[I've been pretty busy this week, and didn't get around to writing up a Halloween post to promote this week's Sunday School lesson. So here's the email I originally sent to my YSA ward on October 27, 2010. Enjoy!]
Many years ago, when I was a fairly new missionary in Scotland, Halloween fell on a Sunday. I had been asked to speak in sacrament meeting and was allowed to pick my own topic. I saw more than a few eyebrows raise when I began speaking about "How Halloween is Like the Atonement."
I had a couple of good ideas (on Halloween we dress up as things we aspire to be--doctors, superheroes, vampires, etc.--and the Atonement makes us better than we could be on our own; when we Trick or Treat, we are given candy without doing anything to earn it other than ask, which is eerily similar to how the grace of God works), but not nearly enough for a 10-minute talk. I'm pretty sure I even made a cringeworthy joke about (Holy) ghosts, and overall my grand idea for a memorable message turned out to be a disappointing dud.
Halloween falls on a Sunday again this year. When you come to Sunday School this week, though, you won't have to be "scared" of unprepared teachers or awkward, strained gospel comparisons. Our teachers do a
boo-tiful job. You can help them out by studying this week's curriculum.
It's our final week in the "Spook" of Isaiah, so make the most of it. Happy Halloween!
[Again, that was written last year. That link is not what we're studying this week; this is the current one. (Though it's doubtful anyone will see this post in time to do anything about it. Unless you're a week behind. Slackers.) It appears that Paul did not approve of trick-or-treating--he said "they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house...speaking things which they ought not" (1 Tim. 5:13). Leave me a comment if you find any other verses that are about Halloween when taken out of context!]
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