The LDS Daily WOOL Home Page
(9/1/99)
"Now, if you feel too spiritually maimed to come to the feast, please
realize that the Church is not a monastery for perfect people, though
all of us ought to be striving on the road to godliness. No, at least
one aspect of the Church is more like a hospital or an aid station,
provided for those who are ill and want to get well, where one can get
an infusion of spiritual nutrition and a supply of sustaining water in
order to keep on climbing." — "He Hath Filled the Hungry With Good
Things," General Conference, October 1997
(9/2/99)
"To those who stagger or stumble, he is there to steady and strengthen
us. In the end he is there to save us, and for all this he gave his
life. However dim our days may seem they have been darker for the
Savior of the world." — "This Do in Remembrance of Me," General
Conference, October 1995
(9/3/99)
"In the gospel of Jesus Christ we have help from both sides of the
veil. When disappointment and discouragement strike and they will we
need to remember that if our eyes could be opened, we would see horses
and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see, riding at great speed
to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of
heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed." — "However Long and Hard the
Road," p. 13
(9/4/99)
"The Lord does allow darkness and struggle and pain. He often uses it
to call us to him. Using my own children as examples, I've come to
know that the one who is playing happily is so preoccupied with
pleasant experiences that he sometimes may not respond when I call and
may even run farther away. But the child who has been hurt, or is in
pain, seeks me out, comes to me readily, knocks at my door (if you
will), and is anxious for me to help and be healed." — "In the Thick
of Life's Urgencies," "BYU Speeches of the Year," 11 September 1984
(9/5/99)
"How much pressure is too much pressure to remain true? How much
disappointment is too much disappointment to stand firm? How far is
too far to walk with a discouraged friend, or a struggling spouse, or
a troubled child? When the opposition heats up and the going gets
tough, how much of what we thought was important to us will we defend
and how much, in that inevitable tug and pull of life, will we find it
convenient to give away?" — "Oh, Lord, Keep My Rudder True," "BYU
Speeches of the Year," 21 January 1986
(11/8/00)
"A life without problems or limitations or challenges -- life without
'opposition in all things,' as Lehi phrased it -- would be,
paradoxically but in very fact, be less rewarding and ennobling than
one which confronts, even frequently confronts, difficulty and
disappointment and sorrow. As beloved Eve said, were it not for the
difficulties faced in a fallen world, neither she nor Adam nor any of
the rest of us ever would have known 'the joy of our redemption, and
the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.'" — Jeffrey
R. Holland, "The
Peaceable
Things of the Kingdom," General Conference, October 1996
(11/3/03)
"After generations of prophets had tried to teach the family of man
the will and the way of the Father, usually with little success, God
in His ultimate effort to have us know Him, sent to earth His Only
Begotten and perfect Son, created in His very likeness and image, to
live and serve among mortals in the everyday rigors of life." -
Jeffrey R. Holland, "The
Grandeur
of God," General Conference, 5 October 2003
(12/31/03)
"Sometimes the decision of a child or a grandchild will break your
heart. Sometimes expectations won't immediately be met. Every mother
and father worries about that. Even that beloved and wonderfully
successful parent President Joseph F. Smith pled, 'Oh! God, let me not
lose my own.' That is every parent's cry, and in it is something of
every parent's fear. But no one has failed who keeps trying and keeps
praying. You have every right to receive encouragement and to know in
the end your children will call your name blessed, just like those
generations of foremothers before you who hoped your same hopes and
felt your same fears." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Because
She
Is a Mother," General Conference, April 1997
(2/3/04)
"Jesus taught the same thing to the Nephites, who also lived in a
difficult world. 'For the mountains shall depart and the hills be
removed,' he said, 'but my kindness shall not depart from thee,
neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed [from thee]' (3
Ne. 22:10; see also 3
Ne. 22:13-14). I love that. The hills and the mountains may
disappear. The seas and oceans may dry up completely. The least likely
things in the world may happen, but 'my kindness shall not depart from
thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed [from thee].'
After all, he has, he reminds us, 'graven thee upon the palms of my
hands' (1 Ne. 21:16).
Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion, Christ is
not going to turn his back on us now." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Come
unto
Me," Ensign, Apr. 1998, p. 19
(3/10/04)
"For anyone seeking the courage to repent and change, I remind you
that the Church is not a monastery for the isolation of perfect
people. It is more like a hospital provided for those who wish to get
well. Do whatever you have to do to come into the fold and be blessed.
For some of you that is simply to live with greater faith, to believe
more. For some of you it does mean to repent-right here. Today. For
some of you it means to be baptized and come into the body and
fellowship of Christ. For virtually all of us it means to live more by
the promptings and promises of the Holy Ghost and to 'press forward
with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope,
and a love of God and of all men.' (2
Ne. 31:20)" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Come
unto
Me," Ensign, Apr. 1998, pp. 18-19
(4/11/04)
"Because Christ's eyes were unfailingly fixed on the future, He could
endure all that was required of Him, suffer as no man can suffer
except it be 'unto death,' (Mosiah
3:7.) as King Benjamin said, look upon the wreckage of
individual lives and the promises of ancient Israel lying in ruins
around Him and still say then and now, 'Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be afraid.' (John
14:27.) How could He do this? How could He believe it? Because
He knows that for the faithful, things will be made right soon
enough. He is a King; He speaks for the crown; He knows what can be
promised. He knows that 'the Lord... will be a refuge
for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.... For the needy
shall not alway[s] be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not
perish for ever.' (Ps.
9:9, 18; emphasis added.) He knows that 'the Lord is nigh unto
them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit.' He knows that 'the Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants:
and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.' (Ps.
