Few women have influenced me for as long or with as much impact as did Sister Patricia Terry Holland.
Her influence began decades ago. During the 1980s, when she served both as a counselor in the Young Women general presidency and as first lady of Brigham Young University, she spoke frequently. Often this was in BYU’s Marriott Center in what became known, affectionately, as the “Jeff and Pat Show,” when she and her husband, BYU President Jeffrey R. Holland, shared the pulpit at university devotionals. I quickly learned to pay attention to anything and everything she had to say. She seemed so young but was so wise. Pat Holland had a way of looking at life, as well as teaching the gospel, that spoke to me. I found myself hanging on her every word.
As just one example of her depth and gospel insights, she articulated the vital impact women have in families, society and the Church in one brilliant sentence: “If I were Satan and wanted to destroy a society,” she said, “I think I would stage a full-blown blitz on women.”
That simple truth made my mind explode with new impressions. I was a young stake Relief Society president at the time, and I quoted her again and again to help the sisters of our stake appreciate the importance and gravity of their distinctive divine role. Pat Holland had a penchant for saying things that opened my eyes.
But her influence wasn’t confined to what she taught. It also radiated from who she was — a woman of grace, intellect, articulate persuasion and strength, wrapped in meekness. A woman of sophistication who nonetheless always radiated warmth. A woman who had a backbone of steel when it came to standing for truth and doing what the Lord asked her to do. A woman of profound faith.
When she was called as a counselor in the Young Women general presidency — despite being married to a busy university president and having children at home — she said “yes” and somehow managed to cover all the bases. When President Gordon B. Hinckley asked her Apostle-husband to move to Chile for two years to preside over that area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she packed her bags and moved to a country where she didn’t know the language, but where her love and compassion for the people transcended nouns and verbs. Later, when her health became frail, she approached her challenges with an eye of faith. Always faith.
Sister Holland was a spiritual giant among women, though I don’t think she ever saw herself that way. When Deseret Book approached her about writing a book, she seemed utterly shocked that anyone would think she had something to say worth publishing. Her book, “A Quiet Heart,” won awards; but more importantly, it built faith.
Last year, Sarah Weaver and I had the privilege of interviewing Elder and Sister Holland for the Church News. To sit at their feet and observe the effortless way they finished each other’s sentences, took turns citing scriptures and prophetic statements that buoyed them up during difficult times, and shared life lessons they had learned together, was unforgettable. They were beautifully, equally yoked — the very essence, it seemed to me, of what a celestial marriage can be. And though we were there to interview them, Sister Holland kept turning the conversation back to us. How were we? she asked. How were our families? And so on. She was far more interested in talking about others than herself.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of sitting next to Sister Holland during a temple endowment session. At one point in the session, I had a profound awareness come over me. I can’t find the words to do that moment justice, other than to say that I knew I was seated next to sheer goodness and that this was a woman I should seek to emulate.
Borrowing a sentiment from the Book of Mormon, if all women were like her, the very forces of evil would be shaken. The powers of darkness would never have a chance.
From my point of view, the wives of general authorities are among the unsung heroines of the Church. They go wherever their husbands are called to serve, endure grueling travel, sacrifice precious moments with family, live in countries foreign to them, speak and teach whenever called upon, and live their lives “on stage” for all to see. No one has done this more beautifully than did Patricia Terry Holland.
She is a woman for the ages, and her passing leaves a gaping hole. But her wisdom and shining example, her model of pure faith and sheer goodness live on. I express profound gratitude to have known and loved and learned from Sister Pat Holland. — Sheri Dew is executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corporation and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency.
