Start Now to Celebrate Easter Season | An Interview with Lani Hilton

Jan 6, 2026

Lani Hilton, an author and educator known for her Christ-centered Easter traditions, shares her passion for enriching the Easter season. They discuss transforming Easter from a single day into a meaningful season, highlighting the importance of Palm Sunday celebrations. Lani emphasizes simplifying traditions for busy families and encourages starting preparations early, preferably in January. She also details how to involve youth in events and adapt existing church activities to create a communal focus on Christ, extending the celebration beyond Easter Sunday.

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ADVICE

Build A Small Committee

If invited to lead a Palm Sunday event, form a committee and involve counselors, music leaders, youth, and primary to share tasks.
Delegate rehearsals and logistics so one person isn't overwhelmed with moving parts.

ANECDOTE

A Stake Palm Sunday Celebration

Lani organized a stake Palm Sunday gathering with palm branches, a primary chorus, and a youth choir to create a participatory praise experience.
The congregation joined in a medley of praising hymns and the event became a moving kickoff to Holy Week.

ADVICE

Keep Events Short And Worshipful

Keep community gatherings short (under an hour) and participatory so families and children can attend and remain engaged.
Choose praising hymns and simple congregational elements to make the service worshipful without dragging on.

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Lani Hilton is a dedicated enthusiast of the Easter Season. She has lived a Christ-centered Easter season with her family for 20 years and has been teaching about it in settings like BYU Education Week and firesides since 2015. She published a book called Celebrate Sunday and has written articles for the Liahona and LDS living. Along with her husband, John, she is the proud parent of six children, four currently at Brigham Young University. Lani finds great joy in the simplicity and beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community

Links

lanihilton.com/easter
A Christ-Centered Easter: Day-By-Day Activities to Celebrate Easter Week
Easter-themed resources from Deseret Book
Connecting Others to Jesus Through the Cross at Calvary | An Interview with John Hilton III
Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community

Highlights

Lani Hilton talks about the importance of making Easter a season rather than just a single day of celebration. Lani shares her journey of creating meaningful Easter traditions and how she has implemented these ideas at both home and community levels, particularly focusing on Palm Sunday.

00:04:04 – Lonnie’s Journey to Celebrating Easter
00:05:24 – Simplifying Traditions as a Busy Mom
00:06:08 – Church’s Focus on Easter as a Season
00:06:40 – Elder Stevenson’s Call for a Christ-Centered Easter
00:09:51 – Expanding the Easter Celebration Timeline
00:10:57 – Encouragement to Start Early with Planning
00:12:44 – Involving Youth in Easter Activities
00:13:57 – Lonnie’s Experience with Stake Activities
00:15:41 – The Importance of Creating Meaningful Experiences
00:17:16 – Organizing a Palm Sunday Celebration
00:20:24 – Keeping the Celebration Engaging and Short
00:22:07 – Community Involvement and Outreach
00:25:06 – The Joy of Praising the Savior
00:27:16 – The Impact of a Large Gathering
00:29:03 – Advertising the Palm Sunday Event
00:31:01 – Encouraging Family Participation
00:32:24 – Resources for Planning Easter Activities
00:35:35 – Reflection on the Success of the Event
00:39:15 – Looking Ahead to Future Celebrations

Key Insights

Easter as a Season: Lani emphasizes the need to extend the celebration of Easter beyond just Easter Sunday, suggesting that it can encompass a period of reflection and worship leading up to and following the holiday.

Inspiration from Church Leaders: Elder Stevenson’s talks have encouraged members to recognize Palm Sunday and the Easter season more thoughtfully, prompting a shift in how Latter-day Saints approach these celebrations.

Community Involvement: Lani highlights the importance of involving the entire community in Easter celebrations, suggesting that events should be inclusive and accessible to all, not just church members.

Simple Traditions: She advocates for simple, Christ-centered traditions that can be easily integrated into family life, making it possible for busy families to participate without feeling overwhelmed.

Worshipful Experiences: The focus should be on creating worshipful experiences that allow participants to praise and adore Jesus Christ, fostering a deeper connection to the Savior during this holy time.

Leadership Applications

Planning Ahead: Leaders should begin discussions about Easter celebrations in January to allow ample time for planning and community involvement, ensuring that activities are well-organized and meaningful.

Encouraging Participation: Leaders can facilitate events that invite participation from all ages, such as a Palm Sunday celebration, which can help foster a sense of community and shared worship.

Flexibility in Activities: Leaders are encouraged to adapt ideas and resources to fit their local context, recognizing that not every ward or stake will have the same capabilities or traditions, but all can create impactful experiences centered on Christ.

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes.

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