SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — More than 8,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints packed the Carlos Teo Cruz Boxing Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 10, to hear about a different kind of fight than usually happens within its walls.
President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught about winning “the fight against evil” and earning “the championship trophy for victory” as he addressed the thousands in the arena and the thousands more watching in chapels around the Dominican Republic’s capital city.
President Holland’s four-day ministry to the home of the Church’s Caribbean Area offices included Sunday’s multistake conference, local leadership trainings and training with area mission leaders. It was the first time he has traveled outside the United States since being set apart as the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles nearly one year ago on Nov. 16, 2023.
He was joined by Elder Ronald A. Rasband, also of the Quorum of the Twelve, and his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband. Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela of the Presidency of the Seventy and his wife, Sister Pilar Valenzuela, also traveled to the Dominican Republic. Elder Jorge F. Zeballos, General Authority Seventy and area president, and his wife, Sister Carmen Gloria Valenzuela; and Elder Valeri V. Cordón, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the area presidency, also attended the multistake conference.
‘Miracles still exist’
“I want the young people to know there are still miracles in this Church,” President Holland said. “The miracle that I represent with the restoration of my life is as real as any miracle in the Old Testament or the New Testament or the Doctrine and Covenants or the Book of Mormon. Miracles still exist.”
President Holland said that while he was unconscious for four weeks, he knows that the prayers of his family, friends, Church members and complete strangers helped him come back to complete his mortal mission.
In a different meeting on Saturday, President Holland talked about the example of ministering given by his quorum president and quorum members while he was sick. The late President M. Russell Ballard visited President Holland nearly every day while he was unconscious in the hospital for a month.
When President Holland regained consciousness, he said he felt compelled to be better in a number of different aspects of his life.
“However much you pray, pray more. ... However much you testify, testify more.”
He said he felt impressed to get out of the way of the Lord and to let His light shine through more than he had prior to his illness. President Holland said that at times he wonders if Heavenly Father feels that individuals make things harder than they need to be.
“Just do everything you can do, and then let Him take over,” President Holland said.
Finding happiness
Elder Rasband thanked and congratulated members of the Church for being a part of the largest gathering of Saints ever in the Dominican Republic. He noted the happiness he saw in them Sunday and other times he has interacted with Dominicans.
“Even in difficult times, you find ways to be happy,” Elder Rasband said.
He taught that the scriptures are full of the repeated promise that those who keep the commandments of God will prosper in the land.
“‘Prosper’ means much more than to have money,” he taught. “‘Prosper’ is a way of life. It is happiness. It is well-being. It is goodness. This is what the Lord is promising you if you will continue to keep His commandments.”
Elder Rasband shared that President Russell M. Nelson invited him to his office as a new member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, gave him a copy of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” and told him to testify of its teachings. The proclamation’s third paragraph talks about the plan of happiness and the covenants and ordinances that make happiness possible eternally through the house of the Lord.
“What does the Lord expect of His Dominican Latter-day Saints that He would put two temples in your country?” he asked. “He expects us to use them, to participate in the ordinances of the holy temple.”
He then read from the family proclamation on happiness again, “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Elder Rasband asked, “Who would not want that? Who would not want happiness in their marriage, in their family?”
He said families are to base what is taught in their homes on the teachings of Jesus Christ. And while fathers and mothers have different roles in the family, they are “obligated to help one another as equal partners.”
He taught that temple worship, following the commandments, teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and striving together as parents and families will bring increased happiness.
Sister Rasband also spoke at the multistake conference and shared her entire message in Spanish.
She testified that President Nelson is the Prophet of God and that Jesus Christ directs the work of His Church.
“I know that He knows us and that He loves each of us,” she said of Heavenly Father.
And she gave her testimony that each of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have been chosen to bear unique testimony of Jesus Christ to all the world.
‘Be believing’
One message repeated by President Holland multiple times on Sunday encouraged belief and endurance.
