Since President Jeffrey R. Holland, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, passed away on December 27, I have heard family, friends, and fellow Latter-day Saints speak fondly of his impactful message.
My oldest son texted me memories of crowding around a small screen with other missionaries at the Ukraine Donetsk Mission watching then-Elder Holland’s “Greatness of God” address in October 2003 general conference. “And he said, ‘Amen,’ and everyone cheered and high-fived.”
His youngest son recalled the January 13, 2009 devotional speech at Brigham Young University, where President Holland served as president from 1980 to 1989, “Remember Lot’s Wife: Faith is for the Future,” as “his favorite, and he revisits it often, especially before the New Year.”
Others cite the words of the late President James E. Faust, a counselor in the First Presidency, who said of President Holland: “He has an amazing ability to make people feel like they’re his best friend.”
My relationship with President Holland goes back more than 40 years. I covered university events and issues, first as editor of BYU’s student newspaper and then as a reporter for the Deseret News, and regularly conducted interviews in his office. His first devotions of the semester with his wife, Sister Patricia Holland, ranged from humorous, self-styled “Pat and Jeff Show” conversations to powerful talks such as “Chastity: On the Soul, Symbols, and Sacraments,” delivered in January 1988.
His professional duties continue with the Deseret News and Church News, where he speaks to more than 2,000 young men at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree’s Hill Country Sacrament Meeting and in his beloved hometown of St. George, Utah. We covered President Rand, the rededication of the St. George Tabernacle, the groundbreaking with Sister Holland on the Red Cliffs Utah Temple, and President Holland’s return to the internment camp where his beloved wife died in July. 2023 has passed.
Other ecclesiastical and personal interactions came with his service as stake president and mission president. President Holland came to reorganize the stake presidency in 2008 and delivered a stake meeting message that I have heard referred to and quoted by stake members up until this year.
President Holland’s talk at the 2000 Seminar for New Missionary Leaders, “Missionary Work and the Atonement,” was a powerful and vital message for my wife and I, and for the missionaries who presided over the Arizona Phoenix Mission (2011-2014). This talk has been moving and meaningful to missionaries around the world for a quarter of a century since its presentation, and the entire talk, along with text, audio, and video excerpts, is available online. Below is part of his message.
“I am convinced that evangelism is not easy because salvation is never a cheap experience. Salvation has never been easy. We are the church of Jesus Christ and this is the truth, the Lord is our eternal great head. Even though it has never been easy for the Lord. How can you believe that it is easy for us? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders must spend at least a few minutes in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders must take at least a step or two towards the top of Gethsemane.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about anything close to what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and blasphemous. But I believe that missionaries and seekers must pay a token of the same price in order to reach the truth, to reach salvation, to know something of this price paid.
“That’s why I believe that missionary work has never been easy. And I don’t think it’s easy to convert, to maintain, to remain faithful. I believe it takes some effort, something from the depths of the soul.”
“If Jesus could come to us in the middle of the night, fall to his knees, fall to his face, bleed from every pore, and cry out, “Abba, Father, if this cup can pass, let it pass,” then it is no wonder that salvation is not something whimsical or easy for us. If you’re wondering if there’s an easier way, you should remember that you’re not the first one to ask that, someone far greater and much greater asked if there was such a way long ago.
“The Atonement will probably carry the missionaries more than it carries the seekers. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spat upon and cast out and hissed, you stand with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be thankful that the living Son of the living God knows all your sorrows and sufferings.
“The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through God, who is the way, the truth, and the life.”
What is your favorite memorable, motivational or inspirational message from the President of the Netherlands?
— Scott Taylor is Editor-in-Chief of Church News
