Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was ordained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 23, 1994. Born on Dec. 3, 1940, to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland in St. George, Utah, Elder Holland served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University. He is also a former Church commissioner of education and dean of the College of Religious Education at BYU.
Prior to his call as an Apostle, Elder Holland was serving as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. In 1963, he married Patricia Terry. They are the parents of three children and the grandparents of 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Here are nine quotes from Elder Holland in the past year, in honor of his 81st birthday.
1. Facing fears
“Face your doubts. Master your fears. Exert your faith and see the beauty of life unfold before you.”
— Jordan Institute of Religion devotional, Nov. 14, 2021
2. The significance of true friendship
“Friendship transcends that self-interest that can sometimes unwittingly preoccupy us. We should all remember why we want people in the Church. It is because their souls are precious and we want the blessings of the gospel available to them. So let us begin that process by being true friends.”
— Brigham Young University Law’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies 2021 International Advisory Council reception and dinner, Nov. 12, 2021
3. Persevere and believe
“When the weather turns bad and the waves are high, we need strong people. We need people who are determined to persevere and to believe, to trust and to worship and to give thanks for what we too often take for granted — the wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
— Enterprise Utah Stake conference, Oct. 18, 2021
4. The salvation of a human soul
“You are doing the most important thing in the universe — you are engaged in the salvation of a human soul. That is at the heart of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is the most important thing we can do in time and eternity.”
— Utah St. George Mission meeting, Oct. 17, 2021
5. Loyalty to the cause of Christ
“When difficult things are asked of us, even things contrary to the longings of our heart, remember that the loyalty we pledge to the cause of Christ is to be the supreme devotion of our lives.”
— “The Greatest Possession,” October 2021 general conference
6. A sensitive and demanding balance
“As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, ‘Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.’ We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives.”
— BYU annual University Conference, Aug. 23, 2021
7. Christ’s example of leadership
“From start to finish, for all the grandeur of His life and for all the magnificence of His perfect leadership, Christ would deflect that credit and, in His humility, offer it as a compliment to His Father in Heaven.”
— “The World’s Principled Leader Series” at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, April 23, 2021
8. Healing the wounds of a conflicted world
“We are … facing a kind of third world war that is not a fight to crush our enemies, but a conscription marshaling the children of God to care more about each other and to help heal the wounds we find in a conflicted world.”
— “Not As the World Giveth,” April 2021 general conference
9. The Mission of Jesus Christ
“He would tread the wine press of redemption utterly and entirely alone, with no mortal companion who would aid Him and no heavenly companion who could. In bearing all the sins and sorrows of mortality, He would bring the incomprehensible gift of salvation to the entire human family from Adam to the end of the world. In the full course of His journey, He would be the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls (1 Peter 2:25), the Great High Priest of our Profession (Hebrews 3:1), the free-flowing Fountain of all Righteousness (Ether 8:26).”
— 2020 First Presidency Christmas Devotional, Dec. 6, 2020