34:18, 22.)" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "An
High
Priest of Good Things to Come," Ensign, November 1999, p. 37
(5/7/04)
"Let me say something of the
marvelous members of the Church themselves. In the reorganization of
a rather far-flung stake recently, I felt the Lord's prompting to
call a man to the stake presidency who, I had been told, owned a
bicycle but no automobile. Many leaders across the Church don't have
cars, but I was nevertheless worried about what that might mean for
this man in this particular stake. In my terminally-ill Spanish I
pursued the interview, then said, 'Hermano, no tiene un auto?' With
a smile and not a second's hesitation he replied, 'No tengo un auto;
pero yo tengo pies, yo tengo fe.' ('I do not have a car, but I do
have feet and I do have faith.') He then said he could ride the bus,
ride his bicycle, or walk, 'como los misioneros,' he smiled-'like
the missionaries.' And so he does." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "'Abide
in
Me'," General
Conference, April 2004
(6/5/04)
"In spite of life's tribulations and as fearful as some of our
prospects are, I testify that there is help for the journey. There
is the Bread of Eternal Life and the Well of Living Water. Christ
has overcome the world-our world-and His gift to us is peace now and
exaltation in the world to come. (See D&C
59:23.) Our fundamental requirement is to have faith in Him
and follow Him-always. When He bids us to walk in His way and by His
light, it is because He has walked this way before us, and He has
made it safe for our own travel here. He knows where the sharp
stones and stumbling blocks lie hidden and where thorns and thistles
are the most severe. He knows where the path is perilous, and He
knows which way to go when the road forks and nightfall comes. He
knows all this, as Alma says in the Book of Mormon, because He has
suffered 'pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind...,
that he may know... how to succor his people according to their
infirmities.' (Alma
7:11-12.) To succor means to 'run to.' I testify that in my
fears and in my infirmities the Savior has surely run to me. I will
never be able to thank Him enough for such personal kindness and
such loving care." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "He
Hath
Filled the Hungry with Good Things," Ensign, November 1997, p.
66
(4/19/05)
"...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." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Our
Most
Distinguishing Feature," General Conference, April 2005
(5/9/05)
"Those who will receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the source of their
salvation will always lie down in green pastures, no matter how
barren and bleak the winter has been. And the waters of their
refreshment will always be still waters, no matter how turbulent the
storms of life. In walking His path of righteousness, our souls will
be forever restored; and though that path may for us, as it did for
Him, lead through the very valley of the shadow of death, yet we
will fear no evil. The rod of His priesthood and the staff of His
Spirit will always comfort us. And when we hunger and thirst in the
effort, He will prepare a veritable feast before us, a table spread
even in the presence of our enemies—contemporary enemies—which might
include fear or family worries, sickness or personal sorrow of a
hundred different kinds. In a crowning act of compassion at such a
supper He anoints our head with oil and administers a blessing of
strength to our soul. Our cup runneth over with His kindness, and
our tears runneth over with joy. We weep to know that such goodness
and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, and that we
will, if we desire it, dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (See
Ps. 23.) - Jeffrey R.
Holland, "He
Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things," Ensign, Nov. 1997,
p. 66
(5/27/05)
"On those days when we have special
need of heaven's help, we would do well to remember one of the titles
given to the Savior in the epistle to the Hebrews. Speaking of Jesus'
'more excellent ministry' and why He is 'the mediator of a better
covenant' filled with 'better promises,' this author—presumably the
Apostle Paul—tells us that through His mediation and Atonement, Christ
became 'an high priest of good things to come.' (Heb.
8:6; Heb. 9:11.)
"Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get
better. Moroni spoke of it in the Book of Mormon as 'hope for a better
world.' (Ether 12:4.)
For emotional health and spiritual stamina, everyone needs to be able
to look forward to some respite, to something pleasant and renewing
and hopeful, whether that blessing be near at hand or still some
distance ahead. It is enough just to know we can get there, that
however measured or far away, there is the promise of 'good things to
come.'" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "An
High Priest of Good Things to Come," Ensign, Nov. 1999, 36
(7/23/05)
"We cannot know to what extent his disciples fully understood the
approaching events, but we do know that Christ faced his final moments
alone. In one of the truly candid comments he would make to his
brethren, he said, 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.'
(Matt. 26:38.)
And he left them to do what only he could do. The Light of the World
stepped away from human company and entered the garden grove to
wrestle with the prince of darkness alone. Moving forward, kneeling,
falling forward on his face, he cried with an anguish you and I will
never know, 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me.' (Matt. 26:39.)
But he knew, for our sakes, that it could not pass and that he must
drink that bitter cup to the dregs!" - Jeffrey R. Holland, “He
Loved Them unto the End,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, 25–26
(8/21/05)
"Parental prayer is an unfathomable source of power. Parents can never
give up hoping or caring or believing. Surely they can never give up
praying. At times prayer may be the only course of action
remaining—but it is the most powerful of them all." - Jeffrey R.
Holland, "Alma,
Son of Alma," Ensign, Mar. 1977, 81
(8/24/05)
"Life has its share of some fear and some failure. Sometimes things
fall short, don't quite measure up. Sometimes in both personal and
public life, we are seemingly left without strength to go on.
Sometimes people fail us, or economies and circumstance fail us, and
life with its hardship and heartache can leave us feeling very alone.
"But when such difficult moments come to us, I testify that there is
one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand
the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all
transgression. One thing only never faileth—and that is the pure love
of Christ." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "He
Loved Them unto the End," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 26
(8/31/05)
"Closely related to our own obligation to repent is the generosity of
letting others do the same—we are to forgive even as we are forgiven.
In this we participate in the very essence of the Atonement of Jesus
Christ. Surely the most majestic moment of that fateful Friday, when
nature convulsed and the veil of the temple was rent, was that
unspeakably merciful moment when Christ said, 'Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do.' (Luke 23:34.) As our advocate with
the Father, He is still making that same plea today—in your behalf and
in mine." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "The
Peaceable Things of the Kingdom," Ensign, Nov. 1996, 83
(9/25/05)
"The Lord has not placed us in this lone and dreary world without a
blueprint for living. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read the Lord's
words: 'I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not
be deceived.' (D&C
52:14.) He certainly includes women in that promise. He has
given us patterns in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and
Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, and he has given us patterns
in the temple ceremony. As we study these patterns we must continually
ask, 'Why does the Lord choose to say these particular words and
present them in just this way?' We know he uses metaphors and symbols
and parables and allegories to teach us of his eternal ways. We have
all recognized the relationship between Abraham and Isaac that so
parallels God's anguish over the sacrifice of his own Son, Jesus
Christ. But, as women, do we stretch ourselves and also ask about
Sarah's travail in this experience as well? We need to search in this
manner, and we need to look always for deeper meaning. We should look
for parallels and symbols. We should look for themes and motifs such
as those we would find in a Bach or a Mozart composition, and we
should look for repeated patterns." - Jeffrey R. Holland and Patricia
T. Holland, "On Earth As It Is in Heaven" [Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book Co., 1989], p. 91
(10/1/05)
"I know it isn't easy to go back and to undo and to make a new
beginning, but I believe with all my heart that it is easier to begin
anew than it is to go on believing that justice will not take its
toll. As Elder Richard L. Evans was fond of saying, 'What's the use of
running if you're on the wrong road?' A favorite British scholar said,
using the same metaphor, 'I do not think that all who choose wrong
roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right
road. A [mathematical] sum [incorrectly worked] can be put right; but
only by going back till you find the error and then working it fresh
from that point. [It will] never [be corrected] by simply going on.
