President Jeffrey R. Holland, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died Saturday, Dec. 27, at 3:15 a.m. MST, at age 85, from complications associated with kidney disease.
Known for his words and the way he expressed them, President Holland will be remembered for the love he shared in nations around the world, where he taught and testified of the reality of Jesus Christ. An educator by profession, he inspired generations with his general conference talks, devotional addresses, missionary messages and social media posts.
In almost every corner of the globe, he declared that the “gospel of Jesus Christ is personally precious, everlastingly hopeful and eternally true.” Along the way, he made friends — best friends — everywhere he went, sharing unmatched empathy and offering hope and encouragement.
This special memorial podcast, hosted by Church News executive editor Sarah Jane Weaver, shares President Holland’s testimony in his own words.
Subscribe to the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, bookshelf PLUS or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Sarah Jane Weaver: It is with great sorrow that we mourn the passing of President Jeffrey R. Holland, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This special memorial episode of the Church News podcast celebrates his life and his teachings. Known for his words and the way he expressed them, President Holland will be remembered for the love he shared in nations around the world. He was indeed a friend to all.
Jeffrey Roy Holland was born in St. George, Utah, on Dec. 3, 1940, to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland. He and his beloved wife — Sister Patricia Terry Holland, who died in July of 2023 — are the parents of three children and 13 grandchildren. In addition to the three decades of service as an Apostle, President Holland served as a General Authority Seventy, commissioner of Church education, president of Brigham Young University and dean of the BYU College of Religious Education.
We begin this podcast with his remarks in the October 2022 general conference, when he spoke of the challenges we all bear and of the saving power of Jesus Christ.
1:20
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Years ago, following a graduate school discussion on American religious history, a fellow student asked me, “Why have the Latter-day Saints not adopted the cross that other Christians use as a symbol of their faith?”
Inasmuch as such questions about the cross are often really a question about our commitment to Christ, I immediately told him that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considers the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ to be the central fact, the crucial foundation, the chief doctrine and the ultimate expression of divine love in God’s grand plan for the salvation of His children. I explained that the saving grace inherent in that act was essential for and universally gifted to the entire human family, from Adam and Eve to the end of the world. I quoted the Prophet Joseph Smith, who said, “All ... things which pertain to our religion are only appendages” to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Then I read him what Nephi had written 600 years before Jesus’ birth: “And ... the angel spake unto me ..., saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, ... [who] was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:32-33).
With my “love, share and invite” zeal now kicking into high gear, I kept reading. To the Nephites in the New World, the resurrected Christ said, “My Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; ... that I might draw all men unto me, ... and for this cause have I been lifted up” (3 Nephi 27:14-15).
I was about to quote the Apostle Paul when I noticed that my friend’s eyes were starting to glaze over. A quick look at his wristwatch apparently reminded him that he needed to be somewhere — anywhere — and he dashed off to his fictitious appointment. Thus ended our conversation.
Well, this morning, some 50 years later, I am determined to finish that explanation — even if every single, solitary one of you start looking at your wristwatches.
“The lives of our people must [be] ... the symbol of our [faith].” To be a follower of Jesus Christ, one must sometimes carry a burden — your own or someone else’s — and go where sacrifice is required and suffering is inevitable. A true Christian cannot follow the Master only in those matters with which he or she agrees. No. We follow Him everywhere, including, if necessary, into arenas filled with tears and trouble, where sometimes we may stand very much alone.
As we take up our crosses and follow Him, it would be tragic if indeed the weight of our challenges did not make us more empathetic and more attentive to the burdens being carried by others. It is one of the most powerful paradoxes of the Crucifixion that the arms of the Savior were stretched wide open and then nailed there, unwittingly but accurately portraying that every man, woman and child in the entire human family is not only welcome but invited into His redeeming, exalting embrace.
5:46
Sarah Jane Weaver: Sustained as a General Authority Seventy in 1989 and then as an Apostle of Jesus Christ in 1994, President Holland chose to speak of the miracle of the Restoration during his first general conference address as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October of 1994.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Obviously my greatest thrill and the most joyful of all realizations is that I have the opportunity, as Nephi phrased it, to “talk of Christ, ... rejoice in Christ, ... preach of Christ, [and] prophesy of Christ” (2 Nephi 25:26) wherever I may be and with whomever I may find myself, until the last breath of my life is gone. Surely there could be no higher purpose or greater privilege than that of “special [witness] of the name of Christ in all the world” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:23).
