Perhaps the most challenging realization for Adam and Eve, said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, was not the hardship and danger they would endure after being expelled from the Garden, but the fact that they would now be distanced from God, separated from Him with Whom they had walked and talked, Who had given them face-to-face counsel.
"Amidst all else," he continued, "that must have troubled them, surely this must have troubled them most."
But God knew the challenges they would face, and He certainly knew how lonely and troubled they would sometimes feel. So He watched over His mortal family constantly, heard their prayers always and sent prophets.
"But in times of special need, He sent angels, divine messengers to bless His children, reassure them that heaven was always very close and that His help was always very near."
Speaking Saturday afternoon, Elder Holland said, "From the beginning and down through the dispensations God has used angels as His emissaries in conveying love and concern for His children."
Usually such beings are not seen, he continued. "Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near."
In the course of life, "all of us spend time in 'dark and dreary' places," he said. "But I testify that angels are still sent to help us, even as they were sent to help Adam and Eve."
To all, Elder Holland encouraged, "Take heart. Be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He would 'fight (our) battles.
"What do we do to merit such a defense?" he asked. "We are to 'search diligently, pray always, and be believing. (Then) all things shall work together for (our) good, if (we) walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith (we) have covenanted.
But not all angels are dispatched from the other side of the veil, he said. "Some of them we walk with and talk with — here, now, and every day."
Elder Holland related the personal account of a former BYU colleague, Clyn D. Barrus, who, as a 7-year-old rounding up cattle on his father's farm in Idaho, endangered his life by riding a horse across the treacherous Teton River against his father's instructions.
"I realized that my life had been in grave danger, and that I had done a terrible thing — I had knowingly disobeyed my father," Elder Holland said, quoting Brother Barrus.
Distressed, he prayed for a long time. Finally, he looked up to see a figure whom he first thought was an angel the Lord had sent in answer to his prayer, but soon recognized to be his father.
"I was worried," said his father, embracing his son. "I'm glad I found you."
"I testify of angels," said Elder Holland in closing, "God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face."