Evil can be undone, but it cannot 'develop' into good. Time does not
heal it. The spell must be unwound.' (C. S. Lewis, The Great
Divorce, New York: Macmillan Co., 1973, p. 6.) God is just, but
mercy claimeth the penitent, and the evil can be undone. There is some
repenting to be done in every life, and we ought to be about it." -
Jeffrey R. Holland, "However Long and Hard the Road," p.56
1/8/06
"Jehovah said to the prophet Isaiah
that in building the kingdom of God on earth, a 'stone, a tried stone,
a precious corner stone, a sure foundation' would be used. (Isaiah
28:16.) He was, of course, speaking of himself. Paul used that
same imagery in declaring that Jesus was the chief cornerstone, that
basic block around which a foundation of apostles and prophets would
be laid and onto which the Church of God would be built. (Ephesians
2:20.) Peter noted that builders of lesser vision simply shoved
him aside in favor of less substantial material. (See Acts
4:11.) The tragic irony is that to most, he was not a building
stone at all, but rather a mere stumbling block, a huge boulder
obstructing the journey toward death. (See 1
Corinthians 1:23.)
"We must be wiser than this. Helaman pleaded with his sons as prophets
and patriarchs plead today: 'Remember, remember that it is upon the
rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must
build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty
winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind; yea, when all his hail and
his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you
to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the
rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation
whereon if men build they cannot fall.' (Helaman
5:12.) Everyone will be tempered and tried. The sun will rise on
the evil as well as the good, and the rains will descend on the just
as well as the unjust. (Matthew
5:45.) But a life built on a firm foundation will endure." -
Jeffrey R. Holland, However Long and Hard the Road, p.23-24
1/25/06
"Those who will receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the source of their
salvation will always lie down in green pastures, no matter how barren
and bleak the winter has been. And the waters of their refreshment will
always be still waters, no matter how turbulent the storms of life. In
walking His path of righteousness, our souls will be forever restored;
and though that path may for us, as it did for Him, lead through the
very valley of the shadow of death, yet we will fear no evil. The rod of
His priesthood and the staff of His Spirit will always comfort us. And
when we hunger and thirst in the effort, He will prepare a veritable
feast before us, a table spread even in the presence of our
enemies—contemporary enemies—which might include fear or family worries,
sickness or personal sorrow of a hundred different kinds. In a crowning
act of compassion at such a supper He anoints our head with oil and
administers a blessing of strength to our soul. Our cup runneth over
with His kindness, and our tears runneth over with joy. We weep to know
that such goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life,
and that we will, if we desire it, dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. (See Ps. 23.)" -
Jeffrey R. Holland, "He
Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things," Ensign (CR), November
1997, p.64
3/3/06
"And when God has forgiven us, which He is so eternally anxious to do,
may we have the good sense to walk away from those problems, to leave
them alone, to let the past bury the past. If one of you has made a
mistake, even a serious mistake, but you have done all you can according
to the teachings of the Lord and the governance of the Church to confess
it and feel sorrow for it and set it as right as can be, then trust in
God, walk into His light, and leave those ashes behind you. Someone once
said that repentance is the first pressure we feel when drawn to the
bosom of God. For real peace may I recommend an immediate rush to the
bosom of God, leaving behind you all that would bring sorrow to your
soul or heartache to those who love you. 'Depart from evil,' the
scripture says, 'and do good.' (Ps.
34:14.)" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "The
Peaceable Things of the Kingdom," Ensign (CR), November 1996, p.82
3/16/06
"Having watched a dispensation die and an entire civilization destroy
itself, Moroni quotes his father for any who will listen in some later
("latter") day, 'If ye have not charity, ye are nothing.' (Moro.
7:46.) Only the pure love of Christ will see us through. It is
Christ's love which suffereth long, and is kind. It is Christ's love
which is not puffed up nor easily provoked. Only his pure love enables
him—and us—to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and
endure all things. (See Moro.
7:45.)" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "He
Loved Them unto the End," Ensign (CR), November 1989, p.25
5/3/06
"I testify this morning of God's limitless love for his children, of his
unquenchable desire to help us heal our wounds, individually and
collectively. He is our Father, and Wordsworth wrote more than he knew
when he said we came to earth 'trailing clouds of glory'... from God who
is our home' ('Ode: Intimations of Immortality'). But in far too many
cases we find no modern belief in a Heavenly Father, and when there is a
belief, it is too often an erroneous one. God is not dead, and he is not
an absentee landlord. God is not uncaring, or capricious, or
cantankerous. Above all, he is not some sort of divine referee trying to
tag us off third base.
"The first and great commandment on earth is for us to love God with all
our heart, might, mind, and strength (see D&C
59:5; Matt.
22:37) because surely the first and great promise in heaven is
that he will always love us that way." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Look
to God and Live," Ensign (CR), November 1993, p.13
11/9/06
"To all of you who think you are lost or without hope, or who think you
have done too much that was too wrong for too long, to every one of you
who worry that you are stranded somewhere on the wintry plains of life
and have wrecked your handcart in the process, this conference calls out
Jehovah's unrelenting refrain, '[My] hand is stretched out still.' 'I
shall lengthen out mine arm unto them,' He said, '[and even if they]
deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, … if they will
repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day
long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.' His mercy endureth forever, and His
hand is stretched out still. His is the pure love of Christ, the charity
that never faileth, that compassion which endures even when all other
strength disappears." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Prophets
in the Land Again," Ensign, November 2006
11/14/06
"If you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have
done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do.
"There are some lines attributed to Victor Hugo which read:
"'She broke the bread into two fragments and gave them to her children,
who ate with eagerness.
"'She hath kept none for herself,' grumbled the sergeant.
"'Because she is not hungry,' said a soldier.
"'No,' said the sergeant, 'because she is a mother.'" - Jeffrey R.
Holland, "Because
She Is A Mother," Ensign, May 1997
3/5/07
"On those days when I feel off center, out of focus, or off balance,
when I feel that I don't have enough time, insight, or strength to solve
my problems, I know that comfort is as close as the temple. Before I go
to the temple, I retreat to a private room in my home, one where, from
frequent prayer, I feel I have come closest to my Father in heaven.
