Quotes By Elder Jeffery R. Holland
Called in 1994, Elder Jeffery R. Holland currently serves as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Holland has authored many books including, Broken Things to Mend and To Mothers: Carrying the Torch of Faith and Family. Elder Holland is known for his quick wit, his tender approach toward gospel topics, and his extensive knowledge of English literature.
“In that most burdensome moment of all human history, with blood appearing at every pore and an anguished cry upon His lips, Christ sought Him whom He had always sought — His Father. ‘Abba,’ he cried, ‘Papa,’ or from the lips of a younger child, something akin to ‘Daddy.’
“This is such a personal moment it almost seems sacrilege to cite it. A Son in unrelieved pain, a Father His only true source of strength, both of them staying the course, making it through the night – together.”
“In times of anxiety we tend to focus pretty much on the ‘Latter-day’ part of our Church’s name. Here I issue a call to you to concentrate on the ‘Saint’ portion of that phrase. That is the element in our Church title that should be demanding our attention. Think of the blessings we enjoy. Think of the remarkable age in which we live. Think of the economic and educational, scientific, and spiritual blessings we have that no other era or people in the history of the world have ever had, and then consider the responsibility we have to live worthily in our moment in time.”
“You must be your first convert regarding this great message of the restored gospel. Everything you will want for the people with whom you share the gospel, Heavenly Father wants for you…Remember this truth: Everything in the conversion process must happen to you before it can happen to them — everything.”
“. . . there surely must be someone who yet needs your forgiveness. And please don’t ask if that’s fair – that the injured should have to bear the burden of forgiveness for the offender. Don’t ask if “justice” doesn’t demand that it be the other way around. No, whatever you do, don’t ask for justice. You and I know that what we plead for is mercy – and that is what we must be willing to give.”
| “I Stand All Amazed,” Ensign, August 1986, p. 72
“You’re the most prayed for people on the face of the earth. I really believe that. I do not believe, collectively speaking, that there is any body of people that’s any collective circle of individuals are prayed for on the face of the earth than the LDS missionaries.”
| “The Miracle of a Mission”
“Most people in trouble end up crying, ‘What was I thinking?’ Well, whatever they were thinking, they weren’t thinking of Christ. Yet, as members of His Church, we pledge every Sunday of our lives to take upon ourselves His name and promise to ‘always remember him.’ So let us work a little harder at remembering Him.”
| Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010 General Conference
Sisters and brothers, through the incessant din and drumbeat of our day, may we strive to see Christ at the center of our lives, of our faith, and of our service. That is where true meaning lies.
| The Message, the Meaning, and the Multitude
“Remember the real thing. Remember how urgently you have needed help in earlier times and that you got it. The Red Sea will open to the honest seeker of revelation. The adversary does not have power to hedge up the way, to marshal Pharaoh’s forces and dog our escape right to the water’s edge, but he can’t produce the real thing. He cannot conquer if we will it otherwise. “Exerting all our powers to call upon God,” the light will again come, the darkness will again retreat, the safety will again be sure. That is lesson number one about crossing the Red Sea, your Red Seas, by the spirit of revelation.”
| Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence, BYUDA 3/99
“My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life. Indeed it is only with that reassurance burning in our soul that we can have the confidence to keep trying to improve, keep seeking forgiveness for our sins, and keep extending that grace to our neighbor.”
| “Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You”
“In zone conferences, which are some of the greatest teaching moments we as General Authorities have with these young elders and sisters, I have asked missionaries what it is they want investigators to do as a result of their discussions with them.
“Be baptized!” is shouted forward in an absolute chorus…
“I don’t always run through this little exercise in a zone conference, but sometimes I do. And I have to say that almost never do the missionaries get around to identifying the two most fundamental things we want investigators to do prior to baptism: have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of their sins. Yet ‘we believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; [then] third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.’”
| Missionary Work and the Atonement