But my greatest anxiety stems from that very same commission. A line of scripture reminds us with searing understatement that “they which preach the gospel should live ... the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14). Beyond my words and my teachings and spoken witness, my life must be part of that testimony of Jesus. My very being should reflect the divinity of this work. I could not bear it if anything I might ever say or do would in any way diminish your faith in Christ, your love for this Church or the esteem in which you hold the holy apostleship.
I do promise you — as I have promised the Lord and these, my brethren — that I will strive to live worthily of this trust, and I will serve to the full measure of my ability.
I know I cannot succeed without the guidance of the Master, whose work this is. On occasion, the beauty of His life and the magnitude of His gift comes to my heart with such force that, as a favorite hymn says, “I scarce can take it in” (“Hymns,” No. 86). The purity of His life, His mercy and compassion for us have led me again and again to “bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, ‘My God, how great thou art!’”
8:15
Sarah Jane Weaver: Speaking in general conference in April of 2005, President Holland again addressed the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the importance of priesthood keys and power.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: To stress emphatically just one point: that the priesthood of God, with its keys, its ordinances, its divine origin and ability to bind in heaven what is bound on earth, is as indispensable to the true Church of God as it is unique to it and that without it, there would be no Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In this commemorative year in which we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the 175th year since the organization of the Church, I wish to add my testimony of — and my eternal gratitude for — the restoration of the holy priesthood, this hallowed prerogative, this sovereign gift, and the role it plays in our lives on both sides of the veil.
Clearly, acting with divine authority requires more than mere social contract. It cannot be generated by theological training or a commission from the congregation. No, in the authorized work of God, there has to be power greater than that already possessed by the people in the pews or in the streets or in the seminaries.
We in the restored Church of Jesus Christ can trace the priesthood line of authority exercised by the newest deacon in the ward, the bishop who presides over him and the Prophet who presides over all of us. That line goes back in an unbroken chain to angelic ministers who came from the Son of God Himself, bearing this incomparable gift from heaven.
And, oh, how we need its blessings — as a Church and as individuals and families within the Church.
10:35
Sarah Jane Weaver: From 1980 until his call as a General Authority Seventy in 1989, President Holland served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University. In September of 1987, he offered a classic address to the student body at the university. It was titled “Who We Are and What God Expects Us To Do.”
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Who are we, then, here at BYU? And what does God expect us to do? For one thing, He expects us to remember that we are heirs of a gospel dispensation that had among its earliest commandments and challenge to “seek ... diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, [to] seek ... out of the best books ... learning, even by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118). This crucial commandment was inextricably linked with the profound restored truth that taught us we are literally sons and daughters of God and that we can someday become like Him. Restored truth taught that God’s glory is His intelligence and that it is to be our glory as well.
That inestimable doctrine, restored to a darkened world more than a century and a half ago, has in that length of time developed into a strong tradition for Latter-day Saints, the earliest of whom labored by day and read books by night in an effort to become more like God “by study and also by faith.”
Closely linked with that latter-day pursuit of learning is another tradition at BYU, inseparably linked with it. The first year I came to the university as president, I coined a homely Latin phrase. I spoke of “virtus et veritas” to define a twofold mission at BYU. I added to the traditional search for veritas (truth) — a motto from the Harvards and Yales of the world, quite literally — I added a second task, virtus (or virtue), in the way that Rob has defined it, the grand old ancient tradition, believing with all my heart that how one lived was the ultimate test of an education, that truth standing undefended or unexercised was unworthy of the investment that had gone into her discovery.
In doing so, I knew I had not only the philosophers but also the prophets of God on my side, past and present. Indeed, a modern First Presidency had said in a better way than any educator — professional or otherwise — might say it, what I had hoped to convey to the university. Said Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards:
“If men [and we would add women] would be great in goodness, they must be intelligent, for no man can do good unless he knows how; therefore seek after knowledge, all knowledge, and especially that which is from above, which is wisdom to direct in all things, and if you find any thing that God does not know, you need not learn that thing;” — that is wonderfully reassuring — “but strive to know what God knows, and use that knowledge as God uses it, and then you will be like him; [you] will ... have charity, love [for] one another, and do each other good continually, and for ever. ... But if a man [or woman has] all knowledge, and does not use it for good, it will prove a curse instead of a blessing as it did to Lucifer, the Son of the Morning” (“Millennial Star” 14:22, Jan. 15, 1852).