There I kneel and express my deepest feelings of love and gratitude. I
also pour out my troubles to him one by one by one, laying every burden
and placing every decision at the Lord's feet. Thus prepared, I then
take myself out of this world of fashion, frenzy, and occasional
phoniness and go to the House of the Lord. There, dressed like my
neighbor, and with no windows and no clocks to distract me, I am able to
see this world objectively. There I remember that the whole of this life
is a journey of the spirit to a higher and holier sphere. I remember
that the success of my journey depends on my adherence to the sequential
steps God has put on my individual road map." - Jeffrey R. Holland and
Patricia T. Holland, "On Earth As It Is in Heaven," p.78
3/21/07
"The Prophet Joseph Smith had such a grand view of our possibilities, a
view given him by the revelations of God. He knew that the real task was
in being more Christlike—caring the way the Savior cared, loving the way
he loved, 'every man seeking the interest of his neighbor,' the
scripture says, 'and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of
God.' (D&C 82:19.)"
- Jeffrey R. Holland, "A
Handful of Meal and a Little Oil," Ensign (CR), May 1996, p.29
4/9/07
"'Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren,
these things ought not so to be.' (James
3:2-10)
"Well, that is pretty straightforward! Obviously James doesn't
mean our tongues are always iniquitous, nor that everything
we say is 'full of deadly poison.' But he clearly means that at least
some things we say can be destructive, even venomous—and that is a
chilling indictment for a Latter-day Saint! The voice that bears
profound testimony, utters fervent prayer, and sings the hymns of Zion can
be the same voice that berates and criticizes, embarrasses and
demeans, inflicts pain and destroys the spirit of oneself and of others
in the process. 'Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing,'
James grieves. 'My brethren [and sisters], these things ought not so to
be.'
"Is this something we could all work on just a little? Is this an area
in which we could each try to be a little more like a "perfect" man or
woman?" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "The
Tongue of Angels," General Conference, April 2007
6/3/07
"The Savior asked, 'What man is there of you, whom if his son asks
bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a
serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good
things to them that ask him?' (Matthew 7:9-11.) To my beloved Pat and
me, our children are more precious possessions than any crown or kingdom
this world could offer. There is literally not anything in righteousness
we would not do for them; there is no stream so deep nor mountain so
high nor desert so wide that we could be kept from calming their fears
or holding them close to us. And if we 'being evil' can love so much and
try so hard, what does that say of a more Godly love that differs from
our own as the stars differ from the sun? On a particularly difficult
day, or sometimes a series of difficult days, what would this world's
inhabitants pay to know that heavenly parents are reaching across those
same streams and mountains and deserts, anxious to hold them close? That
manifest reassurance comes in its fullest form only in the doctrines and
the covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What a
soothing strength that gives in a world-even a religious world-spoken of
by C. S. Lewis as being full of otherwise 'cold Christs and tangled
trinities.'" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "However Long and Hard the Road,"
p.47
8/2/07
"The great challenge of our lives is usually not meditating on what we
once were or wishing on what we may yet become, but rather living in
the present moment as God would have us live. Fortunately, Christ can
be in that moment for each of us since 'all things are present' before
him (D&C
38:2) and 'time only is measured unto men'
(Alma
40:8)." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "However
Long and Hard the Road," p.18
8/24/07
"In Doctrine
and Covenants 109, that section which
teaches us of the holiness of the temple, verse
22 reads: 'We ask thee, Holy Father, that
thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and
that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and
thine angels have charge over them.'
"That is a powerful promise to those who feel overwhelmed with the
pressures and stresses of daily living, a power and promise I first
encountered at twelve years of age. Now, with the many experiences I
have had since that age, I can declare that this is true. The temple
provides protection and it provides patterns and promises that can
settle and strengthen and stabilize us, however anxious our times. If
we master the principles taught there, we will receive the promise the
Lord gave us through Isaiah: 'I will fasten him [or her] as a nail in
a sure place.' (Isaiah
23:23.) " - Jeffrey R. Holland and
Patricia T. Holland, "On Earth As It Is in Heaven," p.64
10/9/07
"Peace and good tidings; good tidings and peace. These are among the
ultimate blessings that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings a troubled
world and the troubled people who live in it, solutions to personal
struggles and human sinfulness, a source of strength for days of
weariness and hours of genuine despair. This entire general conference
and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which convenes it
declare that it is the Only Begotten Son of God Himself who gives us
this help and this hope. Such assurance is as 'firm as the mountains
around us.' (See “Carry
On,” Hymns, no. 255.)" - Jeffrey R.
Holland, "The
Peaceable Things of the Kingdom," Ensign
(CR), November 1996, p.82
12/18/07
"My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus
Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is
happiness. There really is light at the end of the
tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the
'light that is endless, that can never be darkened.' (See John
8:12; Rev.
22:16; Mosiah
16:9.) It is the very Son of God Himself.
In loving praise far beyond Romeos reach, we say, 'What light through
yonder window breaks?' (See William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act
2, scene 2, lines 2-3.) It is the return of hope, and Jesus is the
Sun. To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that
hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve.
Christ comes to you in His "more excellent ministry" with a future of
'better promises.' He is your 'high priest of good things to come.'" -
Jeffrey R. Holland, "An
High Priest of Good Things to Come,"
Ensign (CR), November 1999, p.36
1/7/08
"No, it is not without a recognition of
life's tempests but fully and directly because of them that I testify
of God's love and the Savior's
power to calm the storm. Always remember in that biblical story that
He was out there on the water also, that He faced the worst of it
right along with the newest and youngest and most fearful. Only one
who has fought against those ominous waves is justified in telling us—as
well as the sea—to be
still. (Mark
4:39; see also D&C
101:16.) Only one who has taken the full brunt of such
adversity could ever be justified in telling us in such times to be of
good cheer. (John
16:33; D&C
68:6.) Such counsel is not a jaunty pep talk about
the power of positive thinking, though positive thinking is much
needed in the world. No, Christ knows better than all others that the
trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we
struggle with them. But even as the Lord avoids sugary rhetoric, He
rebukes faithlessness and He deplores pessimism. He expects us to
believe!" - Jeffrey R.
Holland, "An
High Priest of Good Things to Come,"
Ensign (CR), November 1999, p.36
1/9/08
"Nephi-like,
might we ask ourselves what our children know? From us? Personally? Do
our children know that we love the scriptures? Do they see us reading
them and marking them and clinging to them in daily life? Have our
children ever unexpectedly opened a closed door and found us on our
knees in prayer? Have they heard us not only pray with them
but also pray for them out of nothing more than sheer parental
love? Do our children know we believe in fasting as something more than
an obligatory first-Sunday-of-the-month hardship? Do they know that we
have fasted for them and for their future on days about which they knew
nothing? Do they know we love being in the temple, not least because it
provides a bond to them that neither death nor the legions of hell can
break? Do they know we love and sustain local and general leaders,
imperfect as they are, for their willingness to accept callings they did
not seek in order to preserve a standard of righteousness they did not
create? Do those children know that we love God with all our heart and
that we long to see the face—and
fall at the feet—of His Only
Begotten Son? I pray that they know this."
