaceful,” Evans said, summing up the experience of the Easter walk.
The layout of rooms was mostly along the same lines as last year, though there were some changes that added to the solemnity and efficiency of the walk.
The rooms themselves featured the events Triumphal Entry (Palm Sunday), Cleansing the Temple, Parables and Miracles, Passover/Last Supper, Gethsemane, Trial and Crucifixion, Burial/Tomb/Sprit World Ministry, and Resurrection.
Like last year, each year was characterized by a mood best suited for the contemplation of its meaning. The Temple room, for instance, was divided into a room about the cleansing itself, and then through an entryway a second room where attendees could consider their own future visits to a temple. The parable room allowed for conversation and visitors to share their thoughts with one another, as well as to add them to a white board on which they were encouraged to write them down.
The Gethsemane room, on the other hand, was observantly quite and reverential, encouraging visitors to contemplate the nature of the Passion and the sacrifice.
“We had had people from other religions and religious groups have come to visit this year, and that’s been wonderful to see,” Brenda Kunz said. She, Diane Olsen, and Dana Crowther helped to direct people through the Temple rooms.
Natalie Dickhaut instructed people in the Palm Sunday room, and had praise for the event and the way it has been conducted. “I’ve really enjoyed this,” she said. “People have had a good experience with it.”
At present, the stake plans to bring the event back again next year, as it continues to grow in popularity and attendance.
