Mesa Easter Pageant

I remember first hearing about the Mesa Easter pageant when I was 11 years old and my Grandma and Grandpa Broadbent were missionaries down here in Mesa. They were serving a mission over the Mesa Visitor's Center. I wasn't old enough to go to the temple with the older members of my family, so I spent the morning with my grandparents at the visitor's center. Grandpa showed me all sorts of pictures of the Christmas lights and of the Easter Pageant. Since that time, I have always wanted to see the pageant. It took us 3 years of living down here to finally find a time to go. I was determined to go before we moved from Arizona and I am so happy that we were able to go. We had a great night down in Mesa.

We began the evening with a trip to Cafe Rio (a must when we go to Mesa...) Then, we headed over the temple for the pageant. They have a very large stage built right on the temple grounds with plenty of seating. It felt great outside (even a little cool!) and we enjoyed visiting while we waited. The cast mingled amongst the audience while prior to the show. Parker was especially fascinated by the swords of the soldiers. We really enjoyed the pageant. It was a great reminder of the Savior's life to help put us in the mood for Easter. Parker did very well and even commented on several different things. He was very concerned about Jesus getting hurt and was very happy when he "got better." Ever since that point, he always has to talk about Jesus getting hurt and has even mentioned it in his prayers on different occasions. He is definitely beginning to pick up on a lot more that goes on around him. After the pageant, we had to stop at another of our favorite places in Mesa - Bahama Bucks! It was a great ending to fun evening...