What a striking educational philosophy. It sounds so simple: Strive to know what God knows, use that knowledge as God uses it, and you will be like Him. Strive for education to do each other good continually and forever. But that was taught in your kindergarten years: “Play fair. Do not hit. Clean up your own mess. Hold hands and stick together.” Our education has always carried with it ineluctable moral obligations.
14:59
Sarah Jane Weaver: President Holland will be remembered for reaching out with great empathy and understanding to people in all walks of life. In October of 2013, he focused his general conference remarks, titled “Like a Broken Vessel,” on mental illness and emotional disorders.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: The Apostle Peter wrote that disciples of Jesus Christ are to have “compassion one of another” (1 Peter 3:8). In that spirit I wish to speak to those who suffer from some form of mental illness or emotional disorder, whether those afflictions be slight or severe, of brief duration or persistent over a lifetime.
So how do you best respond when mental or emotional challenges confront you or those you love? Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. As President Monson said to the Relief Society sisters so movingly last Saturday evening at this pulpit: “That love never changes. ... It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it]. It is simply always there.” Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart. Faithfully pursue the time-tested devotional practices that bring the Spirit of the Lord into your life. Seek the counsel of those who hold keys for your spiritual well-being. Ask for and cherish priesthood blessings. Take the sacrament every week, and hold fast to the perfecting promises of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Believe in miracles. I have seen so many; they came when every indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost. If those miracles do not come soon or fully or seemingly at all, remember the Savior’s own anguished example: If the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead.
And also let us remember that through any illness or difficult challenge, there is still much in life to be hopeful about and grateful for. We are infinitely more than our limitations or our afflictions.
Whatever your struggle, my brothers and sisters — mental or emotional or physical or otherwise — do not vote against the preciousness of life by ending it. Trust in God. Hold on in His love. Know that one day the dawn will break brightly and all shadows of mortality will flee. Though we may feel we are “like a broken vessel” (Psalm 31:12), as the Psalmist says, we must remember that vessel is in the hands of the divine Potter. Broken minds can be healed, just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed. While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgmental and kind.
18:36
Sarah Jane Weaver: During a 2021 RootsTech message, President Holland said God has a love for all people in every situation, and he encouraged them to use the term “celestial family” instead of “traditional family.” He reminded listeners of the promised blessings that come when individuals strive to think celestial.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Now, don’t be fooled by what you have seen today. No family is perfect, and certainly life has not spared ours. It is moments of grief and pain and trial. But maybe in spite of that — or even because of that — those moments have forged even stronger ties as we unitedly relied on each other and on the Lord.
We know there are many of you who, for whatever reason, struggle with the idea of what is often termed “the traditional family” or “the perfect family.” Perhaps abuse has darkened the brightness of what might have been a celestial home. Perhaps divorce has left you on your own, searching for answers about the past and protection for the future. Perhaps you are prayerfully and patiently still waiting for the blessing of being united to your own eternal companion or having children you cannot yet bear. For our faithful LGBT friends, perhaps your heart and mind are struggling to find hope and peace, your place in the eternal picture.
Please, all of you, know this: We see all of you, and we love all of you. If you will be faithful and keep your covenants with the Lord, I promise you that every opportunity and every blessing enjoyed by others will be afforded you in the Lord’s divine timetable. And I mean every opportunity and every blessing. No matter when, in the unfolding of our eternal lives, those future blessings are given to you, you are now — and you will be then — part of a family.
Now try, if you can, and I know you can, avoid getting tripped up by the phrase “traditional family,” and instead replace it with a phrase like “eternal family.” With an eternal perspective comes understanding that we are all part of one big family, the family of God. That is why we call each other brother and sister. Imagine a world where people understood our true family tie to one another. What civility would we cultivate? What division would we avoid? What love would we let warm our devotion and divine connection to one another?
Now, hear me out on this crucial point. I promise you that it is engaging in our personal family history, and the temple experience it leads to, that we discover the reality of our eternal relationship as brothers and sisters in the family of God. That great realization can repair family rifts, if there be any; it can heal bruised hearts, if there be any; and it can unify otherwise strained relationships, if there be any, all in an undeniably powerful way. If we understood this truth, how we would treat one another differently, how we would lift up hands that hang down and strengthen feeble knees.