- Jeffrey R. Holland, "A
Prayer for the Children,"
Ensign (CR), May 2003, p.85
5/3/08
"In declaring new scripture and
continuing revelation, we pray we will never be arrogant or insensitive.
But after a sacred vision in a now sacred grove answered in the
affirmative the question 'Does
God exist?' what Joseph Smith
and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints force us to face is
the next interrogative, which necessarily follows: 'Does
He speak?' We bring the good
news that He does and that He has. With a love and affection born of our
Christianity, we invite all to inquire into the wonder of what God has
said since biblical times and is saying even now."
- Jeffrey R. Holland, "My
Words... Never Cease," General Conference, April 2008
6/22/08
"Jesus
said, 'Without me ye can
do nothing.' I testify that
that is God's truth. Christ is
everything to us and we are to 'abide'
in Him permanently, unyieldingly, steadfastly, forever. For the fruit
of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly
attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His Church, which
bears His holy name. He is the vine that is our true source of
strength and the only source of eternal life. In Him we not only will
endure but also will prevail and triumph in this holy cause that will
never fail us."
- Jeffrey R. Holland, "Abide in Me", Ensign (CR), May 2004, p.30
8/21/08
"I ask everyone within the
sound of my voice to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the
Lord has said He 'would
fight [our] battles, [our] children’s battles, and [the battles
of our] children’s children.'
(D&C 98:37; emphasis added.) And what do we do to
merit such a defense? We are to 'search diligently, pray always,
and be believing[. Then] all things shall work together for [our] good,
if [we] walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith [we] have
covenanted.' (D&C 90:24.) The latter days are not a
time to fear and tremble. They are a time to be believing and
remember our covenants." - Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Ministry of
Angels," General Conference, October 2008
2/18/09
"I have pondered long and hard about the feeding of our inner self, of
the 'one thing needful'
amidst too many troublesome things. It is no coincidence that we speak
of feeding the spirit, just as we would speak of feeding the body. We
need constant nourishment for both. The root word hale (as
in 'hale and hearty')
is the common root to words like whole, health, heal,
and holy. President Ezra Taft Benson recently said, 'There
is no question that the health of the body affects the spirit, or the
Lord would never have revealed the Word of Wisdom. God has never given
any temporal commandments—and
that which affects our stature affects our soul.'
We need so much for body, mind, and spirit to unite in one healthy,
stable soul." - Jeffrey R. Holland and Patricia T. Holland, "On
Earth As It Is in Heaven,"
p.87
10/11/09
“Brethren, part of my warning voice tonight is that this will only get
worse. It seems the door to permissiveness, the door to lewdness and
vulgarity and obscenity swings only one way. It only opens farther and
farther; it never seems to swing back. Individuals can choose to close
it, but it is certain, historically speaking, that public appetite and
public policy will not close it. No, in the moral realm the only real
control you have is self-control.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “Sanctify Yourselves,” Ensign (CR), November 2000, p. 38
12/30/09
“I
testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and
thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our
times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and
the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies.” – Jeffrey
R. Holland, “Safety for the Soul,” Ensign, November 2009
1/3/10
“So
how does one ‘come unto Christ’ in response to this constant
invitation? The scriptures give scores of examples and avenues. You
are well acquainted with the most basic ones. The easiest and the
earliest comes simply with the desire of our heart, the most basic
form of faith that we know. ‘If ye can no more than desire to
believe,’ Alma says, exercising just ‘a particle of faith’ giving even
a small place for the promises of God to find a home-that is enough to
begin. Just believing, just having a ‘molecule’ of faith-simply hoping
for things which are not yet seen in our lives, but which are
nevertheless truly there to be bestowed-that simple step, when focused
on the Lord Jesus Christ, has ever been and always will be the first
principle of His eternal gospel, the first step out of despair.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “Broken Things to Mend,” Ensign, April 2006
1/15/10
“Obviously it would be exciting if someone were one day to find the
lost 116 pages of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon. But
whatever those pages contain, it could not be more important or more
fundamental to the purpose of the Book of Mormon than the teachings of
these three prophets recorded on the small plates. Standing like
sentinels at the gate of the book, Nephi, Jacob, and Isaiah admit us
into the scriptural presence of the Lord.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of
the Book of Mormon,” p. 36
3/28/10
“I
am not sure what your most painful memories might be. I’m certain
there are lots of problems we could all list. Some may be sins among
the most serious God himself has listed. Others may be less serious
disappointments, including a poor start in school, or a difficult
relationship with your family, or personal pain with a friend.
Whatever the list, it's bound to be long when we add up all the dumb
things we’ve done. And my greatest fear is that we will not believe in
other chances, that we will not understand repentance, that on some
days we will not believe in any future at all.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “However Long and Hard the Road,” p. 68
5/9/10
"In all of this, I suppose it goes
without saying that negative speaking so often flows from negative
thinking, including negative thinking about ourselves. We see our own
faults, we speak—or at least think—critically of ourselves, and before
long that is how we see everyone and everything. No sunshine, no roses,
no promise of hope or happiness. Before long we and everybody around us
are miserable.
"I love what Elder Orson F. Whitney once said: 'The spirit of the gospel
is optimistic; it trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things.
The opposite or pessimistic spirit drags men down and away from God,
looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield
obedience.' We should honor the Savior's declaration to 'be of good
cheer.'" - Jeffrey R. Holland, "The
Tongue of Angels," Ensign (CR) May 2007
5/14/10
"Even if you cannot
always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the
very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your
fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He
matches with His own the tears His children shed." - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "An High Priest of Good Things to Come," Ensign (CR),
November 1999, p. 36
8/16/10
"Most days we all find ourselves assaulted by immoral messages of some
kind flooding in on us from every angle. The darker sides of the movie,
television, and music industry step further and further into offensive
language and sexual misconduct. Tragically, the same computer and
Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare
those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow
my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions
that could blast a crater in their brains forever." - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "Place
No More for the Enemy of My Soul," Ensign (CR) May 2010
9/4/10
"My thanks to all you wonderful members of the Church—and legions of
good people not of our faith—for proving every day of your life that the
pure love of Christ 'never faileth.' No one of you is insignificant, in
part because you make the gospel of Jesus Christ what it is—a living
reminder of His grace and mercy, a private but powerful manifestation in
small villages and large cities of the good He did and the life He gave
bringing peace and salvation to other people. We are honored beyond
expression to be counted one with you in such a sacred cause." - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "Because
of Your Faith," Ensign (CR) October 2010
10/21/11
From every man, young and old, who bears the priesthood, I ask for a
stronger and more devoted voice, a voice not only against evil and him
who is the personification of it, but a voice for good, a voice for the
gospel, a voice for God. Brethren of all ages, unbind your tongues and
watch your words work wonders in the lives of those “who are only kept
from the truth because they know not where to find it.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "We
Are All Enlisted," Ensign (CR) October 2011
2/23/12
Who is it that whispers so subtly in our ear that a gift given to
another somehow diminishes the blessings we have received? Who makes us
feel that if God is smiling on another, then He surely must somehow be
frowning on us? You and I both know who does this—it is the father of
all lies. It is Lucifer, our common enemy, whose cry down through
the corridors of time is always and to everyone, “Give me thine honor.”
- Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Other
Prodigal," Liahona, July 2002
2/24/12
I am asking you not to give up “for ye are laying the foundation of a
great work.” That “great work” is you—your life, your future, the very
fulfillment of your dreams. That “great work” is what, with effort and
patience and God’s help, you can become. When days are difficult or
problems seem unending, I plead with you to stay in the harness and keep
pulling. You are entitled to “eat the good of the land of Zion in these
last days,” but it will require your heart and a willing mind. It will
require that you stay at your post and keep trying. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "However Long and Hard the Road," New Era, September 1983
3/22/12
I don’t know how all of that makes you feel, but suddenly any undue
anxiety about the times in which we live dissipates for me, and I am
humbled, spiritually thrilled, and motivated at the opportunity we have
been given. God is watching over His world, His Church, His leaders, and
He is certainly watching over you. Let’s just make sure we are the “pure
in heart” and that we are faithful. How blessed you will be. How
fortunate your children and grandchildren will be. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "This,
the Greatest of All Dispensations," Liahona, July 2007
4/1/12
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—that is
the first principle of the gospel. We must go forward. God expects you
to have enough faith, determination, and trust in Him to keep moving,
keep living, keep rejoicing. He expects you not simply to face the
future; He expects you to embrace and shape the future—to love it,
rejoice in it, and delight in your opportunities. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "The
Greatest of All Dispensations," Liahona, July 2007
4/10/12
I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the
message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you
think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however
many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t
have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have
traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of
divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the
infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines. - Jeffrey R. Holland,
"The Laborers in the Vineyard," Ensign (CR) May 2012
4/17/12
Dear young men of the Church, let me ask you a question that I hope
you will carry in your heart for the rest of your life. What greater
power can you acquire on earth than the priesthood of God? What power
could possibly be greater than the capacity to assist our Heavenly
Father in changing the lives of your fellowmen, to help them along the
pathway of eternal happiness by being cleansed of sin and wrongdoing?
- Adrián Ochoa, "Aaronic Priesthood: Arise and Use the Power of
God," Ensign (CR) May 2012
4/18/12
We need to be constantly reminded of the eternal reasons behind the
things we are commanded to do. The basic gospel principles need to be
part of our life’s fabric, even if it means learning them over and over
again. That doesn’t mean that this process should be rote or boring.
Rather, when we teach the foundational principles in our homes or in
church, let the flame of enthusiasm for the gospel and the fire of
testimony bring light, warmth, and joy to the hearts of those we teach.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Why of Priesthood Service," Ensign (CR)
May 2012
4/21/12
May I add a footnote here? When the Lord requires that we forgive all men,
that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the
world, the one who is the hardest to forgive—as well as perhaps the one
who is most in need of our forgiveness—is the person looking back at us in
the mirror. - Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Merciful Obtain Mercy," Ensign
(CR) May 2012
4/24/12
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “we believe all that
God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He
will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the
Kingdom of God” (Articles of Faith 1:9). This is to say that while there
is much we do not yet know, the truths and doctrine we have received
have come and will continue to come by divine revelation. - D. Todd
Christofferson, "The Doctrine of Christ," Ensign (CR) May 2012
4/25/12
How grateful we should be that a wise Creator fashioned an earth and
placed us here, with a veil of forgetfulness of our previous existence
so that we might experience a time of testing, an opportunity to prove
ourselves in order to qualify for all that God has prepared for us to
receive. - Thomas S. Monson, "The Race of Life," Ensign (CR) May
2012
7/4/12
If I may be so bold this morning, may
I suggest “direction for deliverance”? In words of one syllable, we
need to turn to God. We need to reaffirm our faith, and we need to
reassert our hope. Where necessary we need to repent, and certainly we
need to pray. It is the absence of spiritual fidelity that has led us
to moral disarray in the twilight of the twentieth century. We have
sown the wind of religious skepticism, and we are reaping the
whirlwind of existential despair. - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Look
to God and Live," Ensign (CR) November 1993
9/30/12
May God, who
has blessed all of us so mercifully and many of us so abundantly,
bless us with one thing more. May he bless us to hear the often silent
cries of the sorrowing and the afflicted, the downtrodden, the
disadvantaged, the poor. Indeed may he bless us to hear the whispering
of the Holy Spirit when any neighbor anywhere “is suffering,” and to
“drop everything and come running.” - Jeffrey R. Holland, "A
Handful of Meal and a Little Oil," Ensign (CR) May 1996
10/29/12
My beloved brothers and sisters, I am
not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I
will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does
not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think
He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and
sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one
commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all—“Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” And if at such a
moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,”
then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is
always loyalty. - Jeffrey R. Holland, "The
First Great Commandment," Ensign (CR) November 2012
12/18/12
On this Christmas I send my love to every missionary, every man or woman
in the military, every student, and every employee and traveler who won’t
“be home for Christmas,” as the carol says. Keep your faith. Look for the
good in your situation. Do something kind for someone. Seek Christ devoid
of wrapping and tinsel. You will find that despite external circumstances,
Christmas—like the kingdom of God—is “within you” (Luke
17:21). - Jeffrey R. Holland, "Christmas
Within You," Ensign December 2012
1/21/13
Such a journey from beginning through present to end suggests a path, a
course of travel, and Jesus said he was "the Way." He did not say he would
show the way (although he did): he said he was the way. (John
14:6.) To travel here suggests something more than merely knowing
the terrain, watching for pitfalls, and setting out at a brisk pace. It
means all of that plus the sobering admission that we will need his
merciful assistance for every step of the journey.
This particular way is impassable alone. He waits patiently for us while
we rest. He encourages us when we murmur. He calls us back when we stray.
