Posted by:
saul
(
)
Date: February 03, 2014 12:08PM
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was the visiting General Authority at a stake conference in Las Vegas this weekend. Here is a summary. It is my observation that Holland is a sincere believer. You decide...
At the Saturday evening session, he told the story of his father getting a visit from the Bishop, the Elders Quorum President, and the Sunday School President. Elder Holland was ten years old, and his father was a smoker, coffee drinker, and occasional beer drinker. He told the story with great detail about the awkwardness of having the man at the door (his father) holding a cigarette and putting it out in his cup of coffee, and after several moments of awkward conversation, the bishop finally asked if he would teach a Sunday School class. Elder Holland said he was in the room, and his father's response was "but I'm a smoker" as if that was some kind of new information, and the bishop responded a little too quickly "that is your problem, not ours".
He said his father started looking around the room as if trying to find a way out of this situation, and when he noticed his son (elder Holland), he realized that they were asking if he would teach "his son's" Sunday school class. Elder Holland said that the three men who were there could not have known it, but they had just gotten his father in his Achilles' tendon, his soft spot, because he was a father that would do anything for his children. His father asked "when would I start?" and there was a very loud crash in the kitchen, where his wife had been listening and was stunned by such a response. The Sunday school president said, "well that is what we came to find out from you "when can you start?" meaning "when can you give up these habits and start teaching?" His father reached into his shirt pocket and took out the pack of Camel cigarettes and threw them in the fireplace, and said "I will see you on Sunday. After that, his father was very active and committed to the church...
Elder Holland made the following point: Statistically, the chances are minuscule that he would have ever been active in the church with a father that never went and that had such habits. If those three men hadn't come to the house and asked his father to teach, he very likely would have been such a statistic. The message was that we should never write off the inactive members, that we never know what the impact of our efforts might be, and that everything Elder Holland has dedicated his life to, he owes to those three men who came to the door that day. He mentioned that when he gets to heaven, before he looks up Peter, James, and John, or Nephi, Moroni, or Joseph Smith, he will go looking for those three men and fall at their feet and thank them for having the courage to approach his father.
On Sunday, Elder Holland spoke about the original apostles, who were uneducated, ordinary men who only had three years to prepare for their ministry (Elder Holland will celebrate his twentieth year as an apostle), and how they didn't really understand many of the lesson Christ taught in parables and didn't believe Christ's predictions of his own death. When Christ was crucified, they all scattered and were in confusion. Soon after, they decided to come to the temple, where they encountered a crippled man who had spent forty years on the steps of the temple begging for alms. As they approached the man, Peter stopped and took his hand and told the man "gold and silver have I none, but such as I have, I give unto thee; in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk." The man then stood up, and leapt around and was rejoicing.
The men in power at the time, who had just helped put Jesus to death, saw that the man was creating a commotion and that those who witnessed the healing were all converted en-masse. The leaders (Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes) asked the man to stop making such a commotion, but the man refused. Elder Holland then made the point (very loudly and forcefully) "YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THE EVIDENCE!" He said that as much as the jewish leaders wanted to make the whole Jesus thing go away, there was this famous crippled man dancing around, and they could not argue with the evidence. Then Holland made the point of how the Book of Mormon exists; it is five hundred and thirty two pages of evidence. You can attempt to explain it away, to wish it didn't exist, but there it is, and you can't argue with the evidence...
Elder Holland then told the story of the blind man that Jesus healed by mixing clay with spit and rubbing it on the man's eyes. When the blind man gained his sight, he wouldn't shut up, so once again the leaders went to the parents of the man and tried to get them to keep their son silent. They then went to the man and asked him to stop proclaiming jesus as a miracle worker. The man said, "I only know that I was blind, and now I can see", and there was no way for the jewish leaders to explain that away. You can't argue with the evidence.
As much as people today would like to make the church go away, they cannot argue with the fact that the church blesses people's lives, that there is no other church who proclaims salvation for all humanity, even dead people, or that families can be sealed for eternity. The youth of the church are exceptional in their respective societies, and this is all part of the visible reality of what the church offers. You can't argue with the evidence.
Then Holland made his final point: "You Can't Kill it, Not This Time." As much as the early jewish leaders thought they could silence the movement by killing Jesus, they realized it wasn't dead. The evidence continued to arise and was undeniable. But even more important, no matter who you killed today, (and they speak freely of such possibilities), there is no way that the apostolic keys will ever be removed again from the earth. It doesn't matter if apostles fall from the faith, if they are killed, or whatever. You can't kill it (the church). It will continue on until the second coming.
Then Holland bore his witness (again, very forcefully and emotionally): "I have read a few books, have travelled a few miles, and I would NEVER dedicate my life to a trick, a fraud, a false idea, so give me some credit here! (reminded me of the Sweeney interview). He has dedicated his entire life to promoting and proclaiming these truths and he would never do that if it weren't true. He has seen miracles and lives changed, and the church will continue to do miracles in the lives of all who embrace it.