Let us not just call each other brother and sister. Let us show one another what it means when we realize we are one big, eternal family. That will change overnight many of the thoughts and the deeds and our actions.
22:57
Sarah Jane Weaver: In his April 2025 general conference address, President Holland asked all of us to become as a little child.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: So, He “called a little child unto him ... and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:2-4). So what is it that we are to see in the virtues of life’s junior varsity? What was it that brought Christ to tears, the most tender scene in the entire Book of Mormon? What was Jesus teaching when He called down heavenly fire and protective angels to surround those children, commanding the adults to “behold [their] little ones” (3 Nephi 17:23)? We don’t know what prompted all of that, but I have to think it had something to do with their purity and their innocence, their inborn humility and what it could bring to our lives if we retain it.
Is there anything sweeter, more pure, more humble than a child at prayer? It is as if heaven is in the room. God and Christ are so real, but for others later on, the experience can become more superficial. Brothers and sisters, at the top of the list of the most beautiful images I know are babies and children and youth as conscientious and as priceless as those we have referred to today. I testify that they are images of the kingdom of God flourishing on earth in all of its strength and beauty.
25:31
Sarah Jane Weaver: In October of 2017 general conference, President Holland addressed the topic “Be Ye Therefore Perfect — Eventually.” Speaking on the danger of toxic perfectionism, and accepting the grace of Christ, he offered a road map for everyone working towards perfecting themselves.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Around the Church, I hear many struggle with this issue: “I am just not good enough.” “I fall so far short.” “I will never measure up.” I hear this from teenagers. I hear it from missionaries. I hear it from new converts. I hear it from lifelong members. One insightful Latter-day Saint, Sister Darla Isackson, has observed that Satan has somehow managed to make covenants and commandments seem like curses and condemnations. For some, he has turned the ideals and inspiration of the gospel into self-loathing and misery-making.
What I now say in no way denies or diminishes any commandment of God He has ever given us. I believe in His perfection, and I know we are His spiritual sons and daughters with divine potential to become as He is. I also know that, as children of God, we should not demean or vilify ourselves, as if beating up on ourselves is somehow going to make us the person God wants us to become. No. With a willingness to repent and a desire for increased righteousness always in our hearts, I would hope we could pursue personal improvement in a way that does not include getting ulcers or anorexia, feeling depressed or demolishing self-esteem. That is not what the Lord wants for Primary children or anyone else who honestly sings, “I’m trying to be like Jesus.”
To put this issue in context, may I remind all of us that we live in a fallen world, and for now, we are a fallen people. We are in the telestial kingdom; that is spelled with a “t,” not a “c” yet. As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, here in mortality perfection is still “pending.”
So I believe that Jesus did not intend His sermon on this subject to be a verbal hammer for battering us into our shortcomings. No, I believe He intended it to be a tribute to who and what God the Eternal Father is and what we can achieve with Him in eternity. In any case, I am grateful to know that in spite of my imperfections, at least God is perfect — that at least He is, for example, able to love His enemies, because too often, due to the “natural man” (Mosiah 3:19) and woman in us, you and I are sometimes that enemy. How grateful I am that at least God can bless those who despitefully use Him, because — without wanting to or intending to — we all despitefully use Him sometimes. I am grateful that God is merciful and a peacemaker, because I need mercy, and the world needs peace. Of course, all we say of the Father’s virtues we also say of His Only Begotten Son, who lived and died unto the same perfection.
I hasten to say that focusing on the Father’s and the Son’s achievements rather than our failures does not give us one ounce of justification for undisciplined lives or dumbing down our standards. No, from the beginning the gospel has been “for the perfecting of the saints, ... till we ... come ... unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13). No, I am simply suggesting that at least one purpose of a scripture or a commandment can be to remind us just how magnificent “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) really is, inspiring in us greater love and admiration for Him and a greater desire to be like Him.
“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him ...,” Moroni pleads. “Love God with all your might, mind and strength, then ... by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32). Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven — we will not “earn” it. Thus, the grace of Christ offers us not only salvation from sorrow and sin and death, but also salvation from our own persistent self-criticism.