Ultimately, he carries us on his shoulders, rejoicing, because we find the
heights are too great and the waters too deep. (See Luke
15:5.) Only strict adherence--adherence in its most literal
sense--to the Lord Jesus Christ will see us through, for there is "none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts
4:12.) - Jeffrey R. Holland, "However Long and Hard the Road,"
p.19
7/16/13
Life has its share of some fear and some failure. Sometimes things
fall short, don’t quite measure up. Sometimes in both personal and
public life, we are seemingly left without strength to go on.
Sometimes people fail us, or economies and circumstance fail us, and
life with its hardship and heartache can leave us feeling very
alone.
But when such difficult moments come to us, I testify that there is one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all transgression. One thing only never faileth—and that is the pure love of Christ. - Jeffrey R. Holland, "He Loved Them unto the End," Ensign (CR) November 1989
8/15/13
Angels and ministers of grace to
defend us? They are all about us, and their holy sovereign, the
Father of us all, is divinely anxious to bless us this very moment.
Mercy is his mission, and love is his only labor. John Donne said
once: “We ask our daily bread, and God never says, ‘You should have
come yesterday.’ … [No, he says,] ‘Today if you will hear [my]
voice, today I will hear yours.’ … If thou hast been benighted till
now, wintered and frozen, clouded and eclipsed, damp and benumbed,
smothered and stupefied till now, God yet comes to thee, not as in
the dawning of the day, … but as the sun at [full] noon, to banish
all shadows” (Collected Sermons). - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "Look
to God and Live," Ensign (CR) November 1993
3/22/14
Brothers and sisters, God always
provides safety for the soul, and with the Book of Mormon, He has
again done that in our time. Remember this declaration by Jesus
Himself: “Whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived”—and in
the last days neither your heart nor your faith will fail you. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “Safety
for the Soul,” Ensign (CR) November 2009
4/8/14
And therein lies a message for every young man and young woman in
this Church. You may wonder if it is worth it to take a courageous
moral stand in high school or to go on a mission only to have your
most cherished beliefs reviled or to strive against much in society
that sometimes ridicules a life of religious devotion. Yes, it is
worth it, because the alternative is to have our “houses” left unto
us “desolate”—desolate individuals, desolate families, desolate
neighborhoods, and desolate nations. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “The
Cost—and Blessings—of Discipleship,” Ensign (CR) May 2014
6/1/14
Be strong. Live the gospel
faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all. Defend
your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them. A
long history of inspired voices, including those you will hear in
this conference and the voice you just heard in the person of
President Thomas S. Monson, point you toward the path of Christian
discipleship. It is a strait path, and it is a narrow path without a
great deal of latitude at some points, but it can be thrillingly and
successfully traveled, “with … steadfastness in Christ, … a perfect
brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “The
Cost and Blessings of Discipleship,” Ensign (CR) May 2014
8/17/14
Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus of
Nazareth, the living Son of the living God, restored physical life
where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption
out of sin, hellish darkness, and despair. With faith in the God He
knew was there, He could say in triumph, “Father, into thy hands I
commend my spirit.” - Jeffrey R.
Holland, “None
Were with Him,” Ensign (CR) May 2009
8/28/14
One observer has written: “In a
world that constantly compares people, ranking them as more or less
intelligent, more or less attractive, more or less successful, it is
not easy to really believe in a [divine] love that does not do the
same. When I hear someone praised,” he says, “it is hard not to
think of myself as less praiseworthy; when I read about the goodness
and kindness of other people, it is hard not to wonder whether I
myself am as good and kind as they; and when I see trophies,
rewards, and prizes being handed out to special people, I cannot
avoid asking myself why that didn’t happen to me.” If left
unresisted, we can see how this inclination so embellished by the
world will ultimately bring a resentful, demeaning view of God and a
terribly destructive view of ourselves. Most “thou shalt not”
commandments are meant to keep us from hurting others, but I am
convinced the commandment not to covet is meant to keep us from
hurting ourselves. - Jeffrey R.
Holland, “The
Other Prodigal,” Ensign (CR) May 2002
10/18/14
We are always expected to help
ourselves before we seek help from others. Furthermore, I don’t know
exactly how each of you should fulfill your obligation to those who
do not or cannot always help themselves. But I know that God knows,
and He will help you and guide you in compassionate acts of
discipleship if you are conscientiously wanting and praying and
looking for ways to keep a commandment He has given us again and
again. - Jeffrey R. Holland, “Are
We Not All Beggars?” Ensign (CR) November 2014
11/16/14
In that sense Jesus did not come to improve God’s view of man nearly
so much as He came to improve man’s view of God and to plead with
them to love their Heavenly Father as He has always and will always
love them. The plan of God, the power of God, the holiness of God,
yes, even the anger and the judgment of God they had occasion to
understand. But the love of God, the profound depth of His devotion
to His children, they still did not fully know—until Christ came. -
Jeffrey R. Holland, “The
Grandeur of God,” Ensign (CR) October 2003
11/18/14
In what would be the most
startling moment of His early ministry, Jesus stood up in His home
synagogue in Nazareth and read these words prophesied by Isaiah and
recorded in the Gospel of Luke: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he
hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and … set at liberty them that are bruised.”
Thus the Savior made the first public announcement of His messianic
ministry. But this verse also made clear that on the way to His
ultimate atoning sacrifice and Resurrection, Jesus’s first and
foremost messianic duty would be to bless the poor, including the
poor in spirit. - Jeffrey R.
Holland, “Are
We Not All Beggars?” Ensign (CR) October 2014
12/23/14
Carl Sandburg once said, “A baby
is God’s opinion that life should go on.” For that baby’s future as
well as your own, be strong. Be believing. Keep loving and keep
testifying. Keep praying. Those prayers will be heard and answered
in the most unexpected hour. God will send aid to no one more
readily than He will send it to a child—and to the parent of a
child. - Jeffrey R. Holland, “A
Prayer for the Children,” Ensign (CR) April 2003
4/30/15
My beloved brothers and sisters, today is Easter Sunday. Although we
should always remember (we promise in our weekly sacramental prayers
that we will), nevertheless this is the most sacred day of the year
for special remembrance of brotherly hands and determined arms that
reached into the abyss of death to save us from our fallings and our
failings, from our sorrows and our sins. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “Where
Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet,” Ensign (CR) April 2015
8/17/15
The
Savior reminds us that He has "graven [us] upon the palms of [His]
hands." Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and
Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now.