“Be believing,” he said, as he testified of the miracles he has seen in his own life.
“Be believing. See it through. Don’t you give up when trouble comes,” he taught again when testifying that God answers all of His children’s prayers.
“Be believing. Have the Spirit in your heart. See it through,” he said, as he taught about the plan of salvation.
“Hang on. Be true,” he said, as he taught about the Lord’s covenants with the children of Israel.
Speaking after the conference’s conclusion, President Holland said that what he hoped listeners took away from that message was to “not abandon ship when the waves are a little high.”
“The worst time to jump out of the ship is when you are in high seas,” he said. “That’s when you tie yourself in, get the life jacket on and hold on; you don’t move. The worst thing you can do is leave the protection of the boat you are in — in this case the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
He said he hopes that individuals will think twice when tempted to feel that challenges in life equate to not being loved by God. The Savior completed His atoning sacrifice, he said, and others should take courage from that.
“I’m grateful that He was able to finish it. I’m grateful that for my sake and yours and everybody we know and our children and our children’s children — for everybody — that He was able to see that through. And we’re supposed to be able to see through a little difficult weather,” President Holland said.
As part of his concluding remarks at the conference, President Holland encouraged those listening to do their best to stay faithful to the covenants they have made because the Savior has already paid the price for everyone’s sins. He encouraged them to stay together in the body of the Saints.
“Be on that team. Be on that side — the side that wins and the side that never quits.”
Selflessness of President Nelson
President Holland expressed his gratitude for President Nelson and testified that he is a Prophet of God on the earth today. Having just celebrated the 100th birthday of the President of the Church, President Holland joked that he wouldn’t be surprised if President Nelson lived to be 200 years old.
“He’s still going strong, and every single solitary day, he comes to work,” President Holland said. “If that isn’t commitment, I don’t know what is.”
President Holland taught that the dedication being shown by President Nelson isn’t for himself.
“I don’t think he needs it,” President Holland said. Rather, he added, the effort being put in by President Nelson is for the benefit of everyone else.
“He’s doing it for you and for me and for the entire population — the living and the dead.”
Elder Valenzuela spoke at the conference and taught about the blessings of following President Nelson’s counsel to “think celestial.”
“I know that if we do that, it will be easier to follow other prophetic teachings,” Elder Valenzuela said.
One of those other prophetic invitations is to attend the temple “as regularly as your circumstances permit.”
Elder Valenzuela testified of the temples, saying, “There is where we receive Heavenly Father’s power in our lives.”
Dominican Saints respond
Many of the Saints in attendance in the arena stayed after the conclusion of the conference to talk with each other about what they had learned and felt.
Among them was a member of the multistake choir that sang during the day’s conference, Dashira Sosa of the La Llave Ward in the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Las Americas Stake. Sosa recently returned home from serving in the Honduras San Pedro Sula East Mission. She said she felt answers to her questions as she listened to the messages.
“I came asking myself things about friendships, about what to do now that I’ve returned from my mission,” she said. “And I felt seen by God.”
Sosa showed her phone’s screen filled with notes from the conference, including the direction she felt inspired with as she listened.
“There are so many principles that are branches, but the root of the gospel is faith,” she said. “Especially for young adults in a world that is so skeptical, we need to be believing.”
Krirel Martinez of the Los Minas Ward in the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Ozama Stake was grateful for the perspectives shared by President Holland and Elder Rasband about the growth of the Church in the Dominican Republic since it first arrived here in 1979.
“I’m grateful to live in a time when we can fill up an arena like this — especially when they talk about times not long ago when we couldn’t,” he said.
“We are totally blessed to have been able to listen to two Apostles today,” Martinez said. “I learned from President Holland that we can’t give up. … And Elder Rasband taught us that if we keep our covenants, things will work out.”
Having two Apostles in the Dominican Republic at the same time is rare, and Sosa said she knows that. She said it shows her that “God is aware of us. He doesn’t forget us. He can’t forget us.”