31:46
Sarah Jane Weaver: In a Church News interview focusing on the new edition of “Preach My Gospel,” held during the 2023 Seminar for New Mission Leaders in June of that year, President Holland shared the unmatched influence of his time as a young missionary in England.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Well, what it is is a wonderfully, prayerfully, carefully organized approach to how to learn the gospel, how to know the gospel and how to share it. And that is more or less what we are supposed to do here, whether it is with your family or whether it is personal, just kind of getting your own testimony, or widening the circle as you go. Picture the concentric circles that you want. There is that line from 2 Nephi, how important it is “to make these things known” (2 Nephi 2:8). Once you know them, you make them known; love, share and invite.
So, it may well be, Sarah, that this is the best organized little document and manual we have in the Church on how to study the gospel, how to feel the gospel and embrace it personally, and then to share it with others, and a lot of ancillary things that go with that, like how do you plan your day and so forth. But it is a tremendous piece of work with a lot of — I was going to say hours — now years of input into it to make it what it is.
I have gone around the Church saying boldly and blatantly that no young man was ever more affected by a mission than I was. I had no missionary tradition in my family. I did not have — my dad was a convert, so he had not served, and my mother; sisters were not going much in those days. And I do not have an older brother who had gone, no aunts and uncles — no one. So I was flying blind when I went. I did not know what clothing you took. I knew nothing. I have told this in missions: I took a green-avocado corduroy suit with a burnt-umber vest for my mission. Can you imagine a mission president seeing me come off the plane in a burnt-umber vest and a green corduroy suit? But that was the suit that I had. And we did not have a lot of money, so I took it.
Anyway, the change in 24 months from the day I got there to the day that I left had to be more dramatic than any other missionary I know. At least, I know how dramatic it was to me and how much it has meant then, and how much it still means 60 years later — this fall, it will be 61 years since I got home. But who’s counting? I can tell you every day — I have said before to those elders and sisters around the world that there may have been a day in these six decades that I have not thought about my mission; I just do not know what day that would be.
It seems like I have thought about some lesson, some moment, some teaching, some way I used a scripture, the 101 things that my mission president taught me, all kinds of things that companions taught me, good and bad. But I think I have — seems like I have thought about them every day for 60 years. So, I am the wrong guy to ask whether, “Should you go on a mission?” or “Does it do any good?” or “Is it valuable?” or “What is right about it?” I am a tyrant on that subject. I have to be careful not to just completely throw agency out the window and insist that everybody go on a mission, because I would want them to have what I had.
36:34
Sarah Jane Weaver: In 2020, as the world celebrated the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith seeing the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove, President Holland shared how he hears Him.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: We ought to always have a prayer in our heart. But there is something about saying the words — and for me, saying them out loud. There are many lessons that come out of the Sacred Grove experience — not the least is the opposition that Joseph faced before the great, revelatory moment of the Father and the Son. Joseph said that he exerted all his power, took everything that he had. And so, there is a pretty good lesson in that for all of us about muscular prayer — urgent, determined prayer — to fight through, whether it is the adversary’s opposition or the cares of the day or the distractions of our mind. I think one of the lessons that I get from that is the reminder to me personally that I need to say the words.
Prayer is an expression of the heart. And we can pray silently. We ought to pray silently. We ought to always have a prayer in our heart. But there is something about saying the words — and for me, saying them out loud. And so, I am reminded to not get by on the cheap, if you will, about prayer. We need to carve out time — and good time, high-priority time — when we can say the words. Kneel where possible, be vocal, be out loud, and really have that communication.
Individuals who might wait for their evening prayer until 11:30, and they are exhausted, and the day has taken its toll, and we get a kind of a half-hearted prayer out before we tumble into bed — I would say move that prayer up when we are alert and attentive and can think about it and be powerful. This ought to be high-priority expression. And just managing our life a little better, I think, can lead to that kind of vocal communication with the Lord.
38:57
Sarah Jane Weaver: In his first general conference address after saying goodbye to Sister Holland, President Holland spoke in April of 2024 on the power of prayer, promising Church members worldwide that the Lord hears them.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Brothers and sisters, I testify that God hears every prayer we offer and responds to each of them according to the path He has outlined for our perfection. I recognize that at roughly the same time so many were praying for the restoration of my health, an equal number — including me — were praying for the restoration of my wife’s health. And I testify that both of those prayers were heard and answered by a divinely compassionate Heavenly Father, even if the prayers for Pat were not answered the way I asked. It is for reasons known only to God why prayers are answered differently than we hope — but I promise you they are heard and they are answered according to His unfailing love and cosmic timetable.