When He says to the poor in spirit, "Come unto me," He means He
knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He
has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "Broken
Things to Mend,” Ensign (CR) April 2006
8/24/15
Forgiveness and the chance to
change our past is at the heart of Christ's greatest gift to us all:
the atoning sacrifice so willingly begun in Gethsemane and concluded
upon the cross of Calvary. We "all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God," so we take courage when we see the repentance of one
like young Alma, who changed his life as dramatically and instantly
as any man ever has. To be born of God is to find "marvelous
light…and exquisite joy.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "However Long and Hard the Road," p. 77
9/12/15
With so very much at stake, [the
sacrament] commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness
should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a
powerful, reverent, reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual
feelings and impressions. As such it should not be rushed. It is not
something to “get over” so that the real purpose of a sacrament
meeting can be pursued. This is the real purpose of the meeting. And
everything that is said or sung or prayed in those services should
be consistent with the grandeur of this sacred ordinance. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "This
Do in Remembrance of Me," Ensign (CR), November 1995, p. 67
10/9/15
Here, as in all things, Jesus set the standard for us to follow.
Life is too short to be spent nursing animosities or keeping a box
score of offenses against us—you know, no runs, no hits, all errors.
We don't want God to remember our sins, so there is something
fundamentally wrong in our relentlessly trying to remember those of
others. - Jeffrey R. Holland, "The
Peaceable Things of the Kingdom," Ensign (CR), November
1996, p. 82
1/24/16
To those who are trying hard and living right and things still seem
burdensome and difficult, I say, take heart. Others have walked that
way before you. Do you feel unpopular and different or outside the
inside of things? Read Noah again. Go out there and take a few
whacks on the side of your ark and see what popularity was like in
2500 B.C.
Does the wilderness stretch before you in a never-ending sequence of
sand dunes? Read Moses again. Calculate the burden of fighting with
the pharaohs and then a forty-year assignment in Sinai. Some tasks
take time. Accept that. But as the scripture says, "They come to
pass." They do end. We will cross over Jordan eventually. Others
have done it—and so can we. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "However Long and Hard the Road," p.4
2/4/16
Without our religious faith, without recognizing the reality and
necessity of spiritual life, the world makes no sense, and a
nonsense world is a place of horror. Only if the world has meaning
at a spiritual level is it possible for human beings to keep going,
to keep trying. As Hamlet so wisely implored, so should we: "Angels
and ministers of grace defend us!" (act 1, scene 4, line 39). - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "Look
to God and Live," Ensign (CR), November 1993, p.13
5/6/16
The
gospel, the Church, and these wonderful semiannual gatherings are
intended to give hope and inspiration. They are not intended to
discourage you. Only the adversary, the enemy of us all, would try
to convince us that the ideals outlined in general conference are
depressing and unrealistic, that people don’t really improve, that
no one really progresses. And why does Lucifer give that speech?
Because he knows he can’t improve, he can’t progress, that worlds
without end he will never have a bright tomorrow. He is a miserable
man bound by eternal limitations, and he wants you to be miserable
too. Well, don’t fall for that. With the gift of the Atonement of
Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve,
and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying,
even if we don’t always succeed. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "Tomorrow
the Lord Will Do Wonders among You,” Ensign (CR) May 2016
5/24/16
On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from
God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places.
Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then
the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are
those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known
and unknown, mortal and immortal. - Jeffrey
R. Holland, “The
Ministry of Angels,” Ensign (CR) October 2008
8/4/16
I express my deepest gratitude for every blessing of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, especially that greatest of all gifts, the exemplary
life and atoning death of God’s Only Begotten Son. I know I can
never repay heaven for any of this benevolence, but there are many
ways I need to try to show my thankfulness. One of those ways is in
the payment of tithes and freewill offerings. I want to give
something back, but I never want it to be (in King David's words)
“that which doth cost me nothing.” - Jeffrey
R. Holland, "Like
a Watered Garden," Ensign (CR), November 2001, p.33
10/21/16
Brethren, the appeal I am making tonight is for you to lift
your vision of home teaching. Please, in newer, better ways see
yourselves as emissaries of the Lord to His children. That means
leaving behind the tradition of a frantic, law of Moses–like,
end-of-the-month calendar in which you rush to give a scripted message
from the Church magazines that the family has already read. We would
hope, rather, that you will establish an era of genuine,
gospel-oriented concern for the members, watching over and caring for
each other, addressing spiritual and temporal needs in any way that
helps. – Jeffrey R. Holland, “Emissaries
of
the Church,” Ensign (CR) November 2016
12/5/16
These
wounds are the principal way we are to recognize Him when He comes. He
may invite us forward, as He has invited others, to see and to feel
those marks. If not before, then surely at that time, we will remember
with Isaiah that it was for us that a God was “despised and rejected … ;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” that “he was wounded for
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement
of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa.
53:3, 5). – Jeffrey R. Holland,
“Teaching,
Preaching, Healing,” Ensign January 2003
1/3/17
Today I
declare from this pulpit what has been said here before: that no love in
mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ
than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child. When Isaiah,
speaking messianically, wanted to convey Jehovah’s love, he invoked the
image of a mother’s devotion. “Can a woman forget her sucking child?” he
asks. How absurd,he implies, though not as absurd as thinking Christ
will ever forget us.
This kind of resolute love “suffereth long, and is kind, … seeketh not her own, … but …beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” Most encouraging of all, such fidelity “never faileth.” “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed,” Jehovah said, “but my kindness shall not depart from thee.” So too say our mothers. – Jeffrey R. Holland, “Behold Thy Mother,” Ensign (CR) November 2015
1/13/17
Our
first and foremost article of faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in
His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” We believe these three
divine persons constituting a single Godhead are united in purpose, in
manner, in testimony, in mission. We believe Them to be filled with
the same godly sense of mercy and love, justice and grace, patience,
forgiveness, and redemption. I think it is accurate to say we believe
They are one in every significant and eternal aspect imaginable except
believing Them to be three persons combined in one substance, a
Trinitarian notion never set forth in the scriptures because it is not
true. – Jeffrey R. Holland, “The
Only
True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent,” Ensign (CR)
November 2007
2/18/17
“Things will work out” may well be President Hinckley’s most
repeated assurance to family, friends, and associates. “Keep
trying,” he will say. “Be believing. Be happy. Don’t get
discouraged. Things will work out.” – Jeffrey
R. Holland, “President
Gordon B. Hinckley: Stalwart and Brave He Stands,” Ensign (CR)
June 1995
3/20/17
Brothers
and
sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that
because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not
have to
do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little
version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the
unfailing
companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy
Ghost,angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil,
prophets and
apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been
given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of
Jesus Christ and
the Restoration of His gospel. – Jeffrey
R.
Holland, “None
Were
with Him,” Ensign (CR) May 2009
Refer your friends to join The LDS Daily WOOL (Words Of Our Leaders)