Notable quotes:
“We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, some way, somehow yet be ours.”
“May we press forward with love in our hearts, walking in the ‘brightness of hope’ that lights the path of holy anticipation we that we’ve been on now for 200 years.”
“We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received, because this is the work of Almighty God, this is the Church of continuing revelation, this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence.”
Summary points:
- The future is going to be as miracle-filled as the past.
- God performs His work, even against insurmountable odds.
- One of the most indispensable virtues during times of hardship is hope.
Talk summary:
Looking back at the majesty of God’s hand in restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ, what would one living in the 1800s have hoped for?
Perhaps one would have hoped for the restoration of a truer concept of caring Father in Heaven, Who spoke as openly in the present as He did in the past, Whose every action would be for the “benefit of the world.” Other hopes include scriptural evidence of the Savior’s life and resurrection, priesthood authority, temples and sealing families for time and all eternity.
“Beginning in the Sacred Grove and continuing to this day, these desires began to be clothed in reality and became, as the apostle Paul and others taught, true anchors to the soul, sure and steadfast. What was once only hoped for has now become history.”
As the world battles an “all hands on deck war” with COVID-19, many still have hopes that have not yet been fulfilled.
“When we have conquered it — and we will — may we be equally committed to freeing the world from the virus of hunger and freeing neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty,” and hope for safer schools and the gift of personal dignity for every child.
Many have deeply personal hopes in addition to these global desires, including marriage, overcoming an addiction, help for a wayward child, or for physical or emotional pain to stop.
“Because the Restoration reaffirmed the foundational truth that God does work in this world, we can hope, we should hope, even when facing the most insurmountable odds. … We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, some way, somehow yet be ours.”
“I testify that the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been.”
In the news:
- On Feb. 9, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke at Stanford Memorial Church, counseling young adults from across the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
- Elder Holland celebrated his 79th birthday on Dec. 3, 2019.
- Speaking in November 2019 at the Gallagher Convention Center near Johannesburg, South Africa, Elder Holland addressed more than 7,500 people about the importance of being disciples of Jesus Christ.
- Returning to St. George, Utah for his 60-year high school reunion, Elder Holland reminisced with old friends in October 2019.
- Elder Holland spoke during a devotional at BYU–Hawaii on Oct. 24 about how Church-owned colleges are part of an experiment to establish Zion.
- In October 2019, Elder Holland celebrated 30 years since the dedication of the BYU Jerusalem Center while speaking at an event in Provo, Utah.
About the speaker:
- Elder Holland was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on June 23, 1994.
- He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University. During his presidency, the historic BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was founded.
- Elder Holland and fellow apostle Elder Quentin L. Cook were mission companions in England.
- A native of Southern Utah, Elder Holland helped rededicate the St. George Tabernacle on Aug. 2, 2018.
- He and his wife, Sister Patricia Terry Holland, were married in the St. George Utah Temple and have three children.
Recently on Social:
- In a March 26 Facebook post, Elder Holland invited Latter-day Saints to “#HearHim” and remember that everything they do “will mean little or nothing unless we find Jesus at the center of it all.”
- Elder Holland shared in a Feb. 23 Facebook post that, as a young adult, he faced many of the same challenges facing young adults today. Using his personal experience, he reminded others of the powerful strength and testimony that comes with reading the Book of Mormon.
- On Dec. 11, 2019, Elder Holland shared the hopeful message to “Keep going. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing.”
- After speaking at BYU–Hawaii in October, Elder Holland posted a reminder on his Instagram account that the “future will unfold as God intended it.”
