Consider That You Are The Answer To Somebody's Prayer



Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Picture from October 2007
General Conference Talk



We had a very special treat yesterday and today.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a true Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, came to tiny La Verkin, Utah and spoke to us in stake conference.  Accompanying him was Elder Kevin Worthen of the Fifth Quorum of Seventy, President Leonard of the Utah St. George Mission, President David Jeppson, a counselor in the St. George Utah Temple Presidency and our past stake president, and all of their wives.

I got to hear all eight of these wonderful people over the six hours of meetings in three sessions, along with all three of our stake presidency, and several other powerful talks by stake members.  (One of my favorites was a short testimony from a young priest in the 7th Ward as to the blessings of taking the sacrament to the homes of those who are too sick or invalid to attend church.  You could feel his witness of the difference between saying the sacrament prayers and BLESSING the sacrament.)  

I keep a small journal of notes from special meetings that I began with stake conference three years ago.  This practice has been very helpful in having something to refer back to in remembrance of the principles and feelings that came in these meetings.

I have fourteen pages in my journal for these two days.  I wish I could have written faster.  I still didn't capture it all.  But I recorded enough.  I won't repeat it all here, it would make a post that is much too long.  If you would like to read the rest, come visit me some time and ask to see it.  I'll happily share.

There were a few times I was so moved by the testimony being shared that I couldn't write at all, I was just taking it in.  So if you went to the meeting and remember something I left out, that may be why.  I just hope that as I read it over that I will remember the way I felt.  I think I will.

What I will share here is my notes of the apostolic testimony and blessing of Elder Holland.  That's what he told us apostles do - testify and bless.  And that is indeed what he did.

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Elder Holland began in the priesthood leadership session by expressing his love, his thanks to us for coming to the meeting and for serving.  He said "We don't get enough opportunity to say thank you for serving."  He said he was also speaking for the President of the Church, who wanted to thank each of us personally, and he said I think I can speak for the Lord himself in thanking you.

Elder Holland then asked us to thank the people we serve with.  Start with your wife, your children, and your grandchildren, and tell them it is from Elder Holland himself, sincerely.  (And so I will, starting here:  Thank you.  Thank you for being my wife, my child, my child-in-law, my grandchild, my friend.  Thank you for brightening my life with your sweet spirit and smile.  Feel my thanks, and that of Elder Holland to you.)

We are all here because of the women in our lives.  Thank them.

He then said "I want to make one point about the priesthood in the Sacred Grove.  What was the key question Joseph Smith came to ask?  (Which church is true)."

"James 1:5 is a far reaching scripture that was about to change the course of history."

He then described in detail the key role of our dispensation and Joseph Smith's role in it.  All other dispensations, even the dispensation of the meridian of time, prepared for this one -- because this is the last one, the one that won't be taken away, the one where the most work is done.  (How many temples were there in other dispensations, and how much ordinance work was done?  How long did righteousness continue following the days of Moses, Lehi, Alma, or even the people of 4th Nephi?  Elder Holland pursued this line of thought for several minutes.)

"Satan would have killed Joseph Smith if he could have.  He can't kill us, he can only try to persuade others to do it for him.  So Satan tried to powerfully bind Joseph's tongue.

"One lesson from this is that we need to speak.  The only thing Satan needs to succeed is for us to keep our mouths shut.

"Tell your wife that you love her!  We can do better than the brother in Maine (he named him, but I didn't catch it) who when asked by his wife after 50 years of marriage if he loved her said 'I told you at the altar that I loved you and I'll tell you if that changes'.  The only thing Satan needs to succeed is for us to keep our mouths shut.  Tell your wife that you love her!"

Elder Holland expressed all of this with exquisite passion and emphasis.  These were not soft, calm speeches.

He continued with his discussion of the events in the Sacred Grove.  He had us read from Joseph Smith 1 about the churches then existing, "they draw near to me with their lips but their hearts are far from me" (verse 19).  He pointed out this was about hypocrisy, and rather than criticize others he invited each of us to privately evaluate if we talk better than we do.  We need to do better at living the way we preach.

 

This is a story of POWER.  He wrote the word on the white board in capital letters and put a box around it.  Satan tried to exercise power, then was overcome by the power of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  Elder Holland then continued in verse 19 noting that the church "teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."

He referred to D&C 84:19-21:

"And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.  Therefore in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.  And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh"
Elder Holland continued, saying, "A mystery is something that has to be answered by revelation.  We should use the power, not deny it.  In our council meetings, we should be thinking 'who needs an ordinance?'"

He said that "we need to deal more with revelation -- something to get the POWER of the priesthood into the home (that we are thinking about in this council meeting).  We all need miracles in our lives!  The only answer to that is the holy Melchizedek Priesthood."

"Consider that you are the answer to somebody's prayer."

Elder Holland mentioned a few numbers about our stake, and said they are in line with the church.  "We're a one-third church, that's why there aren't miracles."  This relates to about one-third being fully active and doing.

He recommended 3 things to increase power in our stake:

1.  Baptize Melchizedek Priesthood.  To do this, we priesthood brothers need to open our mouths.  We need to talk with our colleagues more than we do.  The 19 year old missionaries will not reach them -- we need to.

2.  Reclaim. (Seek the one)

3.  Protect.  We are losing youth from age 8 on.  If we do not encourage their parents, we will lose them.

"The power of the priesthood is the ultimate mark of the true church.  We should regularly ponder what can only do because we hold the priesthood ... and then do it!"

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I was really touched by Elder Holland's spirit and the power and passion of his message.  All of us were.  It was all any of us talked about afterwards.

This was his first presentation, given in the priesthood leadership session.  He spoke again in each of the two sessions that followed.  This post is getting long, so I will close for now and continue another time to talk about his other two talks.  They were equally moving!