40:12
Sarah Jane Weaver: During his October 2025 general conference address, President Holland spoke about the evidence of the works of God.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: Now, my first sight-giving, life-giving encounter with real evidence of truth did not come with anointing clay or in the pool of Siloam. No, the instruments of truth that brought my healing from the Lord came as pages in a book, yes, the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Now, brothers and sisters, I came to my whole-souled conviction that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a true restoration of the New Testament church — and more — because I could not deny the evidence of that restoration.
Since those first experiences, I suppose I have had a thousand — ten thousand — other witnesses of evidence that I have spoken today, all of it, has been true. I am delighted now to join my friend huddled on the streets of Jerusalem, where with my diminished voice — and for that, I apologize — nevertheless, I sing: “Amazing grace — how sweet the sound — That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.”
42:55
Sarah Jane Weaver: During a worldwide devotional for young adults in January of 2023, President and Sister Holland encouraged a global congregation to look to “A Future Filled With Hope.” We close this memorial podcast with his words, as he declares his sure witness, his apostolic witness, of the Savior Jesus Christ and the Church Jesus established upon the earth.
President Jeffrey R. Holland: We recognize the understandable malaise that hangs over your generation. And we apologize that our generation has not resolved some of these problems that you now face. But we call you and every other young Latter-day Saint to be in the forefront of the moral force that can resolve these problems, that can turn back the tide of fear and pessimism and anxiety surrounding us. How important it is for you to pray not only for the Lord to prevail in your lives, as President Russell M. Nelson has asked, but also to pray that the values of your life will prevail with others who are not quite so sure yet. If as individual disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ we were all more loving and peaceful and kind, if we would all try to keep the commandments of God as best we can, then we have every reason to feel confident about the world’s condition and our own. Walking into the future this way, filled with peace and godly promise, we could have an absolutely stunning impact on the world.
We must realize that hope is not just the message and the manner of the naturally optimistic; it is the privilege of everyone who believes. And as a believer who is absolutely filled with hope — and with faith, and with charity — Sister Holland feels so strongly the importance of this worldwide congregation tonight and what your role is to be in the days that lie ahead. She knows you are the group to whom we pass the baton and feels it is essential that you step up and embrace your destiny.
And we need to know that at some point, our hopes and our convictions will undoubtedly be tested and refined in a similar crucible of personal suffering as well. My beautiful young friends, untested faith is not much faith at all. We say we are built upon the rock of Christ. Well, we had better be, because life has its storms and its squalls, and a sandy foundation simply will not hold when the wind blows and the rain descends and those floods come.
I bless you that the simple but exquisite power inherent in the principles of salvation, such as faith and hope and charity, will always be evident and efficacious in your life. I bless you to know, as I most assuredly do, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is personally precious, everlastingly hopeful and eternally true. I testify with apostolic authority that that is so and, as such, is the only unfailing answer to life’s many challenges, yours and mine, the only way to be exalted in the grandeur of eternity.
I bless any among you who might be speaking these days of a “faith crisis.” Real faith, life-changing faith, Abrahamic faith, is always in crisis. That is how you find out if it is faith at all. I promise you that more faith will mean less crisis until finally God says, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
I bless every single solitary one of you to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is exactly that: the Church of Jesus Christ. And that only through the ordinances and opportunities it provides can one fully come “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). I bless each one of you, individually and by name, with every gift you need for this quest, and I bless you, plead with you, to patiently persevere as your Father in Heaven, in His wisdom, finds the best way to frequently give you what you ask but unfailingly give you what you need.
Of God’s divine love, of the Savior’s eternal advocacy in our behalf, of the Holy Ghost’s constant comfort, of the power of the holy priesthood, of the prophetic tradition currently personified in President Russell M. Nelson, of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and of the “perfect brightness of hope” (2 Nephi 31:20) this gospel gives, I bear solemn and sacred and personal witness on my life. I do so in the name of Him who is the source of all my hope, even the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
50:16
Sarah Jane Weaver: You have been listening to the Church News podcast. I’m Sarah Jane Weaver, Deseret News editor and executive editor of the Church News. I hope you have learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by peering with me through the Church News window. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages that we shared today, please make sure you share this podcast with others. Thanks to our guests; producer, KellieAnn Halvorsen; and others who make this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels and with other news and updates on the Church on TheChurchNews.com.
